A Motorbike Adventure, and Kashmiri Hospitality

The countdown is moving faster all the time! I'm now in my last 48 hours in McLeod Ganj. It's amazing how you can feel like you're getting things done but once the deadline gets close enough, it seems like there's no way you'll accomplish everything you want to before you go.

Yesterday I went on an adventure with Neil. I know early on I swore I'd never get on a motorbike here in India, but the circumstances were such that I decided I'd take my chances in this particular instance. We rode the back way out of Lower Dharamsala, where I'd never been before, through a little village called Khanyara, and into the mountains. When the road got bad enough we were worried about the bike surviving the trip, we parked it and walked the rest of the way.

We found a valley full of slate (I think?) with a river at the bottom. We made our way down to the river where we took photos and video of the rushing water before finding a big, flat rock to use as a picnic area and eat our lunch. It's pretty amazing... looking at the way the rocks in the sides of the valley had clearly moved due to some kind of tectonic activity at one point or another was stunning. Millions -- billions -- of shards of rock littered the ground; it was like a geological boneyard. Standing there pondering this, I couldn't help but think that nature is so huge and so incredible, the sheer randomness of everything that happens in the world is poetry on a huge scale. In the grand scheme of things, none of it means anything... and yet there is such detail and such beauty and such intricacy that it feels like there's no way we could possibly ever discover everything there is to see.

The world felt enormous beyond comprehension.

A gigantic boulder "menacing the path," as Neil said.

Can you see the caves?

As it has since I returned from Rajasthan, once the sun goes down the temperature drops ten degrees within a matter of minutes, and then keeps on going. We rolled back into McLeod Ganj bundled up in multiple layers. The guys at New Varuni House, where I'm staying, had invited me for dinner around 8/8:30. At about ten after I got a call on my room phone informing me that food was ready and I should come downstairs.

I should know by now that the Indian definition of "come for dinner" is a bit different from the American one. What they meant was "Come down for snacks, drinks, and conversation, and we'll have dinner in a couple of hours." Regardless, I had a good time hanging out with Sanjay and Anil as we talked about all kinds of things. Apparently the Kashmiris are known for their hospitality, and these guys definitely lived up to the standard. We had aloo gobi (that's potatoes & cauliflower for those of you less familiar with Indian food), a chicken dish that isn't on the menu, and chapatti (roti/bread). I mentioned that they didn't offer channa masala on the menu (chickpeas) and that it's my favorite -- Sanjay told me that as a matter of fact, they bought some channa earlier and they'd be happy to make it up for me before I left.

So that's what I'm getting ready to do right now: go down and have some channa masala made just for me. :3 If last night is any indication, I won't be making it back to my room until midnight or so, so I'd be wise to tidy up a bit before I go. My bus ticket is booked for Wednesday evening, I finished all but the last few tiny bits of shopping today (Sanjay even offered to drive me out to Bhagsu to look for one piece in particular), and so I figured I'd start packing. I'm pretty sure by the time I give most of my old clothing to some of the locals and toss things I neither want nor need, I should be able to fit everything else into one checked bag, a carry-on, and a personal item (admittedly one that just barely falls within the measurement restrictions).

Earlier today I met Kalden and Van for lunch since Van was all set to leave for Delhi this evening. One by one, the volunteers are leaving. I was one of the first to get here and it seems I'm the last to leave. I've been saying goodbye to all the friends and acquaintances I've made here; there are a handful of people I wish I'd gotten to know better, earlier. So it goes. I guess it gives me extra incentive to come back.

Pizza & Momos

This is it. I'm done teaching at Tibet Charity. Final exams were held yesterday; most of my students passed (a few of them have the extra credit to thank for that) and some did exceptionally well. 

Today Gusti and I took them out for a pizza party in Dharamkot. The students brought some momos, we ordered ten delicious pizzas, and everyone had a lot of fun.

They kept telling me to sit down and relax, but I can't help it -- I enjoy entertaining and if I'm in anything resembling a hostess position, I tend to get into it. I asked them if they have winter holidays coming up in Tibetan/Bhutanese culture aside from New Year's. They said no, but asked about what we've got in the US. I told them all about Thanksgiving (Happy T-day to my friends in the States!), which most of them seemed quite interested in, and they asked all kinds of questions about turkeys. I don't think they have them here. I told them how most Americans prepare a big meal for this holiday so the fact that we were all out having food together was, in a way, quite similar. It's like they'd gotten together to make a Thanksgiving-away-from-home for me, and they seemed pleased that they could do this.

They insisted on doing everything. The students wouldn't let Gusti or me cut the pizzas, they wouldn't let us serve the food, and they always gave us the first slices when a fresh one would come out. Tibetans can be very bossy, but when it's in the context of such hospitality, how can you get upset?

