Amritsar and the Golden Temple

Thursday 25^th June 2015

This morning we were up and at it for once. It was a miserable morning so we waited a bit until the rain cleared so we could walk to the tea house. After the last big rains some work was done on the dirt road that leads from our guesthouse to the tea shop it doesn’t seem to have improved the road at all and today it was a wet slippery mess of mud, jaggared rocks and puddles.

We got to the shop and ate we have fallen into a routine of reading the news while we eat and since we are there every day the guys already know our order as soon as we walk in.

We got back to the guesthouse and packed up most of our stuff ready to head to Amritsar tomorrow.

Once our bags were somewhat packed we went out on the terrace and did our daily tai chi feeling energised we went and had pizza since it was our last day we decided we had to try “the best pizza in town” I’m not sure whose opinion that was but it was not the best not by a long shot and we left feeling a bit sad.

We decided to head back to the guesthouse and get our shoes and go for a walk but by the time we got there we couldn’t be bothered and so we read our books and hung out all afternoon. At several points we thought about doing some more Tai Chi but the thoughts never materialized into action.

In the evening we headed to the Thai restaurant for one last meal there. We bumped into friends and chatted to them while eating but headed back to Dharamkot when the thunder started as we didn’t want to have to walk up the hill in the rain.

Back at the guesthouse we got an early night.

Friday 26^th June 2015

We were up well before our normal wake up time this morning in order to get to the bus station on time. We packed up the last of our things and said goodbye to the big Blue Shanti House that we had come to know and love.

We stopped off for a final breakfast and the tea house and wished everyone happy days before walking down to McLeod Ganj.

The walk wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be with all our baggage and in no time we were making our way through the traffic in the square and down to the bus station. We arrived with about 20mins to kill and set about trying to find out which bus we needed. We asked a dude taking a nap inside his bus and he assured us that we were wrong and that there was no bus to Pattankot from McLeod. Minutes later the bus we wanted pulled up.

After asking the driver how long it would take to get there (three hours) we got on and found some seats. As the morning wore on it became clear that three hours was Indian time and by the time we arrived four and a half hours later we were hot and bothered.

We kept stopping for long stretches of time at seemingly nowhere stops but when we arrived in Pattankot where we were hustled off the bus so quickly it was as if the driver thought he was going to miss out on a prize for kicking people off his bus!

The bus didn’t even pull into the station at Pattankot rather it left us at the end of a long drive. We walked up and the bus for Amritsar was leaving in five minutes. We dumped our bags and I left Mark to find them a place on the bus while I ran to get samosas. I managed to jump back onto the bus just as the driver started up the engine.

Again the time estimate of two and a half hours was wrong and it was after 6pm by the time we pulled up in Amritsar. Immediately we were swarmed by rickshaw drivers but after a long hot day on buses I was so thirsty all I wanted to do was get a dink first.

We walked along the road with several drivers in tow. One cycle rickshaw driver offered to take us to the temple for 50 rupees so after a quick drink we took him up on his offer. It was only about 2km but cycling us in the heat with all our bags must have been hard work. I would have been happy to pay him double had he not tried to drop us at every single hotel along the way that he obviously received commission.

In the end we got out when we were within sight of the temple we got a bit mixed up when a guy was telling us to turn around in the rickshaw and go another way we thought he was telling us to go to a guesthouse but he was actually directing the rickshaw to the temple accommodation which is where we wanted to go.

No matter we walked the last bit and found what we were looking for. At the southeast end of the temple complex lies the pilgrim’s rest houses inside one of them is a special dorm for foreigners. It’s run on a donation base with a maximum stay of three nights.

The sign on the wall above our beds in the dorm.

We went in and were shown to our beds as well as doing the formal sign in. once procedure was out of the way we had a cold shower to wash away the dust and heat of the day. Mark got sunburnt sitting inside the bus and I was still ridiculously thirsty.

Luckily right outside the room is a water filter so after freshening up we filled up our bottles and headed out to find some dinner. We walked along the crazy streets until we came to a dharba and got huge thalis that I couldn’t even finish.

We chilled out in the air-con of the restaurant for a while before heading back to the accommodation and pretty much heading to bed. We were both tired after the long day sitting on the bus and the early start.

Saturday 27^th June 2015

I woke up feeling very unrested. Last night a group sat up talking with the lights on until about 3am and I had some sort of biting insect in my bed terrorising me every time I drifted to sleep. I woke up with red angry welts all over my arms shoulders and neck.

At 7am the staff came in and turned on all the main lights which was somewhat satisfying since I was already awake and it would have disturbed the loud gang the most. Before long we were up and ready for the day heading out for breakfast and then going to see the golden temple.

We put our shoes in the storage place and then joined the masses heading towards the entrance. Everyone who goes inside must cover their head and it provided the locals with a lot of entertainment to see me wrapping a scarf around Marks head.

Pretty soon we were engulfed in a throng of photos. It’s weird to be back somewhere where we a constantly stared at again.

We entered the temple through the main entrance walking through the footbath and coming into the temple with a full view of the golden temple sitting in the middle of the lake. There were so many people about and huge goldfish swimming in the waters. It was already super-hot and the thought of a dip in the healing waters was lovely except woman have to swim inside a tiny building so I passed up the opportunity.

