yesterday we went to the Tibetan museum which chronicled the history of the Tibetan issue. very depressing, but good to see. I think that it is something everyone should know about. It blows my mind that things like this happen in this day and age, but I guess history repeats itself and there are things like genocide that happen all over the world all of the time. After that we bought a statue and i saw a side of cara that i hadn't seen. she is a very intense haggler. She is very good at it. Then we took a hike to a pretty waterfall and watched the sunset. -Ashby

We are having a great time here in Mclolo. Yesterday we went to the buddhist temple, and cara did some shopping.I did a little too. We had some tea with one of the shop owner's sons. Then later we went to dinner with him at this weird resturaunt that sold pizza and indian food. He spoke very good english and wanted very badly to be american. My favorite thing that he said was "sometimes they be talking on my back very bad things" reffering to bad friends. I thought that was hilarious. Everyone wants to have tea with you here it's kind of cool. In Delhi we had tea with a buddhist and an indian hindu guy, definately the most interesting conversation so far. We started talking about american politics, and then moved on to vegetarianism and other topics. The buddhist guy was a professor and the indian guy was an environmental activist. What struck me as odd was the indian was very republican, he was all about sara palin. Then yesterday we had a conversation with a very funny monk who walked with us. It seems like most of the conversations we have with these people end up to be about spirituality at some point.-Ashby

Dharamsala

We made it to Dharamsala!

It is such a magical place...

It took an eighteen hour bus ride to get here, but it was well worth it in my opinion!

Today we register for the Dalai Lama Teaching...
-Cara

when wandering through the road/alleys of old delhi we semi-deliberately got lost on our way to the red fort. the pathways were lined with all kinds of shops from electronics to medical supplies. we were definately the only westerners in the area. getting blatantly stared at is something we still need to get used to. we did manage to get two chai teas from a vendor who had a big vat of milk just sitting out. refridgeration is obviously still a luxury here. they were delicious and only seven rupees for the both, which works out to about seven cents each! we are having a lot of fun! also cara saw a guy sleeping on the ground with his penis hanging out. the poverty here is really sad. tonight we leave for dharamshala aka new tibet. keep it real-ashby

Digambara Jain Temple/Bird Hospital

In the same vicinity as the Red Fort, was a large Jain Temple, which housed a bird hospital.

The Jain religion is one that believes in compassion to all living creatures.

There were so many injured birds from hawks to parrots to pigeons...

It is nice to know that somebody is looking out for the smaller creatures in this very hectic city!

There was a giant wire bird sculpture on the roof!-Cara

The Red Fort

Yesterday we went to the Red Fort, located in Old Delhi, which was apparently built by the same Mughal emperor that built the Taj Mahal!
There were ceilings and walls that had designs inlaid with precious stones!
I guess the story goes that the emperor had planned on moving his estate from Agra to Delhi when Delhi was expected to be the next Capitol city, but he never finished moving it because his evil son emprisoned him...Interesting history...-Cara

We Have arrived!!!

Hello Everyone! We have arrived in little Majnu-ka-tilla, Delhi India!
The flight was gruelling, but we made it. The car ride to Majnu-ka-tilla was about an hour, and it was a whirl wind of awesome Sikh music and crazy driving...
This morning we woke up and looked out our window at the river Yamuna and Tibetan Prayer flags blowing in the wind.
On Sunday, Sept. 21st Ashby and I are taking a bus up to Dharamsala, as all the trains were booked up for another week. It will be an overnight bus and we are scheduled to arrive in Dharamsala on Mon. morning!
So we are here in this little quiet town for two more days.
We might take a little rikshaw to Old Delhi, but we haven't decided...
I will post more soon...
-Love, Cara

We are staying in a nice tibetan hotel with our own bathroom so that's pretty sweet! the bathroom is also a shower meaning there is a shower head coming right out of the wall and drains in the floor. i thought that was pretty interesting i think we should do that at home too. we would never have to clean the bathroom! i love multi-tasking. drivers here like to honk their horns more than californians. i also don't think they should bother painting lines on the road. they would save a lot on waisted paint. we are having a lot of fun so far. till' next time- ashby