Himgiri Resort Dharamsala

It had to happen eventually, how many years of travelling and I finally mislay keys to my bag. Got here and wasn't sure if they were still in Amritsar or locked in my bag. Solution #1 hammer Solution #2 go to market for hacksaw<br>Guy at hotel took out fustrations (although he is Buddhist so not sure he has those!) on the lock with the hammer. After a couple of hefty blows lock open. 5 mins later keys ...

... the struggle to resist (supported by the CIA) which lasted until 1970. There is a memorial to the 1.2 million people who lost their lives in the conflict. <br><br>Buddhist devotees come to the temple to pay homage to the Buddha images inside, then complete a "Kora" or circular walk (clockwise) around the temple complex, turning numerous prayer wheels as they go, sending prayers out in all directions. Each prayer wheel is inscribed with the same ...

... the food, saying he wasn't going to poison me (which did not occur to me until he said it) and that he didn't understand why foreigners were so rude and wouldn't try the food. When we got off the bus and he tried to kiss me goodbye, I politely RAN in the other direction! These are the situations that make traveling in India as a woman TERRIBLE. And, I never know what to do. I probably should have said something, asked him to stop ...

... his studio which was a great break from the usual 9 hours of class! I am starting to get more comfortable with Tibetan language and the people in Dharamsala. While I am starting to become very comfortable with my awesome host family and some locals around town I still do not blend in. As a blond white person that is just not in the cards. Most people in Dharamsala are used to foreigners but the children still stare. One day as I was ...

... hall, to start meditation. I was about to spend the next 10 nights sharing a room with someone I knew nothing about, not even their name or the sound of their voice and believe me that is a strange experience. From this day and for the next 10 days we will be woken up at 4am, expected to be in the meditation hall at 4:30 (I did not quite manage that one) and then the day will be following the same routine: 4:00 am Morning wake-up bell 4:30-6 ...

... the atrocities perpetrated on the Tibetan people by the Chinese throughout the last half century. The city is in the mountains, and I'm sure the surrounding area is beautiful. But, for three days, it was foggy and rainy, so I couldn't appreciate the views. I tried to take one trek up a nearby mountain to Triund, but the weather changed so I opted to visit a nearby waterfall ...

... Planet apparently....! All of this was true. My god it was the best curry we had ever had. So we sat in there for 4 hours playing cards, drinking beer, listening to the table of 19 year old gap year students drunkenly droning on about how rich people should be stripped of all their money - and more money than you need for daily existence is pointless (Bless 'em), until the lights were slowly turned off and all the staff had their coats on!!! The next day we had the experience of ...

... some embroidered cushion covers. A thought that occurred to me is that the struggle of Tibetans to free themselves is really the desire of a group of people to regain their lost power. Pre the communist "occupation", it is Dalai Lama and the monks who held sway over the common people. They set up a system where the privileges were all with them and the ordinary Tibetans remained ignorant, nomadic and economically backward. They used religion as the force to perpetuate this system ...

... of his tent. A Sikh with a frizzy beard and a royal blue turban giggled as I tossed the chapathi from hand to hand. We joked in pidgin English. When I took Sunil's portrait in front of his stall, he posed with a rolling pin. When he sat with Leah, he posed with a steel plate, two dhal dishes, and a steel mess cup. In the hotel lobby this morning was a saddhu, clad in saffron, carrying a walking stick, with a long white beard, eating banana pancakes.

... single minded statements, but the Chinese side is worrying. Friends of mine who have taught in China have been amazed at the censoring and limited knowledge Chinese students have of their own history. The government has wiped away any history that does not fit their version of the truth as with an enormous calligraphy brush. While many nations are guilty of massaging their own histories, China seems to have beaten theirs nearly to death. It is this group of young Chinese who ...