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Darahmsala, India

The story

Jan 30, 2001
Getting here is half the story. We left Bangkok on Jan 24, arrived in Sri Lanka at our hotel at 1am on the 25th and recieved our wake up call at 4am. Tired and sore, we arrived in the Delhi airport at 11am. Immediately we were offered a taxi ride we couldn't refuse. We tried to refuse, but the chearful guy who helped us get a map and money at the ATM was just too nice to say, "fuck off" to (which is what you have to do, we later learned).

Three hours after arriving at his "brother's" Tourist Office, our resolve was being further disolved. We successfully said no to the $650 US tour through Rajastan and also to the $550 and the $450 when we decided that they couldn't help us stay in our budget. So, Darahmsala was the cheaper alternative and we gladly paid 800 rupes for what we later discovered was a 350 rupe ride.

As soon as we boarded the bus our nightmare began. We were in the back of an all night bus ride and these were the only seats that didn't recline. The heads of the passangers in front of us were neatly in our lap. This turned out to be a good thing. It kept us from flying too far out of our seats as the bus hit the pleathora of bumps in the road. And then there was the inssesant honking. The bus honked and honked and honked as it turned a corner, as it passed another vehicle, as it wished and as it swerved. And then it started getting cold. Very cold. Annie and I we prepared for hot, not cold and it got very cold, especially after the window fell off.

Anyway, we got there. And this is what it looked like:

So after buying sweaters and wool socks, we decided to explore. There was a wonderful waterfall and we walked to it with our new friend, Andre from East Germany. His father was a nasty nazi in ww11. Above the waterfall was a cute little cafe called Shiva Cafe. They didn't have much to offer. It was really a bunch of artsy hippies. They painted on rocks and smoked hash. This is what the place looked like:

As you can see, there was a mix of religeons here. Buddists from Tibet, Hindu's from India, Muslims from Kashmere, Sihks, Christians (notice the painting?) and jews. Yes Jews. Here we were with Andre, the grandson of a Nazi and who do we meet? but Susan from Isreal. I talked about world war two until Ann kicked me in the shin.

This is one of the cooler pictures at Shiva Cafe. You can see the drug induced imagination at work. But the piece is good and I liked it.