7 Not Out - Dharamasala

Hi All,
Its been a week. We are still in Dharamasala, which, if I didn't mention it, is a town in the Himalayas filled with Israelis, Tibetans, and Marajuana. I can see clouds passing down the middle of the street. A guy in a gorrilla suit just arrived at the door of the internet cafe. No Idea.

We are staying about 2km further up the hills in a place called Bhasu, which is packed with 'German Bakeries' that sell Indian and Israeli food. I had an Israeli breakfast this morning of eggs, cucumber salad and 'pita bread ' (which is not pita bread, rather a white bread roll), it was quite nice.

Anyway, I think I finished the last post just after we had arrived in Dharamasala. First thing the next morning, I put my laundry in at the hotel. We then took a walk along the mountainside to the waterfall (I think Kate is posting photos on the other computer, so you can check out those). Shakti and I decided to push on further up the mountain while Kate and Kristine (the other lady on out tour) hung out further down. The water was clear and cold and the views are impressive. I didn't get quite to the top of this particualr 'hill' (Indians seem to call mountains 'hills', but they are mountains) but we are going out again this afternoon to try and conquer the peak. By the time I was drenched in sweat. Even though the walk is not super-hard, doing it at altitude really gives you a workout.

After the walk we took a taxi down to an insitute where Tibetan refugees do handicrafts of various kinds. Everyone in the car was very polite, but I knew I smelt discraceful, even for here. The institute was a quiet place replete with the colourful monestaries and prayer flags common to Bhuddism. I do not understand a lot about Bhuddism, although I did notice that much of the iconography is a mix of Chinese and (Indian) Hinduism. There are textbook chinese dragons alongside androdgenous Hindu-like dieties. I guess it makes sense, Tibet sits right between the two.

In the afternoon we visited the house of the Dalai Lama and the temple around there. There was a 'service' (I'm not sure what you call them) going on and the place was packed. There has been some controversy here lately as the Dalai Lama took a trip to Ahandra Pradesh (I think) and the Chinese did not want him to. People were handing out food from big metal drums. A lady from Delhi wanted a photo with Kate while we were waiting for it all to calm down. In Shimla a funny old man (who was, as he claimed, a world class, comedian, musician, author and journalist) came up to me and asked if Kate was the tallest woman in India.

We went back to the hotel and I asked to collect my laundry. It was pink. Bright, vibrant pink. Socks, T-shirts, the lot. I'm just not that into thai-dying so, in my best gruff tone I advised the reception man that this was not acceptable. He said he would take them to the dry-cleaner. I am supposed to have them back this afternoon. We'll see...

We spent the night at one of the German Bakeries. Shakti left early and the three of us sat around for a few hours drinking tea and talking. It was a relaxing night.

Kate and I have turned on the TV on from time to time when we go to bed. You can switch from half-naked gurus surrounded in peacock feathers shouting at the camera to hip-hoppers in turbans dancing with girls in bangled bikinis to an advertisment for skin-whitener all in a minute.
This morning Kate and I walked down to the local church. The building was constructed 150 years ago and sits right in the middle of the forest. There is a cemetery on site and moss crawling over the gravestones and walls of the church. From the outside it looks abandoned. We attended the 10am service in English. There were no musical instruments and hymns are just sung. There were a lot of things that were very different, but I will leave those until later. We are due back at the hotel to embark on our walk up the hill.

Our love to you all.
Feel free to comment (thanks colin!) we love hearing from you.

Kate and Charles.