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2003-06-04 - Mandi (Day 50)

After the Internet café, one of the guys took me to the Raj's Palace - the former home of the local king, which has become a hotel. Stepping in is a time warp with the place feeling and smelling for all the world like my grandmother's house. It is filled with antiques and old pictures on the walls and even has touches like old swords used as towel holders and ancient rifles above the doors. I like it immediately. Perhaps even more important, they have macaroni and cheese on the menu, which of course becomes dinner, and not being able to resist, also the lunch and dinner for today. Mmmmmm! (Don't worry Mom, I am having soups and salad to get a little nutrition but the baked macaroni is just wonderful!)

Today is basically a rest day with my hanging out with a long-term traveler Peter Maverick who turns out to be a former Rajineeshi and gives me a CD of the Rajineesh's books and speeches. I find this amusing, as Peter had said the works were by Osho, which I did not recognize, but opening them, I find "Osho" to be the name of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh whose commune in neighboring Oregon and the revolt of the locals to expel them also raised the ire of the people I grew up around in Idaho. Curious, I start reading from the works and am amazed that so many people could have bought into the twisted logic of the Rajneeshis.

Moving on to something more worthwhile, I move out to the grounds which are wide and very nice, have afternoon tea and catch up on these delayed journals passing much of the day. Another indulgence, being back in a place that gets HBO, I spend the evening with Lawrence of Arabia and my third baked macaroni which is pretty close to perfect for a rest day.

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