I always wanted to travel to India. For years I studied their religion, the culture, I have studied yoga for about 10 years and I even wanted to learn Sanskrit (yeah, at that level!). When I went to India,  I went there with many apprehensions. Basically I thought I was not going to like it at all and I would want to go after few days.

And I was right.

My experience was a bit like that at first. When I arrived in Calcutta, I really thought I’d hate the rest of the country. I stayed there for two weeks getting used to the weather and rhythm of India.

Many things happened in my journey in India. It was a destination that surprised me positively. I met beautiful people, magical places and amazing things happened to me.

After being hosted by an amazing Couchsurfer who taught me the cultural codes and how to move around the country, how to take trains and more basic survival topics, I decided that I wanted to explore more. My curiosity was bigger than my discomfort!

Within the places in the first places of my Bucket list was always Dharamsala, in India.

Dharamsala is a city located in North India, in the state of Himachal Pradesh, in the middle of the mountain range of the Kangra Valley. I t has a huge importance in the global spirituality. This is where it was moved, after the exile from Tibet, the current Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso.

The Dharamsala area is organized around two main small divisions: One where the main village lies and more urbanized at the same name. It is the administrative center and is the most trade and the bus station. It is called the low area.

The top part is called McLeodganj. Located 9 km from Dharamsala and this is where is concentrated majority of the tourism, hotels and medicine, meditation, yoga and complementary therapies schools. There is an Institute of Tibetan Medicine and Astrology founded by the Dalai Lama himself in 1961, currently Tibetan doctors are studying there while providing traditional therapies.

The village is at 1700 m altitude and it is in that area where the majority of the Tibetan refugees lives (estimated about 10,000) since 1960. It is in McLeodganj where lies the monastery where the Dalai Lama resides, for this reason many people called it ‘The little Lhasa’ alluding to the capital of Tibet.

McLeodganj and Dharamsala it is a beautiful area surrounded by nature, forests and waterfalls which for me was a real gift. I was traveling in India in the summer and Dharamsala was exactly the place I needed to rest after the 50ºC I experienced in Rajasthan area.

McLeodganj is surrounded by mountains where you can do beautiful trekkings. There are villages in the vicinity which are related to meditation, yoga, complementary therapies and other related activities.

Dharamsala it is also a place of pilgrimage for many followers of Buddhism and it radiates a unique mysticism.

I was not really sure about making the trip to this area, as it is quite remote and not very easy to get there. You need to travel by bus for at least 8 hours and not I was not very convinced with this idea.

Just when I thought about not going, someone offered me share the travel expenses in his car and that minute was when I decided tofinally go to Dharamsala

When the magic of life goes into action

When I reached McLeodganj we took a German Buddhist nun was asking for a ride. Her first question was: Are you going tomorrow to the Dalai Lama conference, right ?.

I jumped with excitement and followed all the instructions to register to this event. I arrived just in time, in 10 minutes registrations were closing to attend the conference which the Dalai Lama offers only every few months.

My surprise and joy were out of chain! How synchrony in the Universe is working!

I had not even planned to travel on that day and the next day at 8 am I would be hearing the Dalai Lama himself!

My encounter with the Dalai Lama

The next morning we went very early with my new travel friends to the monastery. There was a long line of people waiting to attend the conference (I met a French woman who used to live in Chile for many years and we became friends within few minutes)

The excitement was huge in all of us, some Buddhist devotees were waiting to attend this teaching like a lifetime dream, to see their highest representative. Others, like myself, without being followers of Buddhism were looking forward to this special moment.

After the security check we get into the monastery to wait for the conference. We waited about two hours until he made his announcement: the Dalai Lama will take pictures with the attendees and we should form groups by continents to get this done!

What?? A photo with the Dalai Lama?

I couldn’t believ what was going to happend in the next minutes. So we keep waiting until the moment arrived. And then I realized one of the benefits of being in South America is that we were the smallest group obviously!

I can not describe in words that moment. When he was walking next to me I felt his peace, calm and joy as no one else near to me. That had us all excited and with joy tears in our eyes.

It made me think that there are things inherent to human beings and when there is a are pure soul, no matter their religion or political interest…you can feel it with every fiber of your being.

I usually look at every human being from a positive angle, try to find the positive aspects. That attitude immediately creates a sense of affinity, a kind of connection

” Without love, society is in very critical condition. And without it we face increasingly severe problems the future. Love is the center of human life”.

Dalai Lama

To keep in mind

– The Tibetans have a habit of arriving a day or two before the conference and book your seat with a pillow and kept for the teachings.

– The practice among Tibetans is that when you feel not you take off your shoes, because if you carry in your hand you will pass near the face of those who are seated in the floor. And “When in Rome do as the Romans “, right?

Getting to Dharamsala and McLeodganj

– A good alternative and probably the easiest way is to take the train to Pathankot and then a 4 hour bus or taxi to Dharamsala. From there you will find regular buses and taxis that will take you to McLeodganj .

– There is an airport 18 km from Dharamsala that connects with the city of Delhi.

– You can take a night bus. From Delhi takes about 14 hours.

We have bigger houses and smaller families.
More conveniences, but less time;
We have degrees, but less sense;
More knowledge, but less judgment;
More experts, but more problems;
more medicine, but less healthiness.

We’ve been all the way to the moon and back
but we have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour;
We have built more computers to hold more information,
to produce more copies than ever, but less communication.

We’ve become long on quantity, but short on quality;
This are times of fast foods and slow digestion;
Tall men and short character;
Steep profits and shallow relationships.

It is time when there is much in the window and nothing in the store room.

DALAI LAMA.