Heels, Himalayas and Hilarity!!: November 2012

Well, it’s hard to believe, but unless something goes drastically wrong in the next few days, this will probably be my last Indian blog post. I’ve had an absolutely amazing trip, met many wonderful people and have learned much.

Tomorrow I am set to travel to Dehradun where I will be taking a 10 day Vipassana silent meditation retreat. Not something that most of you I’m sure necessarily equate with what you know of me, but it is something that I have looked at before in London, and the stars seem to have aligned on this one. I have looked at it a few times during my trip, trying to find course dates and location to match my itinerary. Nothing seemed to work, and I decided that I wasn’t going to massively change my trip in order to do it, that if it were meant to be it would happen.

And up until 2 days ago I had accepted that it wasn’t going to happen. However in a turn of events a Bolivian guy that I met in Dharamsala and have been hanging out with in Rishikesh found a place that I had actually recommended to him from my research but hadn’t looked into as I was told different dates, and they work for me also! It means that I won’t get to see Varanasi or Darjeeling which is a bit of a shame, but it is an hour and a half from where I currently am staying, finishes 2 days before I fly from Delhi, plus I will know someone also doing the course (not that we will be allowed to talk, but it’s still somewhat comforting to know I will see a familiar face). I guess sometimes you need to just have a little faith that you are on the right path, and although the prospect is daunting, ultimately I think it will be an experience I will take with me for the rest of my life, moreso than seeing a few more of the tourist sights, no matter how amazing they are meant to be. So I’m going for it – wish me luck! (And don’t worry dad, I still promise I won’t come home in orange robes and roman sandals nor need a low computer desk so I can sit in the Lotus position to work!).

So the end of my last post had me exhausted, skulling coffee, on the morning of Diwali having just arrived in Dharamsala. As many of you will know, Dharamsala is the residence of His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama, whom I was lucky enough to see speak, but more about that in a moment. Basically my first 2 days were spent “practicing patience” trying to get my last blog post to upload. My first evening I did manage to meet up with my friend I met in Goa and go to his Diwali party, which basically consisted of drinking whilst letting off truckloads of fireworks = great fun!

I absolutely adored Dharamsala and it was my favourite place of my trip. Although it wasn’t a part of my original itinerary, I’m so pleased I went. It was very different from the rest of my time in India which was essentially ticking off the different sights that my different destinations had on offer. Here it was a lot more chilled, and the days were much the same, spent hanging out at my favourite café ‘The Hope Café, drinking chai, meeting all sorts of fascinating people including many Tibetan monks, hearing they’re stories of hardship and triumph, hopes and dreams.

We learned so much about the Tibetan plight, much of which sadly never makes mainstream media because of the devastating control of the Chinese government over their beautiful and beloved homeland. To hopefully in some small way contribute to their ongoing battle to ‘Save Tibet’ by helping to raise the awareness of exactly what is happening in this pristine land of God, I would like to share a little of what I have learned. In a word, Tibet has been ravaged by the Chinese in a bid to control their natural resources including water, oil, minerals, forests, and much much more. Devastatingly over 1 million Tibetans have been killed by the Chinese, including over 100,000 that have been savagely tortured to death. The Tibetans have no rights as humans at all. They are not allowed to even whisper the word ‘Dalai Lama’, their beloved spiritual leader, let alone have a picture or hear any word of what is going on outside their beautiful land which has become a jail, or they will be imprisoned or worse. Thankfully, some Tibetans have managed to escape to Dharamsala where they are given refugee status by the Indian government, but in order to do this they need to cross the Himalayas – by foot. I have heard awful stories first hand of trips taking days and even weeks, in freezing conditions, with very little food and water and only the clothes on their back - their only possessions with which they can start their new life. Many, of course, do not make it, and many are captured by Chinese police and gunned to their deaths. If they escape they can never return, never see the families they leave behind as many of course are not physically able to take on such a journey.

For those that remain in Tibet, life is a misery. They are watching day by day as their culture and religion get demolished. Six thousand of their monasteries have been destroyed by the Chinese, their beautiful places of worship, and 25% of their forests have been clear-cut meaning that 5 BILLION tonnes of soil is lost to erosion every single year. The borders are open to Chinese who are taking over their land and obliterating their heritage. Worse still, the Chinese are sadly using this beautiful land in order to house their tanks, nuclear warheads, and even worse, as a dumping ground for nuclear waste which they are actually receiving money from foreign countries to dispose of. They are also using the Tibetan plateau for nuclear-testing – this beautiful nation with peace as its absolute essence being raped every way they look. It’s disgusting and absolutely heart-breaking to watch these peaceful people have to watch their culture and their homeland being destroyed piece by piece, day by day.

There have now been 73 counts of self-immolation – setting themselves on fire – as they see no escape from the desolation of their situation. They are not able to even get passports – they literally have no human rights at all. Chinese police and spies are everywhere and anywhere, and one toe in the wrong direction can end in savage beatings and imprisonment. Whilst I was there were another 3 self-immolations in one day, desperate people with all hope lost. For the next 2 nights there were evening vigils around Dharamsala where most of the Tibetans put up their peaceful protest to the gross violations their people experience daily to a world that never hears their cries.

Those lucky ones that have managed to escape carry their pain deep inside, those shining smiling eyes still with the faith that the Dalai Lama can somehow gain the support of the rest of the world. The problem is, of course, is that China is an important business ally for many governments, so the plight of these peaceful people and the gross devastation that they are experiencing is swept under the carpet.

