Loose of Limits

I didn't really know much about Tibet before we visited McLeod Ganj. I knew that China had forcibly occupied Tibet and that, many years ago, people plastered Free Tibet bumper stickers to their cars and boycotted Chinese products, following celebrities like the Beastie Boys and Richard Gere (I'd follow Gere anywhere) in a rant against China. But that's all I really knew. Traveling is such a wonderful thing because you see how the rest of the world lives, both good and bad, and that knowledge is humbling. We were fortunate to have this exposure and education on the Tibetan people while in India, and we learned a lot about Tibet, Buddhism, and the Dalai Lama while in McLeod Ganj. Before you read this post, it might help if you read a little about the Tibet/China situation by reading this or watching the quick video below (Warning: Parts of the video are graphic.)

Remember when we fell in love with Hampi? (read here ) Something similar happened in McLeod Ganj. From the moment we arrived, I was in love. Maybe even in more love (does that make sense? in loverer? in lovest?) with McLeod Ganj. This is me, in love with McLeod Ganj Before we came to India, we hadn't planned on going to McLeod Ganj or the region at all but, while talking with a long-term traveller in Hampi, we told him our plans to go to Darjeeling . He said that Darjeeling is great, but it's difficult to get to and the weather is cold this time of year. With those things in mind, we realized we really only wanted to head that direction if we were planning on spending a good chunk of time there. He suggested, instead, that we head to Dharamsala if we wanted the feel of the Indian mountain town. We were familiar with the Dharamsala area and the small town of Dharamkot because the Himalayan Iyengar Yoga Centre is based there, which is the organization we studied yoga...