My Dinosaur Life: India Part II

On Tuesday (May 6, 2008) morning of my trip we went to visit Akshardham Temple. This temple houses statues of the various Hindi gods and goddess. You are not allowed to wear your shoes in the temple so I had to walk around barefoot and they had these mats laid everywhere that were soaking wet because without the water the ground would be too hot to walk on. The average temperature in May is above 100 F.

This is a photo of some locals waiting in line to see the temple.

This is a photo of the outside of the temple.

After visiting the temple we took a small flight to Dharamsala. This the is the city in the Himalayan mountains where the exiled Tibetan government located and home to the Dalai Lama. Upon landing the scenery was beautiful and the mountains were spectacular. I LOVE Nature and this was my favorite portion of the trip. We took an hour car ride up the mountain to our hotel. The road was very narrow and I was sitting in the front seat. On occasion I had to close my eyes because I thought we were going to go over the edge or an oncoming car was going to end my life. On the way up there was a family of monkeys sitting on the side of the road. I didn't get a photo but a short distance away two monkeys were engaging in serious public displays of affection.

After arriving at the hotel and giving up our nice large room with a view (but 1 king bed) to a married couple to a small no view, no balcony room, two friends and I decided to go exploring up the mountain. The hotel was built on the side of the mountain so we could walk up the road and the go up and down the sides of the mountain that looked interesting. This photo I was pretending to be superwoman to fly off the side of the mountain.

The next morning (Wednesday) two of my friends and I woke up at the crack of dawn. This means I woke up at 3 am and was unable to get back to sleep. We decided to start our day with a healthy constitutional up the mountain. We walked for an hour and breathed the glorious fresh mountain air. We walked downhill first so that made the last portion uphill. Our elevation was about 5000 feet, I assure you I think the people at the hotel could here me breathing as it was so labored. However, it was a good labored and a great way to start the day.

Our first stop of the day was at the Children's Tibetan Village. This is a school the houses 2000 children from infants to college age. These are not necessarily orphaned children but children who have been sent to Dharamsala from Tibetan China. The children live in family units of 30 children, they are fairly self contained with each unit preparing their own meals and takes care of their own daily needs. The children all wear uniforms at the school and the ones we saw looked happy and healthy. The next series of photos will be from the children's school..there is a real cute on of me holding a baby. I was the first one to arrive in the infant room and there was this little boy holding his arms out just wanting to be held. I resisted for about 30 seconds as I am not necessarily a baby person...but he was cute. I wanted to take him home with me. When we were trying to leave he kept holding on to me tighter...he did not want to be put down.

This is the common area and one of a typical dorm.

The two above is a typical dorm room and a closet that stores clothing and linens.

Below you will find dorm's area worth of toothbrushes. I became obsessed with the idea of wondering how the children know which was theirs as there are so many in one place.