After finishing our lunch and taking a bunch of photos on a dozen different cameras, phones, and tablets, they instructed us to follow them "up to the mountain." When I asked how far they answered "not far," but pointed to some indefinite area wayyyyyyyy off in the distance. I joked that it would take so long I'd miss my flight home. I hadn't worn the proper shoes for a real hike; I knew we'd be taking pictures so I opted to wear my red jutis that I got in Jaipur. People have been telling me they're more like house shoes. This bothered me at first, but then I remembered: I don't wear shoes in the house. If they're shoes, and I'm wearing them, it's going to be outside.

I pointed this out to them, that I wasn't wearing anything that could possibly pass for hiking shoes. Jampel, the one monk, told me "the Bhutan guys are very strong, they'll carry you!" to which the "Bhutan guys" responded that Tibetans were stronger (it's true, they tend to be tall and tough in general), but one way or another they'd get me where we were going.

This is Dolker. She's super sweet, and a pretty good student, too.

The view just never gets old.

Eventually we came to a Hindu shrine where we took some more photos and then backtracked just a little to a grassy spot where we could chill, sing songs, and munch on snacks for a while.

When we finally headed back down to McLeod Ganj, they insisted on taking a shortcut -- the same shortcut that Kalden, Brij, Marie, and I took when we went up to Triund that one time. At one point my foot slipped a bit and I heard a chorus of "Ohhh!" from the students who were in the lead and down below us. Lobsang Dolma, one of my quietest but most thorough students, insisted on holding my hand the rest of the way to make sure I didn't fall, even though she had also earlier insisted on carrying my bag as well as Gusti's, even though she already had her own. "Tibetans are very strong," I observed. They asked me if the roads were "like this" where I live; I told them no, only in the forests in some places. Generally they are in much better condition. They seemed to take this as a perfectly good explanation as to why they could navigate the rocky, irregular path so much more easily than us westerners.

Regardless, we made it down with no casualties. What we had originally planned to be a 3-hour event turned into one that lasted all morning and into the afternoon. It was fantastic. I love the comfort level that you reach with people after seeing them nearly every day for weeks or months, and when the official business or class or whatever is done, everyone can just relax and have a good time together. This evening we had our last staff/volunteer dinner at TC, tomorrow morning we have our closing ceremony for the semester, for which I still have to put together a speech of some sort, and after that.... we're all done. I just have to tie up my loose ends around town as far as last-minute gift obtainment, pay my bill at the hotel, eat at my favorite restaurants once or twice more, pack up all of my stuff -- and decide what's not coming back with me -- and that's it. Get on a night bus to Delhi next Tuesday or Wednesday evening, make sure I tell my students ahead of time because I know at least a couple will want to see me off, and go. Exactly one week from this very moment I'll be somewhere in Indira Gandhi International Airport, maybe waiting to go through security, maybe chilling at my gate with a book, but I'll be having my final few hours in India. 

Four months sure flies when you're having fun. I knew it would.

Where should I go for my next trip? I've got a couple of places in mind, but I'm interested to see what kind of input I can get from my dear readers......

Tso Pema: Lotus Lake

September 30^th, 2013: Day 1 of HH's teachings for a group from Taiwan, and also Day 1 of our trip to Manali. Since there are no classes at Tibet Charity this week, a few of the other teachers and I decided it would be a good time to see another part of India. After some discussion we settled on Manali, an area east of Dharamsala and still in the mountains.

As I understand it, most people who travel to Manali do so for the purpose of hiking. We are not going to be hiking in Manali. We're just going to check it out because it's relatively close.

Seems legit.

More tea fields!

The view from the window of the tiny bathroom at the rest stop.

ALL of the trucks and other large vehicles say this on the back.

In order to get to Rewalsar, the town where we're spending the first night, we had to drive for about 4-5 hours. On winding mountain roads. I am happy to report, however, that no one got sick. Verity thought she was going to at one point but she kept it together. Our driver, Naresh, is very friendly and a darn good driver; he's considerate of the fact that not everyone can take hairpin turns at 30 miles an hour for hours on end.

I spent much of the trip trying to decipher the signs we saw on the road. I'll have you know that I can recognize about half the letters in the Hindi alphabet without much trouble, which I think isn't too bad. I'm working on getting the other half down.

We had to travel through a little city called Mandi.

Hey look! A stop light!

I got some decent scenery shots. It still amazes me how you can see layers and layers of mountains if your vantage point is right.

Eventually we arrived in Rewalsar! It's tiiiiiiiiiiny. Another name for this place is Tso Pema; tso means lake and pema is flower or lotus, therefore “lotus lake.” There's a story about the Buddha or someone appearing in the center of the lake, in the center of a lotus. Currently there is a giant Buddha statue here that you can even see from the mountain road across the valley as you come into town.

