I've been in McLeod Ganj for about two weeks now. In a way it feels like I've been in a time warp. I had all these plans for things I wanted to do with my extra week here, but ended up doing myriad other things, which is OK. That's what vacation is for, in my opinion, just going with the flow. I could probably stay here forever, and who knows, one day I may return. But alas, I have a bus ticket for Delhi in a few hours and a plane ticket for Bangkok in a few days. Originally I thought I would take a day trip from Delhi to Agra to see the Taj Mahal before leaving. As amazing as I'm sure it is, and as lame as this may sound, I just feel like I cannot deal with the aggressive touts who swarm that place. I've been hanging out in what is probably one of the most peaceful places in India and I'm not up for dealing with the rest of it. So, maybe I'll see the Taj Mahal another day, maybe not. Either way, I'm OK with it.
I mailed a package of Christmas presents home today, which was an entertaining experience. After waiting a good 15 minutes, I was finally given the customs form, which apparently they were running low on, so I had to go down the street and make my own photocopies of it. After that it was pretty easy, but I've decided that it's not the language barrier that causes frustration here, it's just the not knowing how systems work. I've been lucky to meet some great people here and I can honestly say that traveling around and getting things done with people who know what's going is a much nicer experience. So it is with mixed emotions that I bid farewell to this place that in many ways I have fallen in love with. As my Muslim friends here say, inshallah I will return one day.
Buddhist prayer wheels at Norbulingka. I'm sure I'll be seeing plenty of these in Thailand as well.
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