Dharamsala
, Himachal Pradesh state, India at around 6000 feet in elevation in the Himalayas. Night time temperatures were between 20 and 35 degrees then and there were no heaters then in the rooms, but there was a toilet and sink and there were hot showers outside during the day and during the day the temperature usually was betwen 50 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit. But we were also near 20,000 foot high peaks covered with snow not far away from us. There were 5 foot tall monkeys that were silver and black colored and we were told not to go into the forests at night because those big monkeys would sometimes carry off animals who were pets and children to eat at night. However, during the day they would sit outside our veranda and groom each other and seemed fairly harmless if they were already fed.The monkeys that I worried more about were the small golden colored monkeys that always moved in family groups of 100 or more. Even though their little children might be cute and vulnerable, if any local or tourist was stupid enough to tease the babies 100 golden monkeys would attack and bite them and be vicious to anyone stupid enough to not realize what they were up against in the 100 monkey strong family. Even though the largest of these monkeys was less then 3 feet tall it was only people who were idiots who underestimated them. But as long as you were nice to them they wouldn't bother anyone.
Since there wasn't a heater of any kind in the room then even though there were electric lights and a sink and toilet and I think maybe even a cold shower in the room, we bought a portable kerosene stove. This served two functions, first it kept us from freezing to death during the very cold nights and second we could cook for ourselves noodles and such and third we could sterilize any water we drank to make sure it was potable for us to drink. (all over asia one usually cannot be sure of any water being safe so it was better to boil it for five minutes, let it cool and then put it in a thermos clipped to your belt during the day so you always had potable water to drink. Only boiled tea and such was safe to drink from a vendor then. We even had trouble in Thailand at one point with bottled water when we saw the seal on the so called sealed water was broken and then found people refilling used bottles of water from a hose and reselling them as good water. Now remember this was 25 years ago now, so much has likely changed over the years but this was the way it was everywhere then. Also, at that time almost all toilets in India and Nepal were all Arabic toilets everywhere we went. In other words they were toilets you have to squat over. You can't sit on them. I don't know if this has changed now either 25 years later.
Amazing experiences always were happening in the Himlayas. Beautiful vistas of snow covered peaks many 20 to 30,000 feet in height boggled and amazed the mind whenever one was in view of the Himalayas in Northern India or Nepal. When I went trekking in the Helambu region near Kathmandu and the Tibetan Border with Nepal I noticed that bananas grew in some valleys up to 9000 feet in altitude even in the January and February and March. This amazed me and made me realize just how close to the equator we must have been. From Mid December to April we were in India and Nepal. For two weeks before that we spent getting adjusted to it being daylight when it was night where we lived in the U.S. and snorkling off and Island near Bangkok called Koi Samed. It had grass huts that slept two campers for about 1 1/2 dollars a day. We rented a raised stucture the camped about 6 or more for 4 dollars a day. A wind surfer rented for less than 10 dollars for an afternoon and a mask and snorkel and fins rented for only about a dollar or a dollar and a half a day. However, we were told to watch out for giant clams that could close in an instant which often caused drownings of people if they got their hands or feet stuck in the quickly closing clam, green sea snakes that were very poisonous and rock fish who had spines that you couldn't step on in the ocean because you might get sick or die. However, since I had been snorkling and scuba diving all my life and I had taught my wife and kids we were all pretty well trained already for these kinds of obstacles.
http://www.kosamet.net/
The above is a list of accommodations on Ko Samet (Koi Samed) today. It looks like the transliteration from Thai has also changed in its relationship to English in 25 years as well. Since there are usually about 5 to 10 ways things are transliterated by region in Tibetan to English as well it's just par for the course in Asia since they don't use European alphabets or phonetics to start with. One of the most frustrating experiences I had in Asia was the fact that almost no one speaks English on the street in Thailand. Add to this that EVERYTHING was in (illegible to Westerners) Thai script and I felt really lost until I hired a local College student to translate and to bargain for my family for everything I needed. After that it was okay. At that time he traveled to Koi Samed Island and had so much fun with us since I paid his transportation and lodging as well that he would only accept $50 dollars for about 1 weeks work at that time. But that was 25 years ago now. He even ran up a coconut tree and got us coconuts to eat and drink right off the trees after asking permission from the land owners on Koi Samed.
It was the 4 month trip of a lifetime for myself, my wife and three kids. It changed us and culture shocked us more than probably anything else in our lives. But I think that is a good thing. One gains compassion for ALL people of the world and not just for your home nation and thereby one becomes much more citizens of the world which seems to help everyone be more connected worldwide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n39WL99uQ5E
The above youtube is taken in Dharamsala, India of I believe the golden variety of monkeys. I can't fully tell because of the lighting but I think it is the brownish golden ones I spoke of earlier.
Here are some photos of the Rhesus Macaques:
http://www.pbase.com/serenab/monkeys_around_dharamsala
Below is a view of monks and western devotees interacting with local monkeys. I guess they are Rhesus Macaque monkeys (the ones that are golden colored). Click "Tiny Silent Video" below to see video.
note: McLeod Gunj or (Macleod Ganj) is a section of Dharamsala. There are two segments along a Himalayan ridge and one is Upper Dharamsala and one is Lower Dharamsala. I think possible the upper section is called Mcleod Gunj or Macleod Ganj. But then it has been 25 years since I was there for about 1 month.
| Tiny Silent Video from McLeod Gunj ... Nov 20, 2008 vimeo.com |
No comments:
Post a Comment