If I see one more hippie with a flute tied to their pants, a flowing Indian scarf wrapped around their dreads, or a vacant "blissed out" smile wandering around I'm going to EXPLODE. The time has clearly come, my friends, to leave Mcleod Ganj. Don't get me wrong it has been wonderful, but if I wanted to spend all my time surrounded by hippies with acquired Indian accents I would never have left Arcata. I have decided to go to Amritsar tomorrow which is the home to the Golden Temple, the "mecca" of the Sikhs. I've met lots of people who went there and loved it, plus the lodging AND food are free so no matter what it can't be that bad! It'll also save me from spending any more time in Delhi where I had originally planned to spend a night or two but now just the mention of it makes me want to bathe in purell, curl into a ball and die. ANYWAY, my trek! The trek was quite an experience. I'm not even sure what to write about it! I think when I decided to go "trekking in the Himalaya" I was so distracted by the utter romance of it that I didn't really think about the fact that trekking=hiking up mountains ALL DAY LONG. I felt pretty slick for the first few minutes, striding away from the trekking place with a sleeping bag tied on my backpack and energy bar in hand, congratulating myself on being so fit and adventurous. Let's just say that about 35 minutes in (right after we stopped going downhill) I had a rude awakening as I lay sprawled out on a rock BATHED in sweat under the beating sun trying to decide if anyone would miss me if I just stayed there and left my body to the elements. Yes, I am not exactly the trekking type. That being said, it was GREAT to push myself past my limits and every time we reached the top of a hill or a section I felt SO proud of myself and so grateful to be alive!! We saw the most wonderful things---the light of the sun setting on the mountains, a mama goat with a baby that had just been born hours before (some of the umbilical cord was still attached!), tiny villages that seemed like they were straight out of National Geographic, et cetera. I took my first shower in 8 days in a mountain stream with the clearest most beautiful water I have ever seen, and had an almost romance with a beautiful shepard man (!!). By night three I was feeling pretty slick again and we were staying in this Durga temple in the middle of the forest with absolutely NO ONE around except the two guys who kept the temple clean and a few stray dogs. I thought I would seize the opportunity to be an inspirational mountain woman and sleep under the stars, since there was no light around I knew they would be breathtaking. I threw out my paper thin pad and hopped in the sleeping bag, ready to be amazed. Weeellll, apparently secluded mountain temples are fucking FREEZING. Within minutes I had only one eye sticking out of the mummy bag and was trying to still see the stars without letting any air in (impossible)...DETERMINED I went down to my room and put on all the clothes I had (3 pairs of pants, a t shirt, a fleece sweatshirt, an ENORMOUS borrowed wool sweater, a borrowed wool coat, wool gloves, wool socks, a scarf and a wool hat) and went back up to try again. I was so fat I could barely fit in the sleeping bag, but at least I wasn't shaking...for long. I started to feel a cool breeze on my leg and reached down to find that the zipper had exploded! my whole legs were out in the air. And as I tried to roll the bag under my legs the top zipper exploded too because I was wayyyy too big and I just laid there in a heap trying to convince myself that at some point this would be funny but was just sooo bitter and too angry to even see the stars at this point. I had to give in and trudge down to our "cozy" little room downstairs which was actually just a concrete jail cell-esque thing with no beds and all sorts of charcoal graffiti on the wall but once I was in there it was a whole lot warmer and I was able to shed enough clothes to fit in the sleeping bag and slept like a baby. Overall I am SOOOO glad I decided to go and although I pretty much feel like a fossil right now because I'm so sore my muscles have crystalized, I can't wait to trek again! I can't believe I spend so much time indoors in my normal life...trekking made me remember how heartstoppingly wonderful nature is and now all I want to do is frolic around in streams and sleep under the stars (in warm places ONLY.) Sooo I'm off to begin this last leg of my solo adventure (only 8 days left!) and I can't wait to see how it goes. Love to you all!!!