Destination Dharamsala

Well, I’ve made it. Yet another cross-country journey by train in India, from the warm, dusty air of Bihar to the cool, crisp mountains of Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh. 

The trip began on a night train in the relatively poor (even for India) city of Gaya, about 20 minutes by car from our Vihar in Bodh Gaya. The train station was packed with people sleeping, which seems fairly common here. Not so common was the large presence of army and special police forces, out in great number due to the recent state-wide elections in Bihar. Maoists in the area have waged a decades-long war with the government in many states of India (some news here and here). And all too often the governments have been either too weak or too corrupt to do much about it. Luckily the violence was very minimal. And luckily also the incumbent, Nitish Kumar, a man who appears to have the state’s interests foremost in his mind, won his second term in office.

View from my bunk in the train.

Once on the train I began to settle in to my bunk. Traveling 2AC (two bunks, with Air Conditioning) is about the best way to get around for folks like me. Unlike cheaper cars on the train, this one is well regulated with a conductor checking tickets against his printed chart at each stop, and everyone -for the most part- gets his/her seat without a problem. 

As I settled in, a woman in her 60s came to me and asked to switch with her so that she could be near her daughter, who she pointed out was directly across from me. No problem. I switched to another bunk nearby and settled in. By this time it was nearing midnight and I was ready to sleep. So I closed my curtain (above) and drifted off. I didn’t get much sleep though, with the occasional commotion of people coming and going at stops, and the loud snoring of some people next to me – and then a baby crying. 

At one point I gave up completely and decided to watch a movie on my laptop, thankful for a little technological escape from the noisy world around me. But mostly I just sat and listened or drifted in and out of a light sleep. On my second train (switching in Delhi) I talked for a while with a nice couple from Jammu, a state north of Dharamsala. At about 5am, 30 hours after boarding my first train, we arrived at the oddly-named Chakki Bank, a train station about three hours from Dharamsala. There a kind-looking Tibetan driver with my name on a sheet of paper picked me up for the last leg of the journey.

Good coffee and carrot cake at a cafe in McLeod Ganj (Upper Dharamsala).

Half-awake, but with renewed energy in the cool clean air, I arrived for breakfast and a quick tour from my colleague. It was early, so the town was just waking up as she showed me some of her favorite spots. En route we ran into a couple students (it’s a small town), who invited me to go paragliding the next day (see below).

Sunset from my hotel balcony, on the left is H.H. the Dalai Lama’s residence.

Finally settled in. I’m at the Pema Thang Guest House – even now writing this in bed – with a gorgeous view. It’s very affordable, about $25 a night, and is run by a group of ever-cheerful and often aloof Tibetans. Just today at breakfast one of the young men began singing whole-heartedly in Tibetan in the kitchen next to the dining room. The owner burst in and, in a truly kind and funny way, scolded the young man, pointing at the customers in the dining room. As the young man came out somewhat sheepishly, but with a big grin, I gave him a smile and silent hand-clap.

From above… Farmers fields as I floated above in my first experience of paragliding.