Sept. 23, 2012

The last day in Dharamsala! I set an early wake up call for myself at 6:30AM, to get out and explore the surrounding mountains without the hassle of others and the clouds rolling in. The morning turned out to be the best part of my day.

I had a pleasant, but relatively tough walk through the mountains to reach St. John’s Church in the Wilderness. This was a place in the wilderness. There was  the church, the road, the cemetery, and not much else. Buried here is Lord Elgin, one of the Governor Generals of India who died during his term. It was quiet and peaceful here, a welcome break from the noise and chaos of Delhi.

A church in the wilderness.

This cow knows what’s up.

I then proceeded up the mountain to Dal Lake, the same lake I could see while perched on a cliff cut into the mountain. It was a festival for the goddess Shimla, and festivities were had and security was tight. An interesting hour wandering about, talking to others, trying to piece together what this festival was about.

I took a short auto ride back home, and ended up hiking back up to Kharamdot again. We wanted to go up to a temple, secluded in the mountainside. I lost the group, as I was feeling a bit sick and hung back, when the rains began. Doubling back, we descended the mountain back to Mcleod Ganj in torrential rain. We were all soaked thoroughly.

We had a quick change and meal at the Tibetan Kitchen (momos are seriously good, okay?), took a taxi down to Lower Dharamsala to our bus pickup point. The gas station had lots of goodies, thankfully, and I do love me some orange juice. The bus arrived, we got on, and we were on our way home.

We took a short break at a rest stop where I watched England getting slaughtered by India in cricket. It was not pretty watching the Englishmen struggle at bat, but I cheered the Indians on. I think 173 was the target, and England was at 60 runs with 8 wickets lost, and this was a 20/20 match. I think that may be equivalent to a 10-0 lead in hockey; not quite impossible, but close enough.

Back on the bus, to sleep, and suddenly, home. Well, “home”. I’ll have to talk about the concept of home later on, when I’m back in Vancouver, but home for now.