Sat, 2 April, 2005

Hi folks. We're still up here in the hills, our last few days. It's lovely and hot and sunny, and the storms are pretty non-existent now. On Tuesday we had the best day out of our trip so far. A Tibetan guy, Rabi, who now lives here, took us and our 2 Italian friends Rino and Rosie out to some hot springs. It was quite spectacular! We had a 1-hour taxi ride (tho' it was really a mini-van) and then walked 30 mins to the springs. This included wading through the river - the water was just melted snow from the Himalayas, and was freezing cold! But the valley was just stunning. Cannabis plants carpeted the valley floor - a strong smell -and 2 cows were grazing on it. We said that the milk from these cows would be great at sending babies off to sleep!

So we got to the springs. There was a tiny Hindu temple there, and the pool was about 6 feet square and 4 deep. There was a pipe about 2 feet above the water, spouting the constant flow from the mountains into the pool. And it was such a nice temperature - just like a lovely warm bath. We soaked in there for a while, then got out and basked in the sun while some local boys enjoyed the water. It was even hotter when we got back in. Total bliss!

On the walk back to the taxi, we obviously had to cross the river again, but this time we swam in it first to cool off from the sun - and just for the sake of swimming in it, too. It was beautiful, not as cold as all that, and just the location was breathtaking, with only a few young guys splashing around, otherwise it was just us...... with the Himalayas towering above us. Got back in the taxi and set off back, which made me quite sick - you would not believe the roads and the drivers around here! The hour's trip was almost constant hairpin bends - anyone who knows of my problems with that will understand. If you've been on those mountain roads in Greece, well, it's like that but even more nailbiting. It was a really fantastic day out!

Apart from that, I have been suffering with my stomach ever since - it's been 5 days now - so 2 days ago i went to the local Tibetan doctor to get it sorted. Thought I'd give traditional medicine a try, rather than getting more antibiotics as before. i took a number and waited my turn. The doctor is an old monk of about 80, apparently world-famous, and he's the Dalai Lama's doctor as well as having treated the Spanish royals, among others.

In his office was an English-speaking man at the desk, and the doc has a stool next to the desk. (A stool as in a SEAT........!!) And I had to sit down on another stool facing him. The English-speaking guy asked me what the problem was, what were my symptoms, etc., and he relayed this to the old doc, who felt the pulse in my right wrist and then in my left. This took about 10 seconds. Then he said something to the guy at the desk, who wrote me out a prescription and told me what to eat and what to avoid, and that was that! So funny and bizarre!

We'd been told that Tibetan medicine was rabbit poo, or at least looked like it. And it is true. It's these smooth round pellets, in varying shades of brown, that are the size of aniseed balls, and they're all stored in big jars like a sweet shop! The man in the dispensary counts out what you need and puts a little instruction slip in each bag of different pellets (I was given 4 separate kinds). So it's 2 of 1 kind at least half an hour before breakfast, then 2 of a different sort at least half an hour after lunch, 2 others at 4 p.m., and 2 of yet another kind at least half an hour after dinner! Quite precise. And they taste indescribably revolting!!!!!! i cannot quite express it. Maybe they ARE from little bunnies' bottoms...... You either "chew them up properly and swallow it down, or else if the tablets are hard to chew you can crush them and swallow it". 1st time, I had them crushed in a pestle and mortar by the lady in our favourite cafe, so they turned to powder, which I then had to tip into my mouth and wash it down with hot water. Man, I was nearly sick! Nothing can prepare you for it! next time, I chewed them up, and that wasn't quite so traumatic. But it's vile. I actually gave up the ghost this morning, after 2 days of trad medicine with no real improvement, and filled my normal prescription for the drugs I'd been prescribed when I 1st had this trouble in India. I know it's lame of me.......but hopefully i should be better quite quickly and (as a bonus) won't have to eat rabbit poo 4 times a day...... I'm keeping theTibetan medicine so I can show it to you readers whenI'm home! you can have a taste too if you like???????? The husband of the woman who runs our guest house works in the Tibetan Health Centre, it turns out, and we'd seen loads of little round pellets of something drying out on the g'house roof when we 1st got here........so it appears that they were actually medicinal remedies - maybe he makes them. he must have a massive complex of hutches.........

Bleughhhhhhh.

The day after tomorrow we're heading off to Dehra Dun,and then on to Rishikesh, and then eventually to Delhi to fly to Thailand - flights seem to be quite cheap. So we're ready to move on. I'm ready to leave here but at the same time i'll be sad to. But - onwards and upwards! Or downwards, really.......but you know whatI mean.