Unlike most travelers, I enjoy taking long bus and train rides during the day, rather than at night. I can't really sleep in a bus anyway, but during the day I can see outside and watch the people and scenery pass by.
The trip here was a special treat. Dharamshala is in far north of India (proper), the foothills of the Himalayas. As the hours stretched on, the flat plains that define most of India gave way to more rugged terrain, then finally true mountains.
(I didn't take this picture, by the way).
Similarly, the faces of people on the streets turned from the traditionally Indian look to appearing ethnically more like an East Asian or mixed.
And this truly is a Tibetan town: signs use English, Hindi, and Tibetan script. Food is Tibetan, Indian, and Chinese. And there are many, many Tibetan Buddhist monks.
I have been to an ethnically Tibetan region a couple of years ago (from the China side), and it was quite a riot. Judging by the multitude of yaks, monkeys, and meditation centers, it should be again.
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