majnu ka tila, new delhi
the first step when we went inside majnu ka tila is to realized that we are not in india. it was raining and damp that afternoon. we took the metro and stop at the kashmiri gate. took an auto and drop around majnu ka tila, called lobsang to pick us up at the front of majnu ka tila alleyway. i can’t help to remember (again) that this area look like janti area in jogjakarta.
we went inside majnu ka tila and transferred to the world of tibetan. buying a bottle of water and getting stared at because i use english (i look local, oh well). drink our first yak butter tea. buy our first yak wool blankets which proof to be one of the most useful things in our trip.
we took our first indian bus ride at 6 PM. it would take us 12 hours to reach dharamsala. i prefer not to see how in the hell he was driving the bus to reach that distance in half a day. we had to stop two times to have dinner – a delicious chicken curry – and an early morning chai before going up to the mountains. we reach dharamsala when it was still pitch black around 6 AM, took a taxi of a nice old indian driver and settle ourselves at ladies venture, mcleod ganj. we slept at the kashmiri hotel, basically freezing until it was time for breakfast at 9 AM. being an island people surely needed time to adjust with north indian winter.
dharamsala welcome us that morning with a light snow. exactly at the moment that we have our breakfast outside in the lodging patio. the first snow of our lives.
abmi first yak butter tea | prayer wheel by an old tibetan lady in the bus | dalai lama picture at our bus to dharamsala
i had dream this trip to dharamsala over and over. and i can’t help myself to feel i am at the right place. it felt that i’ve been away for so long, walk so many path, passing so many journey and finally come home. something fulfill my heart and i can’t explain it to anyone. accept that i’m here, in my right place, in my own heart and i don’t need anything else.
