Armritsar

We went to the city of Armritsar this past weekend. It is on the boarder of Pakistan and India and it also has a beautiful Sikh Golden Temple which is the most visited site for Indians, more visited than the Taj Mahal. While in Armritsar, we went to a boarder closing ceremony and we had the chance to cross the boarder into Pakistan to watch them close the gates on the boarder for the night. It was quite the experience!! There were races with the Indian flag, loud music, dancing, and lost of cheering, quite the display of patriotism. And just through an iron gate, the same thing was happening on the Pakistani side. It was quite a site to see all the Pakistani women in Burkqa's and all the Indian women in their Sari's.. it was all so beautiful. There was a sense of tension between the two, it felt more like a sporting event than a military boarder closing ceremony. I'm so gald we were able to go!
We also went to the golden temple both during the day and then at night to see the Sikh Holy book, the Gurū Granth Sāhib, be taken from a building where it is studied all day into the golden temple where it is kept at night. They put the book on a little pillow in a little carriage that is carved and decorated very ornately. They fan the book and wave insense over it as ten men carry the carriage into the temple. It's quite the scene I must say. Armritsar has amazing history and it is full of religious history. Sikhism is a branch of Islam and has quite a violent history. I love the religions of India, they are all so fantastical yet full of depth. I really enjoyed it in Armritsar.
As for work at Maitri, I'm still working on the Annual Report and we just found out that we are presenting at a school on Thrusday so wish us luck!! Mom and Dad are coming to see me in this crazy place in less than two weeks. I hope they are so excited because India is amazing in every sense of the world. I love you all and I hope all is well! Namaste


Us at the golden temple

a Sikh man bathing in the pool around the golden temple, he has a dagger in his turban, which is symbolic for Sikh's to carry as a symbol that they are willing to protect the weak. Also, notice the crazy line to the left to get into the temple!! It is like that all day and night.

The Sikh Golden Temple at night

The golden temple

the golden temple at night again

The sign at the boarder of India and Pakistan

All the women headed to the boarder closing ceremony just walked right on past these men who for some reason were all stopped at this point. The pictures doesn't show it but men are pilled up that far across and probably 20 feet back... there are a lot of men in India

A sikh woman at the boarder closing ceremony. We were all packed in there. Notice her dagger, all the sikh's carry daggers that symbolize their willingness to help those in need.

Dudes watching the boarder closing ceremony

The guys who performed the boarder closing ceremony.

The Pakistani women on the Pakistan side of the boarder closing ceremony

The Indian side of the border closing ceremony

The border of India and Pakistan.. yeah... sketchy

MataJi statue in the MataJi temple. This temple is dedicated to women, women come here if they are looking to get pregenant or just for blessings. We crawled through caves and walked through little streams all inside the temple... it was cool.

