Long Way Up

Well hello from a pleasantly sunny McLeodganj!
 
What a time I've been having. Have been blighted by cold and pestilence since I last wrote, but have also hooked up with a bunch of fabulous likeminded internationals (most of whom are leaving over the next couple of days - bastards) and can honestly say I've had more fun over the last few days than I've had in years.
A couple of weeks ago I caught a cold, and as I'm not immune to the lovely lurgies of northern India it took me a while to shake it off, still have a pain in the chest where I think I strained a muscle coughing, but other than that it has gone. Then came the inevitable Delhi Belly, which, having compared notes, I didn't get anything like as badly as I could have done, but it still lays you very low and as I'm not staying in an hotel I still had to venture out and be sociable in order to get something to eat which was at times quite painful. Again all better now and I'm eating like a pig.
The people I've met here are so cool, a lively mixture of yanks, Canadians, Irish, Kiwis etc, and we've had so much fun. A lot of them are quite musical and so there's been lots of singing, dancing and drinking. The local haunt, a restaurant/bar called Carpe Diem, run by a couple of Nepalese blokes, has practically become the living room and each Thursday they hold an open mike night which is fantastic. Have got up to sing each week, drunk or sober (have also done more drinking recently than I've done in a long time...) Am considering flying to Goa for a week in a few days as one of my friends is going down there and I may well have a window between some interviews I've set up this week and the Dalai Lama's teachings, beginning on Feb 25, on which I shall be reporting. This is also supposed to be the best time of year to go, but as yet I'm undecided.
Work is a very mixed bag. The town has been closed over the last few days due to Losar, Tibetan New Year, which is the biggest event in the Tibetan calendar - and they love it. On Thursday, actual Tibetan New Year, I went for lunch as usual at my office, which we share with the Tibetan Volunteers for Animals, a lovely group of vegetarian advocates who, for 800 Rupees (a tenner) a month, serve me up a simple and wholesome, but tasty veggie meal. But on this occasion there was beer, whisky, cigarettes, and Tibetan music and dancing in addition to the usual feed. Well it would have been rude not to have joined them, so I sang, danced and got shitfaced with them, before staggering down to Carpe Diem to get even more shitfaced. How I love these cultural experiences. Needless to say, have got no work done for days, but even before Losar the computer situation was not good, probably only get to use it on one day in four due to power cuts, other people using it, dodgy internet connections etc which at times is very frustrating. However, I interviewed the president of the National Democratic Party of Tibet on Monday, and have some more interviews lined up over the next few days regarding a feature I'm hoping to write on the Tibetan Olympic Campaign, so hopefully things will begin to look up soon.
One big worry which has reared its ugly head again however, is the spider problem. The last month has been mercifully spider free, but have recently been assured that it is only the winter keeping them at bay, and that within a couple of weeks they will start to appear. When I say spiders I don't just mean your regular Boris, which keeps itself to itself in the cupboard under the stairs. I'm talking big bastards the size of a man's hand, which are extremely prevalent and very quick. An American friend of mine told me that in July, he spent 10 nights in a nice hotel room in McLeodganj and on four out of 10 occasions woke to find spiders 'the size of CDs' in his room. This I know I could not cope with, so unless I can find a way of minimalising my encounters with them, or can get to a higher altitude where they are less prevalent, you may be seeing me back in a couple of weeks. I would be absolutely gutted to have to cut my trip short as a result of this, and will do everything in my power to avoid doing so, but that is a situation I know I could not tolerate. The cold is at times quite oppressive and people are resorting to desparate measures to keep warm. One little German friend almost got killed a week or so ago when she fell asleep with her heater on and her bedclothes caught alight, and we had to help put out another friend's trousers which caught alight as a result of getting too close to a hot coal bucket a couple of days ago, but I must say that if the cold is the only thing keeping the monster arachnids at bay - bring it on!!
One slight bugger is that my camera has chosen this time to conk out, so I've been able to take no photos whatsoever, which is a real shame as I've had some great times which I would have loved to have captured on camera. Hopefully some friends are going to email me some pics so I'll have something to post up here, and I'm going to try to get my camera fixed, but failing that I sadly can't afford a new one. I blame JP, as it got knackered when I was running around Thame taking pics for the paper. They owe me one flash dig cam!!
I really want to post some pics of McLeodganj so you can see it in all its mountainous glory. Being India's second wettest town, we have experienced our share of crappy weather - and snow during a power cut which was fun, had to spend the day huddling in Carpe Diem for warmth.But when the sun shines, turning the snow capped mountains white, pink, orange and gold, it would be hard to imagine a more beautiful pace. A couple of weeks ago, minutes after watching the Dalai Lama glide by in his golder beemer (had to get that in again ;-) I was sitting drinking Earl Grey in Moonpeak, another favourite cafe, when the sun peered out from behind a cloud, completely illuminating the small cafe, and for a moment, I felt as though I'd found the place where heaven meets Nirvana.
Anyway, think that's all the news. Hope I haven't bored you all senseless, and keep the emails coming, always good to hear from you all.
 
Lots of love, Soph xxx