Dharamsala

The second big stop on our quarter break trip was Dharamsala. This has been the home of the Dalai Lama since he fled from Tibet in 1959. There is still a large Tibetan community here and this is usually the first port of call for newly-exiled Tibetans fleeing the country. The main Buddhist temple in the town was a popular tourist destination, as well as a place of pilgrimage for the faithful.

There was, of course, an abundance of Buddhist art there.

There were lots of monks wandering around the town and they were often engaged in devotional acts.

In addition to the preservation of religious practice, the Tibetan exile community in Dharamsala does its best to preserve their cultural identity. There were lots of arts and crafts centers where traditional Tibetan jewelry, rugs, and clothes were being produced. There were also some monks participating in what is apparently the traditional style of Tibetan debate, with lots of foot-stamping and hand-clapping.

Of course, we also took advantage of the traditional Tibetan food available in the town.

Because our quarter break was scheduled over the holiday, we ended up in Dharamsala on Easter morning. We found an old Victorian church that was open for a service that morning and made plans to visit.

In addition to a beautiful old building and a friendly pastor, the church had a great old cemetery and fantastic views of the Himalayas.

After being in the big city of Amritsar, it was definitely a nice change to be in a more slow-paced and relaxed town like Dharamsala.

Dave and Beth

Border Bravado

While we were in Amritsar over quarter break, we decided to take a look at the India-Pakistan border ceremony. There is only one place where these two countries allow traffic to flow between the border and it is a little ways outside of Amritsar. The sculpture of hands clasped in peace and friendship below is a bit misleading. The ceremony was a crass display of nationalism at its worst.

When we arrived, Pakistan and India both had their flags flying high to signify that the border was still open. The ceremony that we were to attend would end with the closing of the border and the lowering of the flags.

Soldiers on both sides of the line were wearing their elaborate dress uniforms.

We could not see the Pakistan side of things very well from where we were sitting, but the Indian soldiers had a bizarre display of goose-stepping and foot-stomping all to show that they were better than their neighbors.

Any time any of the soldiers neared the actual border line, there was a fierce stare-down of the soldiers on the other side.

In the end, the two countries flags were lowered simultaneously so that they could both be equal. As soon as it was down, the soldiers grabbed India's flag and goose-stepped it back to their barracks. The border was then officially closed and no more buses could get through until the next day.

It seems likely that this is as close as we'll ever get to Pakistan. It was interesting to see such a spectacle and we're definitely glad that our national relations with Canada are a bit more civil.

Dave and Beth

We're Golden

This past weekend was our quarter break here at Woodstock and we decided to have one last traveling hurrah. Our ambitious plan involved traveling to Amritsar and Dharamsala. The first stop on our trip was the Golden Temple in Amritsar. This is the holiest site in the world for followers of the Sikh religion. Naturally, at such a sacred site, we were required to wash our feet before entering. This essentially involved stepping into a shallow pool of gross-looking water, but it seems to have gotten the job done.

The Golden Temple itself is situated in the middle of a large pool. Sikhs like to go for a quick dip to be blessed and cure illnesses. The lifeguards on duty had pretty sweet uniforms and mean-looking sticks.

We decided against swimming in the pool, but a lot of the faithful decided to take the plunge.

Another part of the Sikh religion is that men need to have their hair covered at all times. In the Golden Temple complex, the head-covering rule was extended to anyone that visited, so we made sure to keep ours covered.

One of the best parts of the Sikh religion in general and the Golden Temple in particular is the desire to feed those that come to visit. If you go to any gurudwara (Sikh temple), they will probably give you something to eat. Because the Golden Temple is such a big pilgrimage site and a big tourist destination, they have to feed lots of visitors. The whole operation involved several large rooms where people were cycled in an out. It also involves a lot of plates and cutlery.

Just outside the dining room was a huge open air kitchen. The big cauldrons below are full of dal being cooked for the guests. There were also teams of women making dough and rolling our chapatis. The man with the long stick below is actually cooking the chapatis that the women are making. We were not too trusting of the sanitary conditions of the kitchen and we're not huge fans of dal, so we decided to have lunch elsewhere.

The Golden Temple is free to visit, so after seeing some of the other sites of Amritsar, we thought we'd stop in again to see the building at night. It was a beautiful site.

People have told us that Amritsar is an overwhelming city and that we shouldn't have planned to go there over break. We found it to be no different from other large cities in India and really enjoyed our experience at the famous Golden Temple. We don't need to plan any return trips in the near future, but we're glad we visited.

Dave and Beth

Flag Hill Afternoon

Beth went on a little walk to Flag Hill this afternoon. She wanted to get one good hike in before the baby got too big to carry up the hill.

We thought it might be nice to share some of the flora and fauna that she saw on her walk.

The rhodedendrons were blooming beautifully all along the hillside and Beth even got to see some Indian life occuring as this woman carried some fire wood home.

It turned out to be a very successful trip up the hill.

Dave and Beth

A Touch of Austria

After our rainy desert camel safari, we returned to Jaisalmer proper and checked in at the Artist Hotel. This was a quirky little place that had been founded by an Austrian hippie to give local artists a place to perform and present their work. Our room and the rooftop restaurant both had a great view of the fort in the center of town.

Our favorite part, though, was the Austrian food that they served in the restaurant. It was nice to get some good schnitzel, frikadellen, and spätzle.

We also had some great entertainment as we ate our dinner. These were some local musicians that gave us something to watch as we feasted. The video is a bit dark, but the music should come through pretty well.

Dave and Beth

Rain in the Desert

One part of our trip that we were really looking forward to was our camel safari in Jaisalmer. We arrived very early in the morning on the overnight train. After relaxing for a few hours, we took a jeep ride out to the start of our safari.

The camels were more than happy to carry us for a few hours as we trudged to some sand dunes.

They did get a bit tired along the way, though.

We stopped by a very remoted little village and had a chance to visit with the people there for a little while. It is definitely a different pace of life than what we're used to.

We also stopped to give the camels a drink, but we didn't get off. It was a wet and unstable experience.

Our three guides continued to lead us as we neared the dune where we would be camping under the stars.

We ended up sharing our safari with a couple of newlyweds from New Zealand. They were very friendly and we had some great conversation around the fire as our guides prepared our food.

As we were preparing for bed, it started raining. Our guides had packed a big blue tarp, so instead of sleeping under the stars, we slept under that. It wasn't the best night's sleep that we've ever had, but it was a great time.

If you would like to see more picture of our exploits (including Indian army tanks and giant beetles) you can visit our website.

Dave and Beth

Camels, Camels, and More Camels

The next stop on our tour was the city of Bikaner. This was a smaller and more relaxed urban center in Rajasthan, but it had one of our most unique experiences. To begin with, we visited the old fort that the rulers of the area used to occupy. It was really well preserved and the audio tour was quite nice.

After that, we went to the annual Bikaner Camel Festival. This was quite an experience! We were met by hundreds and hundreds of camels and camel drivers. Most were decked out in their finest.

There was an amazing parade of camels around Bikaner's municipal stadium. One of the best parts was that this event was not too touristy. The vast majority of the spectators seemed to be Indian with a few scattered Westerners. It was wonderful to see the camel beauty peagant.

There was also a contest to see who could shave the best design into their camel's wool.

We also really enjoyed the Mr Rajasthan contest that was held. I don't think that this little boy won, but it may have been a result of his attitude.

We spent a couple of hours in the hot sun, but it was definitely worth it. The only sad thing was that we had to miss the camel races that were organized for the next day because our train left too early. Oh well...maybe next year...

If you want to see more picture of these crazy camels, check out our website.

Dave and Beth