Day two in McLeod in Northern India and home of his Holiness the Dalia Lama. To say I'm over excited and utterly thrilled to be here would be a massive understatement. I've planned this particular part of my travels with military prescion. I've dreamt of being here and now I am it's everything I expected it to be and more.
The contrast from here to Delhi is unimaginable and a huge relief. Chris decided to join me on this leg and I think he's pretty taken by it too. It's very peaceful. The backdrop for the little village are the mountains, the sky is a beautiful clear blue and the people are lovely. Real mix of Tibetans and Indians which seems to work well.
Thankfully Chris is more than happy to leave me to my own devices and go off trekking while I fully immerse myself in everything I promised myself I would do ie. yoga, meditation, astrology predictions by a Tibetan monk, gening up on DL and Buddhism.
I'm staying at OM guest house which makes me smile every time I think about it. Oh the irony. It's a friendly family run hotel, clean, good food and the veranda overlooks the valley. Perfect.
It's not too touristy here either. Admittedly there are a few people who are clearly embracing the look and are in danger of perhaps staying here rather longer than they should but all in all it's pretty chilled. I love it.
I've been deliberating whether to do the 10 day SILENT meditation retreat at the monastery. I've been really debating whether to do it and have decided not to for a number of reasons:
1.) I'm not looking to find myself. I've already found myself - I'm now accessorizing.
2.) I'd have to share a room with someone and not speak to them. I'd have to remain in complete silence which I would find rude and irritating...if not a bit boring.
3.) I have a massive problem with rules and/or strict programmes where I'm told what to do - it brings out the worst in me
4.) I like this characteristic and fear 10 days in silence under a strict programme may ruin this characteristic I've grown to like about myself - despite the fact it often gets me in trouble i.e. disapproving looks from the monks in Chiang Mai when they found out I'd absconded one evening and fraternized with the outside world!
5.) I like to talk a lot.
So I've decided to stay put for a while. I've befriended a yoga master so I'm practising yoga and meditation on a daily basis, reading virtually every book I can get my hand on about DL and also hanging out with a rather cute Tibetan guy who trekked across the Himalayas for a month to get here to escape the Chinese authorities - all in the name of research of course!
This is my kind of accessorizing!
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