We did a circuit of the temple but avoided going inside the Golden Temple as the line was insanely long (e later asked a local the quietest time to go in he responded that the only time we wouldn’t have to wait in a big line was 4am!!!)

Me and the Golden Temple

Mark looking swish in his turban 

One of the clock tower entry gates

We finished off inside the museum which mostly houses paintings. More than a few of them are seriously disturbing showing all sorts of torture of Sikhs and the martyrdom of many more. We came out into the sunshine and headed off in the direction of the bazar to do some shopping.

It was pretty successful we both managed to knock a few things off our lists and it was interesting to walk through the markets. I was beginning to really feel my lack of sleep so we went back to the accommodation to rest a while.

I read my book and wrote postcards and then when we felt hungry we headed out for lunch. The restaurant had ac so we basked in its coolness for as long as we could before walking to Jallianwala Bagh a park where in 1919 the British opened fire on protesters without warning killing and injuring 1500. There are still bullet holes in the walls and there is a big well into which many jumped to escape the gunfire.

We sat under a tree and tried to ignore the stares coming our way. We took loads of photos with people and watched the squirrels running about like nutters. Eventually it all got a bit much and after walking around the park to see all the sights we headed back to the guesthouse to have a cool down shower.

A bush in the shape of a British army man shooting down protesters

hundreds of protesters jumped in this well to avoid being shot.

Squirrel straight chilling (if im honest i was trying to capture his balls, squirrels have exceptionally large balls and it amuses me greatly)

After a bit of a rest we went out for dinner to a little dharma where we were the only people as we were finishing up they were just starting to watch a Hindi movie and we almost stayed to watch it but it was one we had seen so we headed back.

Sunday 28^th June 2015

This morning the staff at the accommodation let us sleep late even after they turned the lights on no one really seemed to stir so by the time we got moving the day was already hot and dusty. We started off by walking to the train station to find a hotel for tomorrow night (as we have an early morning train the next day) the walk took about 30 minutes and we were hot and dusty by the time we got there.

Annoyingly a tout attached himself to us so we didn’t get as good a deal as we had hoped but we found a nice place to stay and got a bit of shopping done while we were in the neighbourhood.

We couldn’t face the walk back in the heat so got a rickshaw but the guy was so useless he got himself lost several times and the drive took about the same amount of time as walking. We made our way straight to a restaurant and had lunch and cooled off for a while.

By the time we finished eating we only had about an hour until we had to meet our shared taxi to the border to watch the “retreating ceremony” officially it’s the ceremony to take down the flag and close the India/Pakistan border for the night but it’s not very official more like a crazy party.

We met the driver as well as the other passengers and walked to the mini mini van we all crammed in with Mark and I sharing the front seat (which was intended for one person) the border is about 30km away and I think it was the first time we have ever experienced an Indian driver driving at the speed limit.

We stopped along the way at a free drinks stall and then at a dharba (I think the driver had to pee) before arriving about 1km away from the border. We had to walk the rest of the way foreigners had to walk on the other side of the road to everyone else but there was no signs anywhere telling us where to go so we only knew because every time we went the wrong way army personal would blow their whistles and move u where we needed to be.

Security is tight no one is allowed to take bags in but we had to take our passports and went through about three checkpoints where we were frisked and then allowed to continue. It was the hottest day ever with the temperature higher than 40 degree and there was no shade anywhere.

When we finally reached the border we didn’t know where to go so just followed everyone else up onto the stands until an army guy came and got us. There is a special stand for foreigners only next to the VIP section. We arrived early and were the only ones there. We were told in summer the ceremony is 5.15pm so we thought we had an hour to wait in the sun but actually it didn’t kick off until 6.30pm.

Because of the heat Mark bought an India cap that was one size fits all but it was too small for his head and he looked hilarious. The sun was so strong we were both wet with sweat and it was almost too hot to sit on the concrete steps.

As we waited more and more people arrived and eventually around 6.30pm after two hours in the full force of the sun the crowd warmer came out getting the crowd to cheer and dance around. The whole time Bollywood music was playing (on the Pakistan side things were a bit more subdued but they did play a tune or two)

When the actual ceremony started everyone was straining to see what was going on the stands are not set up very well for good viewing but we managed to get most of it. Unfortunately you can’t really see the Pakistani guards but I think the soldiers mirror themselves either side of the border.

The sign for the border

Mark and I in the empty stands

Mark in his newly acquired India hat

Mark was so sweaty he got wrinkle fingers!

The huge crowd!!

Two men each trying to kick themselves in the head!

The flags coming down for the night

The final march out of the stands

chilling hours before the ceremony

When it was all over there was a huge crush for the exit we tried to stay out of the crowd as best we could and walk back to the car without getting stampeded. It took us a while to find the van amongst the hundreds of vehicles but we tracked it down in the end and squeezed in. by the time we got back to Amritsar it was about 8.30pm and we were in desperate need of food and a shower.

We went straight to a restaurant which was pretty snazzy looking but the food wasn’t that great by the time we left there and started to walk back to the accommodation it was 10pm and still 40 degrees so we decided to get an ice-cream.

mmmmmmmm ice-crream!

Thali dinner

Feeling a bit cooler we headed back for a cold shower and fell into bed feeling knackered.

