Ladies Venture Guesthouse Dharamsala

... inside the bag!

1st casualty of the trip: pair of trousers ripped getting off rickshaw in Amritsar. Note: be careful jumping off rickshaws especially when you are travelling light. Luckily fab tailor from Lhasa accross from hotel in Dharansala so he patched them up. They will do for now until I find a new pair.

Why do taxi drivers in Dharansala like James Blunt???? Driver on journey from ...

... As the wheels spin, the Buddhists believe the prayers are repeated over and over.

There are programs throughout the community to provide support to the Tibetan community here. Medical centers, and schools of Tibetan music, scripture, art and dance are located here as well.

During our visit to the temple, we found a couple of hundred people there in prayer. In the center of the temple facing the Buddha image there were ...

... his arm against me. But, I never know what is appropriate to say or do. Some buses have 'ladies only' rows, I guess so that this can be avoided. Although, from what I've heard, this isn't something that happens to Indian women. It is just the foreign women who have to deal with it.

Bus number two was a bit better, as Ragga and I made sure to sit next to each other, taking up as much room as possible so that noone could squeeze ...

... more than a few steps when she returned and resumed staring at me. Then she poked me, again! And there we stood for a good minute poking back and forth until we both started grinning and she ran away again and I went home. It was good fun. We have Mondays and Tuesdays off so I went with seven friends for an Indian road trip! Now an Indian road trip is not like other road trips. Indian roads are used by monkeys, cows, walkers, bikers ...

... of rabid dogs up here but it's been ok so far! I went to the Dalai Lamas residence and it was heavily protected by armed police, I find the mixedness of the whole thing very baffling. And to answer my sisters Questions Monks seem to wear burgandy levis shirts under their robes. The only way I can recognise the Monks in My Gompa is buy looking at their shoes! I know that sounds bad but they all have the same hair and the same delightful expression and the same clothing, what is a girl to do.

... be the Indian headquarters for Israeli backpackers, with Israeli restaurants lining the streets. And while I'll admit I enjoyed the Hummous and pita, I prefer to go to places that are more authentically Indian, and have not been taken over by restaurants and shops catering to Western tastes. So, I'm off to Amritsar, which is a bit more off the tourist track (for foreign tourists).

... mountain would have been more fun, cheaper and a damn sight quicker. We walked down to the Dalai Lama's House! He wasn't in for tea. So we went to the café where the monastry is and ate the most beautiful pizza ever. Café run by monks-in-training. Lovely guys. We then walked round to the actual monastry just in time for prayers. The place was HEAVING with monks in their heavy red robes and yellow cloth bags. They were all sitting cross legged inside and in front of the temple ...

Wow, the past two weeks have flown by. We have kept very busy up here. The town is crawling with classes on everything you can imagine. Walls are plastered with flyer's for classes of all kinds, Yoga, meditation, healing classes of all kinds, music classes, jewelry making, dancing of all kinds, massage lessons, cooking classes, language classes, Buddhist philosophy. You name it and you can find it here. Plus the classes are so cheap you can't beat it. We ...

... guy and a girl I can't tell from where. The waiter brings him eggs and after a few moments staring at them, he throws his hands up in the air. He waves the boy over. "These are scrambled eggs. I ordered poached eggs." He sent them back. He has the Tibetan prayer Om Mani Padme Hum tattooed on his forearm. A girl to our right has it on her shoulder. The waiter comes back with the poached eggs. "Butter? I need butter. You expect me to eat this ...

I am now among the few, among the many who have seen the Dalai Lama. The past week he has been giving teachings here. Dressed in a chuba, I attending one morning with one of my Tibetan friends, where we lined up and stood feet away from His Holiness as he paraded to his seat. We rushed forward to get a good seat, and for about 2 hours I sat watching this extraordinary man as he spoke. The Tibetans, I've noticed ...