Blogs from Himachal Pradesh, India, Asia - page 109

(My dear non-Israeli readers: A night train to Cairo is a famous Israeli song, hence Cairo is the first place that comes to mind when I think of night trains!) Before you board a train, you have to go to the train station. Don't even think of "Gare du Nord" (Paris/Brussels/Tel-Aviv, wherever), there's no resemblance. Imagine thousands of people sitting there, "waiting for Godot"? I have no idea. They look very serene - "Indian shanti"? Around them, the hustle and bustle is unbelievable. People are moving around, carrying parcels - all sizes all shapes. The trains list is long, trains going all over India, some of the people around me are going to spend 2 days in the train now. Well, we were only going to spend about 11 hours and we spoiled ourselves to an ... read more

Hello:-D This is my last night in the state of Himachal Pradesh. I was going to fly to Delhi tomorrow (2.5 hours), but I didn't realize that the plane is a 16-seater, and it's completely booked:-( That means tomorrow I'll be taking a taxi to Pathenkot (I don't want to repeat the 5-hour bus ride since I hear it's only 3 or so hours by cab), and then an overnight train from Pathenkot to Delhi. I'm thinking that I'll spend the night in Delhi and then take a train to Agra in the morning to see the Taj Mahal, which is only several hours away. Then I'm not sure what I'll do, because I really want to go to Varanasi, but I don't have enough time to take a train, because it's another overnight journey. I ... read more

Hello! First of all, I'm okay. Seriously. You really need to get that before you read on. Okay, ready? Secondly, I will never, EVER, EVER!!!! say the phrase, "Well, at least it can't get any worse." I was thinking that as I almost started to laugh and cry at the same time after slipping and falling on the marble steps leaving my hotel. But not to worry, because you can hardly even see the bruise through my full-body (including face) rash. The details: Yesterday I started to see a rash on the inside of my wrist and a little bit onto my thenar eminence (the big fat pad between your thumb and wrist). It was bilateral and on the wrong dermatome, so I knew it couldn't be the shingles. I figured I must just be having ... read more

Okay, I definitely have the most witty and brilliant family and friends in the entire universe, evidenced by your awesome comments. Thank you!!! I haven't been answering individual e-mails and comments, but I promise you, it's not you, it's me:-) I'm just too tired to answer all of them currently, but I reeeeealy appreciate them, and I will get back to every last one of you when I'm back in the States. I'm still in McLeod Gang today, and yes, I still have shingles. I didn't do a whole lot today, which is still driving me *nuts,* and now I'm debating whether I should leave tomorrow morning to Delhi by plane, and figure things out from there (benefits: more to do and better health care options), or if I should stick around McLeod Gang and do ... read more

Hello everyone! Thank you for all your wonderful e-mails and comments. I know how much support and love you're all sending my way, and I really appreciate it! I am still feeling pretty gnarly, but I just had a couple of bowls of vegetable soup at a Tibetan restaurant, along with some ginger/lemon/honey tea, and I'm feeling stronger than I was an hour ago. It's SOOOOOO difficult for me to take it easy when I'm in such a cool city!!! Last night I took a train from Jammu to Pathenkot, and then a most horrible bus from Pathenkot to Dharamsala, followed by a taxi ride up the mountain to McLeod Gang, home of the Dalai Lama. First, I waited for an hour for the bus to leave, sitting on the no-airflow bus (very hot and sticky), ... read more