Another person who wears the hat is this guy:
Thakur Sain Negi.
I found him presiding over the village center traffic circle and bus stop.
He wasn't getting a lot of attention there.
It seems he doesn't get a lot of attention anywhere.
The only information I can find is that he was a translator and scholar of Tibetan Buddhist texts. But what his connection to the village is, I do not know.
I could read the Hindi...but I am feeling lazy. Any one else wanna translate it for me so I can figure out why he's standing in the village wearing the hat?
July 26 UPDATE:
Help with reading the Hindi has revealed that he was born in one of the villages in the Kinnaur region. Thus they claim him as one of their own.
There's a road up into the mountains where my friends live that takes eight to ten hours to drive.
It's a beautiful view along the way: mountains, valleys, rivers, waterfalls.
Before I left to start on the journey to her home, my friend described the road like this: "First, there are 3 to 4 hours of winding, mountain roads. Then there are 3 to 4 hours of nice, smooth roads. Then there are 2 to 3 hours of terror."
Okay, I thought as we drove along, winding roads--check. Not too bad. No car sickness.
Smooth roads--check. Not bad, either.
Terror? She must be exaggerating to over-prepare me, right? This isn't so bad.
Well, then I saw what she was talking about.
Construction along the road doesn't stop the traffic from going through--the mountain road is the only way through, so through we must go.
Some day maybe the construction will all be finished.
Maybe.
And it's a beautiful drive if you ever have opportunity to travel it.
