Dharamsala

The drive up to Dharamsala was much shorter (between 12 and 13 hours) than I expected, even though we stopped three times for quite long breaks and had a flat. The cheap hotel was extremely grim, but the circumambulation I made of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s temple and residence was magical (loads of snaps below—forgive me if I overshare…). We drove straight up to Dharamsala before going to Bir so we could get our protected area permits, and amazingly the office was open and pulullating with old friends on the same mission, many of whom had survived Bodhgaya and are now in Bir for the winter’s transmissions.