Had a great time in Delhi.
The weather was nice and I spent the days there mostly catching up with lots of old friends. One of these was Angu, a Sikkimese girl who is the daughter of one of my close friends in Perth. I had met her previously in Perth when she visited and so it was lovely to see her again. She was fantastic to us and helped us with everything as well as being bright, fun and non-stop energy to boot. She also supplied me with many things that I would need in my flat in Dharamsala (blankets, sheets, mugs, cooker, kettle, etc... etc... !!) The perfect person to distract us from the pollution and hassle that Delhi can offer.
Angu took care of all the bargaining with auto rickshaw drivers and working out how to get to all the places I needed to go. Out of the way places, like a home in West Delhi to deliver a wedding present. The delivery went well and I had a really nice time chatting with their family. Despite my best intentions, the threat of a tummy bug that evening prevented me actually getting to have a look at the wedding, but luckily for LM and I it never got really serious and to my relief I was not struck down with any serious ailment on my first day in Delhi - how embarrasing would THAT have been.
LM and I also caught up with a group from our Buddhist Centre who had just returned from a 3 week pilgrimage. Was great to see them all. Finally, caught up with a friend who is an Australian nun and LM and I caught the bus up with her to Dharamsala.
Arrived in Dharamsala at about 6am. It was dark and pretty cold, but not nearly as bad as I had expected. After promising to try the "luxury" Volvo bus, we ended up deciding we couldn't be bothered to go down to the bus station to catch it so just got the "Potala bus" from Majnukatilla. It worked out fine, though the Potala bus gets pretty cold and is impossible to sleep on. Hmmm, maybe not COMPLETELY fine, though actually after catching an hour's sleep this morning I feel great this evening.
Thosamling nunnery is really nice. More details to follow, but basically the place has been set up by a Dutch nun with help from her friends and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She has done a great job. The place is set in the middle of some fields and the grounds are not yet complete, but the buildings are beautifully done and there is a really nice group of nuns and others there.
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7 comments:
Great plan, great place, great initiative, great achievements to come. Nice writing and atmospheric photo too. So there is no need to feel embarrassed (Perth to Delhi, 20 January 2007) – although you probably are not any more. And, the blog will allow long suffering friends to follow your whereabouts… well, suppose that is a given (Thosamling nunnery for the next year) but at least we can follow your endeavours in the nunnery and offer support when the monsoon begins to wear you down in half way through August.
Anyway, just thought I would leave you a trace. Sometimes it gets a little lonely blogging for the world, while you have no sense of the people reading … of people reading … :o)
Good night and good luck.
Hi Free,
Thanks for meeting my inlaws I spoke too them after the wedding to find out how everything went with the ceremony and they said that it went great, they mentioned you visited and gave you and your friends an invitation for the wedding. They were disappointed that you could not make it. Thanks once again for taking the gifts and going out of your way I owe you heaps of meals when you get back. Then again you could become an expert cook with all the training in India. Catia's grandmother is very ill and she could be flying out as soon as possible to Portugal. I water your bamboo plant once a week. Take care of yourself bye for now Janice !!
Hello Free,
What an amazing start to your adventure !! Glad to hear your safe and well, and avoided the Bombay Belly.
Jeh yong = (see you later in Tibetan)
Peter your old Office neighbour
Great to hear all is going well with the adventure. The pleasure and experience is something that many of us only dream about. I look forward to reading more over the coming months. All ok here although SAT has been very busy with much more to come.
Take care
Barry
Sounds like a great adventure, with a purpose, which makes it all the more worthwhile. A real mission. The blog is a great idea, particularly if you can get photos up on it. I'd love to see the mountains. I've often thought about trying to get the family over to Nepal/Northern India for a couple of months, but the kids are a bit young at the moment. Maybe in a year or two.
Look forward to hearing how things go. Sounds like you've got a network of friends overthere so you shouldn't get too lonely. Plus, I'm sure the language lessons will keep you occupied / focussed.
Will stay in touch.
Hey, thanks for the comments. Got this blogging thing a little more sussed now with Indian computing technology and my feeble computer skills, though I am sure I can make it schmicker with time.
Heard you were facing some unexpected extremely cold weather !!
Janice and I will organise for her famous Volcano Vegetable Vindaloo,
Vegetable Curry of Courage and her Diathermic Dharamsala Dahl recipes to come to you.
Peter & Janice say Jeh yong
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