Mountains and Monks

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Hey guys. So our last couple of days in McLeod Ganj have been great. After arriving late Sunday night, we woke up Monday morning and headed to the restaurant of our hotel, where they have this great "Big Canadian Breakfast" that includes scrambled eggs, some amazing roasted potatoes, a few tomato slices, tofu, and Tibetan bread (kind of like a whole wheat English muffin, but better). We have, in subsequent days, discovered that they also have fabulous lasagna, great banana filled pancakes, and a delicious chocolate walnut cake.

After fueling up, Brian and I headed out of McLeod Ganj toward Bhagsu, which is about 2 km down the road. It's a cute little town with some shops and stuff, but the main attraction is a waterfall about another kilometer out of town. Brian and I took our shoes off and stuck our toes in the stream, which was so cold it could have only been snowmelt. The theme of our days here so far has been relaxation, so we spent the whole afternoon just hanging out by the river, eating our leftover pasta from lunch, and trying to ignore the shameless men who were bathing nearby in their tighty whities.

We headed back into McLeod Ganj (stopping for a chocolate croissant along the way), where we watched some Desperate Housewives (which I've been buying off of iTunes) before grabbing some dinner and this great Italian restaurant. We walked through a hotel to get to the terrace of Nick's Italian Kitchen, which had views over the entire valley. It was pretty dark, so they brought us candles for our table, and Brian and I proceeded to have a romantic Italian dinner overlooking the roll of the Himalayas. Brian had this fantastic mushroom lasagna, and I had pesto for the first time in months! I've been craving it so badly, and even though it wasn't real pesto, it was close enough for me. We ended the day by watching an arthouse movie in a little makeshift theater here (Edward Norton as an L.A. cowboy...it was called Down in the Valley). It was kind of an odd movie, but hey, the seats were comfy.

Yesterday we got up quite late, and the clouds had rolled in, making it foggy and rainy. We were going to go see the seat of the Tibetan govenment, but changed our minds because the weather was so bad. Instead we spent the day shopping and wandering around town, ending up at an Ayurvedic massage center, where Brian got us both 90 minute massages for Rs 500 each (that's US$10, folks). The massages were so nice and relaxing, and included a scalp massage and a ridiculous amount of coconut oil. My skin came out feeling so soft (and greasy).

Anyway, after our massages we headed to this restaurant that I'd looked into taking cooking classes at, since my guidebook recommended them for meat. By the time dinner was over I was wishing I'd signed up for the cooking class. We ordered Chicken Muglai, which is chicken in a thick, cashew-based gravy with a complex set of spices; and Goan Chicken, which was cooked in a great coconut milk-based sauce. It was sooooo good that Brian and I are planning on going back tonight.

This morning we discovered that the restaurant at our hotel has wireless, so here I am on my laptop posting this blog. We're planning on seeing the Tibetan government complex today (although the clouds have come back again this afternoon), and maybe head down to lower Dharmsala, where we can book our train tickets out, since we're leaving the day after tomorrow for Amritsar. It's a pretty short trip, only six hours or so.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures. They don't do the scenery justice. It's just gorgeous here, and I'm already dreading leaving.

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Photos

The Valley
Looking down to lower Dharmsala and towards the plains.

Clouds and Mountains
The clouds roll over the mountians and down into town, and sometimes you can't even see ten feet in front of you.

McLeod Ganj
From the road to Bhagsu

More Valley Views
From the road to Bhagsu

McLeod Ganj
The whole town in built tumbling down the hillside

Mountian Stream
Further upstream is the Bhagsu waterfall

The Stream
Brian took this one.

Mountain Goat
They're everywhere down by the stream

Baboon
This guy was snacking on rice puffs beneath our balcony.

Prayer Wheels
And one of McLeod Ganj's ubiquitous monks spinning these on a beautiful temple in the middle of town.

Cloud Shrouded Mountains
A common sight here in McLeod

Buddhist Temple
Right in the middle of the City

From our Hotel
This is another shot of the view from the balcony outside our door.

A Little Sliver of Sky
Blue sky is something that's a commodity in McLeod. We're always up in the clouds.