Amrista to Dharamshala

Our last afternoon / evening in Armistar we headed off to the Waga border to see the Beating Retreat ceremony a sort of changing of the guard ceremony. We had no idea what we were going to.
When we arrived it was party central! Reminded me of waking into a big out door concert or a rugby game. We walked into a type of amphitheatre with music blaring and all the crowds dancing in a type of mosh pit.
The whole ceremony was like a cross between India come dancing, military tattoo, a crazy crowd at a football game and a whole lot of roosters prancing around with their amazing head gear. Will put a couple of videos up.The amazing thing was the Pakistanis were doing exactly the same thing but we couldn't see their crowds. The whole thing took well over an hour and I think is a huge attraction and it's very important to make more noise then the other side. They at the end with great fan fare hoisted the flag.
It was a pretty tired bunch of kiwis that returned home that night after a full on day. My tum must be better as even had a glass of wine that night!
Yesterday we had a 5 hour drive to Dharamshala over a lot of bouncy roads but again always so much to see. We are now out of Punjab and high up at 2 thousand metres in the state of Himachai Pradesh.
Dharamshala is famous as the place where the Dalai Lama lives and is the base of the Tibetan government .
There is huge money being put into road construction here and not a red cone in sight but I think some of their health and safety could be a little dodge. As you know in India cows are sacred and they just amble along on any road. Our bus driver stopped to feed them the banana skins we had in the bus.
On arrival at our beautiful hotel set high up in the hills we got taxis ( bus had a broken fan belt) to see the big Buddhist temple and the house where the DL lives.
The temple is right in the middle of a busy street where beggars , dogs, little Tibetan markets abound and is apart from the decorated altar, very plain. Their are of course monks everywhere including little boys. They were thrilled when we gave them some kiwi key rings and pens.
Our guide was great and I think he looks loves cricket more than anything and was so happy when he learnt we were kiwis! The black caps were here recently and met the Dalai Lama which our guide was overjoyed about!
The evening was spent relaxing and having a beautiful meal in great surroundings and some went swimming! The good thing on this trip is that all our breakfasts and evening meals are prepaid for. Wine is very expensive but the beer is good.
Next stop Manali.
All pretty healthyRead more