For some reason someone brought up the brilliant idea that we should all go to Dharamsala to see the Dalai Lama, well guess what, it was only somewhat worth it...
We left at about 9pm on Friday July 9th and drove through the Himalayas with MANY MANY MANY stops along the way. AKA our drivers took stops almost every 30 minutes. Oh did I forget to mention we took 3 taxis for 15 people?! Fun right? This may be where I get a little hostle because the driving part of this trip was almost unbearable. We drove through twisting turns and high mountain passes, oh and we also got a flat tire at one point! Well we made it to Dharamsala at about 2pm on July 10th so just one way was 17 HOURS!!!! In a taxi!!! Oh and were we covered in exhuast, did I forget to mention that our drivers didnt use the AC?! Yup, we had the windows rolled down the entire time!
Once we got to Dharamsala we found this GREAT place to stay all inclusive of HUGE spiders and rats nests in the ceiling, but did I mention the view?! It was lovely and the hotel was away from the road, far down a steep slope nestled in a little valley, so that was nice. Just to give you an estimate for the hotel it was about 600 Rupees which is about $13 in the US... what a dream! (sarcasm) But quite and experience.
That night in Dharamsala we walked around the little village area and shopped in the touristy stores finding all kinds of gifts for people back home and some new Indian and Tibetian clothes to wear since ours were filthy from the car ride. We did meet one great woman who sold me some bracelets and was a Tibetian refugee, she reminded me of my mom, miss ya mommy!!! There was another shop keeper whose name was Moona who gave us a little lesson on the ways of Dharamsala, he told us of how Dharamsala can give you everything and how people find you and you do not have to find them, and he also gave us this great little phrase: Shanti Shanti, which translates as something like: peace, love, spirituality, or my own interpretation of it: Akuna Mattata (from the Lion King)... NO WORRIES :)
Dharamsala is a safe haven for Tibetian refugees because it is the homeland of the Dalai Lama and a place where Buddhism is not tormented for being practiced and away from Chinese governmental ideals (which they fully deny)... While at the temple of the Dalai Lama we did find a Tibetain museum which was very informative about what happened during the Chinese invasion of Tibet and how people ran away to India over tretchrous passes in the Himalayas. Also while in the temple we saw people praying and many monuments but.... NO DALAI LAMA... oh well :( He is very busy, but always has time for Tibetian refugees.
As we wasted time waiting for the taxis to take us home to Dehradun we hung out in a cafe and drank chai and bought more presents. The ride home was not as horrible as the one to Dharamsala because it was only 14 and a half hours and we didnt stop as much. Katie and I sat in the back seat almost the whole time and we basically went insane from how ridiculous the car ride was and the conversations insuing between two love birds on a horrendous date at 2am. We also found out on the car ride home that we had gotten lost on the way there and also the normal route to Dharamsala which normally goes through Punjab was totally flooded and people were dying from the floods. So we had to go the back way all around the mountains... wonderful.
Oh did I mention we got another flat tire on the way home...
In the end it was a good trip and Im glad that I went, but the icing on the cake was on the way home one girl on the trip started puking from car sickness and was looking totally miserable, hanging over a fence post saying... It was so worth it...
So Worth It...
Shanti Shanti
Namaste
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