19 July 2014

Samtin


Yesterday my new friends from Shanghai and I visited Dal Lake, just outside Dharamsala. We were accompanied by a couple of other friends, including Samtin, whom William had met on his previous visit. The lake itself is, to put it mildly, unspectacular, so Samtin suggested visiting Naddi village, a short walk away. This proved more interesting. I managed to avoid the leeches this time; unfortunately, Suri and Samtin didn't. An application of hand sanitiser quickly removed the leech from Suri's ankle, but Samtin, like a good buddhist, let his feed unmolested. (The only problem with leeches is the mess they leave behind -- they use an anticoagulant which means the blood flows for a long time.)

'"Samtin" -- sounds like "something",' he explained, laughing.

[I've published a new post on Pohanginapete]


All content © 2014 Pete McGregor

3 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

Stunning portrait.
Half a lifetime ago I got a leech in my ear. The length of time that sucker (pun intentional) bleed for was almost unbelievable. And gross.

Zhoen said...

I think I'll stay a jack-buddhist, although I'll try not to kill little bugges, I have limits.

pohanginapete said...

EC, a leech on an ankle's one thing, but having one in your ear sounds awful.

Zhoen, I have a similar philosophy. If it does me harm, it had better watch out.