Dharamsala and McLeod Ganj
After a lazy day in Shimla on Saturday (seriously, we did nothing at all), we hopped in a car at around 10pm for an all-night drive up to Dharamsala. Unfortunately, Michael wasn't able to come with us since he was heading back to the states a few days later, so we took him to the bus station and saw him off to Delhi. It was of course a bummer to lose a member of the travel crew, but I think Michael was pretty excited to get back home, so we couldn't really blame the guy!
Our driver to Dharamsala was very nice, but he didn't speak any English, so that made for an interesting ride. At the beginning of the drive, the roads were winding through the mountains a lot, and this guy was barrelling through the turns at what seemed like light speed. At first, I was certain that my stomach would give way at some point during the drive, but I settled down after an hour or so, and I was able to lie down in the back seat and listen to my iPod with no problems whatsoever. About halfway through the ride, though, we all switched seats, so I was up in shotgun for the last half, and there was clearly no way to lie down up there, but I didn't really mind. It definitely made for a good vantage point from which to watch the road, even though it was dark outside. We made it to Dharamsala in about 7 hours, and we then took another 30 minutes or so to drive up to McLeod Ganj, which is the upper town of Dharamsala, where all of the Tibetans live. We drove around for a while in the pouring rain looking for our hotel, and we eventually found it....of course, we were all exhausted, so we were very happy to find that we could enter our room right away, even though it was only 5:30 am. Our hotel, the Chonor House, is a really cool place that is associated with the Norbulingka Institute for Tibetan Culture. It is a wholly Tibetan place, and each room is named after a different region of Tibet. Our room is called "Central Tibet", and there are murals of the region on each of our walls. Needless to say, we were glad to arrive, and we all fell asleep very quickly. After a bit of a rest, we woke up around 12:30 to go explore McLeod Ganj.
Now...a brief interlude to tell the story of Dharamsala/McLeod Ganj and the Tibetan people. As you may or may not know, in the early 1950's, soon after the Communist Party came to power in China, the Chinese government decided to "liberate" Tibet. To make a long story short, the Chinese invaded Tibet, destroyed their temples and cultural monuments, and began the process of removing the Tibetan people and culture. They banned all forms of religious worship and basically attempted to force Tibetans to adhere to Chinese customs and lifestyle. Eventually, in 1959, the situation became untenable, and the Dalai Lama, who is the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people (and regarded by many as a God-king), was forced to flee to India, where he and the Tibetan people were given refuge. Dharamsala (more correctly its upper town, McLeod Ganj) is now the main center for Tibetan Buddhism in the world, as well as the home of the Dalai Lama. There are substantially more Tibetans than Indians here...it's like being in a different country. It has been incredible to learn about the plight of the Tibetan people. It's one thing to read about it, but to be here and to meet the refugees is a truly powerful experience.
Anyway, after waking up, we went down to the complex surrounding the Dalai Lama's residence, and although we weren't able to go into the residential portion, we were able to walk through and around the temple, which was awesome. At the very front of the temple, we saw the space where the Dalai Lama gives his public addresses...I very much hope to be able to return one day to hear him speak, even if I can't understand the Tibetan language. The temple itself was very relaxed and cool, and we spent a few minutes in both of the two sections before walking all the way around the outside of the temple turning the prayer wheels. Basically, prayer wheels are cylinders upon which different prayers are written, and each time you spin one, it is just like you have said those prayers. By walking around and spinning all of the prayer wheels, we effectively said all of the mantras that were written on them. While I don't know what any of them say, it was a very cool experience to participate in one of the sacred acts of Tibetan Buddhism. We saw a lot of monks, and of course everyone was very friendly. Jesse gave one of the monks 500 rupees for a trip to Delhi...what a guy!
After leaving the temple, we walked down to the Tibetan Museum, which tells the story of the Tibetan people's oppression in China and subsequent exile to India. The stories, both individual and collective, are absolutely heartbreaking, and it's amazing to see how the community has held together in such a dire situation. By all accounts, the Dalai Lama has provided amazing guidance and leadership for his countrymen, and the Tibetan people remain peace-loving and compassionate. The people here, having been through so much oppression and pain, amaze me in their ability to remain positive, friendly, and kind. I have been so impressed by the Tibetan people here, and I feel very welcome here in McLeod Ganj. We are constantly receiving friendly greetings from Tibetan monks walking down the street, and everyone is very warm wherever we go.
We had dinner last night at a Tibetan restaurant, which was very good, and we finished off the evening with some billiards at a local pub. We met some locals and some travelers, and we enjoyed ourselves very much there. After returning to the hotel, we stayed up late to watch the World Cup final, and we hit the bed soon after.
