Dalai Lama, Dharamsala

Took a 12 hr overnight bus from Delhi to Dharamsala. Obtaining the ticket was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. I won't elaborate but suffice to say that I had to get ice cream at McDonald's after.

A surprise find at McDonald's. Only my sister and parents (if they ever read this thing) can appreciate this. The happy meal toy is of my favorite cartoon character growing up, 小叮噹 ! It's a Japanese cartoon, which makes me wonder if a lot of the jokes are missed by the Indian population. My guess: definitely.



Dharamsala, more specifically a section of it called McLeod Ganj, was awesome and definitely worth the terrible travel conditions. Not only is it the exile home of the Dalai Lama but it is also the world's greatest hippie tourist destination. I've never seen so much nappy hair in one place. I really wanted to hand out free shampoo and conditioner. Still, it was pretty nice being one of the many foreigners at Dharamsala. No stares or rude comments all weekend! And only two celebrity photos with Indian families. =)

View of the Himalays from our hotel room.

The people were amazingly nice and friendly. It was also strangely comforting to see so many other Asians. Many Tibetan refugees end up in Dharamsala. When we tried Tibetan food, I was pleasantly surprised to find that a lot of it is exactly like the food Dad makes at home. Maybe we are descendants of Tibetans! Disappointingly, however, the food I was most excited to try, something called the momo is just dumplings. I was hoping for something much cooler.Trish and I pictured here at our favorite rooftop Tibetan restaurant. We managed to eat there twice in the 36 hours we were there.

While walking around, it started to drizzle a bit but then we saw 3 rainbows!
(I can count. Only two were photographed due to some electrical cables.)

While hiking in the foothills of the Himalayas, (that's right, so badass) John made a new friend. We named her Smokey the Dog and she followed us around on our hike until a pair of hippies stole her from us. This was supposed to be a simultaneous "sniff" picture but I was too slow.

View of one of the main street in McLeod Ganj.

While there, we also visited the Tibetan Museum, which documents their recent history of oppression and suffering under the Red Chinese Government. Their plight really struck a cord with me. Cheesy as this is, I know what it is like to be kept from my ancestral home by a hostile government. Although my people never suffered as much as the Tibetans, I can certainly sympathize. It takes a special kind of cruelty to torture and kills monks.

Tibetan prayer flags.

Making the trip to see the Dalai Lama's temporary home makes me wish I were more religious. I loved seeing so many Tibetans devoting themselves to the rituals of their religion and finding so much hope and comfort in them. I was also surprised at how little hatred the Tibetans I met held for the Chinese. Many of them even conversed with me in Mandarin (education is delivered only in Mandarin, the Tibetan spoken and written language is not taught in schools).

Our new friend, Jamphel. He escaped from Tibet in 2006 and walked on foot with 26 others for a total of 24 days to reach Dharamsala.

We happened to be there on the Panchen Lama's birthday. He has been a political prisoner of China since the age of 6 (He is now 25). The Panchen Lama is the second most important political/spiritual leader in Tibet. He has not been seen since the Dalai Lama announced him as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama, 19 years ago. The Temple held a rally and hunger strike to raise awareness.

It was a great trip and I am sad to be back in Delhi. When we entered the city, we were greeted by an overwhelming smell of sewage, lots of people defecating by the road, and smog so thick that industrial revolution England would have looked like a poster for Earth Day. Only a few more days left and I'm off to Darjeeling!!!