Cleod Nine...

Since updating this blog has been very difficult and I am days behind on typing up my journeys I thought I would give an up-to-the-moment blog of where I am right now. We are in McLeod Ganj, a small city I guess you would call it which is at an elevation of about 1700m. It's about a 30 min bus ride from Dharamsala and is the home of the Dalai Lama. Right now there are protests going on (which we were unaware of before coming here) regarding human rights issues in Tibet. There is a hunger strike so most restaurants and shops are closed (at least for most of the day). There is an organized march back to China scheduled to reach Beijing by the Olympics but the police have been intervening apparently. Check the news for riots in Lhasa, Tibet. Apparently, also, the US speaker will be in this city next Friday.

Other than that, the town is incredibly peaceful, comprised mostly of tibetans and hippy tourists. We decided to stay an extra day here instead of rushing to catch the 10 HOUR bus ride to Shimla for the next leg of our journey. This is the first time that I've really relaxed on this trip and since I don't know when in Korea. The air is wonderfully fresh up in the mountains and is a welcome change from the stench and silt of New Delhi. This is the first time that I've seen mountains of this scale and even though I won't be hiking into the himalayas they're still nice to wake up to in the morning. Our hotel has a view of the mountains from the terrace and cost us only 300 rupees (less than $10 for 2!!). I am very happy just milling about looking in shops, eating long meals, and going to the internet cafe. We have another full day here tomorrow and then we leave for Dharamsala at 8 and for Shimla at 9pm. We'll be in Shimla for a day and then we will catch a bus to Chandrigarh, spend a day or so there, then get a train to Delhi and hopefully connect to Agra (where the Taj Mahal is).

I will keep posting back-dated diaries of my days' travels and will upload photos once we get enough time to upload them from the camera on these slow computers!