We have endured the TERRIFYING bus ride, inches away from 300 foot drops the whole way, to Chamba, another small mountain town in the north of India.
The rest of our time in Dalhousie was wonderful, relaxing, and we celebrated our one-year anniversary there. Of course, there aren’t any nice, romantic restaurants there, but we did manage to have a good time, finding some some really bad contraband rum and drinking rum and cokes while playing some cards with the sun setting over the mountains, and then ending up at a little restaurant where about 30 people were celebrating some little girl’s birthday. They didn’t mind us being there and even gave us some of her birthday cake!
Well today in Chamba we FINALLY found pasturized milk. Now, I’ve always been a milk drinker, but since most of the milk here is ‘fresh’ (and therefore lethal for us white kids) we have not had any in almost two weeks. Today we found some safe milk for the first time, in a plastic bag at a convenience store. We snipped a hole in it, stuck a straw in, and just stood there in the middle of the hot busy street sucking it back. We polished off the hole bag in about 2 minutes, much to the amusement of our audience. It’s funny, I thought I’d miss my family and friends, clean water, and showers, but I am actually doing okay with all that (although I do miss you guys!). What I would kill for, (REALLY) are very simple things – a cold glass of milk, fresh fruit, and a salad. Other than that though we are finding that we are feeling quite at home here, its funny how the craziness wears off and everything seems more friendly and familiar!
Also, today I have been enjoying my first real clothing shopping experience. I have decided that I need some Indian clothing because it looks so comfy and beautiful, so I bought some lovely green material today and am going to get measured tomorrow morning by some random tailor lady in the countryside near here. She will sew it up for me into a ‘shalwar kumeez’, or a ladies suit. I promise to do a photo shoot after so you can all see it!
Other than that, we are departing on a trek tomorrow for 5 days in the himalayas, staying in huts for two nights and a tent for two nights. We have a guide and a porter (aahhh the life!). When we find somewhere that has a decent internet connection (from Dharamshala in a week) we will post it all – new clothes, monkeys, snowy mountains. Until then, hope you are all well!
– Claire
Moo.