One of the many wonderful experiences I was fortunate to have in Dharamsala was the opportunity to volunteer to teach the Tibetans English. Dharamsala is set up to be a safe-haven for the brave few that manage to escape, and every entrant into Dharamsala is granted a personal reception with the Dalai Lama. One of the many challenges that the Tibetan people face on arrival is language – most only know Tibetan, and not much if any English. So there are many organisations in Dharamsala set up to try and help them adjust to life outside Tibet, giving them food, accommodation, life skills, including the opportunity to learn English so they can better help themselves in the outside world. It really was an amazing experience, speaking with them, hearing their tragic stories, and hopefully in some small way making their adjustment that much easier. I think there’s enough hard-hitting stuff here now, but ask me about my friend Dee, a 20 year old Tibetan boy that I spoke to for hours – his story is just crushing. I hope with all my heart that he somehow finds peace, but from our conversations this is a long, long way away for him – just soul-destroying L

So onto happier things. Perhaps the standout experience of my entire trip was going to a small monastery deep in a valley and actually getting to meditate with the Monks – an absolutely unreal and beautiful experience. Their deep chanting prayers took me deeper into meditation than I’d previously been (still not that deep or long – I have no idea how I’m going to meditate for 14 hours a day 10 days straight, my record is about 10 minutes, and that’s probably being lenient!). And of course, the opportunity to see the Dalai Lama speak was once-in-a-lifetime.

So from Dharamsala after an amazing 7 days it was on to Rishikesh to stay in Ved Niketan ashram. This place is absolutely brilliant, for only 150 rupees – less than £2 – I have my own room with a bathroom, 2 yoga sessions a day and a meditation class! And I have to say, I really am enjoying the yoga. It’s not something I’ve done before aside from one class, and it’s really surprised me how tough it is – who would have thought that sitting on your butt with your arms in the air could hurt so much?! It’s really challenged my perception of my own strength and fitness – ie, not as much as I thought (not that 2 months of curries has helped)!!

Again, my time in Rishikesh has been somewhat different than the rest of India, punctuated more by experience than by actual sights. It is a lovely little town situated right on the powerful Ganges River, one of the holiest places in India. Rishikesh sprang into fame in the late 1960’s when the Beatles famously rocked up at the ashram of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and reportedly wrote much of their ‘White’ album within the ashram walls. It now is the self-processed ‘Yoga Capital of the World’, with masses of ashrams and all kinds of yoga and meditation classes, and foreigners in the search of spiritual enlightenment.

I went to the ashram and it is absolutely enourmous and totally awesome – it would be unreal to stay there one day if it eventually reopens! On another noteworthy day - my birthday - we hired motor-scooters and went to a waterfall and then had a few beers, fairly low-key. There were definite moments when I was following a Swiss chef who has been travelling the past 3 years including a stint in NZ that reminded me of the BFG (Kiwi’s, you should know what I mean, Roald Dahl, Brits, maybe not), an English guy who’s been travelling since 2005 and ran a continual stream of long-winded soliloquys, no matter if anyone was listening or interested or not, and an Italian yoga instructor who said relatively little (it was very hard to get a word in edgeways), when I was wondering what the HELL I was doing my life – in the middle of India, trekking to a waterfall with a bunch of hippies that I didn’t know – a far cry from the corporate world of London-living that was previously my life!

For those of you interested – here are a few stats that I’ve tallied up on my trip to date:

Spent – I will probably finish up having spent about £800 (excluding flights). Not bad for 2 months travel having done as much as I did.

Lost – one cell phone (sorry Ali Bear), one iPod with a Dutch guy I’m hoping to get back, one pair ‘hippy’ balloon pants (they blew away off a balcony where they were drying). I think that’s it – not too bad for me!

Read – I have managed to not finish a single book although I have started many, and bought too many! I didn’t realise taking on ‘Shantaram’ was a full-time never-ending job!

Travelled – 15 cities. I would love to work out all the hours I have spent travelling by plane, train and bus, but I can’t be bothered right now

Hours spent waiting for photos to upload on this blog – far too many to count, so I hope you’ve enjoyed!

Bought – not actually that much – mostly books, a couple of DVDs, a CD of Buddhist Monks chanting, Tibetan prayer flags, a few pairs of pants, 2 journals, a few bracelets, 3x jingly anklets (2 broke, don’t worry, I’m not walking around like a Christmas tree), a meditation blanket (actually I still need to buy that for the retreat), a few other bits and bobs

Cold showers – FAR more than I would have liked – over 95% of them – all except Dharamsala!

Longest time in one place – that will be the Vipassana course, 10 days

Number of photos taken = RIDIC!

So now it’s my last day before I leave for Dehradun for the retreat, so it’s washing, booking Delhi accommodation, working out how to get to the ashram, buying supplies for the retreat and of course updating the blog. The sun is shining, I’ve got some good tunes playing, and I’m looking forward to what is undoubtedly going to be the most challenging chapter of my Indian adventure. I am happy and content – I hope you are also.

Namaste xxx

PS: Londoners – I’m landing at Heathrow 11am on Thursday 13 Dec and fly out on the 17^th Dec – I hope you have time for catch ups. Not sure if my mobile will work but I hope it will but might be better to facebook me in case. Can’t wait to see you all!!

Beautiful Dharamsala - McLeod Ganj

Tibetan prayer flags fly everywhere in Dharamsala

Tibetan Monks

The Panchen Lama - the 6 year old boy who was recognised as a holy reincarnation and is responsible for identifying the next Dalai Lama. He was kidnapped when he was just 6 years old, 3 days after he was recognised as the Lama. He has never been found - the Chinese have appointed a new Lama who is under their control.