Banjara Camp (Sangla) Himachal Pradesh

Choling Monastery is about a 10 minute walk from my house, like all the monasteries in the area it is beautiful with huge temples and stunning architecture. Today is the start of a 9 day retreat called the Vajrakilaya Drubchen, a very special time for the monks and also the students of Choling Rinpoche as Choling himself would be in attendance. The Ceremony is for the Deity Vajrakilaya who is the god of overcoming obstacles.

Himachal Pradesh, India zoecheer

... me that the problem was that I have a disease that is turning my hair grey, she looked at my hair and told me that for my age I have too much grey hair, this is normal for someone who is 40 or 45 but not for someone who is 29. I was surprised at where the conversation had gone as I have never noticed a grey hair on my head and still can't understand exactly what she was talking about. She said that I can make my hair turn black again (black???) by not eating lady finger (a ...

... apartment would probably go for about $300 a week in Sydney. The family are lovely, I have been helping the little girl with her English and Mira (the mother) brings me tea every morning.

After spending a week in my new home and starting a new job working on a website for the Buddhist centre here I took a trip to Sidbhari (next to Dharamsala) which is approximately 2 hours drive from Bir. I stayed with an American web developer named Brian who is doing some work with ...

... seem live harmoniously together in this small town.

There is a small community of westerners here in Bir and I feel as though every social event we go to includes pretty much all of them. Half are around my age and half are closer to mum's with a few in between. I have recently been spending time with a Canadian Monk who is teaching English at the monastery where mum works. Apart from the no alcohol, sex and drugs the Karma is not your average ...

... stayed at an amazing guesthouse surrounded with beautiful red and green apple trees. Was nice to have good company, play chess with Alon and take short walks in the rain in the beautiful village. When the rain stopped we stayed an extra day and hiked up a mountain. I came to the conclusion that trekking is not always that great. It was 3 hours of steep climbing and 1 hour of steep descending.

... kind to us and I don’t think I’ll need half the warm clothes I’ve brought. The nights will be cold from now on until we get back to Manali, and provided the weather doesn’t become overcast or foul the days will be warm. So the campsite will be
cold and rudimentary, but they provide doonas & blankets so will be warm enough. 5am start tomorrow for the long ride to Leh (262 km)

... there and in the surrounding village with greenhouses.

Fortunately I got chatting to one of the hotel's employees who took me up the very steep valley ,past cannibis plants growing as abundantly as stinging nettles, and to a small community who made their living through the cultivation of Kinnaur apples and subsistence arable agriculture using terraced hillside fields.

Reckong Peo, Himāchal Pradesh, India harryvs

... metre away from our vehicle. Within half an hour the barriers ran out and there was nothing to stop us falling to our deaths. Strangely the rest of the bus were not at all bothered by the dangerous driving. After another few hours the road narrowed even further and the concrete ran out, meaning that there we spent hours in clouds of dust. This wasn't helped by the heavy traffic coming the other way that nearly ...

The Spiti Valley is not India. It's Tibet without the Chinese. Once part of the Tibetan kingdom but now arbitrarily part of India, thukpa and momos replace chapati and dal as Indian influence almost disappears, with the exception of the occasional cricket oval, somewhat incongruous with the barren landscapes, and the bureaucratic runaround involved with obtaining the 'inner line' permit, necessary for travel close to the Tibetan border; a process that should have taken five minutes but ...

... Our room was simple, had four beds room for little else and a simple and not so clean bathroom. But it was cozy and warm and rain proof, so we were happy. It rained for the rest of the day so we just read, unpacked, and played cards until dinner and then called it an early night. The next day we had a traditional Indian breakfast of Chapati, a spicy pancake made of potatoes and onions, again served with the Indian ketchup. We started on the trail around 7:30 AM and began ...