Monday 29^th June 2015

Today we had to leave the Golden Temple accommodation. We got up and since everyone was still sleeping we went to get food and came back to pack. We decided to go and eat at the temple it’s a community kitchen run on donations and is estimated to feed 60-80k pilgrims a day.

We checked in our shoes and covered our heads and then headed in through the main gate. We walked around to the southeast gate noticing already how much quieter it was than the weekend (although it was still rammed) we walked into the dining area and were given a bowl, thali plate and spoon an then we followed everyone else walking towards the dining hall.

We had to sit and wait in a kind of waiting area while the people who were inside eating finished up and the staff cleared up. When they opened the door everyone surged forward in a huge rush pushing and tripping over each other in a bid to get in. the hall is huge and is set up with mats running in rows for people to sit on.

You place your dishes in front of you and then servers come down the rows filling up the plates with rice, dhal, vegetables and chapattis. The servers come along several times and you can get refills if you desire. The food is simple yet pretty tasty, the chapattis were especially good. After eating we made our way past the kitchen where huge vats of curry are cooked all day every day and made our way downstairs to deposit our dishes.

curry for 60-80k people daily!!!

After eating we did a circuit of the temple and then headed back to the accommodation to check out.  Thankfully everyone was now awake so we weren’t disturbing anyone as we packed up and paid our donation for the three nights spent at the temple.

Loaded with our bags we headed to the street and pretty quickly found a rickshaw to drive us to the train station where we are staying for one night before getting the train to Delhi in the morning. There is a free bus service that runs between the station and the temple but it was too hot to spend 20minutes crammed in a bus with a hundred others.

We arrived at the hotel we found yesterday and checked in after having a cool shower and freshening up we spent a while relaxing. I watched a movie while Mark re-packed his bag. Around 2.30pm we were hungry so we set out to find some lunch, the options around the station left a bit to be desired but we found an ok dharba and then a shop to stock up on snacks.

As we were walking back to the hotel the wind was picking up and the sky was dark minutes after arriving we heard rain and looking outside the sky was so dark it was as though the sun had already set. Certainly a far cry from the beautiful sunny day we had yesterday.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and then went and had dinner close by in the evening taking advantage of the air-con room and cable television.

Our last week in the mountains

Friday 19^th June 2015

A pack of monkeys hanging out next to a dumpster sometimes they are friendly most of the time not so friendly...

since the rains started there have been loads of these horrible flying daddy long legs everywhere these two decided to have all the sex on our table while we tried to eat dinner. 

As usual we got up and had breakfast at the tea shop it was super busy in there despite the late hour so we had to squash in at somebody else’s table.

After eating we headed back to the guesthouse with the notion of having a chilled day reading and what not (and me hopefully finding flights!)

We headed out to the Thai restaurant and I spent some time working on a blog post before searching for flights it took an age but I finally found two flights that were somewhat affordable if not very long winded. I booked and paid for them and felt relief that it was sorted.

We ended up leaving the restaurant in a rush to get to Tai Chi and at the worst possible time it started pouring with rain luckily it was a short burst of rain and then hail before easing to a drizzle and we didn’t get too soaked.

We ran back to the guesthouse to grab our shoes and then headed to the nearby rooftop where we meet for class. Today was day four of five and by the end of the lesson we had learnt almost all of the form with just one last bit to add tomorrow before polishing it off.

It feels like it is beginning to flow nicely now and was quite comfortable. I had wanted to go to Kirtan tonight but as the class finished we saw Sandeep and he said that a bunch of people were meeting to have some goodbye drinks so we decided to head to that after some dinner.

We went and ate just the two of us and then I got cake for the road knowing I wouldn’t want to drink and that everyone else would. We didn’t end up staying too long as most of the conversation was in Hindi and we didn’t really know what was going on, then a huge storm started and we couldn’t hear anything over the thunder and the rain on the tin roof and then there was a power cut and we were all sitting cold and in the dark.

We headed home when the rain eased off slightly but were still soaked on the short trip home in complete darkness. Luckily the water was still a bit warm and the laptop had some battery so we showered and watched a movie in bed.

Saturday 20^th June 2015

After a slow start this morning we had breakfast and then did some cleaning and laundry as usual there were a ton of beetles crawling around or dead in the corners!

After booking my flights last night and receiving a confirmation email when I checked my mail today I had an email saying that I needed to send a copy of my passport and credit card for the e-ticket to be issued. The email was worded very unprofessionally with many spelling errors. I booked my tickets around 4pm and this email came at 7pm giving me until the end of the day to send the documents. Obviously I had missed the deadline but I wasn’t even sure it was a real email.

After booking the flights yesterday I logged straight on to request a vegetarian meal and to choose my seat when I logged on today the frequent flyer points I had used to buy the flight were gone but my booking wasn’t there I checked my banking and the money was gone as well.

I emailed Qantas customer care (as I’m writing this three full days later I’m still yet to get a reply from them despite a 24 hour promise) but having emailed them in the past with not a lot of joy I also decided to send them a message on Facebook unfortunately for me the fb page is manned in Australian time and so everyone was done for the day. (When I did receive a response they were somewhat useless)

As annoying as that was I wanted to just get on with my day. We went to McLeod Ganj and had lunch with Sandeep at the Japanese restaurant where they had huge custard filled doughnuts straight from the oven they were selling out quick and we were lucky to get one.

