The pictures show: 1. A Buddhist monastery; 2. A Hindu temple; 3. A monkey (at the Hindu temple). Yesterday, we went to the monastery and temple. The monastery is where Tibetan Buddhist monks go to study Buddhist religion and philosophy for 10 years. We wanted to hike up to a temple that holds the mummified remains of the disciple of a saint who actually came from Tibet, and of course, it started raining (monsoon season has arrived!), so we trekked up a stone path, up, up, up, through the rain to the most beautiful view of the surrounding mountains and countryside. First there was a temple, and then there was a house further up that held the remains. A little boy belonged to the house--he came out and twirled his umbrella while we looked at the shrine. On the way back down, we stopped once more to look at the temple, which is brightly painted, and I was so busy looking up at it that I fell in a hole. Don't worry, I'm okay.
The Hindu temple is centuries old and one of the oldest in this area (Himachel). I believe it is dedicated to Shiva, the god often depicted with 10 arms to show that he, as a god, is able to do multiple tasks at once. We went into the main temple, which is carved from one stone, and watched some Hindus take a type of food from the priest. On the way in and out you had to ring a bell overhead. We had some excitement at the temple--monkeys! I had heard there were monkeys here, but this was my first glimpse of them; they were just hanging out on the temple grounds. On our way out, though, one of the volunteers walked too close to the monkeys (apparently, though she was about five feet away), and one of them charged her and grabbed her ankle!! She had not gone close to it or touched it or anything. One of our staff members said "Don't mess with the monkeys." Lesson learned. Now I know not to even make eye contact with them. Luckily she wasn't bitten.
Next thing I need to see: elephants. They are around here somewhere, I just haven't seen them yet.
Tomorrow we may go paragliding! This is a popular area for paragliders.
4 comments:
Interesting. Monkeys can also take things from you - another reason not to get too close. I look forward to elephant pics, but I also want to see you in your pajama outfit!
Keep having fun - when do classes start?
Yes yes...monkeys can be sneaky.
I want to see a picture of the beautiful mountains when you get a chance. Oh and the Pajama outfit would be good too.
Hugs to you!
Mary Beth
What beautiful pictures. Do you remember the Elephant ride at Madison Square? I can't wait to hear about paragliding!
I'll have a pajama outfit posted soon. The shirt is called a "kurta" and the pants "salwar" and the scarf "dupatta."
We started teaching right away, so I've been teaching since Tuesday. the kids are awesome! I'm teaching computer skills to 3rd, 5th, and 7th grades, and English to kindergarten and 4th grade. The tricky part is getting the kids to understand my accent because my Hindi doesn't sound like their Hindi. Luckily, we have a staff member with us who acts as translator. Anyway, we teach about 3 hours each morning, and then the rest of the day is for learning Hindi, going on excursions, or going to the market.
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