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3 August 2013
Today is our day around Sringar by tuktuk, starting with the Khanqah Shah-i-Hamadan mosque in the old city, dating from the 1730s. It is a beautiful spired building decorated with papier mache and wood panelling. Text continues after this gallery. Next was the plainer but larger Jama Masjid from 1672 which has four […]
2 August 2013
We slept in today. It was a leisurely breakfast before leaving the houseboat at 1100. The houseboat is actually docked on the side of the lake close to a small road, even though we had rowed across from the other shore when we arrived … I suppose that is for a more dramatic effect. The […]
1 August 2013
We woke at 0445 as we had arranged to be picked up at 0500 to go to the floating markets in the lake by shikara (row boat). If there is one thing I didn’t like about our houseboat is the pricing for this excursion. They tried charging is INR2000 for a 3 hour outing when […]
31 July 2013
Leaving Jammu It looked like I had chosen a good day to leave Jammu. Compared to the overcast weather I’ve had yesterday on the bus, it was a scorcher. Feeling guilty about not having explored Jammu, I walked across to the Raghunath Temple across the road for a look-see before breakfast. I took a tuktuk […]
30 July 2013
I now know why I was feeling so shattered yesterday. Something was brewing; my tummy wasn’t well this morning. It wasn’t too bad but I took a capsule of loperamide only because of the 6h bus ride ahead. I had to get from McLeod to Dharamsala in time for the 0940 departure to Jammu. With […]
29 July 2013
Above: Main square of McLeod Ganj on a wet afternoon as viewed through a cafe window. Today I finished my 5-day yoga course. I was so exhausted I took a lie down after lunch. As it was my last day in McLeod Ganj, I forced myself to walk downtown to get to the Tse Chok […]
27 July 2013
After my yoga class to day I decided to walk to the Kalachakra Temple which is the temple adjoining the Dalai Lama’s residence. Collectively, the temple and the residence is called the Tsuglagkhang Complex. It isn’t an inspiring collection of buildings; just ordinary blocks perhaps from around a decarde ago. The temple itself wasn’t grand […]
24 July 2013
Above: Tsuglagkhang Complex is the seat of the Tibetan government in exile. I walked down the many steps from my hotel to the bus stand. I asked around and it appeared the bus actually leaves from just outside the terminal. I asked around and through a process of triangulation with various people, settled on waiting […]
23 July 2013
I woke at 0230 for my 0300 taxi to Bangalore airport. It only took 40 minutes (rather than an hour in during the day). I had to wait 20 mins before check-in opened. Departure was 0555 and offered a good connection to Jammu where I’d overnight before going to Dharamsala tomorrow. The bus between Jammu […]
22 July 2013
I took a walk around Mysore’s Devaraja market this morning before breakfast. Many shops were still closed; only the florists, fruit and veges were out. It was very colourful but it didn’t take long. So it was back to the hotel for breakfast even though I was still bloated. After breakfast I had my first […]