Hannah BW

McLeod Ganj: Day 49

Okay, I think I maybe forgot how to count. Let's assume that this actually is day 49, as I state (though does that make sense, if day 1 was a Monday? But now I changed the blog to actually reflect the real time, so it might have changed all the days as well. OCD alert!) and move on with it.

So, here is a recap. On Sunday I actually did see the new Batman movie, which I really liked. Then I got on the train to Agra! I was in an air-con car, which is far swankier than the sleeper class--not only does it have air conditioning, it also comes with bedding! I was befriended by my berth-mate, who was in the army. That's pretty much all I know about him. Ah, the language barrier.

23 hours later I was in Agra. Agra was pretty horrible. I saw all the requisite sites, of course, but my hotel was a dump and there's nothing to do in Agra but shop and get hassled, and since I'm carrying everything around with me for the next three weeks, I'm not really into the former. So that really left "get hassled" as the only activity besides sight-seeing. And even my auto-rickshaw driver hassled me, this time for not wanting to go to the Mughal Art Emporium. But! A big shout-out to Ankit and Aditya for hanging out with me all day on Wednesday. I met them on the bus to Fatehpur Sikri in the morning and then we were on the same train in the afternoon. Agra to Delhi was that much more bearable.

Next stop: Amritsar. Amritsar was wonderful. The city itself seemed like nothing special, and I missed Jallianwala Bagh, which is a shame. But the Golden Temple was in some ways even more impressive than the Taj. Certainly shinier. Actually, it was so bright that it was hard to look at. Somehow, I also made it to the border-closing ceremony in the afternoon. I got there via shared jeep. Twelve people, one jeep. We also stopped at this crazy temple that I don't know the name of--it had a hall of mirrors and a cave full of water that you had to walk through. Unfortunately, I felt it was inappropriate to take photos inside, so you will have to go to Amritsar and find it. At the border ceremony itself, there was a lot of goose-stepping, dancing, shouting, and loud music being played over speakers from the Border Security Force HQ, all to compete with the same coming from the other side. If I hadn't believed I was about to die of heatstroke, it might have been fun. This is probably the closest I will get to Pakistan for quite some time.

This morning I got on the 6:30 train to Pathankot, where I switched to a bus to McLeod Ganj. On the train I found yet another bunch of friendly people, who spoke only Punjabi, but the old man helped me get my backpack on the luggage rack, the old lady gave me parathas--a true godsend, considering the next time I ate was at 3 p.m.--and their grandson shook my hand. When they got off the train, the old man patted my head. I finally arrived in McLeod Ganj at 4 p.m. The town is very laid back, Tibetan food is extremely appealing (tofu! dumplings! broth!), I'm signed up for a dumpling-making class in the morning, and it's cold! I'm carrying my fleece! Tomorrow after dumplings I will go to the temple! If I didn't have a six-month visa I might never come home!

posted by HBW @ 7:59 PM