When we'd had our fill of Shimla and the monkeys, we bused the 10 hours to Dharamasala (pronounced Daram-shala). Eventful bus ride, with another nutcase driver. Near the end of the journey his tiredness was evident (he had driven for the last 8 hours) - he misjudged the width of the road in the dark, hit something big and shattered the window above Kerry's head. Luckily for her, it stayed in place, but we were rained on by tiny fragments of glass, which were not easy to remove! Oh, and we had a puncture - lucky there were 4 wheels on the rear axle so no serious problems. When the wheel was removed for repair I got a look at the inner one. It was so bare you could make out the steel rings inside the tyre.
From Dharamshala we headed uphill to McLeod Ganj, as this is where all the Tibetan action is. McLeod Ganj is a nice place populated with a friendly mix of Indians, Tibetans, monks, tourists and English teachers. For some reason all of the English teachers seem to be female American teenagers.
We checked in to the 'Pemathang' guest house - the top one in the LP.. turned out to be a little expensive, so we moved to a cheaper place after 3 nights.. We visited the Tsuglagkhan complex - the biggest Buddhist temple here. It was full of monks doing what monks do best - reading and debating religious texts. The debating part includes lots of loud hand slapping and foot stomping (apparently this cleanses the mind). We also visited the Tibet Museum..
It is so sad to see the Tibetans having to practice their peaceful traditional Buddhist lives in a foreign country. One night we watched the majority (the copied DVD gave up after about an hour) of a film about the Tibet situation called 'The cry of the snow lion'. Note to self - check this out at a later date. We learnt about the abduction of the 11th Panchen Lama. In 1995 he was (apparently...) kidnapped by the Chinese government and has not been heard from since.
The history of the Tibet situation, in a nutshell is as follows;
(Start political rant)
In May 1949 the newly established communist government in China decided to invade Tibet (or 'liberate them from Anglo-American Imperialist power' as they put it). The Peoples Liberation Army marched into Lhasa, beginning a very nasty regime which so far has left about 1.2 million Tibetans dead. The 14th Dalai Lama was 15 when this happened.... A few years later he, and the Tibetan government left their country and went into exile - they trekked across the Himalaya into India, and were granted political asylum in McLeod Ganj. Since then, they have been followed by thousands of their countrymen - about 3000 arrive here each year. The Tibetans are now a minority in their own country - the Chinese government have been actively encouraging their people to relocate to the 'Tibetan Autonomous Region' - what remains of Tibet (half of the original Tibetan landmass is now part of China..)
Since 1949, around 90% of Tibet's religious institutions have been destroyed (or de-faced - some were turned into public toilets) by the Chinese.. Most of them during the Chinese 'cultural revolution'. That's the history, but this ethnic cleansing process is still happening today. Nowadays, Tibetans are 2nd class citizens in their oen country; 2nd class to the Chinese. Their chances of good employment are small - they must learn Chinese to have any chance at all (the Tibetan language is slowely being wiped out). Carrying a photo of their spiritual and political leader, the Dalai Lama is illegal in Lhasa!
Of course, this situation is predominantly political. Tibet is high land situated at the heard of Asia - the 'roof of the world'. Whoever controls Tibet has a strong foothold in Asia. Since escaping Tibet, the Dalai Lama has been trying for a peaceful resolution for the liberation of Tibet. In 1989 he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work (any celebrations in Tibet were banned - many more Tibetans were killed)..
Anyway, I'll shutup now.. I just can't believe that the rest of the world hasn't stepped in to help resolve this horrible situation. Of course, again it's political. China is a major world player, with huge economic and political influence. In the 1960's the CIA was aiding Tibet by training Tibetan soldiers in warfare - they were secretly flying them to and from America for training. This aid dried up when China blackmailed the USA over various trade deals, leaving the Tibetans sitting ducks.
(Stop political rant)
Funky Monks
In McLeod Ganj we did a 2 day Indian cookery course. It was great. Can't wait to get home and try out my new skills.... While we were there, is rained almost continually.
Buddhist slug
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