Himalayas /His Holiness-

Up in the Himalayas, McLoeod Ganj, where the Tibetan people have re-established themselves.
It is India, but it feels more Tibetan. We have just spent more than a month in India, and it is so nice to get a break from the chaos, and just dissolve up in the mountains. The energy is so different here, peaceful! I wouldn't imagine it to be India. We are so fortunate to be here at this time!

While Jake and I were in the Thar desert, our camel comrades informed us that His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be giving his yearly teachings in the beg. of March. (which was exactly when we were planning to go up to Dharamsala) Wow! Great timing!
-and we would probably meet them (our camel safari friends) up there too. So, this was really exciting, and seemed meant to be.
I finished up with my work of buying for a few weeks in Jodhpur, and Jaipur, and we headed up to Himichal Pradesh. . .
here we are,
His Holiness is here now, and giving his teachings, but we missed the first week, and went yesterday, our first day here. It was incredible to see him in person! I started to cry. . .
we tuned our radio onto the english translation, and sat on a pillow, on the concrete, and listened to every word-

Today was no teaching because it marks the anniversary of the Chinese occupation.
The day that we arrived the weather was fantastic!. Now it is shit! It has been raining all the time, and damp, and freezing, and we didn't bring any clothes to prepare for this. We were just coming from Thailand, and the Thar desert!
So, it's freezing, and we are lucky to have a hotel that supplies a small heater!
Must buy an umbrella.
Anyway, there were many activities planned for today,(a march, music, and so forth,) but because of the rain, we sadly didn't attend.

(It sounds like a cop-out, but understand- when we have only summer clothes, and no rain gear, and it is freezing rain, and the only solace is the tiny heater in your room, you go out to eat for example, and everything gets soaked-we spent hours just drying out and trying to get warm. So the rally, didn't seem feasible)

So instead, we woke late, stayed in bed, and had a lazy freezing cold day. It took all of my energy just to stay warm!We stayed in the hotel most of the day, only leaving for meals, internet, and a walk to the temple, but it was over, sadly, just when we got there.
So, I purchased a pair of longjohns, and wool socks, after all others were soaked!
Even all of the shops to buy an umbrella were closed on this day too!
For dinner, we decided to go to a recommended place- Pema Thang, and as we walked in, I recognized a friend from home! So, we sat with Ben, and his friend, and had a fantastic meal together, and sat astounded by about this place that would bring us all together.
I can't wait for tomorrow, for H.H's teachings, we will surely wake early, and get a seat near him, and out of the rain.
The scenery is so breathtaking here. The mountains are quite misty, but stand tall and offer great beauty from every vantage point.
Prayer flags hang off roof-tops, and between buildings, and trees- so many styles of colorful flags. They contrast the grey peaks above, and the dark green pines.

The air is so fresh, it hardly holds all of the smells of India, that we never get used to. . . far different from the desert where we have just come from.

Camel farts and so on. . .

