Where has the time gone?

Bus ticket has been booked. Flight has been confirmed. Pretty much all the other foreign volunteers have gone...

And in less than 24 hours, I'll be on my way out of Dharamsala. It's so nuts to think about... Four months ago it seemed like I'd be here forever, and now my bags are packed and I've spent the last three days meeting with friends and students, saying goodbyes. I've met some really fantastic people during my stay in Himachal; I hope I can keep in touch with at least a few of them.

My aunt and uncle told me years ago that college would be the best years of my life, that I'd make the friendships there that would last the rest of my years. It didn't really happen that way. Sure, I made a handful of great friends, most of whom I keep in touch with thanks to the magic of Facebook, but for the most part college just wasn't for me.

This, though... I think this is what they meant. It's on this trip that I feel like I've grown and come into my own. I'm ready to tackle some new directions in life; I've got a bunch of great new people who have earned places in my heart. It's a great feeling.

That being said, I'm full of a mix of emotions. I'm glad to be getting home to see friends and family, but I'll definitely miss this place and the people here. I was offered a job, invited back for a wedding, and asked by at least a dozen different people if I'd be back next year. I don't know, guys. Maybe the year after. I've got to earn some money before I can afford to do the volunteer thing again, and get some things sorted out in my "real" life. I'm ready for it, though. I needed a break, I needed something totally different -- and I got it, and now I think I'm refreshed and ready to take care of business.

Bring it on, Life.

For those of you in the States, my plan is to reactivate my phone # on Thursday so I can turn off airplane mode once I land. I'll do my best to answer your messages in a timely fashion. ;)

It's been fun, McLeod. Maybe we'll meet again someday.

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.

A walk in the woods and back to D'sala

For our final full day in Manali we wound up yet again at Dylan's.

We did try the cookies, and they were in fact delicious.

See that guy in the bottom right corner of the second photo? He's a crew dude for Cirque du Soleil. He and his gf/travel partner are from Montreal. We had a fun little conversation with them about the awesomeness of the Cirque and how cool it must be to travel all over the world with it.

The proprietor of the shop is the guy standing behind him making someone's beverage. At one point he asked about my tattoo, so that led to a discussion about knitting and how everyone in the tribe he's from learns to knit. We talked about crops (apparently they grow some of the only peas in India) and knitting and all kinds of things. He said he'd try to find a place in Manali for me to buy good, local yarn; it wasn't very helpful, though, because we didn't have much more time in town. I was surprised at how difficult it had been to find locally-produced yarn in the Himalayan mountains.

We decided to go for a walk to Vashisht, a little town with temples and hot springs. Here are some scenery pix for you...

We eventually reached the hot springs (I found a little shop with some supposedly local yarn along the way; it looks handspun and it's definitely in need of a good washing. What should I make? A shawl, maybe?) and saw some more intricate carvings on the sides of the temples there.

Hot water straight from the springs.

From there we took a tuk-tuk back to Manali and had a nice, relaxing evening.

We walked back from New Manali to Old Manali through the park.

Coke made with real sugar, and a quesadilla that was surprisingly good.

We got foot/leg and shoulder massages!

The next morning it was time to go, so we bade farewell to one last Manali sunrise.

Bye bye, Manali. Perhaps we'll meet again.

And then it was around 7 hours to get back to Dharamsala. There weren't enough people to fill the minibus we were originally scheduled to take, so we got to ride in a taxi for a fraction of the usual taxi price. Along the way we stopped for lunch at a hotel where I saw this guy making fresh naan & roti.

Yum!

With that, I am back in Dharamsala for a while. Brij and I spent the evening watching soccer, eating momos, and trading movies & music. So far today all I've done is slept in, written this blog, and half-assedly helped plan a trip to Rajasthan (the others are doing most of the work). Oh, and looking at potential jobs for when I get back. Does anyone know of a place that will need someone in, say, January? The catering biz gets a little slow after the holidays and I'm going to need some kind of income to pick up the slack, especially since I'm using up my savings while I'm here in India. It's alright, though.........

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.