After being in the country of India for almost a month now, I thought i needed a break from all the hustle and bustle that goes along with this country. I needed to get away from the honking and hassles of day to day life, so I decided to head to the traveler hangout of McLeod Gang. There were a couple reasons to come here, including the peace and serenity. The town sits at 1750 meters, and some of the surrounding hills and mountains get up to 5000 meters. That's a far cry from the dry, arid plains of Rajastan and central India. Also, this is the adopted home of the Dali Lama (every time I mention the Lama, I want to make Caddyshack jokes). There is a strong Tibetan and Buddhist monk population here. that's partly why it's so hassle free. When you walk into one of there shops, they just say hi and let you shop around, they don't give you the hard sell like the rest of India.
There are so many things I love about this place, my first day here I met some travelers who asked me to join them on a hike, I thought we may meander through the local villages, but they had other things in mind, instead we trekked up to 2800m/9300 feet. There were some great views of the Himalaya foothills and all the surrounding valleys. It was great to get some exercise and fresh air after breathing exhaust for a month.
A few of the other great things that pull the travelers in are: food; Chinese, American, Korean, Tibetan, Indian, all available and all tasty and cheap. The people. Everyone seems so happy here, both the locals and travelers, and it's such a small town it's easy to meet other people. There are lots of coffee and chai shops. At the moment I am drinking fresh french press coffee, you don't find that everywhere in India. Have I mentioned the scenery, the views are breath taking, from the deck of my 100 rupee guest house I can see the 5000m peaks of the Dhaula Dar Range. I know alot of these amenities here cater to the spoiled backpacker and is not the real India. But sometimes you just need a little break. You want to sit at a cafe and read the English paper, you want to walk down the street without diving into the gutter to avoid a speeding rickshaw or motorbike. You want to breath fresh clean air. The real India is fascinating ans stressful at the same time, and that is what I came over here to see, and I know I have many more months of seeing the good and bad of India.
All the little things her are great, but the most amazing thing here has been the Tibetan people and learning their story. This place became an adopted home of the Dali Lama and the Tibetan people in 1959. Tibet was invaded by the Chinese in 1949. They basically wanted to take their land and get rid of the Tibetan culture. They destroyed 90% of their monasteries and holy places. So for the past 50 years or so, Tibetans have been escaping to the surrounding countries. And many of them ended up here in the town Of Mcleod Gang. The Dali Lama and other Tibetans escaped to this place in 1959 by trekking through the Himalayas with limited supplies. it takes months and it's dangerous, as you could be captured by Chinese troops and put in Jail. I actually met a 26 year old monk here, and he wanted to practice his English, so we had a 2 hour conversation where he told me his amazing story of how he left his family. His name was Wosa, he said that in Tibet , once you reach a certain age, monks are no longer allowed to study Buddhism on the Monastery, so to continue his studies he had to go to another country. So at the age of 16, he and 50 other Tibetans packed up and trekked through the mountains for a month to reach Nepal, where they would be safe. Wosa said that some people went snow blind from the lack of sunglasses. Some people lost toes due to frost bite, but everyone made it alive. He ended up here in McLeod, briefly to meet the Dali Lama, but he now lives in a monastery in southern India with 3000 other Buddhist monks. He's been there 12 years, and he has 10 more years of study until he becomes a High Lama. He is just up here for his 2 month vacation. he said the weather is a little more tolerable for him, Southern India must feel like an oven after spending the first half of your life on eh high plains of Tibet.
There are so many things I love about this place, my first day here I met some travelers who asked me to join them on a hike, I thought we may meander through the local villages, but they had other things in mind, instead we trekked up to 2800m/9300 feet. There were some great views of the Himalaya foothills and all the surrounding valleys. It was great to get some exercise and fresh air after breathing exhaust for a month.
A few of the other great things that pull the travelers in are: food; Chinese, American, Korean, Tibetan, Indian, all available and all tasty and cheap. The people. Everyone seems so happy here, both the locals and travelers, and it's such a small town it's easy to meet other people. There are lots of coffee and chai shops. At the moment I am drinking fresh french press coffee, you don't find that everywhere in India. Have I mentioned the scenery, the views are breath taking, from the deck of my 100 rupee guest house I can see the 5000m peaks of the Dhaula Dar Range. I know alot of these amenities here cater to the spoiled backpacker and is not the real India. But sometimes you just need a little break. You want to sit at a cafe and read the English paper, you want to walk down the street without diving into the gutter to avoid a speeding rickshaw or motorbike. You want to breath fresh clean air. The real India is fascinating ans stressful at the same time, and that is what I came over here to see, and I know I have many more months of seeing the good and bad of India.
All the little things her are great, but the most amazing thing here has been the Tibetan people and learning their story. This place became an adopted home of the Dali Lama and the Tibetan people in 1959. Tibet was invaded by the Chinese in 1949. They basically wanted to take their land and get rid of the Tibetan culture. They destroyed 90% of their monasteries and holy places. So for the past 50 years or so, Tibetans have been escaping to the surrounding countries. And many of them ended up here in the town Of Mcleod Gang. The Dali Lama and other Tibetans escaped to this place in 1959 by trekking through the Himalayas with limited supplies. it takes months and it's dangerous, as you could be captured by Chinese troops and put in Jail. I actually met a 26 year old monk here, and he wanted to practice his English, so we had a 2 hour conversation where he told me his amazing story of how he left his family. His name was Wosa, he said that in Tibet , once you reach a certain age, monks are no longer allowed to study Buddhism on the Monastery, so to continue his studies he had to go to another country. So at the age of 16, he and 50 other Tibetans packed up and trekked through the mountains for a month to reach Nepal, where they would be safe. Wosa said that some people went snow blind from the lack of sunglasses. Some people lost toes due to frost bite, but everyone made it alive. He ended up here in McLeod, briefly to meet the Dali Lama, but he now lives in a monastery in southern India with 3000 other Buddhist monks. He's been there 12 years, and he has 10 more years of study until he becomes a High Lama. He is just up here for his 2 month vacation. he said the weather is a little more tolerable for him, Southern India must feel like an oven after spending the first half of your life on eh high plains of Tibet.
Still, Tibetans are leaving through the mountain passes in search of freedom. Currently in Tibet there are more Chinese people than Tibetans. The Chinese aren't giving Native Tibetans the human rights they deserve. You probably remember the protests of last march that killed so many Tibetans, and those that weren't killed were arrested and placed in jail where they will stay for up to twenty years, according to Wosa.
It's such a sad situation, There are signs all over that say Free Tibet, and in the states those bumper stickers don't seem as popular as they once were. I'm not sure you can save Tibet, and return to how it once was, with it's thriving nomadic culture and Buddhist ways. I don't China has any plans of handing it back over to them. They just need to fight and maintain some of their culture. But that would mean letting people who have left, like Wosa back into the region to teach the Buddhist ways to the younger generation. In fact, when the current Lama passes, China has already appointed a new Lama, one that isn't from Tibet. So the state of Tibet, and Tibetan Buddhism seems pretty Dire, but fascinating at the same time. I'm now thinking of getting up inti that area to check it out myself, but I'll have to be dealing with the Chinese government to get all that arranged.
As for me, I'm leaving this peaceful little hamlet and heading even farther north, up to the Kashmir area.There should be plenty to see and write about, so I'll be in touch.
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