Let the Camel Count Begin!

After the eye-opening events and education we had in McLeod Ganj, we left the Tibetan community in the afternoon, waving goodbye to Neema-la--our contact--Max, Santos, our Tibetan families, and the J.J.I. Brothers in Exile--just a few of the vastly interesting and genuine people we met in McLeod. It was raining, freezing, and our feet were promptly given baths when we stepped outside to greet the taxis that would take us to Bir, Kangra. Having heated and spacious taxis made for quite an inviting and comfortable trip! We arrived at the Deer Park Institute just in time for dinner, and after a nights rest, we woke up for our orientation at the institute.
Deer Park is a collaboration of a well-structured monastery and a free school-- it's a place where anyone is welcome to learn, free of charge. One of the DP's main focuses is sustainable living and educating the local population of the current environmental state. The facility has set up composting, recycling, free environmental classes, and solar panel heating for the water and, with the help of some generous Italian men, lighting for a small amount of the houses near Deer Park.
Our week turned into one of relaxation, considering this was one of the first places where we didn't have a concrete schedule. Many of us took time to sleep, read, or..."wasket weave!" About a 45 min. hike up from Deer Park, through the Shivalik valley's and the numerous trees which spotted the village, was a small house where an elderly woman and her husband graciously gave basket weaving lessons. Suz, Chelsea, Isabel, Molly and I took an afternoon adventure up the footpaths to her house to take one lesson in "wasket weaving." We, however, got lost along the way, and stumbled across an Indian wedding--which was no misfortune, in the end. We sat with the grooms family and conversed with his cousins, who were so convinced that we wouldn't eat lunch with them because it was unsanitary, not because we were actually full. We were very full. From lunch. They did not believe us. Thus, we promised to return the next day for the post-wedding celebration for lunch, dancing and festivities.
That, however, was not possible the next day. We learned about lunch time, by Anna and Kelley's genius discovery, that our train tickets were booked a day early for the 18th, not the 19th which we all believed to be true. The group adjusted magnificently and I arranged taxis from Bir to Chandigarh (where our train was departing) which was to be a 7 hour ride and we had 8 hours to make it to the train. Kelley expertly contacted our hotel in Bikaner to enlighten them of our early arrival, while Jake ran into town to grab Molly from her brunch. And, excluding the lurching, jerky taxi ride--where several felt sick--we made it right on time for our 10:25pm train to Bikaner.
Now, our hectic transit and settling into our itinerary for free travel, we are in Bikaner, Rajasthan. Yesterday when our train arrived, we'd been in town for 10 minutes and we had spotted 16 camels-yikes!
Today we went on our first official guided tour through Bikaner's old city--in Molly's words was, "sooo cool!" But really folks, the old-city is what, when you are an outsider and picture India in your mind, it looks and feels like. With our guide, Gouri, we visited the oldest Hindu temple--600 years old--to partake in their daily puja. Compared to the puja's in the past, this one was most vibrant and genuine. The men and women, but mainly men, sang loudly and raised their hands high to Lakshmi; Drew said the man standing next to him had tears running down his face, in deep respect for their goddess of wealth. The experience seemed to be vital to our tour as it showed the passionate spirituality of the Hindus of Bikaner. Through the humbly small, stone streets we found, are you ready for this?, the spice market. That's right. Never had we smelled anything so strongly and so deliciously--because the two often don't correlate in India--on the streets. Half of us bought small containers of saffron, while others bought masala and black tea with which to make Chai Masala back in the United States. Don't worry, friends, I've bought some for all. :)

Alas, we're all very happy to be here, and tomorrow we're in gear for an authentic camel safari through the Rajasthani desert. We'll be spending the night in the magical dunes, like Aladdin. Arabian niiiiiiiight!

Punjabi pants required.

Molly and Olivia