After lunch we strolled about for a bit and stopped off for Mark to get a coffee before heading back up the hill to rest a bit before Tai Chi we managed to get a very quick practice in but it wasn’t very productive as Mark was on a sugar high and was bouncing off the walls. By the time we got to class he had crashed.

Class started a bit late as it was a bit rainy but luckily it cleared and we even got a rainbow which we had also got the first night. Start with a rainbow end with a rainbow!

It was our last chance to get the moves right so I knuckled down and focused on everything Tony said by the end of class I was fairly confident that I had the steps but that I wasn’t exceptionally graceful about it.

We headed for food at a café I had a curry that id had a few times before and loved but tonight it was a bit weird tasting (and later made me sick) the café had live music downstairs but there wasn’t anywhere to sit so we sat upstairs which only has a tarp roof it was windy and cold and pretty drizzly again.

We ate and headed downstairs but it was super packed with nowhere to sit. We saw a friend and chatted a bit but decided we would rather get home before the rain really started to come down.

Sunday 21^st June 2015

Happy International Yoga Day!!

We had planned to rise early and head down to McLeod Ganj to the Dalai Lama Temple as it is his 80^th birthday and they had a long-life puja and the Dalai Lama did a speech. However I was up most of the night with a sore stomach and when the alarm went off at 6am and it was pouring with rain I really didn’t feel like it.

I woke up much later feeling disappointed that we didn’t just jolly ourselves and go but my stomach was still sore and so I sat around in the room while Mark went and had breakfast.

We didn’t do much today just hung out reading and generally mooching about and doing some Tai Chi on the terrace. After the heavy rains and thunder and lightning storm of last night/this morning the day had cleared up to be really nice.

We went out for a late lunch at a pizzeria and sat there for far too long. I continued to try and resolve the issue with the flights I booked on Friday but still Qantas weren’t playing ball and being the weekend it’s unlikely anything will be resolved anytime soon.

After eating we chilled out back at the guesthouse for a short while and then headed to a lecture at the Himalayan Iyengar School the topic was “the importance of the cleanliness of yoga” a special talk on for international yoga day the lecturer was the founder of the institute and he spoke of the five precepts of yoga. Much of his talk was Vipassana teachings which became clear at the end when he said he studied it for years. The talk was interesting but was nothing I hadn’t heard but it was good to have a recap on it all. I was also feeling extremely tired and struggled to stay focused.

After the lecture we spoke to some friends who had also attended and then headed off to get a small dinner before heading back for an early night.

Monday 22^nd June 2015

This morning I was still feeling a bit rough but went and had breakfast anyway. After eating we came back to the guesthouse and I checked my email to see if the Qantas saga had been resolved but it hadn’t. We headed to a café where the Wi-Fi was good enough for me to try and use skype to call the Mumbai office, but when we got there it turns out you can’t call landlines or mobiles in India from within India using skype.

I had another go at emailing them and messaging them on Facebook with much the same result as yesterday. It stated pouring with rain so we were stranded for a while but when the rain ceased we went to the local internet shop to see if they had a phone but had no joy.

It was starting to rain again so we headed back to the guesthouse where we chilled out for a while. The rain started again and didn’t look as though it would stop anytime soon so we watched somethings on the laptop.

In the afternoon the weather cleared and we headed out to have a late lunch. The food was exceptional and the fresh air was beautiful we stayed there a while reading before heading back to do a bit of Tai chi at the guesthouse.

Later on that evening neither of us were particularly hungry but felt we might be so we headed to the Thai restaurant and nibbled on food while abusing the Wi-Fi. Back at the guesthouse we chilled out until it was time to go to sleep.

Tuesday 23^rd June 2015

We started the day off with breakfast as we always do, then spent some time cleaning our room and doing some laundry. After a burst of Tai Chi out in the sunshine we walked down to McLeod Ganj. First stop was a coffee mostly so I could get on the Wi-Fi and check my flight status. Good news that when I logged onto Qantas my flight was there waiting for me. Still the potentially scam email has not been dealt with and when I asked the fb contact for an official email where I could complain she simply sent me to the same customer care form that is still yet to respond to my initial query five days ago.

After I had sored things out as much as I could we headed to some shops having a look at a few bits and pieces before going to the Japanese restaurant as it was sushi day. It was super crowded in there but we found a table in the corner and ate our food. Best of all was the chocolate mousse they had as a special today.

After eating we headed to the temple where we did a circuit the place was rammed and there was a huge line of people waiting for an audience with the Dalai Lama or maybe the Karmapa. There was also a display of all the awards the Dalai Lama has received as well as pictures of him with notable persons and all the books he has written. It was interesting to look at but hard to see much for all the monks with their ipads taking photos of every single item.

We came out of the temple and the clear blue sky that was there when we went inside had been replaced with a thick mist that had rolled in off the mountains and made visibility even a few metres in front of us difficult.

It looked as though rain would be coming soon so we decided to head back up the hill. We meandered up and to our delight when we reached the top the skies were clear and we had mostly blue skies. We stopped for a chai at the tea house and then headed back to the accommodation.

We didn’t have anything to do so we headed to a café and had another drink while we read and then had a ridiculously early bird dinner. We hung around for a while reading and then headed back where we watched a movie.

