Wednesday 12th May 2010
10.35pm
My single room, Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery, McLeod Ganj
India
So the descent down the mountain was far less sweaty than the ascent. There was no rain but a huge rain cloud hovered above the mountain and the rumble of thunder could be heard for hours.
I met an Indian writer as I went down, he like many others was heading up in the opposite direction and was sweat profusely. He said he was in McLeod Ganj to correct his book, about Indians living abroad and had already published one book called 'Real America'. He was from somewhere near Delhi. I'm afraid I've forgotten his name though. He seemed a nice guy.
When I got to the bottom to Dharamkot I went back to McLeod Ganj via another small village called Bagsu. which is a quiet place with a small number of tourists and travellers, it's about 2km from McLeod Ganj. I was accosted by an Indian man however who took a liking to my football shirt, and after hearing I was an English teacher who taught in Korea dragged/ushered/tricked me into his jewelry shop for a cup of tea. He said he also had lived in South Korea...but this later turned out to be a 10 days business trip. So we talked amiably for a while about his business which I expressed some interest in and he asked me about me. Then I was handcuffed into dinner with his friend...who had a cousin in Ilfracombe of all places.
They didn't care to ask me if I would like to have dinner with them, simply decided for me that since I probably hadn't made plans yet for the following night then I should automatically be happy to join them.
This is the same as the Indian selling technique.
They don't perceive if you want something or not (or appear not to perceive), they just put it in your face and tell you the price regardless of the fact that you may not actually give give a damn or be remotely interested.
So now I'm in the position I sometimes got into in South Korea when a student who I didn't really have much to share with socially or a common interest might corner me. I'll make a last minute decision whether or not to meet them tomorrow, sometime tomorrow afternoon. Part of me thinks it'll be a good idea, part of my however really doesn't want to.
My thighs and shoulders ached by the time I got to the bottom.
In McLeod I couldn't get a paper, but got a copy of the weekly 'Himachal this week' and 'Contact' a magazine which covers local issues and gives lots of contact information for groups and people in the local area.
I stopped by the LHA Volunteer Association, but being able to be here only a short time meant I was no use to them.
Then I bumped into Tensing, the guy I helped out a few days before, so with some time to fill we went to a cafe and for an hour or so I helped correct more of his poems and basically taught for an hour and got to know him better.
I'll meet him again on Friday morning.
Afterwards I got a tea and some toast in a cafe. The price was 45Rs but I had 30 in change or a 1000 note, so the cashier took the 30. I'll go back with the extra 15 tomorrow.
The tea was 20Rs, fine. The menu said 10Rs for honey toast (two slices) I was charged 10Rs per slice and 5Rs for the honey, but the menu didn't explain that at all...now I feel dubious about paying the other 15Rs....hmmmm.
I bought 12 steamed momos, some biscuits, toothpaste and Pepsi then came back here to the monastery, complete with its young resident monks and ate in my room, read on the communal balcony and read some more in my room.
...today's hiking was good exercise.
As I tried to get a paper in McLeod I discovered I can only get them from 8am to 11am. Meanwhile behind the shop that sells them is another a joining shop that is 150 years old that I was able to look around. Many of the cabinets and shelves were indeed 150 years old and the place doesn't function as a shop any more, now a kind of open museum.
Sadly some shelves stocked contemporary goods for the newspaper to drag out when needed. A little of the mystical element disappeared because of this. Other parts of the shop contained newspapers from the 1950s that could be read; there were many old and dusty interesting packages and signage going much further back than the 1950s too it seemed. An interesting place and I wondered how it had survived with all the pandemonium of the village outside.
...I should wash some clothes tomorrow and go to the government complex.
I think I'll stick around here, register with the library and perhaps sign up for the philosophy class.
I saw adverts for Tai Chi too which is very appealing to me as well.
I've done most of the tourist things here now so to do a couple of the activities would be a good idea I think.
Lets see what comes along.
There are nearly 300 steps to climbs from the monastery where I am staying to road. I roughly counted them coming back today.