Hotel Him Queen Dharamsala

Deuxième jour de voyage : Nous nous levons vers 6h, faisons nos sacs et marchons en direction de l'arrêt des bus. Pour ceux habitués à des panneaux et des guichets, des bus alignés et une organisation globale compréhensible, ceci aurait été une énigme, mais David – je n’avais récupérée pendant la nuit bruyante et étais encore dans les nuages du sommeil – réussit à nous trouver un bus pour Pantakhot. Monter un ...

... of quite a few small resort towns, each with their own charm. Mecleond Ganj was exactly what I needed after what had been quite a few stressful days. <br><br>The town is full of Tibetan refugees, many of whom have taken over much of the tourism in the town. To get there some of these Tibetans have had to save for years to afford to illegally cross the Himalayas (in case you were wondering... not an easy task.. North Face ...

... that at times was so bumpy I rose a good six inches from my seat. Those who chose to rest across several seats risked rolling off onto the floor at any moment and several did. With windows wide open we made our way north from Delhi and towards the quieter environment of the Himalayas. A little sleep deprived, but very happy for the views and fresh air, we settled in a guest house with picture windows ...

... some background information on Diwali, its basically the Hindu version of Christmas and 4th of July combined. It means "festival of lights". So on Monday after work, a big group of us decided to go out for dinner in McLoudGanj and go to Bhatsu, the amazing waterfall that is an attraction right out side of McLoud. We took a taxi up to the main square and then decided to walk to Bhatsu which is about a 20 minute walk. On the way we stopped by this art ...

... the director of International Relations for HH Dalai Lama and his administration in exile. I saw H.H. upon my arrival on the 9th or 10th. It was the last day of a 3 day teachers training he gave. Saw some monkeys, Eagles gliding everywhere, great merchandise and presents for family and mom. kind people, majestic views, cool nights, light rain, monks, cows, dogs and beggars abound. But it all kind of flows and none of it ...

... had actually been chased by a gang of monkeys...a Tibetian monk came down the hill. I guess the monk was either less (or more) of a threat to the gang, but for whatever reason they dispearsed. We each took a handful of rocks (in case we were attacked again) and continued up the hill. We have also had some more peaceful interactions with Tibetian refugees that live in excile here. There is a school that holds ...

... of the Dalai Lama (but he wasn't home unfortunately) attended talks by reguess that have just made the harrowing journey from Tibet in the last few weeks. He is in fact the only refugee to arrive in India since the troubles began again in mid-march. His storey was really sad having to leave his family in Tibet because the Chinese army wanted to imprison him for flying the Tibetan flag and attending a protest. Imprisonment could be for years and would ...

... Germans and Mr Bean!! ... wasn't sure where he was from .. but he did remind me of Mr Bean!! so for 200 rupees between the 8 of us off we went in this jeep thing, what a crazy 10 km drive, almost worse than the bus!! BUT AT Last McLeod Ganj!! Home of his Holiness the Dalai Lama. PS they did have some funny taxi/bus/ rickshaws on the way as we looked out, never seen anything like it...see pics!!!

... violence, the Tibetans here in Mcleod have been protesting themselves. It's strange to be somewhere so small with so much political actvity going on, their are marches throughout the day and long into the evening, all the Tibetan businesses are closed (or trying to look like they're closed ..... more on this in a bit), there are posters and there is even a group of people on hunger strike outside the main temple. A couple of days ago there was even a visit by the speaker ...