My Dharamsala Epic

This past weekend, we journeyed north to the city of Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama is in exile from Tibet. It was amazingly beautiful, we saw the Himalaya's for the first time, they were everything I though they would be, snow covered and stunning. It wasn't easy to get to Dharamsala though, we really had to work for it. We took an overnight train to a city about four hours outside of Dharamsala, called Pathankot. We got off the train, looking like sitting ducks with our backpacks, at 8:00a.m. We looked around the train station for any sign of a bus station (as we had to take a bus the remaining four hours). There was nothing to be found so we decided to buy breakfast and figure things out. As we stood waiting in line, a man came up to us playing a flute, not with his mouth, but with his nose, rather impressive if I do say so myself, we gave him money for his efforts and left the train station. After being bombarded by taxi drivers charging ridiculous amounts to drive us to Dharamsala and of course telling us no bus station existed, we wandered down an Indian slum, with dirty little children carrying loads far too heavy, and old men far too thin sitting under shelters of tarps held up with sticks. We asked which way the train station was, everyone pointed down the road and flicked their wrist alluding to the fact that it was on the right hand side. Needless to say the directions were vague at best. Nonetheless, we found the bus station and boarded the bus for the long, bumpy, four hour ride to Dharamsala. Upon arriving in Dharamsala, we were all in heaven, there was a brisk chill in the air and a refreshing breeze and the beautiful mountains made us feel right at home. We checked into the OM hostel (only $5 a night) and set off exploring. We first went to the Dalai Lama temple where the Dalai Lama lives (he wasn't home) and we saw many monks praying and meditating, it was lovely. We then walked along a dirt, prayer flag lined, road with many other Tibetans and monks (prayer beads in hand) to a monastery in the hills. There were prayer wheels lining the road and there was the wonderful smell of earth that comes with consistent rain fall and happy trees. There was a light breeze that made the prayer flags wave in the wind all down the pathway, it was truly one of the most peaceful places I've ever been. We reached the monastery, the forest in the background draped with prayer flags and the soaring Himalaya's in the background. We made our way back to town and ran into monks holding candles and framed pictures of the Dalai Lama. We had stumbled upon a peaceful march commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama being in exile in Dharamsala. It was touching to see all of these Tibetans peacefully marching, just wanting their home to be theirs again. The night got cold so we headed back to the OM hostel. The three us of shared two hard beds, but as I said, it was cold so we didn't mind having to be close. The next morning, we awoke to rain! I was thrilled to see green Dharamsala all wet. With rain coats on, we set off for another adventure. This time to a temple and a waterfall in the mountain. As we started our hike, we were almost knocked over by goats, being herded by two women in sari's, we dodged out of the way and let them pass. The walk was gorgeous and when we got to the waterfall, we were surprised to see little shack cafes and tea stalls in the cliffs, but then again heaven forbid anyone go without their tea!
As I have mentioned, we are celebrities here, everyone wants pictures with us and we're not sure why. It is common place to feel someone sidle up to you (male or female) and hear “excuse me madam, can we have a snap?” An Indian family cornered us and took a group shot with us in it, then one on one's with each member of the family and each one of us, we cooperated. We found our way back to the main town, shopped at the Tibetan stores a little and then boarded the 14 hour bus back to Delhi.
I'm not quite sure what we were thinking.. no actually, I do, we were thinking Le Bus, big cushie seats, bathrooms in the back, T.V.'s, air-conditioning!!!!!!! What we got was a bus where the door didn't close, seats that wouldn't stay fully reclined or fully upright, they were like spring boards that sprang at the will of the bus. It was going to be a long night. If I hadn't already been accustomed to the driving in India, I would have kissed life goodbye and come to terms with death but, I knew better, I knew the driver would throw all caution to the wind, barrel down the dirt mountain road at 75 miles per hour, hugging every sharp turn, and passing cars with only a millimeter between them and a sheer cliff. After about four hours of this, a stroke of genius hit and I decided to go to the very back where there was a bench so I could lie down and get some sleep. Well, you know how the back of a roller coasters is always the most fun because you get whipped around the most well, the same physics apply to buses. I was bouncing around like a rag doll, get some serious air over ever bump and violently hurtling onto the sides around every turn. Like I said, it was a long night. We arrived in Delhi at 5a.m. greeted by a gaggle of rickshaws.. we were home! So, we got a good four hours of sleep in before we had to go to work. At work, I have been assigned to create an Annual Report from scratch. When I arrived at work on Monday morning I got a frantic phone call telling me I had to have it complete by the end of the day!! I feverishly worked on it all day and past quitting time just to get it finished. Like a friend of Maxine's said, “after India, everywhere else will be easy.” I love you all and I hope you're all having a good time in life! Namaste!


We took an over night train ride....

and then a four hour bus ride...

I think we have about 100 pictures of these houses in the hills... they were pretty

There were two mountain ranges visible from Dharamsala, the snow covered ones are the Himalaya's, I'm not sure what the ones in the foreground are called.. either way, they were breathtaking..

prayer wheels in the Dalai Lama temple

Pretty Dharamsala

all over Dharamsala there were signs looking for Gedhun Cheokyi Nyima, he was kidnapped about 14 years ago by the chinese government after the Dalai Lama appointed him the next Panchen Lama (the man who will discover the next Dalai Lama). This one was outside of the Dalai Lama temple.

our walk to a monastary, we passed a lot of monks along the way and we even gave one an english lesson... he pointed at things... like our pants, and we said "pants" and then he pointed at our hand, and we said "hand" he was a very fast learner

this pathway was lined with prayer flags, it was very peaceful