From the Golden Temple to Little Tibet!

I am now at the end of my first month of my trip, in Shimla, about 10 hours north of Delhi following yet another gruelling ten hour bus ride today. From Islamabad, I headed to Lahore, a huge city near the Pakistani- Indian border. It was a really intense city, the pollution and the noise was really quite severe but it did have some good sites, the most impressive one being the mosque below.

From Lahore, I headed across to India. There is a famous border closing ceremony where Indian and Pakistani troops parade away in front of each other for about 20 minutes before they close the border gate. It is really quite an incredible spectacle, with the crowds on each side shouting Pakistan and India respectively, and as much as the marching is somewhat entertaining, there is a real tension in the air which reflects the tense relations between the two countries. You also get a feel for some of the big differences between them, the Pakistani crowd being segregated into ladies and men, while the Indian crowd is mixed.

Workers at the border

Sikh bus driver

My first stop in India was Amritsar, home of the Golden Temple, the most important Sikh temple. It is quite a surreal site with the Golden Temple set in the middle of a big pool of water, all enclosed by beautiful white buildings. You can actually stay in gurudhawas, buildings where pilgrims and tourists are given free accomodation although you are expected to give a donation.

They have a huge cantine there where anyway can get a free meal. People sit out in the big hall and people just come along and dollop out the food, which was not the greatest but it filled you up alright. I am starting to get very used to Daal and Rice, especially as here in India there really is not much meat. Aloo Gobhi is another regular on the menu...

The Golden Temple meal

My next stop was Dharamshala, home to the Tibetan government in exile (the Dalai Lama...) . It is quite a strange place which doesn't really feel like India due to all the tourists and Tibetan people everywhere. It is very nice though, with great value views and is certainly very relaxing. You get alot of westerners there trying to get enlightened... I think my enlightenment came from some of the mangos I have had here, they really taste great and its a shame that the mango season is now over... Its quite sad in a way seeing all the Tibetan people in Dharamshala. Many of them are refugeesm having walked 2 and a half months through the Himalayas to get into Nepal or India... Their stories are quite harrowing, with some of the Tibetans in Dharamshala talking about the people who simply died of exhaustion during the walk, and there are also many stories of the torture inflicted on the Tibetan people by the Chinese government. It is really just another reflection of the monstrosity of the Chinese government...

One of the other strange things here is that cannabis plants grow absolutely everywhere, all along the streets, and the picture below is a good example of this from Dharamsala...

My next stop was Manali. To get there I took a public bus, which basically involves sitting on a bench for 10 hours. Its not pleasant and your ass gets a good bruising from all the bumps in the road! Ill avoid it in future, although it did provide me the adventure of my second crash on my travels. The bus was going along calmly, when all of a sudden a jeep came speeding round the corner, and basically just ploughed straight into the bus. Luckily no one was hurt, but the man who stepped out of the jeep really had a shell shocked expression on his face, as if he had just stared death in the eye. There was much shouting, with the bus driver apparently asking for 1500 rupees compensation, but in the end they settled on 1000 (12 pounds!). What a way to resolve car crash disputes...

Bridge on the road to Manali

Manali is really a very nice mountain town. Although there are many tourists, there are also lots of locals and Indian tourists so the place does feel like you are actually in India... The views are stunning and there are all sorts of little hikes to do to visit waterfalls... On one night I was heading to bed, when all of a sudden a load of trumpets started hooting away. I went out to the street and a wedding procession was going through the town, all the women wearing the most beautiful saris ever and dancing away to the music.

From Manali I headed on to the Spiti Valley, further to the North East. After harassing every foreign looking person in the town to see if they were interested, I eventually got a group of 7 people together! One Italian guy, one Australian guy, an older American women and 3 Israeli girls. Quite a diverse group, but which reflects the sort of traveller crowd you get here. The biggest surprise for me was how many Israelis are here, and many restaurants will offer Indian and Israeli food! It seems like many of them head out here after the army to see something different and relax...

Approach to the Rohtang Pass

Typical road sign... well needed!

Entering the Spiti Valley

Desert landscape

The Spiti Valley was really very different to anything I had ever seen before. On the Himalayan plateau, we were at about 4000m high which seemed pretty crazy when thinking that the highest peak in Europe is 4800m. The whole area was basically a mountain desert, with a blue river snaking through the middle. The size of the mountains made you feel small, but then the harsh desert landscapes really made you feel powerless. Despite the harsh conditions, there are a number of old Buddhist monasteries in the area, some dating back more than a thousand years. Its difficult to describe what the place felt like, but the photos can give some idea of how it looks.

Kir Buddhist Monastery

Outdoor tibetan school

Spiti Valley

Meeting of Pin river and Spiti river

Goat town

The Spiti river winding through the valley

Heavenly colour of the river

Roadworks, or road creation. Notice the women doing the hard work.

Strange lunar landscape
The group of seven, plus Derga the driver

Chandertal Lake

Bumping around in the jeep

Tibetan gompas
Derga again

Myself with Chandertal Lake behind

From Spiti, I made it back to Manali and now I am in Shimla for a few days. I managed to arrive for Gandhi's birthday celebrations, so I'll be able to see some fireworks tonight, but what a pain in the ass trying to find a place to sleep last night! Literally every place was full, and it was a right pain walking up and down hills with my backpack on, before eventually finding somewhere! It seems that the big challenge of travelling alone is arriving in a town and making sure that the taxi driver takes you to the right place, and that you find a good place to stay.

One of the fascinating things is all the people you meet. The Norwegian engineer who has taken time out from work to see something different and who has amazing stories to tell about working in Sudan for Doctors without Borders. A variety of English people out here for their holidays, the older American woman who wants to really get a good feel for Asian cultures. The Israelis with their experiences living in Jerusalem and being in the Israeli army. It is great to hear all the different stories and perspectives people have, especially as it would be so unlikely that I would meet this variety of people back at home. Although I am travelling alone, it is rare that I ever eat alone so far. The trip to Spiti was great because we had such a nice group, and it does feel like a shame when you leave such a nice group behind, but I guess thats something I'll get increasingly used to as I keep on travelling.

Next stop is Delhi, and from there I hope to head further south... Still planning it out.

Link to previous post:

About to leave Pakistan