Punjab Feel, During the days of summer here, the heat and humidity has the more wealthy folk retreat to their homes in and air conditioned environment far from the sweltering outer world. The summers are for idleness with not much happening except for basic meals preparation and minor house duties. It has rained for one day and night which cut the heat dramatically, but it doesn’t last long. I decided I couldn’t just be idle so I venture out on my own a fair amount 38 degrees or not. I have gotten used to walking up the road, waving at the [View Full Entry]

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Golden Temple Day, Today Maina and Saroop took me to the Hari Mandir Sahib or Darbar Sahib or in English, The Golden Temple. Of course we had special front door parking through a gated area. We left our shoes outside the gates at the shoekeeper place, covered our heads and proceeded in. We walked through a small creek like pool so it could wash our feet and then in through the main clock tower gate. I will not describe the scene as I will post photos. Needless to say, it is a magical place which transcends oneself to otherworldly places. I [View Full Entry]

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Teacher Day Sat Sri Akal….(God is Truth and Immortal-Sikh Punjabi), My journey here continues to get better and more enriching every day. The Dhatt family is being more than gracious. The family has lost their two servants, as they left to return for Nepal, so the majority of household duties have fallen on Maina and Jasmine. This apparently is quite the adjustment. I am reminded that when people have servants for their whole life almost, then they become quite upset when there is no help around. A new maid started yesterday and she seems fine, although she didn’t show up fo [View Full Entry]

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Hello From Amritsar, Well I made it to the home of the famous Golden Temple known here as Hari Mandir Sahib (God’s Temple) or Darbar Sahib and of the home of Saroop and Maina who I have come to know as an Aunt and Uncle. I caught the bus from Dharamsala at 5 am. It was a public bus and the cost of the trip was 138 rupees ($3.50) for a 6 hr ride. I sat at the front of the bus and enjoyed the ride. Again, there are many interesting things to see on land journeys. I saw the most [View Full Entry]

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August 29, 2008 McLeodganj/Dharamsala Namaste Everyone! Well it seems the monsoon has subsided and that the new season is upon us here. The locals all know that shortly after Lord Krishna’s birthday, which was about 5 days ago, the monsoon ends. It hasn’t rained during the day for two days now; this is a good sign. I have been having some interesting and moving experiences which always seem to spring up out of nowhere. I have been going to yoga class at Guerilla Yoga, which is just below my guesthouse here. Guerilla is a name I was not so hip on, [View Full Entry]

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August 26, 2008 Hello from McLeodganj, I am staying in a great place here…after staying in a worse place for a night, I scoped out the area and found a wonderful guesthouse with marble floors, huge room, very clean, TV and very new. It’s really inexpensive and I often calculate that if I shared expenses with someone, this room would cost me $3 a night, but since I am a single traveler, it is costing me $6! It is a nice warm tolerable temperature here, but the monsoon is in full bloom. It is very damp here, and it is cloudy, [View Full Entry]

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August 23, 2008 Mcleodganj/Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India Namaste, Arrived in McLeodganj early in the morn after a 10 hr . all night ride from Manali. I happen to get the lucky seat on the bus whereby the window’s seal was completely shot so the monsoon rain through the night decided to find my seat and subsequently my clothes…it felt like it was raining in the bus. I couldn’t handle the wetness anymore so I headed to the front of the bus to the driver’s cabin and asked if I could sit there. The two drivers were more than happy to have [View Full Entry]

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August 18, 2008 Manali, Himachal Pradesh Yesterday I went to Vashisht…about 5 km away. It is a quaint place, similar to old Manali. There are hot springs in the middle of town where women and men (separate baths of course) can bath in the public pools for free. There are lots of bathers who come here as a regular ritual. Right below the baths are two temples, the Ram Temple and Vashist Temple which houses a Shiva lingam. The atmosphere where the steam rises above the temples and worshippers below is almost surreal. The constant rain has lifted in the last [View Full Entry]

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August 16, 2008 I am in Manali and am enjoying getting to know the neighbourhood of old Manali. I have been doing a bit of running around as I decided to send a big package home. To send a package, I thought I would make it worthwhile, so I started to buy some things when I was sparked by the embroiderers and tailors here. Most clothes shops in Manali make custom orders…there is little selection of ready-made clothes. Every store that sells clothes has its own tailor and wow are they amazing. They can whip off a suit, jacket, intricate [View Full Entry]

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August 15, 2008 India Independence Day Today is a National Holiday but I didn’t feel it anywhere around here. All the shops were open as usual in Old Manali where I am staying and I didn’t venture down to New Manali to see what was going on…I heard not much. I am in my 3rd accommodation here in Manali. The first night I stayed in a hotel nearby but it was far too costly $10 a night and it had a moldy, musty smell to it-almost like every place I looked at…or rather smelled at. The second night was another hotel, [View Full Entry]

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