Free Tibet!

Hello World.

Since we left off (I believe) I left Delhi for Amritsar, which is the Sikh holy city to the north. We had quite the train ride with new pal James (ex-Englishmen, current Boulder resident) and found ourselves in another packed and hectic city, this one with slightly more Sikhs. Amritsar is the home of the golden temple, which is a bit like the Vatican only more Sikh. And more golden I suppose. Anyway, the golden temple provides free dormitories and meals for visitors, so we stayed inside of the temple complex where the atmosphere what actually quite calm. On our first day there we ate in the temple, and after we ate one of the volunteers that keeps the place running insisted that we come see their brand new chapatti making machine. They were all very excited about said machine, so we took lots of pictures and made lots of oohs and ahhs, and planned on heading down to catch our first glimpse of the temple itself. Before we had the chance to break away, we were whisked up a flight of stairs and we found ourselves on a roof overlooking the temple and it's surrounding holy lake at sunset. Breathtaking. Both Beth and I started to cry, which we couldn't explain very well to our tour guides, and many a picture was taken.

After a few nights in Amritsar we hopped a bus for Diramsala (a slightly painful 8 hour ride), and it's adjoining village McLeod Ganj, where we're staying now. We only planned to stay for one night, but tonight will be our third here. I love it here. McLeod Gang is the residence of H.H. the Dali Lama, and the rest of the exiled Tibetan government. It's more of a village than anything, and it's more Tibetan than Indian. The food is amazing, and the views of the Himalayas are unbelievable, even for a Boulderite such as myself. This place is what Boulder wishes it was like. Lots of ex-pat hippies and Buddhist monks walking the streets. I'm just excited to be out of the crowds. We visited the temple complex where the Dali Lama lives today, and I learned quite a bit about the current situation in Tibet, as well as the history of the conflict in a museum that's been set up there. Warning- when I get home I may be sporting that classic Boulderite mark - the Free Tibet bumper sticker.

Next we're headed back to Delhi for a day, then on the Rajastan. Very exciting!

erica