Crossplanet

Last summer I've spent a few days of peace in Dharamsala, an important moment of my travel in Northern India.

I didn't know exactly why I've put this place on my itinerary until I arrived. When I reached the village, after nearly 10 hours of a chaotic journey on a noisy lousy local bus struggling on mountain roads half-destroyed by the heavy rains, when I felt the chilled air on my face, when I smelt the atmosphere of the Himalaya mountains, then I knew I had to come. It was so peaceful there that I could feel a general different state of mind, a different "spirit" animating the people in the streets.

Right from the start, I felt at home there and it was funny to notice that in just a few days I had already picked up some habits : my favourite place for meals (Tibetan food is really delicious!), walking the Kora (the mani path around the temple) to start and end the day, meditating at the temple, a long walk in the woods around after lunch...

Right for the start also, I met some nice people, like Tom, a Dutch man living near Bangalore, who shared most of my days and taught me so much about life in Dharamsala and Tibetan culture, and Tashi, a young Tibetan painting teacher.

Many happy memories of the stay there. I've gathered some pictures in this album here.

More on Dharamsala and the Tibetan government in exile :

The government of Tibet in exile: http://www.tibet.com/

The official site of Central Tibetan Administration: http://www.tibet.net/

The office of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama: http://www.dalailama.com/