It's 10:44 a.m. here, and we are checking out of our hotel in a few minutes. Mcleod Ganj has been a strange mix of Tibet meets India. Here, we have had the best vegetable momos and chow mein we've ever eaten in our lives.

We've also been staying in a really lovely 11 room hotel that is run by the Norbulinga Institute. The first night we stayed in a room that had a Tibetan Opera theme. The walls were painted with murals representing characters from an opera that, performed in its entirety, takes a full day. Last night we stayed in a room with the theme of Central Tibet. It is filled with panoramic paintings of the mountains and historic Buddist temples.

The Norbulinga Institute itself is housed in Daramsala, about 40 minutes south of Mcleod Ganj. Yesterday we took a taxi down and toured the place. It has been one of the best sights yet. The institute houses Tibetan refugees, and the refugees in turn learn Tibetan arts, both secular and nonsecular, in order to carry on the culture. We toured the woodworking studio, Thankga painting studio, silk applique tapestry studio, metal making studio. In the studios, you can see the apprentices at work. We also went into the most amazing Buddist Temple. The grounds are also spectacular. The institute gave us an entirely new appreciation of our hotel, because every piece of furniture, every textile (bedspreads, pillow cases, cushion covers), as well as the art on the walls, has been crafted by the Tibetan refugees at the Norbulinga Institute.

The metal work is particularly amazing. We purchased a bronze Buddha meditating, and we wanted to get it blessed at the temple that is at the Dalai Lama's residence (about a 5 minute walk from our hotel), but it turns out that it takes 2 days to bless a Buddha. The little statue is made so that it opens from the bottom and when it is blessed a little prayer is written on a scroll that is placed inside the Buddha. Unfortunately, we don't have 2 days, so we are heading home with an unblessed Buddha.

We are taking a taxi to Patankot which is a 5hour drive. From there, we'll catch a bus to Amritsar, which is a 3 hour trip. We didn't think we could take 8 or 9 hours on a bus tumbling down the foot hills with our luggage in our laps.