More India!

Namaste! We have left the "Tibetan experience" of our trip after having had many adventures in northern India. We listened to the teachings of the Dalai Lama, visited the Tibetan Children's Village (started by the Dalai Lama's sister years ago) where Tibetan orphans - sent to India by their families from China- live, go to school and are nurtured in a loving environment where the Tibetan traditions are preserved. We stopped at the Norbulingka (sp?) Institute beyond that on our way to Lake Rewalsar. The Institute is a beautiful compound which aim is to train Tibetan students and interns in the Tibetan arts of thangka painting, silk screening, stone carving, wood working, applique, etc. We had an incredible lunch there which fortified us for the very long bus trip through the mountains. We arrived in Rewalsar after having been on the bus for close to 10 hours which was made passable through the help of Zofran and This American Life (thanks, Steve!). Dana (my rommate throughout the trip, my bus buddy, and my now very good friend- has helped make this trip a real joy and we have whiled away many hours talking and sharing stories about our previous travel experiences, and Dana's info about India (she spent a year here studying many years ago). We find a lot of the same things funny and sometimes hysterical - I have not laughed this much in a long time.

We went to bed that night wondering why we left the cozy comforts of Dharamsala for the cold, inhospitable rooms of the Lotus Lake Inn. But, we woke up to the sights and sounds of this sleepy town and discovered how blessed we were to be here! Pema lead a traditional kora around the lake where you pray or say a mantra. We walked around the lake as the the enormous statue of Padmasambhava (the guru who spread buddhism to Tibet I think) towered over us from a nearby monastery. Later we hiked up the foothills of the Himalayas to visit the meditation caves and experience the quiet vibrations of this holy site.

We moved on to Chandigarh in the state of Punjab the next morning with full hearts and bellies -from the great food at the Kora Cafe - (I won't soon forget the handsome owner in his brown corduroy blazer). We arrived late that night at the Park View Hotel and happily discovered the best bathroom to date! The next morning half of the group got up to take the bus for another 14 hours to Jaipur and the rest of us left for the shiny, brand new Indira Gandhi airport in Delhi. We spent a good part of the day there luxuriating in the shops, eating ice cream, browsing in the gift shops. The domestic flights in India are pretty low-key overall (*with full body searches) - you can bring water on the plane, but no ski poles, hockey sticks, knives (if you are Sikh you are able to carry on swords but ones no bigger than with 6 inch blades and 3 inch handles). I met a man in line who I ended up sitting across from on the flight. He was a colonel in the Indian Army and we had deep discussion about yoga, Sikhism, and God. It really hit me then that this is why one travels and goes through the difficult parts of travel with all the illnesses and inconveniences. Your heart really does expand through these sometimes very brief, but unforgettable connections.

I love and miss you all - especially Steve, Franny, Sylvie, Esme, and Clover!

~Leane