last week in India...

From the adventures of my Ladakh travels, it was good to enjoy some time doing not much at all in Dharamshala, catching up on internet stuff and visiting with friends who i had met there previously and who are currently living there. One of my main reasons for going back to Dharamshala was to see the Karmapa again for my second private interview. I had one in April when i was in the area, and i arranged to see him again after my Ladakh trip. I had a few questions for him, one of which was on how to cultivate a view on emptiness – which is one of the main things the Dalai Lama spoke about in Ladakh – as i was unsure if this path was more on the meditation side or study... his answer was to study philosophy and to receive teachings on the texts. So i will be looking out for philosophy teachings on emptiness along my travels... It is interesting, i feel such a connection to him from a distance, but when i am in the same room as him I head straight to my mind and the heart is locked away in some distant room... mmm... still working on the open heart issue! LOL!
During my whole stay in India and Nepal i have been really careful about the food i eat and drink, and that did not change when i got to Dharamshala, but what had changed was the weather and the water pollution – so filtered water was no longer a good thing to drink... or so i discovered!! I ended up getting some bug – not of the Delhi-belly kind, but of episodic cramping and loss of appetite. It was interesting because i had gone to the famous Tibetan Dr on Friday morn for a ‘check-up’. He does his diagnosis based on checking your pulse, and looking at a urine sample (if brought). He picked up that i was feeling lethargic, and gave advice on what type of foods to eat more of. It was that evening that i fell prone to the bug though – so he was not able to help with that. So when i arrived in Delhi a few days later i decided to take no chances and only ate boiled eggs, bananas, pomegranates and bottled water. That was also when i stuck my fingers in the path of the ceiling fan while trying to erect my South Korean room mates washing line... I was trying to just be calm and stay with the pain, but it was so intense that i nearly fainted twice, until i managed to find some cold water to put them into. I thought there might be some serious damage to the tip of my one finger, but after a day of being strapped up, it is looking and feeling a lot better!
Leaving Dharamshala, i once again found myself in tears, but leaving Delhi i was filled to the brim with irritation and could not leave quick enough!! LOL! I spent my last IR100 on a slab of dark chocolate – something i have missed a lot!!
Good Bye India!