A Wonderful Place and the Suffering of Tibet

After deciding it really was time to head somewhere a bit warmer - due to being constantly cold with no heating and often no hot water and also having a cold that would not shift - I got a bus that was full (no exaggeration) of vomiting children to Mcleod Ganj. Still in the mountains but at a little lower altitude this beautiful place is home to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. I found a room on the edge of a valley with views up to snow covered mountains and down over soaring buzzards below. As well as the freezing cold I'd also found that after two months of Indian food I was ready for a change, and here was the perfect place. Along with all sorts of food from around the world, due to the large Tibetan population there was no end of delicious Tibetan food. There were also no end of things to occupy my time with.


I took Tibetan cooking classes with such a sweet and patient Tibetan man as our teacher. I can now make all sorts of Tibetan breads and biscuits, various types of Tibetan noodles and soups, and can also make the wonderful momos - Tibetan stuffed dumplings. These I am most excited about making at home as I'm certain you could stuff them with anything. I very much like the idea of trying lots of different vegetables and fruits (perhaps not necessarily together) and even more so trying wonderful foods such as chocolate and caramel and honeycomb.

I visited the Dalai Lama's home, where sadly he wasn't there to great me but it was a good place to be anyway. There were beautifully decorated temples and many pretty prayer candles, wheels and flags. A museum showed the history of Tibet in the form of photographs. And of course there were lots of monks. One evening we paid a visit and as we climbed the stairs to the central courtyard we heard what sounded like the monks chatting loudly over games of snooker or pool. We thought it would be a lot of fun to join them for a game, but when we reached the courtyard we found no such games were taking place. Instead we discovered it was discussion time for the monks. After studying they get together in pairs and one guy sits on the floor and the other stands in front him. The person standing puts forward an idea or question about what they have been studying. Then when he wants the guy sitting down to respond he leans right forward and claps, seemingly as loudly as possible, right in his companions face. Although not meant to be at all, this looks incredible aggressive, especially coming from people who normally look so gentle and peaceful.

We decided to visit a Tibetan doctor and chose a man perhaps in his 80's or 90's, who in the past was the doctor of the Dalai Lama. We had to bring samples of urine, which we pored into a little pot held by the doctor. He then stirred it with some sticks before inviting us into his office. Here he took our pulse and asked us if we had any symptoms. He then gave us a diagnosis of what he felt might be our problem. I didn't really feel I had much wrong with me and thankfully neither did he, but he prescribed some medicine for my cold. All the Tibetan medicine is herbal and comes in the form of little brown balls or tea bags. None of which seem to taste particularly nice but, for me at least, worked pretty much straight away.

One day we took a bus down to a little town I'd past through on my way here. I'd spotted huge patches of wild marijuana and fancied taking a closer look. I had not been mistaken and the place was full of it! I've since discovered that it grows freely in a lot of this part of the world. Whilst in the 'green town' we also found our way to a Hindu temple, past stall upon stall of colourful offerings waiting to be bought by people to give to the Gods.

 Another excursion was a day hike up a mountain called Triund. We started off in Mcleod Ganj, walking up through forests of rhododendrons just beginning to flower. In some places whole slopes were covered with the trees. It must look absolutely stunning when they are all out in flower. As we got higher we started to pass patches of snow until eventually all around us the ground was covered with a thick layer. This made walking very slippery and was slightly disconcerting at times due to walking along the side of mountains that dropped steeply into valleys far below. It was so much fun though and had falling off the mountain not been a very high probability, I would have loved to run and jump and slide down the snow. Reaching the top of Triund we had amazing views right back down to Mclead Ganj and also on up to higher snow covered mountains. From here you could continue upwards but would need another day and perhaps to wait a few weeks for the snow to melt. We hadn't set off with a guide but when we were about an hour from the top a guide joined us and led the way free of charge. Our new guide was a lovely faithful black dog.

Back in Mcleod Ganj I attended a meditation class. I'm not really one for sitting still for very long but I thought I'd give it a go as it wasn't something I'd done before. It turned out to be surprisingly easy, possibly because we had a very good man guiding us although his accent did confuse me at first. He told us that we would be meditating about debt. I wasn't really all that keen to meditate about debt, but now I was there and the class had started I didn't really feel I could leave. He leas us through things to think about and situations in which to imagine ourselves, in an interesting story telling manner. Before too long I realised that actually we were supposed to be meditating about death. For me I think this was far more interesting than meditating about debt would have been, and although it probably sounds pretty morbid it wasn't at all.

I also attended a Buddhist philosophy class, which was held at the beautiful Tibetan library a little further down the mountain from where Mcleod Ganj is situated. We all sat on cushions on the floor, including a dog who we were told liked to attend most of the teachings. An elderly monk talked to us in Tibetan and a younger lady (who I think really felt that it should be herself who was running class) translated. A particularly lovely idea I learnt was that as a Buddhist, to help you feel compassion for all living creatures, you should treat them as if they were your mother in a past life. I'm lucky enough to have a lovely mother and so I think even not being a Buddhist or really believing in reincarnation, this is a pretty good way to approach things.

