PLC in Dharamsala

HEY guys! India is absolutely awesome!

From our last blog about our day of sightseeing in Dehli, we have had a bit of a hectic couple of days. We are having the most amazing time. On the 5th of December, yesterday, we woke up at 4:00am to catch the 5:00 Malwa express to Chakibank which was a 7 hour journey on a sleeper cabin. When we got to the station, we were a bit shocked with some of the poverty we witnessed. We saw families sleeping in the streets, human faeces on the station, and frail beggars. Milan took us to the station where we said our goodbyes after him being our great tour guide around Dehli. We all looovvveeeddd him. We gave him a large tip, which he initially refused, but after a bit of encouragement, he accepted our hearty thanks of fifty dollars, an amazing sum of money in india. However, not all was running smoothly. After arriving at the station we were told that our train was delayed by 50 minutes! Eventually the train arrived at the station, and let me just say, I will NEVER take our trains for granted again. It was very different! We were squished onto this packed, smelly, dodgy looking train, accompanied by the unrelenting stares we attracted from men! On the train, we talked to some indian people who were very eager to know more about us. At one stage we found ourselves caught in a group sing along of 'Jai Ho'. It was quite an experience. Many group photos were taken of us and the indian people and lots of laughs. The train ride was long, but very fun. A memorable point was the men on chai runs and the interestng food that we ate along the way. Once we arrived at Chakibank, we were followed by a stray dog that was particularly interested in Miss Wheaton. Emma, being the only one immune to Rabes, was quite comfortable, and did not step in to help! We were greeted by some friendly men from Middlepath with a sign to greet us saying 'Preamble Ladies College'. We laughed. We were driven in 3 vans to dharamsala in an epic and hectic journey of little road rules and INSANE driving. Along the way we stopped for a well deserved lunch at a Jyoti's Palace, a beautiful restaraunt where we sat outside to eat. Some of us ate a bit too much (Amy) and felt a bit carsick on the bumpy and twisty ride home. She was fine. We travelled for about 3 hours, the craziest drive of our lives, but we got there in the end to our Hotel Bagsu in Dharamsala. The next day we awoke to the most beautiful scenery of snow capped mountains, valleys and small winding streets packed with markets and people. We visited the dalai lama's residence and the Tibetan Temple which was very inspiring. It is so different to the hustle and bustle of Delhi and the peacefullness is welcomed, putting us in the right frame of mind for the trek. After we have a bit of a shop in the markets buying all your christmas presents, we are heading to our cooking class we have booked to learn how to cook butter chicken, chiparti and kheer. It is very clean here and everyone seems a lot happier and friendlier. there have been no cases of Dehli Belly and all are feeling fit as fiddles. We hope our cooking class will not break this record! Thanks to Zara for her knowledge of the hindu language that has been a great help, and everyone else who makes our group such a happy environment. Missing you all. Lots of love!