200 steps

I moved closer to town yesterday, into a huge room with an amazing view of the mountains. Still no heat, but there's a hot shower and that makes all the difference. Being in town now, as opposed to up in the mountains, it's actually not quite as cold, as in I can't really see my breath in the morning when I wake up, so that's nice. And now instead of a 2 km walk down a mountain, I only have to walk 200 steps up into town. I don't feel so bad not doing my daily yoga with this kind of exercise. I signed up to see the Dalai Lama next week. He is teaching on the 24th and 25th for two hours each afternoon. I need to get my hands on a radio, to hear the English translation, a cushion to sit on the ground, and a cup. I'm guessing they pass out tea to the attendees. It couldn't have been easier to sign up - you give them your passport info, two passport-sized photos and 10 rupees (only like 20 cents!!) and they give you a badge. Sweet! It will be interesting to see what the place looks and feels like when H.H.D.L. is in town (His Holiness the Dalai Lama).

After signing up, I took a walk around a nice mountain loop and enjoyed the fresh air and beautiful scenery. There weren't many other people on the road. One nice man came up and introduced himself as a traveling massage therapist, at my service if I so desired. That is one case where I think "just say yes" does not apply. Other than that, it was a pretty quiet walk. On the way down I met up with two Tibetan women and we braved a huge group of monkeys together. I don't know if I would call it a fear, but let's just say I have a healthy respect for these red-faced monkeys now. I've seen them fight with each other and it's not pretty. At one point we had to climb down a rocky ledge in order to avoid passing by them as they went to town in a dumpster. Never a dull moment. :)


The view from my room. Good Morning!!