High hopes dashed

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I'm really starting to hate this town. Mcleod Ganj had a lot to recommend it. Lucy's close friend said it was her favorite in India, we had enjoyed a stay in a town with a similar climate and the high Tibetan refugee population seemed like it might make a nice switch from the standard hustle and bustle of Indians. We got a great, cheap room in the hotel we wanted, there were volunteering possibilities to replace the lost hospital opportunity; things seemed on the upswing. Then I got sick.

Right off the bus from Dharamsala, I had to sit and stare for a couple hours to recover. The next day was better, we explored the town, and found not much doing. No problem, we simply hiked into the mountain a ways to see the famous and famously beautiful Lake Dal. We had a fight on the way up, the lake couldn't have been any more dirty, small and ugly, and the stay started going south.

There's a dog that barks incessantly right outside our hotel room every single night, at around three in the AM, for upwards of a half hour. I got sick enough to not leave the room for two days, followed by a day's sickness and further cabin fever for Lucy. The volunteering projects are uninteresting, the food is bland, neither of us are healthy, and we find ourselves playing more solitaire and rummy than is healthy for people in their 20's.

Our experience here has been singular, and if you're traveling through India I'd recommend stopping off as a nice break from the terrors of southern climes and times, but from me to Mcleod Ganj,all I can say is "screw you", and I can't wait to see the tail end of this place.

By the way, the Om Hotel is crap.

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