A Week In Heaven

Last Thursday, Brandon and I headed up north to the state of Himachal Pradesh. We stayed at foothills of the Himalayan Mountains...in an area called Dharamsala. Basically, the Dharamsala area consists of a few tiny towns dotting the hillside: Dharamsala, McLeod Ganj, Bhagsu, and Dharamkot, each ascending upward by 2-10 kms. This area is best known as the home of the Dalai Lama, as this was the place he claimed asylum following the Chinese invasion of Tibet. The culture here is quite different from the other parts of India that we've been so thus far; obviously there is a HUGE Tibetan influence here: Buddhist monks dressed in full maroon and gold robes, people everywhere carrying around and counting their mala (rosary) beads, Tibetan language all over fliers and signs, as well as different foods like momos and Tibetan butter tea (uhh....when in Rome, right? I tried this type of tea, and pretty much it was a huge mug of hot, liquid butter. Let's just say that I had two sips and passed on the rest...YUCK!).

We stayed passed Dharamsala, passed McLeod Ganj...all the way up a steep, steep, STEEP incline...up to Bhagsu...but then, even more...up another 176 STEEP stairs to upper Bhagsu, where the clear views of the mountains and valley lay. AH! GORGEOUS! We had a 360 degree view of everything from the roof of our guest house, Swami's Guest House. And literally, after the craziness and pollution-filled week we had before, I honestly felt like I was in heaven. The blue skies against the bright green trees, with the sun shining in my face...inhaling the fresh mountain air! Pure bliss.

What the Lonely Planet guidebook didn't tell us was that the Dharamsala area (especially Bhagsu) is filled with Israeli tourists!! The internet cafe guy, who we befriended, told us that at any given time, Bhagsu is 90% Israeli! Haha! Who knew that I was going to get to practice my Hebrew in India! :) Plus, we had some DELICIOUS humus, falafel, and pita (a nice break from all of the spicy Indian food), and even hit up the Chabad House (there's one in Bhagsu & in Dharamkot) for a shabbat meal in the Sukkah. Such a fun/funny/random experience to get to know so many Israelis over the last week...but I guess Debbie Friedman is right, "Where ever you go, there's always someone Jewish"...even in India.

Even though we were only here for about a week, I know for sure for sure for sure that I have to go back to the Dharamsala area...there is SO much to do (which I'll write about later), and it's just so freaking beautiful!! I hope you all make it there one day!