En-route to Dharamshala
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Mad Max type taxis and goods carriers
Splutter along at walking pace under single cylinder diesel power
Another ingenious goods carrier sends its loads to settlements high up
Dharamshala is home to the Government of Tibet , in Exile as a result of Chinese occupation
The Tibetan national flag , banned in its homeland
The narrow streets of Dharamshala
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Has no shortage of choice
Or Entrepreneurs
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We are not the only ones to ply these narrow streets and in one of its shops we are in
the footsteps of Goldie Hawn
Richard Gere
Pierce Bronson
Dharamshala is also home to the Dalai Lama, exiled leader of Tibet. Here we are in front of his home & monastery
Directions within the Monastery
lead you to the daily debates between monks
Something one does not expect within these haloed grounds
This is the Mani prayer wheel, filled with 1000’s of Mantras. By turning the wheel once , clockwise, ‘earns’ merit equal to the mantra contained within the wheel
Dharamshala is also the seat of the Tibetan parliament in exile. Where else in the world can you ride right up to the parliament as a foreigner?
One is quickly reminded that you are still in India though. These are construction workers outside the parliament
Dharamshala’s public swimming pool & watering hole is fed from pure mountain water
In Dharamsala we visited the Tibetan humanitarian museum to gain insight into their side of the story as exiles.
Spare a thought for the plight of Tibet and its people.
China has occupied Tibet for over 60 years with measures entailing mass-scale physical destruction combined with policies to erase Tibetan culture, religion and ultimately its identity. Since its occupation, Beijing has destroyed over 6000 monasteries & religious intuitions. Ancient scriptures, images and sculptures were destroyed, melted or sold in international art markets.
Reportedly about 1.2 million Tibetans died as a direst result of Chinese rule through executions, torture, hunger and labour camps
The handful of monasteries that remain today are used simply as tourist attractions while Tibetans themselves are economically marginalised.
70% of businesses in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet are owned by Chinese, who prefer to hire migrant Chinese employees. When Tibetans are hired there are wage differences between themselves and Chinese doing the same job.
Poverty levels in Tibet are much higher than those of the poorest regions of mainland China.
In Tibet, two of the most visible forms of political repression are the stringent restrictions on the freedom of religious belief and the practice of ‘patriotic re-education’ whereby nuns and monks are forced to denounce the Dalai Lama and pledge allegiance to the Communist Party.
A state controlled monastic system gives higher priory to ‘love & loyalty to the great motherland’ than to teaching the Buddha dharma, while monks spend half their day memorising Party propaganda. Since 2011, display of portraits of the Communist Chinese leadership and Chinese national flag is mandatory in monasteries and monks quarters. Monasteries and quarters are subject to regular night time raids.
Another destruction involves China’s unbridled exploitation of Tibet’s natural resources, massive deforestation and mining which has severely damaged its fragile eco system. Some parts of the Tibetan Plateau are used as nuclear test sites and as a dumping ground for nuclear waste.
The Rebong Monastery, Amdo province turned into a Chinese storeroom in 1979
In the absence of space for conventional forms of protest Tibetans have resorted to the drastic action of self dousing with petrol and setting themselves alight , believing it is the only way to bring the worlds attention to their plight.
From Feb 2009 to April 2015 a total of 138 Tibetans have self immolated. 119 have died whereas the condition and whereabouts of those who survived remains unknown
Just a small part of the remembrance wall to those Tibetans who self immolated
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The worlds youngest political prisoner
My religion is simple. Kindness in my religion
Our thanks to the Government of Tibet in exile for willingly supplying the following footage of the journey to Tibet in 1949 , before the Chinese invaded. Our trip through this region had many elements remaining, 65 years later.
One has to love the Hi-YO Silver Lone Ranger nature of the commentary and soundtrack!
*****
What an amazing experience, and privilege, to go to where the Dalai Lama lives! Those poor, poor Tibetans.
Fantastic experience ….
We hear about Tibet but never the true extent of what actually transpired.
Thanks for this insight
I’m thinking again of those poorTibetans. Must seem a bit like preserving a nearly extinct animal in captivity in the hope that when the habitat improves it can be reintroduced to its native environment. But these are humans we are talking about ! And will the habitat ever be suitable to go back into Tibet . I doubt it. Go well go safely L&H so looking forward to catching up with you in PE this April. Love from Nicholas & Stella
Hi Linda and Harry.
Happy New Year to you both. The trip looks fantastic and complicated. So much to take in and digest. Man’s inhumanity to man is legion. We will never learn. So sad that there is a need to oppress.
Well I hope that you got something which is vaguely equivalent to Crackling Harry, to celebrate the coming of the New Year and that the red wine is not too ghastly and unpalatable to drink Linda.
Very hot in PE and probably the most windless December I have experienced in ages.
Take care
Lance
We certainly are NOW sparing a thought for the people of Tibet—–super photos again thank you !
All the best for 2016
So sad!! Even sadder is the willing trade by SA and the reluctance of the SA government to allow the Tibetan leaders visitation rights thereby bowing down to the Chinese.
Thankfully Desmond Tutu had the courage of his convictions when this happened to go to Dharamsala to visit the Dalai Lama .