Ngwesaung, Myanmar / Canon AV-1 / fujicolor 400
rishikesh
Have you heard of Rishikesh? It is a city in northern India known as the "yoga capital of the world". Yoga lovers and spiritual seekers flock to Rishikesh in the hopes of mastering meditation while in the land of a thousand gods. Rishikesh is also home to many German Cafes, which are just cafes that serve coffee and pastries and other cafe-type foods (nothing particularly German about them). The city itself is perched either side of the Ganges River. In a part of the world where rivers usually run dirty and polluted, I was pleasantly surprised to find the water green and clear and QUITE cold. A few friends and I drove in from Dehradun and camped by the river for a night. We had time to explore a bit of the city the next day and try out one of those famous German cafes. Here are a few photos from our trip:
dharamsala
The journey from Mussoorie, where I'm currently living in Uttarakhand, to Dharamsala is nothing short of a grueling adventure. From Mussoorie, my friends and I took the public bus down the mountain to Dehradun, from there we caught the 12 hour overnight bus to Dharamsala. The ride was quite bumpy and there were several times I thought the bus might just tip over onto its side. Luckily, my worries proved to be paranoia and we made it safely.
I traveled to Dharamsala with my friend Tenzin whose family fled from Tibet when her father was 4 years old. Tenzin was born and raised in Tibetan communities in northern India, but has hopes that one day she and her family will be able to return to their home country.
Tenzin's family used to live in Dharamsala, so she showed us around town and took us to The Tibet Museum, Norbulingka Institute, and a few of the Buddhist temples. Learning about the history of the Tibetan people in Dharamsala was surreal. Dharamsala is the center of Tibetan culture and home to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Walking down the street and passing the older Tibetans left me in awe of their humble resilience. These are the people who have vivid memories of the violence in the 1950s and were forced to walk through the snow-capped mountains into India to escape.
If you're ever traveling through northern India, or India in general, I highly recommend a trip to Dharamsala.
