Away to Bylukuppe

Gate 

  Today I woke up and decided I needed a break from all of the emotional PFA work and decided to go to the Tibetan refuge in Bylukuppe.  I called Kumar and he came and picked me up and took me to the government bus station where I jumped on a bus to Bylukuppe from platform #8.I got on the bus and went to the back and sat by a window.  A short 2 hours later I was arriving at the Golden Temple in Bylukuppe.  It's a beautiful ride on the bus and only cost 72R.  If you take a taxi from Mysore it will cost you 1900R-2400R depending on who you know.  It's a great savings to take the bus plus you get to experience the on bus sales that go on during your ride.  People get on at a stop with their product and walk the isles and ask you to buy...at the next stop they get off.  This goes on the whole time your on the bus.

Prayer wheels

  Once I arrived I walked the monastery and took in the sights.  There are prayer flags everywhere and it's quiet.  It's so beautiful and a nice change from horns honking and cow shit everywhere.  In the monastery there are no cows allowed so you don't have to worry about stepping in cow pie.  In India it's actually good luck and a blessing if a person steps in cow poop.  I'm trying not to have that many blessings...If you have enough blessings to count around here you probably have pretty smelly feet...I'm hoping to stay shit out of luck the rest of the time I'm in India...I will tell you I have at least one or two blessings already and that's enough.  The colors are so bright and beautiful in the monastery and there are monks everywhere.

Stupa with reilcs

  Bylukuppe is the second largest Tibetan refuge in the world.  There are an enormous amount of Tibetan people of all ages living among the 4 camps.  Each camp is like a little town with restaurants, shops, and housing.  You can spend days there just walking around.  There are little boarding lodges so you can stay a few days if you like.  It's not like India at all.  You think you are in another country all together.

  I walked through the prayer wheels at the end of my trip.  There are over 1000 prayer wheels along a walking trail.  You are supposed to walk the trail and spin the wheels and say your prayer.  When the person comes behind you they spin the wheel and release your prayer into the universe.  There was a little elderly Tibetan woman in front of me.  I kept watching her and she would turn around and smile.

Prayer flags

  After a few hours I headed back to the bus stop and caught the bus back to Mysore.  The air was clean and the trees and grass were so green in Bylukuppe.  It's a different little world up there. India is very beautiful but sometimes you need a little break from the fast pace of even the smallest cities.  This is the place to come and get away.  It's just as magical as the land of Mysore.

Stupas 

That's a freaking ant nest