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something for the nature lover, spiritual seeker, and/or hardcore sweet tooth! |
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Written by Trisha
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Saturday, 28 March 2009 |
ooper chalo! "up we go!" we've migrated north to the foothills of the himalaya mountains for our final month in india, along with some striking birds! it's suddenly so cold here and we can actually smell the snow on the hovering peaks! most days we are layered up in every warm piece of clothing we own! and still the teeth chatter. it's quite a climactic change from the heat of the plains, and a drastic cultural change too. we are meeting some amazing tibetan refugees and monks and hearing their stories of fleeing their homeland over the himalayan mountains to seek asylum in india. today is the 50th anniversary of when his holiness, the dalai lama, led his people out of tibet and the chinese officially siezed control of the tibetan government. we joined a rally and march today with thousands of refugees chanting "tibet is for tibetans" "stop genocide. stop killing in tibet." "what do we want? freedom. justice" "people of the world, support us!" the protest was emotional for everyone, and we are really grateful to be able to stand in solidarity with the tibetans as they continue to struggle for their freedom. tonight, after a candle light vigil, they will be showing some footage that was smuggled out of tibet, showing the contemporary torture and oppression. it's a really a sad and brutal situation for the tibetans in and outside of tibet, but there are many efforts here to preserve tibetan culture and spirituality. and the tibetan people in exile have created a supportive community.
we are currently in mcleod gange, daramshala (Himachal Pradesh) near the humble residence of his holiness, the dalai lama. we recieve such warm smiles from the monks that pass by in their maroon robes clutching their prayer beads as we circumambulate the dalai lama's residence and spin the colorful mani prayer wheels. there are great day hikes from here too! just the other day we went on a 20km trek through blooming red rhododendron and pine forest (and eventually snow) gaining 3600' in elevation to a 9,000ft. mountain ridge. we passed a few tea stalls on the way up, and at the top and a really nice indian man served us a warm meal of dhal, rice, and chai. it was a perfect winter picnic. we engaged in a snowball fight until the fog lifted around 3pm, revealing the impressive snowy himalayan peaks against a bright blue sky. we discoverd that if we listened intently we could hear the avalanches thundering down the mountain side! so cool.
the weather shifts suddenly here...from pouring rain to warm sunshine. right now the tibetan buddhist monks in mcleod gange are praying for more snow pack- so we are getting some heavy downpours. but on a clear day the views of the snowy peaks rising up behind strands of colorful tibetan prayer flags are breathtaking. on our first morning here, we woke up at 6:30am shocked to find that the sun was blazing so brightly in our window. we thought our clocks must have been wrong. we have an awesome view of the forested valley from our hotel. this is just the place for the nature lover, the spiritual seeker, and the hardcore sweet tooth! the sweet and pastry stalls are everywhere. also tibetan momo's are served on the street outside the dalai lama's residence for 2rps. each. yummy!
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