Ahh, the Thar desert, that forbidden wasteland that separates Pakistan and India, an unchanging world so far from the modern madness we call civilization. The camel safari through this enchanting land was a singular experience, something so unique and memorable. We rode in the back of a Jeep 30 Km west from Jaisalmer to the Maharajah's burial grounds, a centuries old cemetery for the Rajastani royalty, arriving at this solemn sight early in the morning. These ornately carved sandstone monuments are surrounded by massive, 200ft high white windmills that spin quietly, providing electricity for the nearby army base, while creating a beautiful contrast to the ancient memorials. After a brief visit there, we traveled deeper into the desert, stopping at a village where the natives were not exactly friendly. The undisciplined children, upon realizing that I refused to part with my hard earned rupees, began to hurl large rocks at me, and based upon their ferocity and accuracy, I would say they have had plenty of practice in this sport! Thankfully the adults stopped them from being homocidially thorough, and I am still here to relay this story to you, dear reader. So we escaped into the Jeep and pushed further into the desert. We were escorted far into the desert where a team of camel drivers waited with our fantastically retro camels equipped with food, saddles, smelly blankets, flies, and attitude. My camel had a sixth sense about me, as every time I wasn't paying attention to him, he would ram his head into me. And it's true what they say about those horrific camel farts. Anyways, after a pleasant two hour ride we dismounted in the shade of a huge tree for a lunch of dhal and chapati. We relaxed in the shade and chatted with our three fellow camel jockeys while our guides made everything from scratch. As we ate lunch dozens of goats slowly made their way through our encampment and nibbled on scrub brush and our donated banana peels. After a wonderful and leisurely lunch we trotted onward into the setting sun, approaching that dreaded country of mystery-Pakistan! Jake's father John adopted the camel command "Heh!" and applied it masterfully to his rebel camel, and they were last seen somewhere on the outskirts of Karachi. My camel continued the head butting. Slowly the desert changed from a boring scrubby scene reminiscent of Arizona to a sea of sand dunes. The ripples on the dunes were perfect and untouched, and they were so absolutely Zen. We parked our high performance vehicles for the night and walked through the dunes, and at one peak we all congregated to watch a spectacular sunset. That night the guides made us another fantastic meal, always watching for an empty plate to fill up again, and the conversation was joyful and pleasant. When bedtime came around our guides Tucked Us Into Bed! Talk about going above and beyond, these guys were great! I slept between Jake and his dad, covered by blankets reeking of camel pee, and it was so beautiful being there under the stars, After a surprisingly good night's sleep, we rode back to meet our driver and marvel at what solid outdoors men we are, having spent a whole night in the desert and all.

Accomodations- India style

The accommodations in India... let me tell you- we have heard everything
"yes, sure madam you will get hot water",
"yes, clean room, no problem",
and my favorite "yes oh, that rat oh, don't worry madam- he lives here",


Our stay in India so far has been quite colorful, to say the least. Guest Houses/Hotels ranging from complete dump/shithole, to sleeping on some body's floor, to staying in a 500 year-old fort. Prices ranging from USD $2.32/night to about $24.00. (Four months of travels, and you need to conserve the $$, no 5 stars for us)

So, we thought that we'd be smart about a room on our way to Jaisalmer, India(especially after the last Mumbai experience) and prebook based on the Lonely Planet recommendations. Called ahead, and "no problem madam, saving room for you" Ok, great-

On the train to Jaisalmer, one of our travel companions met a very sweet guy who had just opened a guesthouse in Jaisalmer and was renting incredibly cheap rooms, and even was willing to take us for free to his hotel from the train station, and if we didn't like it we could go on our way. He stated that he had been coming from a wedding out in Jaipur, and was just now coming home. Lucky us to meet this guy! It seemed so easy, and sure. Supposed to be the "best views of the fort", and "very near to the fort"
So, we decided ourselves to forfeit the prebooked hotel res. we had made for sleeping inside the fort complex. Hopped in his jeep, strange that he didn't carry a piece of luggage from his travels. . . Stranger still that we were not the only fellow travelers that he cheerily met on the train. We were then followed by 4 other foreign travelers he had met and brought on.
We all get to the hotel, nice rooms, and ask "what is the price?" He says, "As you wish", What? we think- how can we choose? So I say 200 rupees- $4.65 "ok, no problem"
The place doesn't look actually all so new, as I look closer.
How old is this place" I ask another guy there at the hotel?. "Ahhh, it is a few years old." Hardly new at all then. Now I am starting to suspect something is up.
We are all in such a good mood, we didn't realize really what was going on.
We sat down for the complementary chai that morning, and then a handsome salesman boy comes up who speaks excellent English, and starts in on their Camel Safari. Ahh, now I understand, we have just been completely suckered. Jake had read about these places, they reel you in with cheap hotel rooms, and if you don't want to take their very very expensive camel safari, they literally kick you out onto the streets!
So, the man on the train actually got on a few stops before, and hustled the tourists to stay at his hotel, which after we walked out of the hotel, realized how far away from the fort it was. The fort itself is a dream- when we saw it we immediately realized just how stupid we'd been to not stay inside the complex. We secretly checked out the hotel to which our earlier reservation was made, and I felt a bit sick to my stomach! What a mistake! But, everything happens for a reason, India teaches you.
The good news is that we kept wandering, that first day, (which was yesterday) and found an even better place, that was a bit more expensive, and reserved the best room for the following day. So we just this morning checked out of the scam room, and checked into the fort, at the best hotel with honest people, and the best views. And all is well! To top it off we have actually decided to take that safari for tomorrow. We are asking for it.
That should be the next journal entry!
-Renee

