Losar Tashi Delek

Losar is Tibetan New Year and is celebrated for weeks back in Tibet or a few days here in McLeod Ganj. We decided to take the opportunity to take a walk up to the local waterfall with our mate Free, from WA. Free is a member of HMT's sister centre Hayagriva in Perth and coincidentally worked at Department of Environment in the Perth office.

The road up and up and up to the waterfall before the snow.


One of the narrow paths on the trail.

Free and myself with a beautiful rhododendron


The thick snow at the chai shop half way up


A man and a snowman meditating

And making snow castles, we miss the beach!

The forest. We called the dog that follow us, 'Foxy' for obvious reasons. He came all the way up and down with us, chasing snowballs and eating our biscuits. Later I found out his name is Charlie and he belongs to Anil the chai shop owner that is at the end of the Tushita driveway (Rob and Fred's favourite hang out).

Not at the waterfall and a long way from these mountain peaks, we reach the height of Mount Kosciusko, the tallest mountain in Australia.

At the waterfall

Tushita Pure Land - McLeod Ganj

We are volunteering at Tushita Meditation Centre from Feb to the end of May. It is associated with the same meditation center that we went to back in Bunno and is set in a beautiful forest, in the foot hills of the Himalayas. My job is to work in the office and Rob is helping with the construction of the new meditation building.

It snowed! and I was so happy. This was the first time I have experienced snow falling. It was beautiful and really looked as if the sky was falling when I looked up.

I was so happy it snowed.... I couldn't smile any bigger. And look how much my hair has grown. I'm standing in the driveway at Tushita.

I love the snow but it was so cold!! No central heating and the heater I did use was one of those small bar heaters, if the power was strong enough or on at all! Really I love the snow!


Watching the snow

And then the sun came out..... These photos were taken outside my office overlooking the pine forest.

A monkey in the mist at Tushita. This part of the forest is more natural that the pines.


Tushita's old gompa that is soon to be knocked down.

This stupa contains the relics and ashes of Lama Yeshe, the founder of Tushita and the FPMT

Rob, (Saka)dawa and Kalu watch the rain outside the library and Directors office

Kalu means 'black' in Hindi and Dawa was born on Sakadawa, a holy Buddhist day. They are well know all around the area, especially at the local pizza shop. Dawa always runs away at bed time (they are kept in a dog house so snowleopards don't eat them).

This is the view of the plains they were admiring


Rob and I in my room


Rob painting in his 'pinks'. He painted rooms - white - for the first three weeks.


This was taken in McLeod Ganj and is the view from His Holiness Dalai Lamas temple


Me walking around a stupa at HHDL temple


Endless knot, representing interconnectedness of all things (amongst other things)

Danyavaad Soni ka Parosi!

Thankyou Soni Family!

Thankyou for your hospitality, kindness and showing me some of you secrete family recipes! And thankyou Vikki for showing us a side of India we would have never discovered on our own. Your friends and family have made this possible. Unfortunately I lost the picture I took with your family.....

Vikki and his mate took us to a beautiful Hindu temple that I think is called Maa Mahakalika temple, in Pawagadh near Baroda, his home town.

Here we are sitting on a rock

Once on board the chair lift, Vikki told us that a few years ago it had collapsed and they have just rebuilt it...... It would have been a long hot walk!

A little boy in the line for the temple gives Vikki's friend a friendly five

I took a photo of these colourful ladies whilst I was in the line for the temple. After getting a blessing (see my red bindi), these ladies spotted me and grabbed me over for a photo.

Rob the adventurer




One of the spectacular views

We were not sure what this used to be. We thought some ruins of a monastery of some sort...

View out of one of the windows




Vikki flexes his muscles


And so does Robo, Go!

After taking some cooking lessons from Vikki's Auntie (I learnt how to make chappati, parantha, dokala) we went to see a Bollywood movie! It was great and didn't need too much translation from Vikki. It was a love story called Salame Esk or something like that. People clap and shout out during the movie, it was great! So lively, people were really enjoying the movie.

We went out for dinner and some excellent kulfi (icecream) and this other dessert with nuts, jelly, icecream and some other yummy things with some of Vikki's mates

This is Vikki's cousin with a cute buffalo calf that lives next to Vikki's house (their neighbours sell milk).