Wednesday 24^th June 2015

I woke up starving this morning after such an early dinner yesterday. We went and ate our peanut butter toast like we do every day and then came back to let it digest a while before doing some Tai Chi.

Feeling a bit more energised we decided to head into town there was a film showing in the afternoon that we wanted to see and we decided to get some lunch first. We walked down and started off with a coffee so Mark could get his caffeine hit. We ended up having lunch there as the food is actually pretty good.

After lunch we felt like something sweet so headed to the pancake shop and shared an apricot crepe. After that it was time for the film. It was called Kundan and is a Disney adaptation of the Dalai Lamas life. Interestingly the entire cast are Tibetan refugees although it’s all in English.

The problem was it was shown in a busy restaurant and from the start we struggled to hear what was going on over the loud groups of young Indian guy’s subtitles would have been good but they didn’t seem to know how to turn them on. We persevered although it ended up being a waste of time as just over an hour into the film it cut out and the guy who organised the even apologised saying his copy was damaged and that was all he had.

Why they decided to screen a film that they didn’t have in its entirety baffled me but it didn’t stop them handing out their pamphlets and asking for donations to their cause. I don’t think anyone donated.

When we came out it was raining so we hot footed it up the hill and back to the guesthouse where we chilled out for a while waiting for the rain to stop before heading out for a small dinner.

Still in Dharamkot

Monday 15^th June 2015

We were up and about at around 8.30am we have come to realise that the earlier we get to breakfast the busier it is and longer we have to wait. But we did make a friend in the tea house this morning and so that whiled away the wait.

We came back to the guest house and mucked around for a while at a bit of a loss of what to do with ourselves today. The weather which had started off gloomy and wet looked as though it was clearing and so we decided to jolly ourselves and hike to the waterfall.

It was much harder than we thought it would be its not too far but the path is extremely narrow and in places has fallen away it’s also very slippery as a lot of it is clamouring over wet rocks. In several places the path crosses scree and it looks as if the entire path could be swept away by a rock fall at any moment.

Land slide waiting to happen...

Standing on the path trying not to dislodge any rocks!

We saw a snail with a sideways shell

The water looked so amazing...to bad there was a naked man preventing us from dipping our hinges.

not the most spectacular waterfall!

When we finally reached the waterfall we wanted to go down and dip our toes in the pool but there was a guy sitting naked by the water and we decided not to disturb him. Instead we sat on a big rock for about ten minutes before heading back. It was late afternoon by the time we arrived back to town where I changed my shoes for jandals and we went in search of some food, both of us were starving.

Once we had eaten we went back to the guesthouse for a quick shower as we were heading down to the Tibetan institute of performing arts to see a show celebrating the Dali Lama and the Karmapa’s birthdays (they are both having big birthdays this year 80 and 30 respectively) at the beginning there was a ceremonial cake cutting and cake was offered in spirt to the two great leaders (as obviously they didn’t actually attend) we had hoped to get some cake at the end of the show but it wasn’t offered.

The show was an hour long performance of traditional song and dance and it was incredible. The costumes were amazing the dancers and musicians were amazing and the songs were beautiful and unusual. Each dance was from a different region of Tibet and celebrated something different it was great.

My favorite dance was this one with the snow lions!

After the show a group of us went and had dinner it was a great meal full of fun and laughter by the time we headed home it was late and we were keen for bed.

Tuesday 16^th June 2015

We didn’t have much of a plan for today but it was sushi day at the Japanese restaurant and so we used that as a good excuse to head to town. We also needed to hit up the ATM to pay for the tai chi course we start tonight so it worked out well.

After breakfast (at the tea house of course) we walked down to town and as it was still early we popped into a café for Mark to get his caffeine fix. We sat there a while with me trying to look at things to do after India but not really feeling the motivation especially after looking at a few flights and seeing how extortionate they were.

Before it got too late we headed to the Japanese restaurant. I actually struggled to eat all of it but it was so delicious I persevered. As we were finishing friends arrived and we stuck around talking to them for a while before deciding we needed to head back.

We had said we would pick up some tape from the chemist for Sandeep but it was closed so we had to walk through town to the other pharmacy where we found what we were looking for we then walked past the ATM so decided to go to another one but it was out of money so we had to walk back through town to the other one.

As I took my money I dropped my purse and everything fell out including a crystal I keep in there which smashed. In typical Indian style as soon as I had taken my money out of the slot the next guy had pushed his way in so I had to scramble to pick up my money (it was only when we got back later I realised I was missing a wad of money)

It took an age to walk up the hill back to the guesthouse we had about an hour before our first tai chi lesson (we are starting a five day course) so we chilled out for a bit and then walked to the tea house which was the meeting place for the class.

The class is really small just us and one other guy which is perfect. We waited a bit to see if another guy who was potentially joining showed up but he didn’t so we walked to the rooftop where classes will be held. Conveniently for us it’s right next to our guesthouse.

The first class was loads of talking as there is so much information to take in. Tony the teacher is a perfectionist which is awesome as it means our style will be on point once we have learnt it all. We spent ages going over the first few steps it’s like leaning the moves to a dance. By the end of the lesson I wasn’t sure any of it had stuck but it was good fun and I could defiantly feel that id worked out, it’s so much harder than it looks.

