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| McCleod Ganj, India |
McLeod Ganj feels like a small ski town (reminiscent of Mammoth). It is home to a roughly equal number of Tibetans and Indians, and because of this feels almost like a different country. The Indian culture took over during Diwali, however, as Indians came out of the woodwork to celebrate a holiday that is like Christmas and New Year’s rolled into one. They celebrate by lighting off fireworks. My amygdala let out many expletives as M10000’s exploded in the streets. On our walk back from dinner, everyone was loitering in the streets, lighting firecrackers and throwing them on the ground or at each other. At the main center of McLeod we watched a 30 foot strand of firecrackers go off...pretty cool. Apparently in Delhi and the bigger cities they will throw them at tourists, so we were lucky to be in the mountains. We were also lucky we arrived at the Delhi train station the day after five people were crushed to death in the Diwali train rush.
Kelly and I visited the home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (or as Kelly calls him: double H D L). It was very modest overall, and contained a couple of gompas and a square where the monks debate. We didn't see it live, but on a friend's video camera we saw that after each is done speaking, they slap their hands toward their opponent to indicate it's their turn to rebut. We visited the Tibetan museum housed in the compound, which documents the tragic history of the Tibetan people, who have been abused mercilessly by the Chinese.
Just outside of McLeod Ganj, I visited the Karmappa, who is the highest monk in a sect separate from the Dalai Lama’s. I brought in tied together strands of bracelet rope (is there a word for that?), which he blessed by touching them. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Dutch auction on eBay! Come on, how common can blessed bracelet rope be? I had all of about 3 seconds with the Karmappa; the assistants keep the blessing line moving quickly.
I also tried Tibetan massage, which was good. It was somewhat similar to Swedish or deep tissue, but was slow and methodical and used a few pressure points. The only part that caught me off guard was when I removed my shirt and my masseur remarked, "Nice body." Even stranger than this comment was that I wasn’t put off by it.
Kelly and I fly to Thailand tomorrow, which will be our last country before heading home. It should be a relaxing destination after India, but of course any country is relaxing after India.
