"Namaste", the monk says with a shy grin on his face, as he passes us on the road, thumbing his prayer beads and reciting mantras to himself. This is the only place I've been, where that word does not come with some level of spiritual pretension, where it is said frequently and with friendly openess. Mcleod Ganj, sitting on a mountain ridge at 1700m, looking over Dharamsala in the valley, and presided over by the snow-capped Himalayas, is a true anomaly. A haven for Buddhists, hedonists, environmentalists, tourists, artists, spiritualists and activists, but definitely not communists (Chinese that is ), this place is a hive of activity and culture. At first, the sight of so many monks and nuns, with their red robes and kojac hairstyles, along with the enterprising Tibetans going about their business and
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