Panah Hotel Dharamsala

... 2 a day and the morning one you can't book.....yep it'll be elbows at the ready again.

I did mange to get to the Tibetan Monastry todat (Dali's gaff as I rather cheekily called it yesterday) Everything was a tad different than expected as the Dali Lama is giving teachings. So the temple was closed during the day unless you had a pass for the teaching and the courtyard where the monks normally debate in the afternoon had been taken over as a lunch spot and spot for ...

... Indian food (a bit frustrating when you are in India!) Agama, the yoga
school I studied at in Rishikesh, has a school here as well and so many
of my friends from Rishikesh had moved up here a few weeks before I
arrived. It was very nice to arrive and already know people (Ragga only
stayed with me for one night...then she went off to a Vipasana
meditation-10 days of silent meditation).

I stayed in a small guesthouse in the middle of the mountain. To ...

... his car as he drove into his temple, I couldn't help but note the irony of people attaching so much to just his arrival since Tibetan Buddhism teaches to let your earthly attachments go! :) Regardless, it was quite a sight to witness. Leslie, Rob, and I met with Serene (drove me down the mountain after I skinned my heels while hiking) and decided ot take a 3 day trek into the Himalayas...more on this later!

Dharamsala...is the new home of many Tibetan refugees (fleeing from the Chinese rule after being persecuted and having many beliefs and way of life threatened)and the Dalai Lama for the past 50 years. We spent three days here checking out the temples. monestaries, and museums. We learned alot of history here and a new sense of the words "Free Tibet". While here, we killed some time watching the Quantam of Solice (which if you haven't seen...don't waste ...

... at the Anganwadi Ther, brought his guitar so we are thinking of playing the guitar for the kids while they dance and sings. Have any other ideas???Overall the placement is really enjoable and I know I will forma a lasting relationship with the kids- it just will take time because of the language barrier. After placement is over around 12, the CCS staff had all the volunteers go on a scavenger hung around Dharamsala to get to know our surroundings. One of the things I love about ...

... closing of the Pakistan and India border and the Golden Temple. The border closing ceremony was just a good time. There was a dance party on the street before the ceremony began. At least, on the India side there was. There is stadium seating at the border and you can see that Pakistan has a very similar set up. However, on Pakistan's side things looked rather quiet. On India's side the women went down to the street and danced to Bollywood ...

... beautiful, and meditating under the Bodhi tree was really special. But the town itself was not my favorite. There seemed to be an underlying negativity which prevaded many of the people that I met. That being said, I have found that anywhere that you are traveling, that you pick up on different vibes depending on where you are emotionally and where you have been traveling before. And there actually isn't that much to do in Bodhgaya ...

... taegiges und ein sechswoechiges Retreat und muss dann wieder nach Nepal weil mein Visum auslaeuft. Und ich weisz nicht ob das noch jemanden auszer mir interessiert aber Nepal hat jetzt ploetzlich eine Maoistische Regierung nach einem ueberraschenden Wahlsieg der kommunistischen Partei. Ich versteh die Welt nicht mehr (oder zumindest deren nepalesischen Teil). Bilder: http://picasaweb.google.com/laurin.jane s/MumbayDharamsala

... bathroom and kitchen - however it was quite expensive. We decided to take the room seeing as we really liked it and we could probably talk the price down since it was still the off-season, the guesthouse was empty, and we'd be staying for a month. However the owner of the place was one of those irritating indians who showers u with "yes yes" big smiles and pretends ur getting a good deal when really he's ripping u off. We also really did not like the fact that ...

October 28th - Manali, Himachal Pradesh India

Three days since we had met Yoshi in the bar at Hotel Tibet, with Michelle too ill to feel inclined to get out of bed, I made a journey to the Tibetan Children's Village (TCV). It was only a few kilometres uphill in a rickshaw and along the way I asked the driver to stop and let in a young monk who was walking along the road in the same direction. As we sat together in the back of the tinny vehicle he introduced himself as Kirzun and said ...