During my evenings in Mcleod Ganj I often spent my time in a little Tibetan cafe - Oasis - where films, documentaries and speakers about Tibetan related issues took place. Through this and chatting to the Tibetan people living there, my understanding of Tibet and it's people has been greatly enhanced.

In 1949 Tibet, an independent country with it's own government, flag, currency, tax system, religion and cultures, was invaded by China. By 1959 China illegally occupied Tibet and to this day still does. Under Chinese rule Tibetan people no longer have the freedom to live as they once did. What was previously a peaceful country is now full of Chinese military, and merely stating an opinion that Tibet and it's people should be free could have you imprisoned, tortured or killed. Since China invaded Tibet, over 1.2 million Tibetans have been killed and thousands of religious and cultural sights have been destroyed. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tibets former ruler, was forced into exile after his life was repeatedly threatened by the Chinese military. His summer palace was fired at whilst he was residing there. Since then over 85,000 Tibetans have risked their lives and followed him out of Tibet.

One such Tibetan was our cooking teacher. He told us how he'd left Tibet at the age of 15. This was his choice and he didn't even tell his family for fear of putting them in danger. His journey, like many others, took him almost one month. He, along with others who had paid a guide to lead them to the boarder of Nepal, had to walk in the middle of winter through the freezing snow. One part of the journey meant crossing a deep and wide river. They had to make the journey at the coldest part of the year (and due to it's high altitude even in the summer, Tibet is never the warmest country) and only travel at night so fewer Chinese military would be patrolling their route. They couldn't make any fires for warmth or to heat food as these would have given their position away, leading to potentially fatal consequences. Six years after leaving Tibet, our cooking teacher was able to find out a phone number on which he could contact his family. He told us how at first his mother couldn't even speak to him. She was so shocked that he was alive. They now continue to talk to each other over the phone but the lines are tapped, so they are unable to have in depth conversations and can really only talk about how they are.

A documentary called Murder in the Snow tells the story of Tibetans who risk their lives trying to make this journey each year. The documentary uses footage taken by international climbers who witnessed Chinese boarder police opening fire on a group of pilgrims attempting to flee Tibet. A teenage nun - Kelsang Namtso was killed.

At the Oasis cafe I listened to a talk by an ex political prisoner from Tibet. The speaker told us how with two friends in Lhasa - the capital of Tibet - he had peacefully protested against the Chinese rule of Tibet. They had said slogans such as 'Free Tibet'. For this alone he received three months in prison under the supervision of Chinese police. He told us how from the time he was arrested until the time he was released, he was subject to being tortured. He spoke of the selection of electrical probes used by the police on prisoners, one of which would leave it's victims unconscious for up to 15 minutes. He explained how he'd watched as a chair was placed on another prisoners hand, a prisoner who had no information to give but whom the police would try to get a confession out of whether it was real or falsified out of desperation. When the prisoner did not speak the police sat down on the chair. Another tactic used by the police was to insert nails under prisoners finger nails. Although everyone in the prison was supposed to be treated equally, the political prisoners suffered far worse conditions. Many of the people imprisoned at the same time as the speaker died due to the terrible conditions in which they were kept.

Currently the Chinese government have a program to support as many Chinese people to relocate into Tibet as possible, whilst at the same time Tibetan women may be forced to have abortions and be sterilized.This has resulted in the population of Chinese people compared to Tibetans within Tibet being 3:1. A major consequence being the dilution and loss of Tibetan history and cultures.

Children living in Tibet are given an education, though this is what the Chinese government wish them to learn. Again, their history, culture and language is being lost.

Whilst Buddhism - the people of Tibet's religion - is allowed to some extent to continue within Tibet, monks must now denounce their leader, the Dalai Lama. During teachings monks have been given homework such as bringing with them something they have killed to their next lesson. The bigger the creature, the more points they will receive. These things go against the main principles of their religion. The Dalai Lama is the most important figure within Tibetan Buddhism, yet simply talking of or possessing a picture of the His Holiness is likely to lead to your imprisonment and potentially death. For Tibetan Buddhists two of the most important characteristics they strive towards achieving are non violence and compassion for all. Where then does this leave them when they may be taught it is right to kill?

I am hoping to visit Tibet later in my travels, but to do this I have to have a guide. I am not allowed to posses any pictures of the Dalai Lama and am not even allowed to carry a guide book with information about Tibet in it. I will also not be able to access facebook whilst in any part of China and no doubt considering the contents of this blog will not be able to access this either.

Something I appreciate and value more and more each day is my freedom.