McLeod Ganj

McLeod Ganj is the home to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan exile government. Consequently there is a large tibetan community here, made out of parts "normal" refugees, and part monks, most of whom have experienced the cruel whip of their Chinese oppressors first hand. The streets are full with the tall slender figures of the monks in their maroon robes, idly chatting away on the latest mobile phone and sporting modern high tech trekking shoes. It never seizes to baffle me how China has managed to get away with the illegal occupation of Tibet for FIFTY years without the rest of the world doing anything more than offering their condolences to the Tibetan people. But then again, the communist regime of China has been getting away with murdering and torturing it's own people for almost as long.


As opposed to their Indian counterpart the Tibetans are quiet, patient and honest, never trying to catch your attention to their goods. Subsequently the Tibetan shops have fair prices from the starts, eliminating the tiresome need of having to haggle. I've been careful only to buy from the Tibetan co-operative stores, where all the profits go back to the community.

Yesterday I took a walk down to His Holiness residency and the main temple, a very inconspicious drab yellow building housing many of the refugee monks and some very delicate Buddhistic relics. Around the temple is the Kora path, a pleasant walk through fir trees lined by Tibetan prayer flags. At the entrance of the temple, there is a basic security check. The irony is not lost on me that I accidentally brought a Swiss Army knife with me to the residency of the worlds greatest peace maker.