Saturday, October 21, 2006, Dharamsala. (Day before the conference)

This was the day for sight seeing in Upper Dharamsala or McLoad-Ganj. The streets are very narrow and from time to time cars can not pass unless with utmost care. Of course the horn is blown very often. Sometimes it is impossible to pass each other and one party has to back-up.

The organisation of the conference has placed a booth in the town so it is easy to register. They have made a separate Wi-Fi link to the place, so they can access the data base and have a telephone connection. Watch the cables, ormally running in the gutter.

To the right of the booth is the Handicraft shop of the Tibetan Children Village.

We have the benefit that we can quickly e-mail and browse the internet for information and for the conference program.

And, yes, the cows are walking through the street. This happens to be a bull.

The purple signpost is of the hotel (SnowLion). If you click on the pictures, you will see a high resolution version. Try it on the previous picture to find the signpost there.

Friday, October 20, 2006, Dharamsala.

Today I went by a taxi to the Headquarters of the Tibetan Childrens Village to carry two bags with cloth that I carried for the Dutch SHAT foundation. I take a taxi to travel the 1 km because of the weight and of the terrential rain.

The road is narrow and full of holes AND gaps to the left where parts of the pavement lost its support due to landslides. The drivers drive with very high percision, but it is still scary. Due to the bad weather it is not good to make pictures.

In the afternoon I walked to the Auditorium to meet the organisers and do some work on my presentation.

Tim shows me the short-cut path back to Mcload-Ganj. It is a downward path over the hilltop.

When I return to the hotel, my bags have been moved to the other room. It is much better than the previous one. A big window to the outside, a balcony and a real seat.

The rain has stopped, but there are still clouds. When the sun breaks through the clouds, it is nice and warm, but otherwise it is chilly and I have to wear my sweater.

Thursday, October 19, 2006, Dharamsala.

From time to time, the bus had made a stop to unload freight (yes, in the nightly hours). There are always people waiting for the parcels.

After 2 AM, I had hoped that I was tired enough to sleep, but we are already in the climb to the 6000 ft of our end goal. It is impossible to dose away because you will be thrown out of your seat by the sharp bends in the roads. My back hurts due to lack of support.

The bus makes one stop at 4 AM to buy a glass of tea (tjah) at a small shop with a street side booth.

At 6 AM sharp the little moon (one or two days old) bleaches in the sun.We now also stop to drop people off the bus, and finally we enter Lower Dharamsala. I am impressed by the accidented way the town is build. We climb while to the right of the road the major part of the town is visible in a valley. Yet it takes half an hour steeply climbing to reach Upper Dharamsala.

I am exhausted. When I ask for the Snow Lion, the manager of the hotel is next to me with some of his boys to carry my luggage. He had heard my question where the hotel was and he dashed to the bus station (only one bus can stand there, after careful maneouvering into the narrow place).

They gave me a temporary room (it is &:30 AM) with the promise of getting a balcony room the next day. I go straight to bed and fall asleep. I am afraid I am too old for this type of transport.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006, Delhi.

After waking up, I have to shave with cold water, because I do not know how te get hot water. Later I learn that the water comes from a boiler in the room connected via a plug on a switch they normally put in the off-position. Half an hour before you need hot water, you need to switch the power on and after uase you have to switch off again.

I have to call for breakfast, which is brought to me. I sign the bill and the boy goes away with a puzzled face. Later he comes back for the money: he is from the neighbouring restaurant..... But before I can pay him, I have to change my 500 Rs note into 100 Rs notes. Even that he can not change, but he finds a business man in the front of the hotel that is willing to change for him.

After packing and ordering a bus ticket for the night bus at the reception of the hotel, I receive instructions what I ought to see and what the car cost from one point to the other are.

To make sure I can tell where I need to be returned to I make a picture of the hotel name and address. Note the button for the bell inside of the gate. The driver had to push on the button to wake one of the boys sleeping on the coaches in reception.

I find a motorized riksja and negotiate the price. After a lot of staggling I talk him to the double price of what the hotel manager indicated.

After some driving, the driver stops and proposes to drive me around for a fixed price, where he would wait for me when I am visiting places. I come to 650 Rs. Seems expensive, but I found out later that a Danish guy made a similar arrangement for 400 Rs, but did not get the guidance in the museums.

The first stop is at the Rajgath, the monument for Mahatma Ghandi.

Note the bare feet, one had to leave the shoes at the entrance.

Next stop was the Ghandi museum. Inside they had an interesting multi-media show.

The dirver of the hotel had told me last night that they had no regulation for the road traffic. Each free spot is used and the space between vehicles is 10 % of what it uses to be back home. Also, the horn is used abundantly. Check this impression.

The monument for soldiers and the Parliament building.

When I returend to the hotel, the manager wanted to chang my busticket, he had found a bus with a better place for a lower price (450 Rs for a whole night of transportation).

The bus left at 6:30 PM, in the middle of the rush hour. Here we were in a quit part of town.