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Published: July 21st 2006
Two Monks at the Temple
Their companion laughed at me after I asked to take their photos. All the monks here have great faces with laugh lines and wise eyes. They make such good photography subject. Well, here we are, still in McLeod Ganj, happy that we get to spend an extra day in our new favorite spot in India. Mona (my roommate) found that her flight from Washington D.C. to New York was cancelled yesterday, and thus missed her flight to India. She's coming tomorrow, but won't be in Amritsar until Sunday, so we're staying here in the Himalayas until Saturday.
So, since I last posted, we spent a lazy day just hanging around, watching movies, and relaxing. I've got a bit of a cold, and I think Brian's picking it up from me, so it was nice just to spend a day doing nothing. It poured rain for much of the afternoon, and we had a spectacular lightning and thunder storm.
Then yesterday we started our day with chocolate croissants at a French/Tibetan bakery before heading downhill a little to the Tibetan temple complex. As we walked, the rain finally cleared up, and we got our first good views of the whole valley. We clearly got confused and weren't going in the right direction (circambulations of Buddhist temples are always supposed to be clockwise), so we didn't see much of the complex, but
we did go to this one temple where there were tons of monks debating vigorously, clapping their hands and jumping about as they made their points. Very un-monk like, as Brian said.
Then we made the trek down to Dharmsala to see if we could book our train tickets out. Unfortunately the office to book train tickets closes at 2 p.m. (not sure why), and we were there around 4, so we missed it. From there we took a taxi to Norbulingka, a teaching insititue founded by the Dalai Lama in order to preserve Tibetan culture. The main reason I wanted to visit was because they make beautiful dolls with traditional Tibetan costumes, and I was hoping to buy a couple. Turns out almost all the dolls they make go into a museum on the premises. There was only one doll for sale, a Judge with a boring outfit, who cost US$ 280....that idea was quickly squelched.
The trip to Norbulingka was definitely not a waste, however, as the institute is a beautiful, traditional Tibetan style complex with a great temple and peaceful gardens. There were lots of fountains and gnarled trees, and the temple housed a giant
Ancient Tibetan Woman
I think I made this woman's day when I showed her the photos I took on the back of my digital camera. She is indicative of the kindness of people here. She originally stopped me because my shawl was dragging on the floor, and then she put her arm around me after I showed her the picture. gold Buddha. We had dinner at a cafe there in the gardens, and it was very relaxing.
We also did some serious shopping yesterday. There are so many great Tibetan gift-type things here, like meditation chimes and little Buddha statues, it's hard to resist. Much of the stuff sold in Rajasthan is tacky and cheap looking, but the Tibetan stuff here is gorgeous, elegant, and beautiful. As for what we'll do today, we're not sure yet. I'm still trying to catch the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, so maybe we'll see that today. We'll be heading to Amritsar tomorrow, to see the Golden Temple (not sure what else there is to see, but we hear there's great eating!), where I'll try to shoot you guys a post from an internet cafe. The Golden Temple provides free dormitory housing, so the likelyhood of wireless is slim, I'd say. From there we'll take a night train to Jodhpur (yes, of the famous riding pants) back in Rajasthan. We'll tool around Rajasthan for a while before swinging back through Jaipur on our way to Agra and Delhi. Anyway, until Amritsar, enjoy the pictures.
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mina
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Very Cool!!!!!