After class we met Sandeep at a café for dinner the food when it finally arrived was really good but it took well over an hour to come and we were starving and it was late by the time it did. My plate of food was massive and I went to bed feeling stuffed.

Wednesday 17^th 2015

We had a pretty low-key day today starting as always with breakfast in the tea house we then spent some time doing laundry and cleaning our room for some reason it seems to be some sort of mecca for insects they especially love to come and die in our room although I’m not sure how they get in since we stuff clothes under the door at night.

Once all our cleaning was done we headed to the Thai restaurant and sat there for a while on the internet I was still full from breakfast but Mark wanted Tom Yum Pak (soup) as it’s his favourite food at the moment we chilled there for a while and when we got hungry went down the road to an Indian place (I wanted cheap curry) I wasn’t as hungry as I thought I was and ended up feeling stuffed.

We walked back to the guesthouse and had a bit of time before tai chi started. In class the first half of what we learnt yesterday seemed to have stuck but I still wasn’t clear about the new bits it was fine when we were following Tony but as soon as we had to do it on our own I got to a point and got stuck. At the end of the sequence we learnt today was a move that really hurts my dodgy hip but I think it’s just because it’s so tight.

After class we headed straight for food we felt lazy and only went as far as the closest restaurant luckily they have good food and it is pretty cheap which is a bonus. We ate and then thought about meeting Sandeep for chai but decided we just wanted to go back and have a shower we had spent ages at dinner already and unused to so much exercise we wanted to go to bed.

Thursday 18^th 2015

After breakfast at the tea house we decided to walk into town to ask about buses for our onward journey (destination still undecided) and to get some lunch. We walked down and went to a café for a drink first and a bit of internet abuse. I used my time to look at options after India.

We then went to a few different places to ask about buses and with the information written down went in search of a meditation cushion for Mark which at only 250 rupees was a bargain.

With all our chores down we went and had some lunch at a restaurant we hadn’t tried before. The food was awesome and it had a cosy atmosphere.

Feeling satisfied we walked up the hill and spent about an hour chilling out before we had to leave for Tai chi. tonight the form seemed to fall into place which doesn’t mean it looked good but at least I could remember the moves. As it has the past two nights the two hours flew by and before we knew it class was over and it was time to go and find dinner.

We hadn’t taken anything with us to class so we had to return to the guesthouse to get money and then headed out for food. We went somewhere we have been before and last time the food was excellent but tonight it was average at best and the service was atrocious as all the staff seemed to be sitting in a corner drinking and only occasionally remembered they were supposed to be working. It seemed one guy was running the show on his own tonight.

After food we decided to have an early night and so headed back to the accommodation for showers and movies in bed.

Settling into Dharamkot

Wednesday 10^th June 2015

One day we stopped to talk to these crazy old goats!

This morning we got up and went and had breakfast then headed back to the guesthouse where we gave our room a clean and changed the sheets and what not. I also did some laundry.

Once that was all done and our room looked all spic and span we headed down the hill to Bagsu to the Thai restaurant where we had a drink and I uploaded some blog and when we got hungry we had some lunch.

After eating and blogging and uploading photos we decided to walk up to the Bagsu Waterfall which is a pretty easy walk. We later learnt that we could have cut across but we didn’t know that at the time and so walked all the way down to Bagsu up to the waterfall then back to Bagsu and then back up to Dharamkot. But it didn’t really matter It was a nice day (and we could do with the exercise!)

On the way up to the waterfall we bumped into a couple we met in Manali and chatted to them for a while before continuing up. Along the way a dog started following us and she stayed with us until we went back to Bagsu town.

The waterfall was overcrowded and there was loads of rubbish about there are three shops up there and all the rubbish seems to be deposited into the waterfall. Its baffling that they fail to realise that in time this will dissuade people from visiting or maybe they just don’t care as there are weekly clean ups in which tourists can feel good about picking up rubbish that shouldn’t be thrown there in the first place.

The Dog we adopted for our walk

Bagsu Waterfall

Me and the waterfall heading into the valley

We didn’t stay there long instead heading up to the Shiva café which is further up the hill. The view was great but that was about it. There were loads of groups of drunk leery Indian youths smoking hookahs and chatting shit, bad service (it took an age to order and then my drink never came) and crappy electro music blaring out completely ruining the serenity of the perfect view. We didn’t stay long and headed back down.

On the way back to Bagsu we took a wrong turn and ended up having to walk back uphill to get back where we wanted to be. We got back to the guesthouse as the thunder started. We had a shower and chilled out for a bit trying to wait for an appropriate time for dinner.

Unfortunately we waited too long and the rain started. This wasn’t some little shower either It was a full blown rain/hail storm with wind and thunder and lightning that lit up the entire sky (which shouldn’t have been dark as it was too early but was completely pitch with clouds)

In the end we had to make a run for it as Sandeep was waiting for us. We practically ran the whole way there so as not to get too wet, it didn’t really work though and we sat through dinner feeling very damp. We ate and then moved on for Chai somewhere else as there was a group of preteens playing the guitar (badly) and singing the same song (badly) over and over again and we had to get away before we threw pakoras at them.

It was still raining when we got to the chai shop and as soon as it stopped we made a break for it home to dry cloths and bed.

