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.