The following day, I took Rany for breakfast and decided I would continue to try helping people one by one. While my life is kind of hopelessly tangled, making other people smile seems like the perfect mission. I learned a lot about her, and how and why she ended up in McLeod - quite different from most people.
To take her mind off things, I took her to the temple. To our surprise, a crowd of people was waiting near the exit. As it turned out, the Dalai Lama was leaving that day for an "overseas tour", so people gathered to see him off as his car would drive by. Hah, what luck - only 2 days in McLeod and I at least get to see His Holiness, even if briefly :) We both hurried and got some kathas (the white scarves for blessing), and waited with the rest of the people. In the meantime, we befriended a chick from the Netherlands, who had also recently started long-term solo travel.
I gave up on the idea of trying to take a photo, realising that the car would pass by too quickly, and decided instead to just enjoy the moment. It was quite awesome to see the Dalai Lama's smiling face, gazing out warmly and wide-eyed at all of us as the vehicle passed by. Very cute and special.
Well, that's done and out of the way, let's go get some food now!
After lunch, Rany and I walked to Bhagsu waterfall, sharing some more about our lives. I had to explain to her what all the texting was about so she wouldn't feel offended, because it was getting out of hand at times, heh.
Soon, it was time for some dance class happening at Oasis Café (some event or other is always going on in McLeod - I eventually came to enjoy the uniqueness and creativity of the place). Rany went, but I decided not to join; I needed some alone time...or rather, texting time. I wanted to walk to one of the temples on the mountain, and even maybe spend the night there (all about getting crazier and wilder), but some anxiety struck and I decided not to. As I was walking back to McLeod, the locals were amused at seeing a girl passing by, engrossed in pressing buttons on her phone, occasionally giggling to herself...
I met up with Rany and Petty (the Dutch girl) after the dance class, and we meandered to the same rooftop place as the previous night for dinner.
After hilarious efforts from Petty and myself to try to make Rany eat more, I was feeling quite knackered and decided to head back to the hostel. Especially seeing as how I had to wake up early the following day to meet Vishal and head to the wedding! However, thankfully, I stuck around and waited for Rany, because on our way back, we were followed by an Indian guy making rather crude verbal passes at us. He even attempted to grope Rany as we reached the hostel. Good that neither of us had gone back alone! Sometimes, in certain special and isolated pockets like McLeod Ganj, I forget that I'm still on "planet India", and that one has to remain vigilant :P
To take her mind off things, I took her to the temple. To our surprise, a crowd of people was waiting near the exit. As it turned out, the Dalai Lama was leaving that day for an "overseas tour", so people gathered to see him off as his car would drive by. Hah, what luck - only 2 days in McLeod and I at least get to see His Holiness, even if briefly :) We both hurried and got some kathas (the white scarves for blessing), and waited with the rest of the people. In the meantime, we befriended a chick from the Netherlands, who had also recently started long-term solo travel.
I gave up on the idea of trying to take a photo, realising that the car would pass by too quickly, and decided instead to just enjoy the moment. It was quite awesome to see the Dalai Lama's smiling face, gazing out warmly and wide-eyed at all of us as the vehicle passed by. Very cute and special.
Well, that's done and out of the way, let's go get some food now!
After lunch, Rany and I walked to Bhagsu waterfall, sharing some more about our lives. I had to explain to her what all the texting was about so she wouldn't feel offended, because it was getting out of hand at times, heh.
Soon, it was time for some dance class happening at Oasis Café (some event or other is always going on in McLeod - I eventually came to enjoy the uniqueness and creativity of the place). Rany went, but I decided not to join; I needed some alone time...or rather, texting time. I wanted to walk to one of the temples on the mountain, and even maybe spend the night there (all about getting crazier and wilder), but some anxiety struck and I decided not to. As I was walking back to McLeod, the locals were amused at seeing a girl passing by, engrossed in pressing buttons on her phone, occasionally giggling to herself...
I met up with Rany and Petty (the Dutch girl) after the dance class, and we meandered to the same rooftop place as the previous night for dinner.
After hilarious efforts from Petty and myself to try to make Rany eat more, I was feeling quite knackered and decided to head back to the hostel. Especially seeing as how I had to wake up early the following day to meet Vishal and head to the wedding! However, thankfully, I stuck around and waited for Rany, because on our way back, we were followed by an Indian guy making rather crude verbal passes at us. He even attempted to grope Rany as we reached the hostel. Good that neither of us had gone back alone! Sometimes, in certain special and isolated pockets like McLeod Ganj, I forget that I'm still on "planet India", and that one has to remain vigilant :P
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