Thursday 11^th June 2015

Today was a super lazy day we got up and had breakfast after which Mark was tired and went back to bed the sun had his hat on so I took my yoga mat and sat on the balcony reading and drawing all afternoon. After a while I had nothing else to do so started watching a movie on my laptop Mark heard it and felt like he was missing out on something so came out and we watched some TV for a bit before heading out for an early dinner.

We saw Sandeep and he joined us although he had eaten a late lunch and so just had Chai. We went to café that serves vegan and veg food and both had pumpkin curry (which I know I could have made way better!) after we had eaten we were still hungry and so we walked down to Bagsu and had a falafel wrap as well.

The eating didn’t stop there though as we also decided to get dessert at another café which tipped us both over the edge and we spent the rest of the evening slowly dying. On the way back to the guesthouse we stopped off at another restaurant where we saw friends (we didn’t eat anything though) we all sat there for the rest of the evening and then headed home before the rains started again.

Friday 12^th June 2015

This morning we slept late and by the time we were up and had eaten breakfast it was lunchtime we went back to the guesthouse and put on shoes as we planned to walked up to the temple. As we walked up the hill we were walking away from blue skies and sunshine and into dark grey clouds and thunder, by the time we reached Gallu Temple the sky was almost completely black and the thunder went on and on in the pauses where it stopped for a few minutes the hillside was eerily quiet.

We sat on a rock and waited to see which way the clouds were moving as in the valley the sky was still clear and blue but the longer we waited the less sky we could see anywhere. Since we didn’t have any rain coats with us we decided to abandon the waterfall for another day. Last night I had a dream where we were on a hillside and there were rockslides all around us. We both had a creepy thought that it could be a premonition so we retreated.

Not long after we started back down the rain started and it made us feel justified in our decision not to keep going. We walked down to the tea house where we stepped in for a hot ginger lemon tea before going back to the guesthouse. While we were sitting there the rain stopped but as soon as we got up to leave the wind picked up sending he rain at us sideways meaning we had to run back to the accommodation.

I changed out of my wet clothes and Mark had a shower after which we shut ourselves away from the world and watched some TV

Just as we were getting ready to head out for dinner it started to rain but it was just a drizzle so we donned coats a headed out we sat in a café and ordered a few things to share but pretty soon they put on some horrendous dance music and we had to get out of there. We left to meet Sandeep for a chai and as they say great minds think alike as he was on his way to meet us.

We turned around and went somewhere completely different for a drink before attending a Kirtan. We were in a café right next to the studio where it was being held and it looked as though there was only a few people going but when they opened the doors the place just filled up with more and more people squeezing in.

For the next few hours we sang songs and mantras and meditated a bit time went by so quickly that I was surprised at the time when we came out. As it was Friday night it seemed as though there were things going on in town but we floated past them all and head home to bed.

Saturday 13^th June 2015

We got up and dressed with the plan to conquer the waterfall today only by the time we had eaten breakfast it was a bit rainy and we use that as an excuse not to walk up today. Instead we walked down to McLeod Ganj and had a day of eating.

On the way down we stopped off at a café as it had started raining heavily and the boys wanted coffee. The café was nice and cosy and we watched the world go by. I sat and read my book while the boys entertained themselves online for a while.

We planned to check out a Korean restaurant we had been told about and so when our bellies began to rumble and the rain died off we made our way there. We weren’t really sure what a lot of things were so lucky for us they had made a photo book with pictures of all the dishes we sat mouth-watering and struggling to decide what to get.

In the end I opted for Korean sushi which came with kimchi, seaweed soup and another side dish of eggplant it was all rather delicious although the sushi didn’t hold together as well as Japanese sushi does.

We sat in the Korean restaurant for quite some time as Sandeep was trying to book tickets somewhere, I was reading and Mark was as usual geeking at something on the internet. Eventually we got moving and walked through town looking in shops. I needed some more hay fever tablets and a new toothbrush (exciting purchases I know!) we looked in a few electronics stores to try and find me a case for my phone and for Mark to look at electronic things then decided to have a coffee.

We went to a nice place and chilled out for a while killing some time as we had decided to go to the Dharamsala Film Festival which started at 6pm and was halfway up the hill (to Dharamkot) at the Tibetan institute of performing arts. We got there and got tickets and had a bit of time to kill before it started so went across the road to a dharba and got some munch.

At 6pm we went in and found some seats we soon had to move as we couldn’t see past a very tall very upright couple in front of us but in our new seats the view was great. We saw four films the first was a USA/Nepalese made film called “Bon in Dolpo” all about the Bon religion which is over 9000 years old and has survived almost exclusively in a region of Nepal near the Nepalese border called Dolpo.

The religion has the same goal as Buddhism in that devotees seek to gain enlightenment but it has its own rituals, mantras and icons and rather than a single Buddha Bon worships over 1000 Buddha’s. In Dolpo the two religions are practiced side by side with devotees often sharing temples and monasteries. The film also went into information about the region speaking of the healthcare and education in the region (locals use a mix of traditional and western medicine and students learn meditation and ayurvedic medicine at school) the region is pretty cut off from everywhere but with the Chinese planning to build a road straight through the region and down into India this might soon change. Another problem faced by the community is that the younger generation often are not interested in staying and living the traditional lifestyle and so many fear for the community’s survival.

