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Published: August 23rd 2010
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After a super time in Amritsar,it was time for us to move on,and it was up into the mountains of Himachal Pradesh to a tiny villiage/town called Mcleod Ganj (see map).This is where all the monks who have fled Tibet because of the chinese invasion have settled.Its the home of the Dalai Lama,the leader of the Tibetan people.
First things first,we were very lucky to see this amazing place as I honestly said my prayers the whole ride there as we did literally almost have about 25 head ons,that excludes wiping out pedestrians or cows!!!The guy would honestly not look before swerving around the car infront to overtake and if there was something coming towards us,"tough shit,im in a big bus"!!!That was the mentality...After 7 hrs of torture,we arrived at Dharamasala,from there a short 30min bus further up the mountain to Mcleod Ganj.We arrived in the evening so we were not aware of the beautiful views which were right in front of us.After battling to find decent cheap accom,we found a guesthouse a little down from the centre of the town called Akash,which was run by a friendly guy from Kashmir(north India).Although he saw we were desperate to put our
bags down and get refreshed after a long trip,that nights accom was alot more expensive then the nights that followed,however Murphy's Law and him being constantly stoned,he forgot about that nights payment,lucky us!!!After a quick meal at a local cafe and a shower it was bedtime.
Mcleod is situated in the valley of massive mountains which just rise and rise and its a popular place for hiking and climbing etc.It is also where alot of people come to either learn or practice yoga.As we do none of the above,we found ourselves just wondering the streets and stopping in at coffee shops,checking out all the different stalls which sell bracelets,wood and stone carvings,sampling some really good food,the local "mommos" which are steamed dough balls filled mostly with vegetagles,really really good and so cheap.A serving of 4 mommos was only 10rs,which is about 15 UK pence.I forgot to mention that we met up with Katie and Tom here,this is the british couple we met in Amritsar,so it was cool to see some familier faces!!!On one of the days with them we went to the Buddhist temple where the monks do their daily thing,praying,learning ,teaching etc..Very interesting to learn how devoted they
are and the amount of praying they do daily.Our couple days together with the other couple were spent cruising around,reading when the weather was raining and hanging out in the evenings.After about 3 days they left us and Lindsey and I arranged to meet them in Dehli in about a weeks time.
For the remaining 4 days,we hiked up to this beautiful waterfall one day,which was about a 3 hour round trip,was good exercise.Another was spent checking out the Museum of Tibet which was so,so interesting as not many know the story behind Tibet or where it even is.Tibet took up a large chunk of China,mostly the south just above Nepal.However,Chinese rule claimed that they wanted to invade,take over and turn it into part of China,following their rules,laws,customs etc.Everything about the Tibetans was destroyed,they could not wear traditional dress,follow their Buddhist beliefs and so on..So they decided to make a run for it,over the Himalayas they went where alot of them perished because of the cold,but the ones that did make it,including the Dalai Lama from back then were granted permission to stay in Dharamasala.Thats pretty much how I understand it,but if you need dates then sorry to say Google
is the answer,haha!!!
Lindsey and I had a wonderful stay in Mcleod,our guesthouse was great,we had a super cheap room for 6 of the 7 days,we could chillout in the lounge area whenever we wanted and watch tv,could take in our own drinks etc.The stay was just what we needed as the laid back vibe is what one needs to recharge the batteries and make plans for the next part of the trip..Our next destination is Dehli,man there is no crazier city in the world then this place..We trust you are all well and enjoying the blog,sometimes a little boring i know but that's how it goes!!!Love to all,Brad&LLLLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIINNNNNNNDDDDDSSSSSEEEYYYY xxx
ps-sorry we been so slack at keeping it up to date but trying to find reliable internet connections is tough!
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