We walked into Dharamshala, observing a very different atmosphere; maroon clad monks and ethnic Tibetans walked the streets, chanting wafted out from a temple.
We went to visit the temple that was the home of the Dia Lama and were amazed to find an open courtyard with monkeys running over the scaffolding. Groups of monks moved around the temple and lighted candles filled the area.
One of the things that had caused me to undertake this trip was to make a personal tribute to the tragic and unfair death of a Round Table friend Andrew Lee - a trip such as this would have been the sort of thing he approved of and gave me the motivation to book the holiday last January. Not sure what to do I placed the order of service (from his funeral) on the Dia Lama's throne - I then sat down and watched the scene and shed a tear for the unfairness of it all. I sat for what seemed for a very long time next to a chanting monk and a woman who spent the whole time lying prostate then sitting up. It was a special moment and wanted me to hope that as the buddests believe, Andy may have achieved a reincarnation in another form that would take him on the quest for enlightenment. The monastery then agreed that I could like a candle to mark Andy's death. It ended up being 100!
We left to enjoy my first American coffee in over a week and then bought a few souvenirs before our journey home. It ended u being 15 hours rather than the 12 billed!
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