Fresco depicting Buddha unswayed by distractions of the material world. Temple at Sarnath, c. 1935.

Sadhu in front of a Hindu temple by the hot springs at Vashisht, outside Manali. Only in the mountains did we see wooden religious buildings and this style of decoration.

In some ways, preparing for our next journey feels like many of the other steps we've taken over the last year. We have confirmed our travel arrangements, charted the hours we have left and decided how to spend them, bought some gifts and souvenirs to remind us of our experiences, and enjoyed last-minute explorations and observations. We've packed our bags and made ready for as-comfortable-as-possible travel.

The temperatures in Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia were like training camp, preparing us to handle the heat of India - and a good thing, too, since India in late May and early June is about as hot as either of us has ever been...

This statue, about 15 stories tall, presides of Tso Pema's tiny lake and its many temples. It depicts the monk who brought Buddhism from India to Tibet. Here's a fun quote about him from Wikipedia:

We've been watching monkeys a lot lately... they're everywhere, they're indifferent to our presence (as long as we remain respectful), and they're endlessly entertaining!

At Norbulingka, we saw masters and their apprentices making religious statuary, furniture, painted and patchwork icons, lamps, and more. They welcomed us visiting their workspaces, and it was inspiring to see young people carrying on Tibetan traditional crafts.

Tibetan prayer flags in the stiff breeze at 4000m (>13,000'), looking north toward Ladakh. We were mostly in the clouds, but occasionally we got a look into the higher Himalayas of Jammu and Kashmir f

Tibetan buddhist monks strolling the streets on McLeodganj, near where we're staying.

One of our first activities in Dharmsala was a hike up to this waterfall. Oh, how we've missed hiking, and (cold) water, and (living) plants!