Dharamsala

So I've just returned from quite a weekend. Two friends and I went up to Dharamsala for the weekend - the craziness of that decision was that we were unable to get train or bus tickets so we hired my driver (Satender) to drive up the 10 hours Friday night and back last night. I got into Delhi at 5am - and boy are my arms tired... oh, wait.

Anyways - Dharamsala is up near the border of Jammu and Kashmir, close to both Pakistan and China in the state of Himachal Pradesh. It is where Tibet has set up their government in exile - and where the Dalai Lama lives. While it is admittedly overtaken by backpackers it is stunning. The first day we went into McLeod Ganj, which is where most of the commotion is - Dharamsala proper is just the government. Beautiful people, shops and monastaries. I finally understand all those "Free Tibet" bumper stickers plastered around Amherst! The house we stayed at had a copy of the Dalai Lama's autobiography, I managed to read two chapters and am now totally hooked. I'll track it down this week to read the rest. And the town is not so fond of China (although there was one restaurant with 'Indian Chinese' food!) . Monsoons are just about to start in Dharamsala and we got caught in some real rains as we were about to head home to cook dinner. We waited out the hail and ridiculous opening of the skies in an italian restaurant drinking tea. We made a break for it as it let up and had to keep seeking refuge under big rock cliffs and were fairly soaked by the end.

On Sunday we went for a hike to triunde, this peak where you can practically touch the snow caps of the himalayas - it said elevation of about 10k miles. It was actually quite a trek, three hours straight up hill (thankfully the other three hours were straight down). It's a popular trail, we passed tons of backpackers and their dogs, israelis with their blasting music (why?), a group of school children and even a barefoot sadhu. And about every hour there was a random chai stall. Which was good because we definitely needed breaks. But seriously, there is no where in India to be alone. Even when I did that camel safari a few years ago, a man selling cold soda and beer found us when we couldn't see anything as far as the eye could see.

On the way up it was really foggy (actually most of it was clouds) so that kept it pretty cool. When we finally got to the top it had a scattering of tents, chai stalls, cabins, herds of goats, even a water buffalo. But we couldn't see the peaks (in fact we could barely see 10 ft in front of us) due to the cloud cover. Some of the hikers we talked to that were coming down as we went up said that we should expect it but be patient as the clouds would break for amazing views. And they didn't lie. My friend Liz, when told that the clouds had broken said "where?". Look up - and right in front of us were the most amazing snow caps. It really was breath-taking.

All in all, totally worth the drive, how tired I am and the crazy sun burn I got walking back down the mountain (if you see the straps from my water bottle and camera you'll get a sense of the stripes across my chest today!).

Sorry!!!

Okay - I'm sorry, I've fallen behind on blogging. Was in Mumbai for a few days last week and Pune (a smaller city near Mumbai) for a few days this week. Got back at like midnight last night and am leaving for Dharamsala in a few hours. No big stories except that I've discovered that 3pm is the time to go swimming - there's no one else there! Okay, fine there's always that older fat woman swimming perpendicularly (I wonder if it's always the same woman?) but not 100 of her!!

Dharamsala is where Tibet has their government in exile, so huge tibetan refugee area. Dalai Lama lives there. I'll let you know if I run into him. I'm excited to head to the hills - it's too hot here. It's up in the himalayas so good clean, cool air!! Yippee! I'll take picts.

Ruins ruins everywhere

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again in another month but it's easy to forget how amazing Delhi is. Saturday morning two friends and I went on a photo shoot in an area called Mehrauli (near the Qutub Minar - for those who have been here). When I jogged with the 'Hash' group here a few years ago I had jogged this area but hadn't explored it since. We turned down this road and as seems to happen on these outings, inherited a child tour guide. Raja. Raja first showed us the stepwell, first picture. I'd seen a stepwell similar to this in Rajasthan and there were two here in Mehrauli. They are all dry now - apparently all year, not just in dry season, which is a really bad sign, no? They are incredible structures that were meant as practical devices as well as places for women to socialize. The first one here was fairly simple (relative). The second one we saw was much more elaborate with rooms off each side, tombs and rooftop areas. And way more intricate decorations/engravings. As we continued we picked up more and more kids. The neighborhoods nearby are average low income areas. In the park though, it's the really down-and-out. So a bunch of the kids were covered in mud (maybe you can see the two on the left of this picture of dana). I have no idea why - maybe to keep cool?

Anyways, so the kids ran around the ruins - how cool would it be to grow up with these as your playground? Although in the US they would be walled off and untouchable as everyone would assume kids would fall down. While this park is not the haven that Lodi Gardens is (beautifully manicured lawns and joggers and picnic-ers), it is well used by villagers who were going through with bullock carts and carrying things on their heads. The next picture is Raja leading me up a stairwell. When we got to the rooftop the view was amazing. It's this forest with ruins dotting the horizon for as far as you can see. Interspersed with current buildings. It really is like everywhere you go in Delhi, you turn a corner and there's another ruins.

The final picture is of a guy we came across who hangs out in this tomb (that's not as weird as it sounds, as the tomb is a massive structure with good air flow and a roof). I just thought he was cool looking.

It was a billion degrees out so we cut the trip short. I also played ultimate with a bunch of expats that afternoon and therefore spent Sunday laying on the sofa rehydrating. Well, I did go to the 'American Diner' for pancakes but that's just necessary.

Swimming. It's like driving... only wetter

So have I mentioned how hot it is? Articles in the local papers are now saying "at least it's not the hottest day ever recorded on the planet earth!" That was in Libya in the 20s in case you're wondering!

So I'm unable to go jogging outside and there are no convenient gyms that I actually want to go to so I've decided that swimming is my best bet. There's a city country club down the road (tax-payer subsidized country club for the rich) that has a nice big pool. I first tried to go last week in the morning. I got there and realized they have all these crazy rules, like you can only enter on the hour (so me being there at 7:30 wasn't working), you had to wear a swim cap, etc. And when I went and looked the pool was PACKED! So I decided that I would go on my lunch break instead as I heard a rumor that during the peak heat hours it wasn't as full. Over the weekend I purchased myself some very good looking (read: hideous) goggles and swim cap. I was about to go on Monday but happened to check their website and realized that they are closed on Mondays. Fine. Then I tried to go yesterday at about 2pm only to discover they are closed every day from 11-3. So there goes my lunch hour theory (I got a manicure/pedicure instead).

But not to be dissuaded I decided to go after work. Again it was busy but I was determined this time. But they swim like they drive (yup, I've re-entered the me versus "them" mode)!!! Lanes were irrelevant - in fact while two-thirds of the people swam the long way of the pool, the others swam laps going perpendicular! So here I am trying to do laps with people banging into me from all sides. Even the people theoretically going the same way I was were not going straight. This country takes chaos to a whole new level. Today I'll try another pool that I hear isn't so crowded.

PS. For those keeping track, the days until the mall opens sign got down to about 100 days and then was taken back up to 200 days:)

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Cheers!
Risha