The next film was an American film called “Away” it was a short film at only 18minutes and was a bit sci-fi it focused on a young guy who leaves home searching for something and travels across America eventually finding a spaceship launching himself into space, making a realisation about God and coming back to earth with the realisation that what he was looking for was with him all along.

The third film was called “Where the Darkness has Run” an Indian/Irish/UK documentary about people who head to India on a spiritual journey it had a few main characters who have been living in India pretty long term. The film maker set off trying to answer the question of were these people running away from their problems by moving to India and living a spiritual life, were they lost and trying to escape something or was this just a different way of living. He film was really interesting and showed a lot of places I have been in India as well as featuring several people I have encountered along the way.

By the time the fourth film started I was beginning to fade which was a shame as it was super interesting. It was called “Planetary – Reconnect to something bigger” it’s an American documentary with the message that we need to reconnect to the planet, that we are all one living breathing organism and if we kill our planet then we are killing ourselves.

Once all four films were over we walked up the hill and headed to bed.

Sunday 14^th June 2014

After a bit of a sleepless night we both woke up exceptionally hungry and so got up and made our way to the tea house. It was super busy in there this morning and so service took rather a long while (the man gave us a cardomomon sweet to apologise for the Wit even though we weren’t bothered)

Back at the guesthouse the pleasantly sunny morning had become overcast and grey and pretty soon it was raining. We took a bit of time doing laundry and cleaning our room which seems to be an attraction for all sorts of insect creatures.

When the rain eased off we walked down to town and had a ridiculously cheap thali for lunch the place was rammed and it was a matter of eating and getting out before you became trapped. We came out and the rain had started again so we walked down the road to a café and had a hot drink and a piece of cake and sat in the warm and dry reading for a while.

We ventured out when the rain had stopped and wondered about doing a bit of shopping and generally peeping about in the markets and shops. We walked as far as the Dali Lamas temple and went in for a cheeky pee stop and to fill up our water bottles.

On the way out we looked in the bookshop and Mark bought a book before we headed on back through town we stopped off at a few more stores on the way up to the Tibetan instate of performing arts for the second night of the film festival.

We got our tickets and sat about as we were early and also were waiting for Sandeep. Just before 6pm e went in and found some seats for the first two films we had the perfect view and then a loud group came in and spent the next four films talking and standing up and generally getting in the way.

The first film was called “Alegria: A humanitarian expedition” a Nepalese film about a Swiss guy who cycled across Nepal and India through second highest pass in the world to raise money for mentally destitute woman in India as well as leprosy patients. He also volunteered for a month for the two causes in India which was also featured in the documentary. Along the (more than) 3000km journey he had to deal with the elements, a rock fall, altitude sickness and several crashes but the overall story was one of triumph.

The next film was called “Sulh-e-Kul” (peace to all) by an Indian film director who was actually at the festival and answered a few questions. It was a documentary about a famous Muslim saint whose tomb is in Ajmer Rajasthan. Every year pilgrims travel by foot over 500km in 13 days to visit his tomb where there are six days of celebrations. The saint is known as the patron of the poor and it is said people visit his tomb because they are called to him and that he grants every pilgrim what he needs (and often what he wants) the film featured several long term devotees as well as people making the journey for the first time. The tomb is different to most Muslim resting places in that non-Muslims and woman are both permitted to enter in fact anyone from any religion is welcome and they serve food for everyone there as well.

The third film was a short film called “Penchant” also by an Indian film maker who was also at the festival but chose not to speak passing on the message that the film speaks for itself. The story was the life of a pen who in the world of modern technology had been put aside but dreamt of one day being used again.

The next film was called “Cave Digger” an American film about a guy in America (New Mexico?) who digs caves. He has done several caves for people on commission that they live in but after finding people too restrictive of his personal dream he has opted to concentrate on creating his Magnum Opus. He worked on it for two years when it collapsed in and he had to start again the film ended with him beginning his new project that he estimated would take him 10 years at least. His caves were truly amazing he carves the walls as well as holes in the ceiling which are then filled in with glass making huge sky lights. They are truly a work of art.

The penultimate film was a short film only five minutes long called “Sugarless tea “another American made film about a young guy who well travelling in India befriends a man who works in the post office he tells the young guy the story that when he was a young boy his twin brother was injured and fell into a coma unable to pay for his care his brother was adopted by an American couple who took him back to the USA and raised him once they had paid for his treatment and he had recovered. The boy never returned to India and the Post office worker had never seen his brother since but was saving to visit America. One way he saved money was by having sugarless tea.

The last film was called “AWAKE: The life of Yogananda” yet another American made film about the life of Yogananda who is credited with bringing yoga to the west. He was born an old soul and as a child had wisdom beyond his years he trained with a master and in the early 1920s set out for America bringing his yogic philosophy. He was the first Indian Born Yogi to write memoirs and his book “autobiography of a Yogi” continues to be a best seller to this day. He also started the Self Realization fellowship, a lot of the interviews where devotees, monks and original members. The film was extremely interesting.

By the time the last film finished it was 10.30pm there had been several technical difficulties and power cuts throughout the night that had set the time frame back. By the time we had walked up the hill I was very ready to head to bed.