Leh

I've been chilling in beautiful and chilly Leh, Ladakh in the Himalayas:

The toursists are just as friendly as Bhagsu, but much more healthy and active. You can tell, just by looking at them. Here I am with British friends Dave and Maddy:

It's a outdoorman's paradise out here, and I've been to religious festivals in the mountains, whitewater rafting, and motorcycling. On the bus back from a festival, I meet three Ladakhi girls.

Despite their dress, they were very provincial Ladakhi. One of them told me she was studying to be a teacher.
"I'm a teacher." I told her.
"Oh," she replied. "Do you teach in your village?"
It was the most lovely question I'd ever heard.
"No. I teach in different village."

Avoiding the Kashmiri Insurgency

After leaving Bhagsu, I took a 6 hour cab ride to Jammu. I didn't tell my folks to avoid worrying them, but this part of my itinerary took me right into the heart of Kashmir, the disputed region between India and Pakistan. (They were bombing tourist buses just two years ago, but things have since calmed.)

There was a huge Indian army presence in the streets (no pictures--the Lonely Planet urged against take them). I was a little nervous so took the unusual step of asking my cab driver Rishi:

to spend the night with me. I booked a night at the fanciest hotel in town, the KC Residency, which was spookily empty. I think Rishi and I were the only guests:

His job was to drive me to the airport the next day, but spirit me out of Kashmir if there was any trouble. The next morning, the headlines in the newspaper made me a little nervous:

but things were calm on the street.

There was tons of security at the airport. You had to go through metal detectors to get between any two rooms, and they confiscated my AAA batteries. The flight was fine though, and I landed in beautiful Leh:

I left the airport and was about to get in a cab, when a man came running after me, calling my name and waving something in the air.


It was my AAA batteries. They hadn't confiscated them, just carefully tagged and sent them separately.

Indian Trucks

On the road from Bhagsu to Jammu I saw a lot of trucks.

India has a way of getting a guy back into trucks.

They are hand-painted, including the ubiquitous advice to "blow horn."

This is completely unnecessary since there are only three parts to Indian driving: accelerating, braking, and blowing the horn.

Saying Goodby to Bhagsu

I had a really good time in Bhagsu. I took my first ever yoga classes from Pankaj, my surprisingly photogenic yoga teacher who got who got 4th place in a national Yoga competition:

If you go to Bhagsu (or Mcleod Ganj), check him out at Buddha Hall. Through that class I met Michal, my best Bhagsu friend:

who was kind enough to introduce me to her circle Israeli friends. Goodbye Bhagsu!

Teaching English

I've been volunteering teaching English conversation to Tibetan refugees in Mcleod Ganj. In the pictures here I'm talking with a Tibetan Buddhist monk and two young Tibetans.


They crossed over the border from China without their families over 40 days through the Himalays, traveling only at night to avoid the Chinese police. Had they been caught escaping, they would've served 4 years in Chinese prison.

The IDF Effect

What do you do at the tender age of 22 after being drafted by the Israeli Defence Force, and seeing combat in the West Bank? You go to India to party. A lot. Anyway, that's the story of everyone around here. After our morning Yoga class (my first was yesterday), my new Israeli friends and I went to a cafe to drink chai tea and eat breakfast.

After that: nothing. We sat and talked and played cards for hours. That's the day. For them, this goes on for months, often years. Occasionally we switch cafes. At night they throw parties. I'm learning more about Israeli youth culture than Tibet right now, but it's still fun and interesting.

The guy sitting to my left was really interesting. It turns out he's none other than Michael Hanegbi, the famous Israeli TV host and actor. Just hanging out with the kids in India.

I'm cool because he's my Facebook friend now. Pictures of other Israelis I've been hanging out with:

Bhagsu

I'm staying in Bhagsu--a 20 minute walk from Mcleod Ganj--where there's a great party vibe among the huge young population. I booked a deluxe hotel room at the charming Buddha House:


For $8.75 a night, my accommodations are much nicer than most of the backpackers here. I even have my own bathroom:


and beautiful views from my balcony:

Those are Tibetan prayer flags strung between the mountains.