The Day That I Ate Delhi

Arrived in Delhi after 7 and a half hours on the road. It was a good ride until we hit the northern edge of Delhi and there were two large traffic jams. Each took one hour to get through. What about that wind and dust storm? That was something else. At times you could only see about a 100 yards. I swear there were sand dunes forming vertically on the sides of cars and then just as quickly as they appeared they were blown away by another gust. It is safe to say that this is the day that I ate Delhi. Aside from these minor inconveniences, and clearing the dust out of the throat, it is important to know that horses, cows and buffaloes are the kings and queens of the road here. They can block traffic anywhere they please.

After that and during lunch we learned that there is a new short cut through Sahrahanpur that cuts the trip down to three hours. We asked the directions but were told you had to know the road. That was a lot of help. Jamyang Lekdrub will look for the short cut on his way back to Dehradun later this week. I had lunch with the younger Dungsay Rinpoche yesterday and he is now staying in the same guest house as us. In fact the guest house in owned by the Drolma Palace of Sakya and it is where the Lamas usually stay when passing through Delhi. It is called the Tara Guest House. The Ngorpas also have a guest house as does the Chu Shi Gang Drug and many other Tibetan religious and cultural organizations. The area is in the extreme north of Delhi and called Majnukatilla. The Indians tend to stay away because it was once a cemetery of sorts, rather a charnel ground. It also figures very much into a Muslim love story akin to Romeo and Julliet. Needless to say it didn't end well. The Hindus especially never populated this area. It borders on a tributary of some river which I don't know the name of. Mosquitoes are the largest cash crop. Dirt and bad smells are the runners up.

I will be meeting again with Dungsay Rinpoche later in the day and then plan a quite dinner with Tsedor and Jamyang Lekdrub. The meetings for tomorrow and Tuesday I will also set up by phone later in the day after a nice long nap.