delhi to dharamsala

the train ride turned out to be 35 hours with some minor delays. it was not as long as we feared. we ate lots of food, read, and slept a ton. i got sick towards the end of the ride with stomach pain, a low fever, and lots of burping. flashbacks of being sick thailand hit me, and i tried not to panic. i patiently waited for it to get worse -- getting sick in thailand started out the same way. luckily it did not get worse, and i'm better now, but my energy is still lacking.

delhi was an amazing city. i believe it has at least the same population as nyc (a little over 12 million?) we bought an all-day pass to the spanking clean new metro that buzzes all over the city. it's funny, even though it is quite large it is still groaning under the demand of the people.

we went to a massive shopping area; to our disappointment the only thing that was open was cafe coffee day, our favorite overpriced chain coffee store with so-so drinks. since going back on the metro did not seem like much fun, we went in. during our cappuccinos we were informed by a man of the corruption of the dali lama once he heard our next destination. wonderful, i hope this is not what the typical indian believes. he also said it was too early for KFC, so that was why he was at this coffee shop.

we went to a planetarium show, bizarre as usual but scored a bit low in the ironic section. i liked it a lot though, especially that ewan macgregor narrated a really low-budget, really strange cartoon on what it takes to be an astronaut. it included a mad scientist torturing his clones to show you all the horrible things that space does to a being unprotected.

i was still feeling quite ill and was craving to just take a rest. zoë was exceptionally understanding and agreed to take me too a hotel to sleep and take a hot shower. we decided to go to a tibetan area of town that consisted of a mere 3 or 4 blocks in the sprawling city.

i immediately felt better once entering the neighborhood. slightly inconvenient in location to the bus station it proved its worth with its in your face but polite culture. men sat out front the gate playing cards while children ran up and down the narrow alleys, mostly playing and asking for money. this area was significantly poorer than the surrounding areas and it was obvious from a distance.

i had a hard time with the kids. two girls hung off my pinky and thumb for a good block testing whether they could lift themselves off the ground. they kept asking me for money, which i had none, and only when some adults yelled at them did they leave me alone. i believe it is because i have a hard time giving a convincing face with a firm no -- i cannot hide how feel about kids in such obviously terrible situations. it was tough seeing a 10 year old smoking a cigarette who then passed it down to his younger brother who could not have been more than 7. he was very aggressive when he asked for money, but there was no way i could fund his smoking habit.

we crashed in peace house, which was a perfect place for that purpose. well-rested and cleaned, we went to the bus station. the station is unbelievable. it is tucked under a massive 5 or 6 story unfinished concrete structure with only half the first floor in place. the station occupies the ground (literally dirt) level where the buses squeeze in and crowds of people churn like the sea. i cannot even describe all the smells. there is a new one every 10 feet. I am not sure any westerner would be truly convinced that this was a bus station and that it was as efficient as it was.

as for the bus ride itself, it was a moderately uneventful 10-hour ride, quite short once again. it was an overnighter, which i woke up about every hour on, but still managed to feel somewhat rested. at one point in the night we were on a dirt road for several miles. it was difficult to discern the side of the road; it was all smooth dirt with the occasional marker of a good size rock or a tree.

then the bus went up, and up, until at last we reached our destination just after dawn. we met a spaniard on the bus and spilt a taxi to go from dharamsala to mcleod ganja. when we got into town it was about 7 in the morning and nothing was open. i saw a woman in the street who seemed to be a fellow tourist, and more importantly, well-settled in this mountainside town.

she was actually a resident, she is belgian, and extremely kind. she brought us to a cafe where she explained to the waiter our situation and to please admit us even though it was 45 minutes until they opened. the waiter was completely fine with it, zoë and i enjoyed some real cappuccinos, and hot porridge.

now let me give you a picture of dharamsala, it has been constantly raining or drizzling all day and its about 45 degrees. both zoë and i love the change in weather and we really enjoyed the cold even though we had nothing to cope with it. halfway through breakfast we heard an explosion and the power went out. the waiter explained that it was due to the rain and that it usually came on with in an hour.

when we left we noticed that our irish friend had a shop on the ground floor of the cafe. we chatted with her a bit more and we introduced ourselves. her name is marleen. i had put on most of what i owned and was warm, but zoë had very little, so marleen kindly lent her umbrella and a thick jacket to zoë until she got some more clothes.

i bought an ugly sweatshirt that now doesn't seem so bad, and zoë got a nice wool sweater for a bit less! we are both warm now. by now the power turned back on but went out only a few hours later for some time. since the water heater is electric zoë and i are both waiting for it to get hot. our hotel room is unheated, but even the locals don't heat their homes.

we ventured to another part of town for some more coffee (we are overjoyed by how great it is,) and did a little bit of internet stuff. on our walk we ran into a group of 5 or 6 women, one with a baby who begged me for food. it caught me completely off-guard -- it was the first time someone begged me for something other than money. there are certainly new experiences and new things that tug on your heart every day in india. i am forced to learn quickly how to deal with these situations, both in the moment of choosing whether it would be good to find a store and buy these women some food, or realizing that receive a lot of support from the local community, especially the one with a child. also, i have to learn how to let these experiences pass. they can build up quickly and get me in a really depressed state.

animal treatment seems so much better here as well. the dogs seem healthy despite the harsh weather conditions and they do not cower when you get with in 5 feet or so. the old dogs even have thick fur coats and none of them are starving. there are monkeys too, with big white manes like lions, and tons of baby monkeys, which indicates it is good environment here for them. 

overall, the start to dharamsala has been a great one. we have made a few friends already, the cost of living is low, and we are already  investigating classes. i just hope we stay warm!

later on zoë and i had tea and talked with marline in her shop. what an amazing woman! the hoops she has had to jump through in order to be here are incredible. we chatted with her for about an hour over some chai. she was drawn to india for the buddhism and now resides here. she told us so many great stories about her first experience in india and then later on getting her family to come out and vista her.

marline also had some extremely good advise. she recommended specific classes and told us the best thing to do this time of year. she also warned us of some of the problems here in dharamsala, mostly theft. it turns out the women who were begging me for food are not locals and come here to scam visitors into buying them food then selling it back to the shop at a much higher rate. she told me what to say in hindi (because i didn't know, zoë did) to the women to make them leave me alone quickly. i am so glad i did not fall for that scam. it really is great to have a really good friend here!