took
the tiny steam train that climes to the sculpted green hills of Shimla via 100 and odd mountain tunnels) to Shimla ( a hill station where Indian government would migrate for the summer as it is cool) and after a few days there, continued to Dharamsala (another former British hill station). We have stayed one month in Mc Leod Gang (a village about 30 min bus ride from Dharamsala, a small Tibetan and Hindu town, a home of Dali Lama), We rented a small but clean room with a kitchenette and a Indian squat toilette/shower room. The family is very hospitable and the views from this quite place were stunning.
After getting over the culture shock, which on the negative side included getting used to narrow streets with abruptly honking auto-rikshas and taxis, cows walking lazily by, brushing you with their massive flanks, cow dung on the roads, appealing for our vigilance, vicious monkeys (which I am afraid of),
pushy Kashmiri shop keepers, all permeating dampness of the tail end of monsoon season, Indian style toilets, which require considerable skill ( which, I am proud to report, we mastered with flying colours :-) ) and a few other things I probably forget..Ah, of course beggars!)
On the positive side, we have ate the most amazing vegetarian food, met very interesting people, learned and learning about Tibetan and Hindu cultures, took great meditation courses (at Tushita Monastery and Vipassana Center), appreciated the slow way of life here, witnessed some gracious construction work by Nepalese man and women dressed in rather fancy saris and shirts, saw great smiles on people's faces, appreciated how easily people break into singing on the streets here, saw some amazing mountains in Ladakh and felt very good about being able to donate to Tibetan Children's village (thanks to all of you who donated money during our wedding fundraising!!)
Mc Leod Gange turned out to be a rather intense place, full of tourists, shops and all possible new age courses catering to them,
a crowd mix, consisting of lay Tibetans, Tibetan monks, Kashmiri traders, local Hindu folks, dangerously borrowing into the crowds loudly honking auto-rikshas, slowing things down cows and their cow dung, beggars (although very few in this part of India) and tourists (
many of which are Israelis; some tourists are dressed in European clothing, lots wearing local colourful garb, a few look like Jesus Christ, just after Crucifixion :-) ) There are many older Tibetans, dressed in traditional cloths, who have the warmest and the most genuine smiles (younger generation seems more stressed and more speedy) While we enjoyed our meditation courses, we managed to completely ignore Dali Lama, who taught every months from July to October...well, perhaps in is not in the cards...
After a months of showing exemplary tolerance of the ubiquitous green mold, never drying cloths, lack of sun and plenitude of rains, we
have decided to rise closer to the sky, above the clouds, and we went to Leh, Ladakh, a mountainous area with moon-like desert scapes, on the border with China and Pakistan and home to a small Buddhist nation of Ladakhis. It is also called "a little Tibet", because of the similarities in culture, religion and landscape. I am writing this letter from Leh, the capital, where we stay in a charming guest house with a view on the Himalayas, covered with snows, a small potato filed and a nice flower garden.
Here, we just came back from the 9 days trek in the Markha Valley, where we had to walk on average 7 hours a day through the mind- blowing landscapes of mountains with their green, red, white, blue, grey and black rocks, turquoise-blue and freezing mountain rivers, snow covered peaks, myriads of small chortens(stupas) and clinging to the hills white Gompas (monasteries). We stayed every night at a small village in a traditional Ladakhi house, which were usually primitive and dusty, inevitably dirty and a few were very hospitable.
We had a guide, a young Ladakhi, who's job seemed to be walking way ahead of us, so that we could not harass him with our many questions he had no idea how to answer (tourist industry here is in its nascent state, which means that often the service is promised but not delivered.)
Anyways despite of poor guidance, we have enjoyed meeting local people and witnessing a life style that is dying very rapidly (the area of Ladakh was open to tourism in 1974, which brought rapid and rabid "development" into this very traditional Buddhist society (see my journal for more info on that). Part of our trek were two high passes (5100 and 4700 meters), the former we had to clime when the snow blew in our faces, while the stories of discoverers of North Pole flickered in my eyes.. Because of the snow, we had to clime rather quickly and I was glad to discover a breathing technique which allowed me to keep up with our guide and Teodora. For those who are interested, here it is: imagine that you are an old dying horse on a very fast artificial respirator, pumping air into your wildly expanding and contracting lungs with a noisy shwoosh....) it turned out to be very effective during our 2.5 hours clime. The trick was to keep it up non-stop, even when blowing nose...otherwise, the shortness of breath and headache ensue immediately.... Well, now the hero in me can rest in Leh , although the air here is still very thin and both Teodora and I find ourselves grasping for extra air here and there...
Exhausted, malnourished (on twice a day chapatis-flat Indian bread) and dirty, we are luxuriating in Leh, where there is hot water, plentiful food and
no more climing! Unfortunately, I will not be able to upload my pictures of beautiful mountains, faces and Gompas until we return to Mc Leod Gange (on the 12 of October). We plan to fly to Jammu and then take a bus to Dharamsala(as the roads from Leh are treacherous at this time of the year and the trip is very long-takes two days of crawling on the edge of vary beautiful
precipices) Upon our return, we will be taking the 10 day residential meditation course at Tushita Monastery and then our plans to leave Dharamsala (after taking a delicious cooking course (Indian cuisine) and some yoga). On the 17 of December, we should fly to Kathmandu (Nepal), to renew our Indian visas, but also to do more studies at Kopan Monastery and hopefully to do a self-guided silent retreat in Pokhara.
And then? depending on people we meet, teachers we find and project we may be inspired to get involved in, as well as money, we may
spend some time in Nepal, Laos, Thailand, or we may come quicker back to India and will proceed to the South.
So far, India is a bit more expensive then we expected, although it is still very cheep (our food and board is usually around Can 10-15 per day (and we are not loosing an ounce of weight at all :-) )
This is a quick summery letter ( I know it is still very long for those of you reading it in your busy offices on Monday morning :-); to read my stories in more detail and to view pictures, please see my new e-journal at: http://journals.worldnomads.com/misha/ Thank you to all of you who find interest in our journey. I very much appreciate all your responses. Thank you!
To unsubscribe from this list, please send me Unsubscribe e-mail. May you all be happy!
Love,
Misha
Leh, Ladakh
mgitberg@gmail
http://journals.worldnomads.com/misha/http://www.flickr.com/photos/69781927@N00/sets/
herding goats in Daramkot, a quite Israeli village near Daramsala
Here are a few portraits I snuck while waiting at a tea shop during 4 hours of non-stop rain-intersting crowd...
