Thursday, October 2, 2014

Welcome to Dharamsala



A new twist to international travel I noticed on my trip to India: a watchful eye for the Ebola virus.  I noticed signs at both the Tokyo and the Delhi airports directing people who had visited West Africa to a special area for health screening.
 
My flight into Dharamsala was on time and uneventful.  It was interesting to see the food offered for sale on the flight:  palak masala dosa, podi uttappour, sambar, malai kofta. 

Meeting me at the airport was Tamden, one of the Tibetan translators.  He and a driver loaded up my gear and off we went to the College of Higher Tibetan Studies.  The college is only a 10 minute drive from the airport which is much closer than I have had to travel from an airport when I have visited previously.  In the past, I have had to travel about two hours from the nearest airport.

As soon as I got out of the car, I was warned:  be careful of the monkeys.  And sure enough, monkeys were climbing up various parts of the buildings and being chased by dogs.  My room on the third floor has a nice view of the forest to the south and of the college compound courtyard to the north.  In the center of the courtyard is a full-sized basketball court and from what I hear, there are games every day at about 4 pm.

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