(9) Breathing the same air as the Dalai Lama...
(Diary: Sojourn to India – 30 March – 30 April 2006)
17th April – it’s my youngest brother, Dennis, birthday.…..it’s cold, very wintry cold….my skin has goose bumps….I can’t even open the windows in the bus coz I’m afraid the wind will make me vomit or something……..huhuhu…..and I don’t have proper clothes to top it all!
Dharamsala is truly a hippie town….every hour there are busloads of foreigners who arrives and departs. Everywhere, you can see the juxtaposition of Tibetan culture vis a vis the mixture of differing racial influences --- especially the modern culture of excesses….Most of the people who comes here are young, fresh college or high school grads who have just worked and saved and then travelled around Asia…. God, the way they travel and live…..i couldn’t and not even in my most adventurous mind did I envision myself doing that! They are here for months and travelling in sleeper cars…but what I don’t really like is when I hear some of them malign and curse the Indians (it happened when we boarded the bus in Delhi) when in fact if you expose yourself only to a limited class then that would have been omitted but their lack of pocket money forces them to live with the common folks and since they feel so superior from these people so then they get angry for even small delays! Mediocre tourist brains!!! Although I did meet some really nice and kind-hearted backpackers, they gave me tips on where to stay and where to go and even escorted me around to help me find accommodation!
The cold that greeted me when I arrived in McLeod Ganj, the home of the exiled Tibetan Government and its people, is really horrible for a tropical resident like me. I should have checked the internet for the weather report for Himachal Pradesh (the state of Dharamsala) coz when I got in it was around 4 deg Celsius --- the coldest reported for that day was 1 deg Celsius in the early morning!
I was literally shivering to my toes! I bought a blanket to cover myself and really used it to cover myself when I walked around the town. I don’t care if people will think I’m a fashion nightmare, kwidaw ang lola sa sobrang lamig I can’t think of fashion anymore!
And I’ll be staying here for 7 days…….brrrrrrrr…..
A Contemplative Interlude at the Waterfalls of Bhagsu
I just love days wherein you wake up and just do nothing but whatever takes your fancy….going for a walk is definitely a good idea….I walked for about 40 minutes and arrived at the small village of Bhagsu. I had my breakfast on the rooftop area of the restaurant. The food is not much but the atmosphere is great! It felt so peaceful, so tranquil… I love this! This is what I came here for, not to become a Buddhist (well, I initially wanted to enroll in a class) but its more about soaking the atmosphere of the Himalayan mountains and somehow, at some point, imbibing the kind of spirit that the locals have for they seem so happy despite all the odds --- something that is lacking with the rest of India. People here seem so much more at peace, more serene….the beggars don’t beg….I mean, everything here seems to be quiet in the fullest sense!
It must be the mountain air permeating one’s body but it makes you sanguine and contemplative…. So much more accepting of what life will give….you seem to have more space for sorrows, have patience to face problems of whatever nature…..one seems so isolated from worries as if Nature will not allow you to hold such negative thoughts in such pristine surroundings.
After having my usual black coffee, served in a glass! I hiked off in search of the waterfall, it’s another 1km hike through the mountains from the village of Bhagsu. The road is barely passable but the views certainly made up for all that! 
Sipping a glass of chai while perched on a slab of rock and watching the tourist frolicking or taking pictures….I was waiting for my spot of serenity…just listening to the sound, with the clear water you can easily mirror yourself from --- unbelievable! Here in this forest, with the sound of the waterfall cascading through the rocks, one arrives at a lot of realizations about one’s self….
There are crossroads in one’s life, crossings which you never know is the right path but you just continue to trudge on and ask for directions along the way till you arrive at your own waterfall…I just hope I will not forget the lessons learned from my sojourn to the waterfalls.
This is probably the mystery of this land and its people, you don’t have to learn methodical teachings because Nature itself if you really look and listen will speak to you and teach you the way…
A Loner’s Trek
After a visit to the Tse-Chokling gompa, with its winding path, I was so out of breath! I already have an idea of what will happen to me if I push through with my plan to go hike around the village of Dharamkot and back (roughly around 6kms) and go see the sacred Dal Lake (umm…another 4kms …..).
It was already my 4th day in ML Ganj and I was getting bored out, so I went off armed with a map from my guidebook and went looking for the village of Dharamkot. It is a little village in Upper McLeod nestled in the mountains and looks really lovely! Though, I was terrified coz I got lost for awhile in the upper areas and my only means for inquiry is if I find another hiker along the path. It was a picturesque walk through the village and onwards to the valley and then arriving again at the village of Bhagsu.
Dal Lake is somewhat of a disappointment, I was thinking of a small, serene lake in the middle of nowhere coz its supposed to be a sacred lake but there is nothing spectacular at all… although I met Ya-el on the road and hopped into her bike and went to TCV (Tibetan Children’s Village), she introduced me to Frank, a Swiss that is married to a Filipina (who happens to be a UPD alumna also!)….but whew! Another 2kms walk, more or less… it’s nice though, the exercise will be good for me!
Yeah, I did finish my trek but barely…..this is really good….taking a walk, going by yourself…in contemplation, with only your thoughts and the landscape for company….it cleanses you physically, mentally, and emotionally….drains out the pressures, the negative thoughts….but my poor feet!!! Hehehe
Visiting the Dalai Lama’s residence
On my last day, I went to visit the Tsuglagkhang Complex, the official residence of the Dalai Lama is located within its compound together with the Namgyal Gompa and the Tibet Museum. The Central chapel or the Tsuglagkhang is the main place of worship for the exiled Tibetans and is the biggest temple of its kind outside of Tibet. Locals usually take the pilgrim’s route (the ritual circuit called kora) around the complex in a clockwise direction and passing through the huge giant wheels (you have to turn it around while chanting your prayers). Around the compound you get to see novice monks playing after their classes.
God! This is the culmination of my trip here --- to be able to breathe the same air that the Dalai Lama breathes. The moment is so unbelievable for me, ever since I was 10 years old and I learned about the plight of the Tibetan people and got exposed to the mesmerizing charisma of Dalai Lama (thanks Pa for making current events a part of our daily dinner conversation through the years!!! ). I would have wanted to come around late Feb – early March when the Dalai Lama holds public lectures for about 2 weeks. That would have been perfect!!!
Now that my India trip is almost over, I want to work and work hard and then plan for my next trip to Southeast Asia! Fingers crossed….
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