Hey everybody! First off, I must apologize for posting five days late. But hold on! I have a legitimate excuse – today is the first day since we landed in Delhi on the 23th of June that I have been able to spend an hour writing at the activist group Delhi Forum office with wifi. Our trip has been so jam-packed and finding internet connection is not so easy. So a little disclaimer, for the next two weeks I will be in smaller villages and most likely won’t have frequent internet connection. Anyways…
The fourteen hour flight from Newark to Delhi finally ended (I watched Rachel Getting Married, excellent movie, and read and slept). After spending a night in Delhi, we flew to Chandigarh (about an hour in flight from Delhi) the next morning to drive to Banjaar in Himachal Pradesh for the conference.
Chandigarh serves as the capital for both the states of Panjab and Haryana. The entire expansive area of Panjab that existed prior to 1947 was divided between Pakistan and India during Partition, and then further divided into three distinct states in India. A driver was to take us from the airport in Chandigarh to the conference in Banjaar, a smaller town eight hours away surrounded by forests, waterfalls, and countless species of animals in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
After the conference, my family and I wanted to experience Dharamsala area, the Buddhist temple in Mcleodganj, and of course the Dalai Lama’s teachings which all can be found in the state of Himachal. Though the driver who picked us up (who, of course we had never met before) was only going to drop us off at Banjaar and then return to Chandigarh, we discussed him staying at the conference and then taking us to Dharamsala for a few days. In a no hassle – anything is possible fashion unique to only India, we stopped by the driver’s house right on the border of Panjab for an hour while he gathered his things and straightened his affairs. He invited us in for chai and cookies and we met his brother in law and small talked for a few minutes. The generosity that flows intuitively and naturally from ordinary individuals is omnipresent here but always seems to astound me.
Though originally we were told the ride to the conference in Banjaar would be 4 hours, it turned out the narrow, bumpy roads that never ceased twisting and coiling extended the journey by another 4 hours. The car hugged the edge of the cliff. A small accident and we would have plunged into the rocks and stream below! We were traveling along a deep and narrow valley, along a mountain range that forms the second layer of the Himalayas. I have never seen more pure water in the stream below nor more handsome people on the side of the roads. We finally arrived at Sairopa National Park, a beautiful area left un-destroyed by tourists and commercialism. The next day we hiked up a makeshift path usually frequented by locals to a breathtaking waterfall two kilometers from the street. Easy? No! The rocks were all pretty much on top of each other, and we huffed and puffed up the tiny path… running on a treadmill for exercise seemed so absurd to me at that point. For energy we plucked some tangy orange apricots from a tree halfway to the falls. The climb was painful—Miley Cyrus has no idea what she’s talking about. But it was so worth it! The waterfall and the rocks below were gorgeous, and not a single human being was in sight besides the three of us and the guide. The water came from the melted snow atop the Himlayas, so you can imagine how bitterly numbing it was. My parents impulsively plunged into the cold water fully in their clothes, splashing and begging me to join them. I felt like a grandma sitting on the rocks yelling the water was too freezing, so I reluctantly bathed in the icy Himalayan falls too. It must have been a sight, the three of us crazy fools shivering and yelling in the water. It was great!
I will write about the conference in a day or two, after talking about it with a few friends. But remind me if I forget! Because that is the crux of the trip so far… I just haven’t had the time to sit down and think and then write about it!