This morning, we woke up pretty slowly. We managed to get moving around 11am, and we were happy to see that it wasn't raining. We hiked up for about 20 minutes to the town of Bhagsu, which was nice, and we continued on to Bhagsu falls, which is a beautiful waterfall a bit further from town. There were quite a few people on the path to the falls, but afterwards we hiked up a bit further to a place called Shiva Cafe, which was completely out of the way. The first thing we noticed about Shiva Cafe was the huge pot of cannabis plants growing right out front...clearly a pretty laid-back place. When we walked in, there were a few people relaxing, and we sat down and ordered lunch and lassis. We hung out there playing backgammon and poker, writing postcards, and reading for a bit, and we left at around 4pm to head back to town for our Tibetan cooking class, which we had signed up for last night.
The cooking class was great. The teacher, Sangye, came to McLeod Ganj from Tibet about 6 years ago, and he's a totally laid back and hilarious guy. Today's class was on Tibetan soups, and we learned 4 different recipes. It was more observation than hands-on cooking, but it was awesome to watch him and great to learn from him. There were about 10 people in the class, including some hilarious guys from London, who are all here on their break between high school and university. Anyway, we got to keep printouts of the recipes that Sangye used, so I'm planning on trying them when I get home. Hopefully it won't take me too many tries to get it right!
Anyway, this evening we are probably going to head back to the billiard bar, and tomorrow we are going to spend the day and night at a monastery in Sherbling, which is about 2 hours from here. We'll be spending a good deal of our time there meditating in complete silence and solitude, which I think will be a very cool way to spend the day. I'm looking forward to having the chance to do nothing but reflect, especially as we near the end of such an active trip through India. On Wednesday we'll return to McLeod Ganj, and we're hoping that we'll have the chance to have a private audience with the Karmapa Lama, who is the 3rd highest official of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. Unfortunately, the Dalai Lama is sick, so we won't get to see him, but we're very much looking forward to having the chance to receive blessings from the Karmapa.
Ok, wrapping up...In many ways, McLeod Ganj is the most amazing place I've ever visited in my life. There's an incredible energy here that one can't help but appreciate. As I said, the Tibetan people are incredible, and it's a wonderful privilege to be able to come here and visit their home in exile. I am excited about spending four more days here, and I really think that this will be something that I draw upon for the rest of my life. It's a perfect way to finish up our India travels. More stories to come!
Our driver to Dharamsala was very nice, but he didn't speak any English, so that made for an interesting ride. At the beginning of the drive, the roads were winding through the mountains a lot, and this guy was barrelling through the turns at what seemed like light speed. At first, I was certain that my stomach would give way at some point during the drive, but I settled down after an hour or so, and I was able to lie down in the back seat and listen to my iPod with no problems whatsoever. About halfway through the ride, though, we all switched seats, so I was up in shotgun for the last half, and there was clearly no way to lie down up there, but I didn't really mind. It definitely made for a good vantage point from which to watch the road, even though it was dark outside. We made it to Dharamsala in about 7 hours, and we then took another 30 minutes or so to drive up to McLeod Ganj, which is the upper town of Dharamsala, where all of the Tibetans live. We drove around for a while in the pouring rain looking for our hotel, and we eventually found it....of course, we were all exhausted, so we were very happy to find that we could enter our room right away, even though it was only 5:30 am. Our hotel, the Chonor House, is a really cool place that is associated with the Norbulingka Institute for Tibetan Culture. It is a wholly Tibetan place, and each room is named after a different region of Tibet. Our room is called "Central Tibet", and there are murals of the region on each of our walls. Needless to say, we were glad to arrive, and we all fell asleep very quickly. After a bit of a rest, we woke up around 12:30 to go explore McLeod Ganj.
Now...a brief interlude to tell the story of Dharamsala/McLeod Ganj and the Tibetan people. As you may or may not know, in the early 1950's, soon after the Communist Party came to power in China, the Chinese government decided to "liberate" Tibet. To make a long story short, the Chinese invaded Tibet, destroyed their temples and cultural monuments, and began the process of removing the Tibetan people and culture. They banned all forms of religious worship and basically attempted to force Tibetans to adhere to Chinese customs and lifestyle. Eventually, in 1959, the situation became untenable, and the Dalai Lama, who is the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people (and regarded by many as a God-king), was forced to flee to India, where he and the Tibetan people were given refuge. Dharamsala (more correctly its upper town, McLeod Ganj) is now the main center for Tibetan Buddhism in the world, as well as the home of the Dalai Lama. There are substantially more Tibetans than Indians here...it's like being in a different country. It has been incredible to learn about the plight of the Tibetan people. It's one thing to read about it, but to be here and to meet the refugees is a truly powerful experience.
