Hotel Kamal Palace Jalandhar

... a procession to Anandpur Sahib for cremation. The Punjab Government has constructed a pillar here, on which is inscribed the following quotation from Guru Gobind Singh describing the unique martyrdom of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadurji, "The Lord (Guru Tegh Bahadur) protected their paste mark (Tilak) - and the sacred thread. A great deed he enacted in the age of kala (darkness)". When we were copying our pictures f rom cam to laptop, one innocent family ...

... safety soon lol. There were tears in most ppl's eyes as the bride and groom left for their honeymoon. Me and Suv stayed on at the resort to help clear up and pay the waiters who were constantly begging for money. Just as we were leaving we saw a guy passed out on the sofa. We tried to sober him up and between me and Suv we worked out he was on the in laws side. His lift ...

... right outside the main office and had a great view of the audience- there is a guy riling up the crowds and lots of singing along to chants. The women were opposite us and it looked really beautiful with all the different coloured saris! Basically the guards frog-march and high-kick their way to the border where they face-off with the pakistani guards before the flags at either end are ceremoniously lowered. It was great fun and had such a good atmosphere ...

... a bunch of larries! On the way back to Pind I grabbed a loaf of bread and a can of baked beans, I really fancied a change from Roti! When I got back I made curried beans with toast, and it was a welcome change! I spent most of the evening carrying on with the recordings and resting. I feel much better today, just hope this thing with the ticket gets sorted. I will give my self one more day of rest before heading for Jalandhar for the last time on Saturday.

Day 200 Sat 27th May 2006 52 degrees in Nawa Pind!!! Well that was the prediction yesterday, weather it actually got up to that I couldn't really say, all I know it was bl**dy hot!!! I stayed in most of the day sweating my gonads off, by the way if Derek, Colby or Alex are reading this, even the Prickly Heat powder didn't cut it today! I was up early again due to the heat. After breakfast I set about washing my clothes and cleaning the house (Laxmi still ...

... was in hospital because he had jaundice, so I gave that one a miss. I spent the afternoon updating stuff on the website. I had a call from Ashni uncle asking me to come to the shop. I asked Vinod to drop me up there and the 5 minute bike ride in the afternoon heat was unbearable, I've never felt anything like it, not even in Egypt or Dubai. Lets just say it was way to hot ...

After leaving the heat of Rajasthan, we travelled via Punjab to reach the cool mountain town of McLeod Ganj (near Dharamsala) in Himachal Pradesh, Northern India. This mountain town is nestled in amoungst pine forests and snow capped peaks and is a picturesque and relaxing place to hang around for a while (along with the 100s of other backpackers in town). The Dalai Lama came here in exile ...

... tour of village life, Peter Scot (whiskey) and more snacks. We visited two different Punjabi village homes of Edmonton men. The wives and servants of course were in the kitchen and never left. There we met a dumb and deaf man who was fascinated by me. My first sight of him was seeing him peering into the room through a dark minaret shaped window for several long minutes, big wide eye staring at me, before he begged an introduction. We then took the necessary ...

... dumplings. Wednesday 6th July I've been here a week doing a whole lot of nothing - at first for health reasons, and then due to the weather. Monsoon has arrived: it's been raining on and off for several days, but solidly for the last 24 hours - there's no street market today, the roads have become rivers, and the Dalai Lama's 70th birthday celebrations have been significantly hindered. Still, it's a nice enough place to be stuck in the rain - plenty of ...