A Day in Minali

Tibetan Buddhist Temple 

Hidimba Devi Temple

Sacred Tree Shrine

Storage for the Winter

Snake Charmers with Cobra 

Shopping

Your typical street with a cow

Snow Covered Himalayas

Cocktail Hour

I love Flow Charts

We met Tom and Scott after breakfast and walked over to the Tibetan Monastery adjacent to our hotel. The monks had left for a retreat and we were free to walk around into the various rooms.

Afterwards we drove into Minali and up the very narrow congested streets. This is the off season in Minali and the traffic and congestion is incredible. We can't conceive of what driving here would be like when the town is crowded with tourists. Once again we saw lots of signs in Hebrew. Many Israelis visit this area. This is area of the Himalayas is 97% Hindu or Buddhist. There are very few Muslims in this state and the Israelis feel very safe. Although with all of the marijuana growing everywhere, I am not sure what they feel.

We visited a forested temple: Hidimba Devi Temple. The structure itself in the middle of the forest and reminded us of a typical Temple in Japan. Inside however (no pictures allowed unfortunately) we were transported back to an ancient animistic time. There is a huge shelf like rock and underneath this rock is a cave like area that is obviously very unusual. You can see how this became a place of worship in ancient times. Incense was burning and the whole experience was very primitive yet spiritual.

It was a short walk to an open area temple that is based around a sacred tree. There were dozens of tridents leaning against the tree (the trident is the symbol of Lord Shiva). We assume pilgrims come and leave them.

As we walked thru the Minali you could see people stocking up feed for their animals which they will use during the winter months when all is snowed in here.

We saw women walking around carrying large live white rabbits. I assumed they were taking them to get blessed. No, they were waiting for tourists to take their picture so they could charge for posing. We declined.

We returned to the town and walked around visiting other temples and observing the people. There was a public performance of Tibetan music and it was amplified throughout the area we were in. All of the non-western women wear traditional clothing here. No jeans in site on a woman. There was a short rain which increased the snow on the mountains. We were also on a quest to buy wine, for where we were going none would be available.

On our walk we saw a some snake charmers and although it is touristic to do, we couldn’t resist asking them how much to see the snakes. They wouldn’t tell us but soon Cobras were coming out of their baskets and we were backing away from them. I know the story, they are defanged and not deadly. I also know it isn’t the music but the movement of the flute and hand that animates them. I also know I hate snakes. I also know I read in today’s paper of two different snake deaths. We enjoyed the little show and afterwards bargained with them as to how much they wanted us to pay to see the cobras in action.

You can see a short clip of the snake charmers here.

We proceeded down the streets checking out the shops. Since we had two cars and drivers we decided to split up. Tom and Scott went for a walk in the park. Cliff and Cathy returned to the Hotel for a 90 minute massage. Take your pick!

After our massages and Tom and Scott’s walk it was cocktail hour on our deck overlooking the snow clad mountains.

For dinner we took a cab to a famous trout restaurant. The cab cost 600 rupees (about $ 10.00), he waited for us for 2 hours while we ate, then drove us back to the hotel, I have to think what that would have cost us in the states.

Since there are lots of rivers here, there are lots of streams and trout. This restaurant serves trout in about 15 different ways. The trout was good and it was different to have an entirely Western meal (if you don’t count the Chicken Tikka appetizer that was excellent).

Tomorrow we head out for the scariest part of our entire trip: The search for Himalayan Blue Poppy.