Back from dharamsala to delhi i can't think ...

Back from Dharamsala to Delhi. I can't think what else happened in the small hilltop town, saw some snow monkeys. Oh, it snowed for a couple of days which was beautiful and all the mountains around the town looked even more majestic.

3 Kates and Graeme (ker-ching!)

Sorry I haven't written much, but i pretty much just sat in restuarants, talked with some other people about some interesting things, ate nice food, relaxed and went to a couple of bars (where beer called HeMan 9000 was served). Learned to dance a bit too (quite a feat in size 10 hiking boots). My minds a bit of a blank on that front, so will try and get back into this travelogue now i'm inthe middle of delhi again...

Golden Temple

Travelled back from Dharamsala via Amritsar again with 3 girls, all called Kate, which was good fun. We all visited the Golden Temple again which was even better than the first time I went. We stayed in the temple complex for about 6 hours, just wandering and sitting in the shade and watching the pilgrims. Again we ate with the pilgrims, but this time we got dal, chapaties, sweet rice and pickled limes - a feast. Myself and Katie (standing to my right in the photo) were sitting in a little garden watching a seikh wedding. all the men sat on the grass on one side, the women on the other. neither the bride or groom (sitting cross legged inches apart - no touching) could crack a smile for the entire 20 minute ceremony of picture taking and cash giving. We got a little bit of sweet cake with real silver foil which we ate, and also got asked to have our pictures taken with the happy(?) couple. That was a bit of a laugh for us anyway. For the rest of the day we just sat about as there is nothing else to do in amritsar save the temple, and the town is bit of a dump. Had some dinner then caught the night train back to Delhi.

Train journey pretty uneventful. A couple of guys wandering about with breech-loading rifles stirring up some tension, but not much else going on. Quiet by comparison to the Venga bus party train on the northward journey some days ago. I woke just as the train pulled into a station just before New Delhi and I opened my wee day bag to read the timetable to work out how far away we were. As I sat at one end of my bed on the side top bunk, some confused old guy came up and asked if the train stopped at "New" delhi or "old" delhi (2 different stations), i told him "New Delhi". He asked me again. I answered "New Delhi" a second time. When he asked me a third time, I was like - "What the...?" and i looked over and some equally old guy is rummaging thru my bag!! What?!! i gave him a bit of a swipe across the mouth and grabbed his hands out my bag - he just looked at me like "What? i wasn't doing anything!" I grabbed his arms and started searching thru his pockets and stuff. It's just as well I sleep with all my valuable (camera etc) zipped into my fleece. There was nothing in my back but some old books and a scarf. I thought I was pretty clued up now on the scams, but this old pair of crooks could have had me. Bit of a shock, and they walked calmly away as if nothing had happened. Bit startled, but i checked my back and they didn't take anything. What a sucker i was. They might all be at it in this country, so you tend not to talk to anyone which is a real shame but the risk of getting fleeced is too much. A real shame. I was lucky not to get done, and my money belt is firmly down my CKs.

ok, that's about it for now. sorry this isn't very interesting, but i've been sitting up on the hotel roof away from all the mess in the streets and i've probably got a bit too much sun and am feeling a little spaced out. See the piccies of the Golden Temple and also of the 3 girls i'm with at the moment (though about 4 other people we know from Dharamsala have also arrived in Delhi so we will have a reunion dinner tonight).