McLeodganj 2K9

Another trip? Why yes....Four 3 day weekends during the months of September and October made for some pretty good times. Becky, Thinh and I traveled to McLeodganj (Tibetan enclave in the lower Himalayas - home of the Dalai Lama) in September (Jon went to Bangkok...oh, and for the Goa trip, Jon was fishing. We don't travel together anymore, apparently. So, Jon, you need to write you're own blog entries from now on.) This was actually my second trip to McLeodganj. Goa and this hill station are 2 of the places that I would definitely return to in India. I totally dig them both. They both provide for a "vacation" and not just a touristy, sightseeing trip.

We took the overnight train from Delhi. I was geared up with my 2 hiking poles sticking out of my backpack, which helped me practically take out every individual in the Old Delhi train station. We were sweating something awful, but we were fully equipped with snacks galore. Ritz crackers and peanut butter, pigs in a blanket (yes, we can get those here), snack mixes, kit kats and maybe an apple. The train ride was fun. I had booked later than Becky and Thinh, so I had a seat in another car. Becky was kind enough to allow me to share her bunk, so we slept rather comfortably head to foot :) Those first class bunks are big!

The ride from the train station to McLeodganj is about 3 hours. On our drive, a lady standing on the right side of the road held a rope attached to a cow on the left side of the road. The rope rested on the road, out of harms way....UNTIL, the crazy lady decided to snatch up the rope just as we were about 15 feet away traveling at 45 miles per hour. Our driver slammed on his brakes and loony-toons smirked. what the heck? Everyone was fine. Just totally shocked.

In McLeodganj, I told Becky and Thinh that I wanted to do 3 things: 1. drink lots of ginger, honey, lemon tea; 2. hike up the mountain to Triund 3. take a momo cooking class. And because they are great friends, we did all 3, and it was fantastic fun! We walked through town the first day stopping frequently at various restaurants for tea, momos (tibetan dumplings) and french fries (hey, it's Becky's and Thinh's staple travel snack, and it was always pretty delish). We chatted a ton, laughed a lot, and told new and old stories.

On day 2, we hiked to Triund. The walk began with us deciding that maybe we would just walk part of the way. We were, after all, beginning 2 hours after our declared departure time. But, you know, once you start, you just can't stop. And so, 8 hours later, we had hiked to the top, and descended back down. It was tough, but totally worth it. Right, B and T?

On Day 3, we took a momo cooking class! It was the BEST! Such fun, and such good momos - holy cow, they were the best momos we had all weekend! Side note: I've already tried to make momos with my new skillz. Not as good, but still pretty yummy. The only bummer was that while the cooking course was only 2 hours, it took me pretty much all day to complete the process on my own. I think I need more practice.

Some of you may be aware that Richard Gere comes to McLeodganj quite frequently to hang with the Dalai Lama and practice Tibetan Buddhism. Well, what you probably didn't know is that he stays in the hotel that we stayed in...in a room that was right across from our room. So, Becky and I asked the receptionist if anyone was staying in "his" room, and if no one was, could we see it? Well, someone was staying in his room, but she let us see it anyway because the guest was out. Love that room security. Anyway, it wasn't anything too fancy. But it does have a sweet view of the town and the mountains.

That evening, we headed to the airport for our flight back. We were flying back instead of taking the overnight train because we had to be at work the next morning (or so we thought). As soon as we arrived at the airport, they informed us that the flight was canceled. Uh oh. What do we do? They gave us our options....well, option: hire a taxi to drive you back to Delhi. Should take 12 hours. Yuck, that sounds horrid. In the dark, on these roads, with crazy ladies lurking about? We'll never sleep. This will be awful, and bumpy, and scary. Well, I did not accept this as the only option and I asked them to call the train station and ask for tickets....we'll take any seat! Just get us on the train. Kingfisher airlines was actually super helpful and ended up getting us first class seats on the 10pm train! Woohooo! We have plenty of time to make it to the train station, we're getting first class, AND we arrive in Delhi at 6am...plenty of time to head home for showers and still get to work on time. So, we made the most of it, and continued to have a blast even while sitting on the floor of the Chakki Bank train station. We drank a bottle of wine (leftover from the weekend) and played Yatzee. Shall I mention that I got 3 Yatzees in one game?! Superstar, thank you. And, well, I should also mention that Becky got 2 yatzees in one game. Must have been the good energy of the weekend. Oh, and I think I made the cut. This was my first time traveling with Becky and Thinh, who travel together a lot. I think that they'll let me join them again :)