the streets of Mumbai

I am excited to be here in Mumbai, my boyfriend's first trip to India, and my 4th. I must say but I do have to share our story from last night. . .

It actually started with yesterday (7th Feb,2007) sitting in a Bangkok Guesthouse buying our ticket for travel on the same day. Of course being budget backpacker travelers, we opted for the cheapest flight, Indian Airlines. Same day flight, no problem!

Got to the airport, and discovered that of course, the flight was delayed by 3 hours. That would bring us into Mumbai now after midnight. We hadn't prebooked our hotel-(only a tiny voice in the back of my head called out) So, we take our flight, arrive, customs, baggage claim, yaada, yaada, and it's the wee hours by the time we get to the Colaba area of Mumbai.

Taxi takes us to our first try, the hotel name we got from the internet Hotel Bentley. . .
"full", followed by several other "sorry full"'s after that. Then a few hours later of walking with our luggage and hundreds of other "sorry, full"'s , and asking every damn hotel in Colaba, it's about 3am I have just spotted my fifth rat crossing by us. . .trying to now find an all night coffee shop to hang out and stay awake all night, we get stopped by this nice gentleman who asks us what the hell we are doing at this time of night, offers his services to speak Hindi to the taxi driver to try other hotels in other parts of town. A sympathizer. Anything, at this point.
I am immediately skeptical, been to India three times before, know not to trust strangers coming up to you at 3am. But we were desperate, and he was quite nice, a tad drunk, but professional looking, and we stood talking for a while, we soon discovered that he works for TATA as a sales rep, and lives in Australia, from Bhopal originally, and is here on business, awake with jet lag, and partially buzzed from drinks at the Taj Mahal Hotel from earlier that night. We must have been quite entertaining for him.
So, off we went first to try a Chicken Tikka Roll with him at any random place open at this ungodly hour. I of course, wanted to find a bed, but we'd only just met, we couldn't be rude . . .
1 Chicken Tikka Roll, 3 cokes, and 3 Waters later, we were headed out the door, and toward new hotel options. Now we were gonna be fine! Our new friend barking Hindi at the driver and flying all over the city- this was better than we could do on our own.

Found many places, many, many places, . . .all full. After another hour, he graciously offered his room to share at the TATA apartment building somewhere up in the hills. "Where are we headed" I remember whispering to Jake, my boyfriend, as I was in and out of sleep in the back of the taxi. Seemed very far, and quiet. I didn't care as long as it was safe, and there was a bed at this point. Well, maybe safe didn't even matter. . .just a bed, any bed.
On the lift, up to floor 7, and we sneak into the apartment, and in the room, two beds, and a floor pad. Guess who gets the floor? I offered. It seemed like Indian culture would approve of Jake having the bed over me. I crash. We crash. and finally, good night!


Wake in the morning, and I was convinced that this "stranger in the night" was absolutely who he'd claimed to be after sleepily staring up at him in this fantastic business suit!
Put my glasses on, and he informed us that breakfast was to be served when we got up, at any time, and he is off to work- we can relax, sleep in, eat, whatever.

Our guardian angel left for work, we got up, looked outside and saw the most beautiful courtyard gardens, and and realized that this place was sweet! We were set up! We had no idea where we were last night-
Breakfast was a fairytale, we were being served by the best of Indian hospitality!
I felt like royalty. The place was gorgeous, and we were able to order anything we wanted for breakfast. I didn't want to leave. (knowing what the accommodations were to be like when we got back to Colaba, on our budget.
We found a shitty place in Colaba for tonight about the size of a closet, and are praying that we find another hidden gem like last night's!