Sept. 1, 2008. Visit to Dhakpo Gompa.

11:30 AM. This morning P.S. and I walked down to the ATM. It seemed to work for him, but I am note sure as the rate of exchange he recieved. We found the Lady Willingdon Hospital, which seemed to be part of a multi-function Christian compound. All the kids were streaming in in uniform, accompanied by anxious parents in a somewhat "Western" setting. They all assembled in lines in the outdoor courtyard. After a hymn and prayer or two (all Christian), the head teacher started into a sermon on David and Solomon. I was happy watching and listening but P.S. wanted to move on. L had told us a story the previous evening about developing what sounded like an ankle abscess, and having it treated at this hospital. There was certainly impressive signage about the ultrasound dept., pre-natal care, etc. but we were there early and did not witness a lot of patients. After dropping P.S. at the internet cafe, I walked up to Hadimba temple. This was a bit of an uphill. There were a lot of Indian tourists and hardly any goras (whites). I had a fun time reviewing family relation names and verb declensions with a young Hindi speaker (a perhaps 10 year old boy) from Delhi. I then walked to Old Manali after crossing a big creek. The place struck me as dumpy. A few stoned-out Westerners were ambling around. There were a lot of apple orchards and xxx everywhere. Three guys asked me if I wanted "saffron", but I did not catch on to what they were talking about. Eventually I looped back to Manali. I bought some silver and turquoise for a necklace for Susan for 2415 rupees, about 60 dollars.



I talked to Joel briefly on the phone last night. They are travelling to Manali today. He anticipated 12 hours but I know it will be longer. The reality of their trip, pieced together later, was pretty bad. It sounds like the bus that P.S. and I took was better. Joel and the other 7 trekkers were in 3 vehicles. The drivers were erratic and unresponsive to suggestions. Stories included frequent mysterious breaks (?cigarettes or food), shrieking music and unsafe driving. They left Delhi about 10 PM and arrived about 3 PM today.



Lunch was cauliflower cheese bake for 275 rupees at Johnson's...expensive and not great. This afternoon, Peter and I plan to go to the school at which L's wife teaches. It is affiliated with Dhakpo Gompa. A high lama, about 75 years old, whom I think leaves overseas somewhere (France I think) most of the time is back in residence, and is giving a several-week-long teaching. There are about 60 Westerners who are said to be in attendence, listening to real-time translations on wireless headphones. We don't have headphones so will be deprived of the dharma.



The trip to Dhakpo was great. It is located on the east side of the Beas and almost as far south as Kulu. We took side roads and it took maybe 60-80 minutes to get there. The monastery is big, new and imposing. Most of the mass of it is taken up by dorm rooms for Western visitors. We also saw their nice dining hall. Initially we went to the school. The kids looked 3-15 or so. L's son, daughter and aya were also there. We were treated to some tea and cookies. We saw typical dorm rooms...lots of beds and bunks in one room. We saw the room where the kids do their own laundry. School was not in session but we saw very basic classrooms and a library. The kids did look relatively healthy. Per Y, they were from all over the Tibetan culture area around Manali and H.P., including Lahaul, Spiti, Zanskar, etc. I think some of the kids were "sponsored" by the Western patrons of Dhakpo. Y then let us tour around the gompa proper. P.S. and I sneaked into the main teaching hall where Dhakpo Rinpoche was intoning. There were maybe 150 or so red-robed Tibetan monk students following the Tibetan langauge, and, sure enough, about 60 Westerners seated mostly in regular chairs around the perimeter with little earphones in place. Some seemed also to be following in printed books but I could not see what langauge these were in. We slipped out after about 5 minutes and went back to the school. Hot tea (chai) was served to all the kids in their little mugs...very cute.



Our driver then took us via the east side of the Beas to Naggar. I had been there before in 1985. P.S. and I toured the "castle" with it's impressive wood carving, and also dropped ~ 100 feet vertical to the old Hindu temple with the nice stone Nanda (cow) carving. We then drove back to Manali.