week one of our travels

We are in Dharmsala, home to his holiness, the fourteenth reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. We have not seen him or his house yet, but we plan to. We love it here- the incredible mountain views of the Himalayas, the people, our hotel room and its incredible balcony, and all of the yummy Tibetan food.

We arrived here Wednesday night and since then our days have been filled with wonderful things! We start each day with a two kilometer trek to the Himalayan Iyengar Yoga Center where we are enrolled in a five-day course. Then we dine on delicious Tibetan foods, more hiking to explore the nearby mountain villages, naps, lots of reading, followed by another delicious meal. Have I mentioned that we really like it here?

Before arriving we spent a day exploring Delhi with our friend, Ben, and a couple of his friends. We saw the site of Gandhi's cremation and dined at the Sikkim Bhavan. Sikkim is near the Chinese border and each Indian state has its own building in Delhi, sort of like an embassy. Check out this NYT article for more info.

Then we took off for an overnight bus to Amritsar (oy, an experience) where we saw the sight of the Amritsar massacre, the Sikh Golden Temple, and visited the India/Pakistan border. Yes we went to the border...but it was a really interesting and safe experience. It is a very popular thing for Indians and travelers to do when visiting Amritsar. Each night the Indian and Pakistan border patrol do this fun but bizarre ritual where on their respective sides they march a hundred meters to the gate, open it, shake hands, and then slam the gate closed. The hour long event was a weird, but fascinating, display of Indian patriotism with singing, dancing, and chanting.

From Amritsar we took one of twenty trains in the world through the mountains to where we are now. The train itself was an adventure. Dan and I were in separate cars because each car was filled to double its capacity. I was befriended and fed by a group of Indians on their way to see their guru. It turns out there were over 100 of them on the train and Dan was befriended by members of the same group in his carriage.

So now we are in Dharmsala and really having an incredible time. It is still very much India but so different from all of the other places we have been, and the Tibet influence is incredible. As I write this Dan is across the road at a jewelry shop making me a ring we designed.

Our next planned stop is Rishikesh, though since it means leaving here, we may not go.

We have some photos from Delhi, Amritsar, and the train ride.