Once I arrived from London to Delhi, except at first feeling the great increase of temperature, my other feeling about Delhi is Chaotic. The crazy traffic, the crazy rickshaws, the crazy pedestrians, in addition to the hot and humid weather, one can only feel headache and irritated.
The common traffic jam in Delhi.
The chaotic street.
The busy main road in front of the Red Fortress.
Luckily, thanks for my dear friend Florian, I was introduced to an Indian family in Delhi. They took very good care of me, they fed me with excellent Indian food and they told me a lot of useful information. I felt it was too good to be true that I didn't feel like I was in India!
We were having a big dinner. Indian family members usually live together, so the building is consisted of 4 different families. As a result, there were always kids running and screaming around.
It was unbearably hot in Delhi, but I was so lucky to meet the first drop of the monsoon (it was delayed by almost 2weeks), so I went for sight-seeing after the rain had cooled down the air. The grand Red Fortress.
Inside the Red Fortress.
There were not so many foreign tourists during this monsoon season, but local tourists.
The elegant marble hall.
To be honest, I didn't see and experience much of Delhi, as I was always pampered by my friends in their house. But I was lucky to learn more about how Indian families are, how they think and how the real Indian food is. I am really grateful for this interesting experience. And I am certainly going back to see these lovely families again when I return to Delhi.
Another goal for me in India is to learn Tibetan. I think I don't need to explain why I am learning Tibetan if you know me well or if you read my previous entry about learning Italian.
So I am going to stay in this little town, Mcleod Ganj, where the exile government of Tibet is situated, for another two months, so as to learn more Tibetan.
Mcleod Ganj is not similar to any other towns in India. There are lots of Tibetans living here, you can find Tibetan temples, Tibetan food, Tibetan clothes and Tibetan accessories etc. And the Tibetans are so nice that it is very easy to talk with.
It is the rainy season in this region, and I was not surprised to learn that it has the 2nd highest rainfall in Asia as it really rains EVERYDAY.
The main Tibetan temple in the busy street.
A monk is turning the prayer-wheel.
Mcleod Ganj is situated at the foothill of Himalaya, so all the streets are leading upwards. I am walking up this steep staircase everyday from my hostel.
The quiet and adorable dog in my hostel.
You can see the whole town is on the hill slope.
The huge Himalayan range is just at the back.
It was such a rare moment that we could have such blue and clear sky. Most of the time, it was just misty and rainy.
So my new flip flop is very functional in this rainy, muddy and hilly town.
The shortcut to the Tibetan library where I study. Even though there is a short cut, I still need to walk at least 20mins every day from my hostel to the library.
The cloud started to accumulated over the whole complex of Tibetan government in exile.
The library of the Tibetan government in exile. The Tibetan people also walk around this building in clockwise direction.
Usually the area is cloudy and misty like this! We were going to the waterfall near Bhagsu(15mins walk from Mcleod Ganj), but at first we only saw this!
At last we saw something.
A swimming pool in Bhagsu, where we only found men swimming.
A cute Indian child in Bhagsu.
Just 25mins by car downhill, you can find the town Dharamsala. The weather here is much hotter than Mcleod Ganj.
We could even find durians here!
Another fruit store in Dharamsala.
A typical scene in India. As we could not compete with the local people to sit at the top, so at last we squeezed ourselves into a smaller jeep to go back to Mcleod Ganj.
After one year of travelling, travelling itself is not my aim of going to India. Instead, there are so many things I want to do here. One of my goals is to learn meditation.
So once I left Delhi, I went straight to Mcleod Ganj, which is 12hours north of Delhi, and started the meditation course at the same day of my arrival. I was so grateful that I could join the course as I was in the waiting list originally. And I benefited a lot after the course. I can feel myself become more peaceful and calmer. It was also one of my objectives to eradicate my quick temper.
I was always thinking if my friends in HK or anywhere in the world could participate in this course, they would benefit a lot. Especially in HK, as we all grew up in the environment where taught us Buddhist values. We all know about that - giving is better than receiving, 'colour is empty, empty is colour', 'The 4 Bigs are empty' etc. But we just lack of practice. And Vipassana meditation is the way to put oneself to experience all these knowledges, but not just talking about it in intellectual level.
It was a 10days intensive meditation course, during the course, we could not talk (even with gestures or a glance) and we had to meditate over 10hours per day. At first, it was tough, either physically or mentally, but once I overcame all the obstacles, it was a joyful (at first), then a peaceful experience.
And the environment of the retreat is really nice, we were surrounded by nature and tranquility. The vegetarian food was fantastic and I could clean my stomach after the heavy Indian food in Delhi.
Though the course is so well-known and attracts so many people to join, it is still running by donation. So one can donate according to their financial ability after the course.
And I found out there are so many retreats all over the world, even in HK, I never know that, so if you are interested, please go to this website: Vipassana meditation.
My simple and basic room.
A view of the little garden from my window.
After the 'Noble silence' was cancelled on the last day, it became 'Noble Chatting', all the girls chatted without stoping at any single moment!
The retreat was not so big, we only had a path which was about 400metres that we could stretch our legs during the free time.
It was the lovely little spot where I liked to come and experienced the nature during my free time.
My favourite angle of appreciating the nature in the surrounding.
These big and lovely(at first I thought they were disgusting) snails were everywhere!
It rained almost everyday and every second, it was so humid that wild mushrooms were everywhere.
I was seaching for the 4-leaf clover.
I enjoyed looking at the beautiful flowers very much. You know, we could not talk, we became more aware of everything surrounded.
