Today I saw an article about the Dalai Lama's 77th birthday celebration, causing a rush of memories to flood around my head. His birthday is a special day; specifically July 6, 2005, because Sammy and I celebrated his 70th birthday with him and a few hundred other guests in McLeod Ganj, India; in the Himalaya Mountains. We were traveling through India for two months, and we arrived at 3:00 a.m. after several days of traveling. It was our first trip abroad; our first time off the North American continent and we were psyched! I had two shirts, three pairs of underwear, a toothbrush, and two skirts thrown in my backpack; as well as a strategic plan for washing my clothes in the hostel bathrooms we would be visiting along the way. The air in New Delhi was hard to swallow, the swarms of taxi drivers difficult to maneuver, the Indian 'head-bobble' unclear and confusing, and we had no idea of what the heck was happening; I felt like a junk-show. I will never forget driving into the city from the airport to experience people bathing on the streets as they prepared for the upcoming day of work, the hottest weather ever at 5 in the morning, monkeys frolicking around causing havoc, and multiple near death experiences while zipping down the road in a tiny auto rickshaw; as the repeated phrase 'we are not in a hurry' fell onto deaf ears.
Due to horrible monsoons and my hesitancy to continue walking through murky ankle-deep water that filled the flooded streets, we spontaneously headed north. After all, I had no other shoes but flip flops and my feet were cut up and in bad condition from the previous weeks of rough travel. Rumor had it that the Dalai Lama was giving teachings the weeks leading up to his birthday festivities. We had to reverse our travel and backtrack many hours back to New Delhi. The local news had been filled with explosions that were happening every now and again on the trains, as well as in the vivid dreams I was having from the malaria pills I was taking. For many weeks, I would wake up sweaty and scared after dreaming of being held hostage on a train with people who had bombs strapped to themselves. I've never taken malaria pills again. Shortly after we departed the country, a street bomb went off killing sixty people in Paharganj, New Delhi.
After several long train rides and hair raising bus excursions up narrow and steep mountain roads, we arrived in McLeod Ganj and found a place to stay in the guest home of a Tibetan refuge family; after switching hotels one time due to a bloody booger found on the pillow case (strange Lonely Planet didn't mention this in the lovely review of this charming place). The home was perched up high on the mountainside and took about 15 minutes from the village, along with lots of wheezing, panting, and rest breaks.
We listened to several days of the Dalai Lama's teachings; although the tampon I had in my bag caused great alarm and halted our progress forward, but eventually about a dozen security guards arrived to investigate it and deemed me safe to enter the temple grounds; maybe it was because Sam was carrying the bag that it seemed like such a dangerous object. We would sit in the courtyard of the temple grounds with our headphones on to receive the Dalai Lama's words in English. It was refreshing to see some of the monks struggling to stay awake after hours of sitting and listening. In the village, we would see some of the monks using cell phones, acting boisterous with their peers, and eating burgers...could the monks be normal people just like me; minus the shaved head and burger cravings?
Each night we would sit on the rooftop of our guest house and watch various groups of Tibetan refugees down below us; as they prepared their performances for the upcoming jubilation. We could see the dancing, hear the singing, and feel the excitement. Sam was in attendance for the actual birthday party; where he watched the performances as well as His Holiness open his gifts. I, on the other hand was squatting over a big, nasty, hole in the ground waiting for the weird concoction of pills from 'the chemist' to kick in.
Route Traveled: New Delhi, Agra, Ajanta Caves, Goa, New Delhi, Shimla, McLeod Ganj, New Delhi, Bangalore
Best Moment: Sam proposing to me along the Yamuna River behind the Taj Majal
Bone-head Moment: Me turning around to take a picture of a women on a camel as Sam began to get down on his knees to propose
Strangest Moment: Getting an ayurvedic massage in Rishikesh; where the masseuse oiled me up and slapped my ass for about 20 minutes
Spiritual Awakening: Taking a yoga class; I realized you didn't have to travel half way around the world to practice yoga
Pop Culture Connection: Getting yelled at, in an unknown language by a man wearing a Britney Spears shirt while at the train station.
Due to horrible monsoons and my hesitancy to continue walking through murky ankle-deep water that filled the flooded streets, we spontaneously headed north. After all, I had no other shoes but flip flops and my feet were cut up and in bad condition from the previous weeks of rough travel. Rumor had it that the Dalai Lama was giving teachings the weeks leading up to his birthday festivities. We had to reverse our travel and backtrack many hours back to New Delhi. The local news had been filled with explosions that were happening every now and again on the trains, as well as in the vivid dreams I was having from the malaria pills I was taking. For many weeks, I would wake up sweaty and scared after dreaming of being held hostage on a train with people who had bombs strapped to themselves. I've never taken malaria pills again. Shortly after we departed the country, a street bomb went off killing sixty people in Paharganj, New Delhi.
After several long train rides and hair raising bus excursions up narrow and steep mountain roads, we arrived in McLeod Ganj and found a place to stay in the guest home of a Tibetan refuge family; after switching hotels one time due to a bloody booger found on the pillow case (strange Lonely Planet didn't mention this in the lovely review of this charming place). The home was perched up high on the mountainside and took about 15 minutes from the village, along with lots of wheezing, panting, and rest breaks.
We listened to several days of the Dalai Lama's teachings; although the tampon I had in my bag caused great alarm and halted our progress forward, but eventually about a dozen security guards arrived to investigate it and deemed me safe to enter the temple grounds; maybe it was because Sam was carrying the bag that it seemed like such a dangerous object. We would sit in the courtyard of the temple grounds with our headphones on to receive the Dalai Lama's words in English. It was refreshing to see some of the monks struggling to stay awake after hours of sitting and listening. In the village, we would see some of the monks using cell phones, acting boisterous with their peers, and eating burgers...could the monks be normal people just like me; minus the shaved head and burger cravings?
Each night we would sit on the rooftop of our guest house and watch various groups of Tibetan refugees down below us; as they prepared their performances for the upcoming jubilation. We could see the dancing, hear the singing, and feel the excitement. Sam was in attendance for the actual birthday party; where he watched the performances as well as His Holiness open his gifts. I, on the other hand was squatting over a big, nasty, hole in the ground waiting for the weird concoction of pills from 'the chemist' to kick in.
Route Traveled: New Delhi, Agra, Ajanta Caves, Goa, New Delhi, Shimla, McLeod Ganj, New Delhi, Bangalore
Best Moment: Sam proposing to me along the Yamuna River behind the Taj Majal
Bone-head Moment: Me turning around to take a picture of a women on a camel as Sam began to get down on his knees to propose
Strangest Moment: Getting an ayurvedic massage in Rishikesh; where the masseuse oiled me up and slapped my ass for about 20 minutes
Spiritual Awakening: Taking a yoga class; I realized you didn't have to travel half way around the world to practice yoga
Pop Culture Connection: Getting yelled at, in an unknown language by a man wearing a Britney Spears shirt while at the train station.
India Bound
Monks leaving the temple
View from our guest house
One of thousands of photos requested of us by curious Indian families
On our way to celebrate our proposal with V.K, our driver for several days while in Agra
All dressed up for dinner out on the town
Bhimsen's Restaurant where I took cooking classes
Prayer Wheel Outside the Temple in McLeod Ganj
Paharganj in New Delhi