Anyway, after waking up, we went down to the complex surrounding the Dalai Lama's residence, and although we weren't able to go into the residential portion, we were able to walk through and around the temple, which was awesome. At the very front of the temple, we saw the space where the Dalai Lama gives his public addresses...I very much hope to be able to return one day to hear him speak, even if I can't understand the Tibetan language. The temple itself was very relaxed and cool, and we spent a few minutes in both of the two sections before walking all the way around the outside of the temple turning the prayer wheels. Basically, prayer wheels are cylinders upon which different prayers are written, and each time you spin one, it is just like you have said those prayers. By walking around and spinning all of the prayer wheels, we effectively said all of the mantras that were written on them. While I don't know what any of them say, it was a very cool experience to participate in one of the sacred acts of Tibetan Buddhism. We saw a lot of monks, and of course everyone was very friendly. Jesse gave one of the monks 500 rupees for a trip to Delhi...what a guy!
After leaving the temple, we walked down to the Tibetan Museum, which tells the story of the Tibetan people's oppression in China and subsequent exile to India. The stories, both individual and collective, are absolutely heartbreaking, and it's amazing to see how the community has held together in such a dire situation. By all accounts, the Dalai Lama has provided amazing guidance and leadership for his countrymen, and the Tibetan people remain peace-loving and compassionate. The people here, having been through so much oppression and pain, amaze me in their ability to remain positive, friendly, and kind. I have been so impressed by the Tibetan people here, and I feel very welcome here in McLeod Ganj. We are constantly receiving friendly greetings from Tibetan monks walking down the street, and everyone is very warm wherever we go.
We had dinner last night at a Tibetan restaurant, which was very good, and we finished off the evening with some billiards at a local pub. We met some locals and some travelers, and we enjoyed ourselves very much there. After returning to the hotel, we stayed up late to watch the World Cup final, and we hit the bed soon after.
This morning, we woke up pretty slowly. We managed to get moving around 11am, and we were happy to see that it wasn't raining. We hiked up for about 20 minutes to the town of Bhagsu, which was nice, and we continued on to Bhagsu falls, which is a beautiful waterfall a bit further from town. There were quite a few people on the path to the falls, but afterwards we hiked up a bit further to a place called Shiva Cafe, which was completely out of the way. The first thing we noticed about Shiva Cafe was the huge pot of cannabis plants growing right out front...clearly a pretty laid-back place. When we walked in, there were a few people relaxing, and we sat down and ordered lunch and lassis. We hung out there playing backgammon and poker, writing postcards, and reading for a bit, and we left at around 4pm to head back to town for our Tibetan cooking class, which we had signed up for last night.
The cooking class was great. The teacher, Sangye, came to McLeod Ganj from Tibet about 6 years ago, and he's a totally laid back and hilarious guy. Today's class was on Tibetan soups, and we learned 4 different recipes. It was more observation than hands-on cooking, but it was awesome to watch him and great to learn from him. There were about 10 people in the class, including some hilarious guys from London, who are all here on their break between high school and university. Anyway, we got to keep printouts of the recipes that Sangye used, so I'm planning on trying them when I get home. Hopefully it won't take me too many tries to get it right!
Anyway, this evening we are probably going to head back to the billiard bar, and tomorrow we are going to spend the day and night at a monastery in Sherbling, which is about 2 hours from here. We'll be spending a good deal of our time there meditating in complete silence and solitude, which I think will be a very cool way to spend the day. I'm looking forward to having the chance to do nothing but reflect, especially as we near the end of such an active trip through India. On Wednesday we'll return to McLeod Ganj, and we're hoping that we'll have the chance to have a private audience with the Karmapa Lama, who is the 3rd highest official of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. Unfortunately, the Dalai Lama is sick, so we won't get to see him, but we're very much looking forward to having the chance to receive blessings from the Karmapa.
Ok, wrapping up...In many ways, McLeod Ganj is the most amazing place I've ever visited in my life. There's an incredible energy here that one can't help but appreciate. As I said, the Tibetan people are incredible, and it's a wonderful privilege to be able to come here and visit their home in exile. I am excited about spending four more days here, and I really think that this will be something that I draw upon for the rest of my life. It's a perfect way to finish up our India travels. More stories to come!
posted by david.m.marcus at 7:23 AM
1 Comments:
David:
you had better be bringing those recipes home to your chef. the Dalai Lama and some cooking classes hmmmmmmmmmm sounds like in McLeod Ganj you can work on both body and soul.
peace love and hamburgers
jhon
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