Tashi delek! (Hi, or literally "good luck" in Tibetan!)
Yesterday we realized that between Gandhi's birthday, teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and the more common but equally important weekends, we will have about 9 days off in a row coming up. Our little group has begun planning a trip to Goa, which I personally know nothing about aside from what others have told me. According to them, it's in the south of India, near (at least relatively near) Mumbai, and it's a beach town. City. Whatever.
Apparently it's the place to be in the summer. It sounds more or less like the Indian equivalent of Daytona Beach, or Cancun, or some other spring break type destination. So far it looks like the trip will involve either a) a 12-hour bus ride from Dharamsala to Delhi, or b) a four-hour bus ride to another city where we will catch a 10-hour train to Delhi, and from Delhi either c) a 40-some-hour train ride to Goa or d) a 4-hour flight to Goa.
Julie and I are leaning toward the flight option since it should only cost about 5000 rupees per person, which is less than a hundred bucks USD. Details will follow as they develop.
In other news, getting around Dharamsala and McLeod Ganj is tiring. In order to go pretty much anywhere, you have to hike. The roads are steep, and so are the stairs. "Shortcuts" tend to involve somewhat sketchy paths through the forest, often paved with old stones covered in slippery moss. Kalden navigates them with the ease and fluidity of a mountain goat, and Julie and I pick our way carefully down because we really don't want to, you know, fall off the mountain. Walking downhill for half an hour can be tiring since it's so steep, but walking up is, of course, even moreso. If you're the kind of person who uses a stair machine at the gym, you should consider a trip to Dharamsala. We have been eating cake, cookies, and Indian sweets nearly every day; we don't worry too much about it because we figure we work it all off by the time we get home anyway.
Remember how I said India loves Coke? Check it out... it's even made with real sugar here. GET WITH THE PROGRAM, USA!
We had palak paneer today at lunch. One thing I've noticed is the consistency is totally different from any of the palak/saag paneer I've had Stateside; back home you can really see the spinach in it, but here in India they put it through a food processor and it's this smooth green stuff. It was pretty good. I've always preferred mattar paneer, myself.
Here is some info for those of you either not on FB, or who missed my post earlier in the week...
If anyone is interested in sending me letters or goodies from home, you can do so at this address:
Magda Ksiazak
c/o Tibet Charity
Lower Temple Road
P.O. MacLeod Ganj, 176219
Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India
The address system around here seems pretty open to interpretation (I've seen the same address written a few different ways), but as long as you have all these pieces of information I'm pretty sure it'll get to me. I have no idea how long it'll take, though, so don't send anything that can go bad.
Yesterday we realized that between Gandhi's birthday, teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and the more common but equally important weekends, we will have about 9 days off in a row coming up. Our little group has begun planning a trip to Goa, which I personally know nothing about aside from what others have told me. According to them, it's in the south of India, near (at least relatively near) Mumbai, and it's a beach town. City. Whatever.
Apparently it's the place to be in the summer. It sounds more or less like the Indian equivalent of Daytona Beach, or Cancun, or some other spring break type destination. So far it looks like the trip will involve either a) a 12-hour bus ride from Dharamsala to Delhi, or b) a four-hour bus ride to another city where we will catch a 10-hour train to Delhi, and from Delhi either c) a 40-some-hour train ride to Goa or d) a 4-hour flight to Goa.
Julie and I are leaning toward the flight option since it should only cost about 5000 rupees per person, which is less than a hundred bucks USD. Details will follow as they develop.
In other news, getting around Dharamsala and McLeod Ganj is tiring. In order to go pretty much anywhere, you have to hike. The roads are steep, and so are the stairs. "Shortcuts" tend to involve somewhat sketchy paths through the forest, often paved with old stones covered in slippery moss. Kalden navigates them with the ease and fluidity of a mountain goat, and Julie and I pick our way carefully down because we really don't want to, you know, fall off the mountain. Walking downhill for half an hour can be tiring since it's so steep, but walking up is, of course, even moreso. If you're the kind of person who uses a stair machine at the gym, you should consider a trip to Dharamsala. We have been eating cake, cookies, and Indian sweets nearly every day; we don't worry too much about it because we figure we work it all off by the time we get home anyway.
Remember how I said India loves Coke? Check it out... it's even made with real sugar here. GET WITH THE PROGRAM, USA!
 |
| Indian Coke is made with real sugar. By default. |
 |
| Smoooooooth... this palak paneer is the real deal. |
Here is some info for those of you either not on FB, or who missed my post earlier in the week...
If anyone is interested in sending me letters or goodies from home, you can do so at this address:
Magda Ksiazak
c/o Tibet Charity
Lower Temple Road
P.O. MacLeod Ganj, 176219
Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India
The address system around here seems pretty open to interpretation (I've seen the same address written a few different ways), but as long as you have all these pieces of information I'm pretty sure it'll get to me. I have no idea how long it'll take, though, so don't send anything that can go bad.
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