Blogs from Mcleod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh, India, Asia - page 5

This week has been the beginning of a new adventure in India for me, one where I do not just have to think of myself, but also of others. I have led a group of 7 friends and fellow students out to Mcleod to volunteer at the school that I work for and even in just one short week, it has been an eventful experience. It has been much harder than I had anticipated. Mainly because I'm trying to maintain my busy life that I had before they came, at the same time as trying my best to look after them. I can only spread myself so thin! I thought it would be easy, but it really isn't. For this reason, I'm so glad that there are seven of them, as this means that they can ... read more

I've returned home, or at least that is how it feels. My second home, one that I hold so close to my heart, and miss almost every day that I am away. I had felt a little anxious that maybe I would return and everything would feel different, and I would feel a little lost here, but that has not been the case at all. Of course, some shops have closed or opened, some people have moved away, to be replaced by new faces, but the most important people are still here, the beautiful mountain still hangs overhead and the school is just as I left it. It is as if I never left. In fact, it feels even better this year than it did last year. The relationships feel stronger somehow, I appreciate them much ... read more

As usual, we had our breakfast at 8, this time at Snow Lion. I had cheese tomato sandwich. After lunch I went to meditation at Tushita while Elena went back hotel for conversation session with Sangmo. I felt asleep for a moment during the meditation and decided it would be my last meditation session because I need to do packing and shopping the next day (last day in McLeod). Tushita is very close to the little village of Dharamkot, thus I decided to give it a visit since it was my last time at Tushita. I read somewhere that you can go to Dharamkot, turn to Bhagsu, and eventually find your way back to McLeod. So I asked the people along the way how to go to Bhagsu. The path to Bhagsu was not clearly indicated, ... read more

We had our fruits as breakfast in our own room. While Elena taught Sangmo, the nun, I went to internet café to research about flights from Varanasi-Delhi and found that Spicejet has interesting price: Rs 3000. But I didn't book it because I need to discuss with Elena first. Then we went to Nick’s for lunch with Sangmo before going to her house. Her house is somewhere near Tipa Road. It was a simple 1 room house, with a few modern electrical appliances like rice cooker and stove. No fridge, no tv, no fan though. She’s the happy-go-lucky type of woman. I promised to send her postcards when I’m back in Singapore. After the visit, we went looking for souvenirs and tried to book flight ticket but the internet connection was terrible at the place we ... read more

We had breakfast at 8 at Café Budan. I had banana crepe and black tea. Elena told me that Taj Mahal is closed on Friday, thus we need to shift our trip 1 day ahead so that we'll get to see Taj Mahal on Thursday. Thus our revised plan is: Wed Amritsar, Thu Agra, Fri & Sat Varanasi, Sun Delhi. We got caught up using the free wifi at the café that we left the place quite late. I was 5 mins late at the meditation center, I reached when it was about 9.20am. After meditation I went back hotel to rest. Today I didn’t have lunch with Elena as she had to meet Neil (LHA’s president) for some tasks. I changed some money before having my lunch at Nick’s. I ordered Pasta Alfredo, the kind ... read more