You know you're in a Tibetan area when you see a wall of prayer flags.

TRIUND

If you recall, last weekend we went on a hike. One of our party wanted to go to Triund, but the rest of us weren't feeling up for it as a spur of the moment thing so we kept it local that day. Well, earlier this week we planned. We planned on pulling out the big guns.

Today, we would go to Triund.

Triund is the trekking destination here. It's up on a mountain and getting there is quite an adventure. It's a name that carries a lot of weight around here – “'Where are you going?' 'Triund'” is usually followed by an awed “ooooooh,” whether it's audible or not. From what I understand, it's a hike that many people can – and do – make, not just the seasoned professionals and hardcore hikers. I guess it's kind of like collecting your family or friends and going to the beach for a day... except there's a lot of work involved in getting there.

The hike generally takes about 5 hours to complete if you are a group of mildly experienced hikers moving at a reasonable pace. Most of the teachers at Tibet Charity tend to fall into this group. We thought it would be fun to invite the students to come with, because a few weeks back Brij and I and some students went for a hike to Naddi and had a picnic, and it was all kinds of fun.

So that's what we did. We invited our students to trek to Triund this weekend. We haven't had much rain all week, so we figured it was pretty safe to say the monsoon wouldn't be giving us much trouble. The temperature has been fantastic – comfortably in the 70s – and we've had a lot of sun. We made plans to meet in McLeod's main square at 7:30am (yeah... it's the whole 5-hours-to-get-there thing), have a picnic at Triund, chill for a bit, and be home in time for the Liverpool game at 7.

Last night as Brij and I sat out on our balcony finishing off a bag of sunflower seeds, the fog rolled in. Then we saw lightning. We heard some thunder. The clouds passed after a bit with no real rain, but we were a little concerned for the morning. Regardless, we got up and got ready to meet everyone bright and early (just in case).

A rather poorly taken photo of us failing to look like badasses, on our way to the main square to meet the students.

We got to the main square a few short minutes after 7:30. It's nice and quiet in the main square at 7:30 in the morning.

This guy kept sweeping garbage at me. I was not amused.

At 8am we finally decided that nobody else was showing up, so we had some decisions to make. The Reader's Digest condensed version is that in the end we decided we'd trek up to, or at least toward, Triund after all, just the 4 of us teachers.

Off we went. No more than ten minutes in this dog decided to join us, and she stayed with us for the first hour or so of the hike. According to the guys, every time Tibet Charity teachers have gone to Triund, at least one dog has decided to tag along.

Spontaneous dog acquisition complete, we were on our way.

See that? That's where we're heading.

The rather run-down little altar just before the first tea shop.

These young trekkers went missing during their travels around Trind. It's been around a month now, so everyone assumes the worst, unfortunately.

First tea shop = first break: 1 hour in. I'm really glad I have these shoes. They are badass.

Marie getting ready to head up after the first tea shop and the temple.

Where we came from.

Brij pointing out landmarks. Us saying "omg."

A few hours earlier we were waaaaaaaay over there.

Donkey delivery service! Second tea shop, about halfway to the top.

We met some new friends. These guys are university students from Punjab.

Marie taking a much needed break at the third tea shop.

The fog rolled in from time to time...

One last break before the final stretch!

Oh, what's this? Could it be... the end??

Five hours and three tea shops later, and we finally made it.

TRIUND.

(Don't forget, all photos can be clicked for a better view.)

The photos really don't even begin to do it justice. It was breathtaking.

It reminded me of the Calm Lands.

Or of any starting newbie zone in an MMO.

Of course, shortly after lunch it started raining.

Waaa, rain is cold in the mountains.

We decided to try to wait it out because you can never tell how long it'll rain here, and so when it let up a half hour or so later, we set off.

Five minutes in, it started hailing.

Not to be deterred by a little bit of ice falling from the sky, we kept moving. It's quicker going down because you've got gravity helping, but it can also be hard on your knees and you've got to be careful not to twist an ankle or something.

About halfway down our canine companion rejoined us, and brought a friend.

Look at this view. LOOK AT HOW FAR YOU CAN SEE.

I'm serious.. LOOK AT IT. It's insane.

Oh, and on the way through town Marie and I stopped to buy some fruits. I asked for parsley and when the language barrier proved to be a bit too much, the guy wound up showing me into their storeroom. I didn't see any parsley, but I did see garlic, so I asked how much it was. The key here is I asked for it in Hindi: I may not know much, but I do know a few words and phrases, and I made sure “lahsun” was one of them. I never did find out how much it costs, but he gave me a bulb for free so I'm going to consider the transaction successful.

And now, my friends, it's bedtime.