Jodhpur was really nice... they call it the 'blue city.' In the past, the Brahmin (the priest caste) families were the only ones that were allowed to paint their houses blue, but today it is common. It's supposed to keep the houses at a good temperature all year round with the added benefit of repelling mosquitoes! We went on a tour of Merherangarh (Majestic) fort, above the city. The views were amazing, a mosaic of blue. The fort itself was very well preserved and our entrance fee included an informative audio tour. 
Leaving the fort, we met a Peace Corp Bangledesh Volunteer, Craig, who we ended up hanging out with for the rest of our time in Jodhpur. It was interesting swapping Peace Corps stories and hearing a bit of a different perspective about the region. He taught us that we don't have to pay extra for refrigerated beer (we have been getting taken this whole time!).
And now we are in McLeod Ganj. The home of the Tibetan government in exile and H.H. the Dalai Lama. We arrived in McLeod Ganj after the scariest bus ride that we have ever been on.
We were whipping around blind mountain-side turns at 40mph at night while our driver was paying more attention to his friends than to the road. Our protector on this ride was a colorful blinking Christmas light version of Shiva, the god of destruction, posted at the front of the bus. Not exactly what you might call comforting. 
When we arrived, we came to find out that there were no hotels with free rooms... not what you want to hear at 11pm after traveling 27 hours to get there. The reason was that the Dalai Lama was teaching. So the inconvenience of finding a room was worth the effort. We have been able see him teach a few times already. The area is beautiful ... our 1st time in the Himalayas.
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