The Dalai Lama, Tibet and 10,000 Feet

I’m in the Himalayas, a place where some people dream to be. I’m at the top of a tree at the top of a mountain. We hiked for 5 hours to get here and it was really tiring. Now I’ve found a spot beyond perfect and I feel like a part of nature. We left Jaipur last Wednesday and took an overnight train to Palampur. The train had triple bunk beds which I thought was pretty cool because I’d never seen them before. Other than the bathroom, the train was pretty nice and it was a smooth ride. Palampur is a city in Himachal Pradesh (The Indian state that is in the Himalayas) that is 3999 feet (1219 meters) high. In Palampur we walked to a river, walked around a market, and spent the night. There are tons of monkeys there and we had to keep our windows locked because they would come into your room and trash up the place. The next morning we came to Dharamsala, which is the touristy city under this mountain that is 4780 feet high (1457 meters). We saw the Dalai Lama temple! The Dalai Lama is a Buddhist leader who travels the world sharing his beliefs. Lots of people like to hear him speak even if they’re not Buddhists. His temple is a place of complete peace, and when I was walking around by myself in 30 minutes of silence I really felt that. After that we walked around another market and bought some cool stuff, including a jade rock. The next morning we hiked up to see a waterfall. It was breathtaking, it was not only beautiful but it also had an amazing view. I loved it and I was super excited for the big hike after breakfast that brought me here. We camped on the mountain that night in tents. The stars were so cool. I could see the milky way and tons of constellations. It may have been the most stars I’ve ever seen. We were at an elevation of 9,300 feet (2834 meters) and the next morning at 6 o’clock some of us hiked up to 11,500 feet (3505 meters), which was almost cloud level, to get a better view of some higher mountains. When the sun rose up behind the mountains the view was spectacular. I was starting to get a little homesick earlier but then I reminded myself, how many 11 year old kids can say they’ve been to the Himalayas, hiked up a 10,000 feet mountain and camped there. Everything about this trip has been awesome, well, except for pooping in a hole in the ground. I didn’t mention it before but we had actually taken this trip off the schedule at the beginning of our trip to India because my dad thought it would be too much traveling for the group. I’m really, really grateful that we put it back on. I’m at the top of a mountain, in the top of a tree, in the Himalayas.  

There are lots of Tibetans in Dharamsala, the Dalai Lama is actually Tibetan. Tibet used to be its own country, but in 1950 the Chinese invaded and basically wiped out all of the Tibetan culture and then claimed that Tibet was theirs. Mao Zedong, Chinese prime minister at the time had the idea of wiping out the culture and starting communism in China. Tibet was its own country, with a broad culture so Zedong took them as a threat. Lots of people fought back and resisted but they were killed. Tons and tons of Tibetans were killed. After a little while, once they saw their army had no hope, they fled their home to come to the Himalayas. The area where we are is called the Dalai Lama’s exiled homeland. He was only 15 when this was happening and lots of people smuggled him to Dharamsala. We went to a museum at the Dalai Lama temple and we read about the Tibetan history. Their whole country, almost everything about them was diminished. It was really sad to see yet again examples of some people that do very bad things. When I was reading about it, it kind of reminded me about World War 2 and the Nazis. It wasn’t quite as big but still, a whole country overtaken. When we were walking around the market we met a monk and talked to him about his life and his history. He was born in Tibet and when he was 11 he fled. For 29 days he and some other people had walked through the Himalayas to get to India. 10 of those days he didn’t have any food. It made me sad listening to his story. A kid my age! Having to go through all that, I can’t even imagine myself going through that. We also read about China taking the 11th Panchen Lama. He was supposed to be The Dalai Lama’s successor but when he was six years old he and his family were abducted. He’s been missing for 20 years now and you see signs of him everywhere around the temple. He was the youngest political hostage and it was pretty hard to even think of a six year old being held captive. The Tibetan story is a sad one and even now the Chinese leaders still refuse to give them their land back claiming that it was always part of China. I hope you all feel this story in your hearts because I certainly did, I was in shock. If I didn’t read it and see it myself, I might not have believed it.

Less than three more weeks in India. I am really excited for Guatemala because I really like it there, I’ve been going since I was two and every time I think I like it even more. I am also really excited to go home and see all my family and friends, not even 7 more months ‘till I get back. I’ve been thinking about it and I’ll miss India, everything about it. The people, the architecture, the animals, even the crazy streets. After more than two months I’ve come to think of India as another home, like California and Guatemala. I’ll also miss the kids we’ve been working with. The Young Dreamers. They’re always so happy to see you, always coming up to you and giving you high fives and hugs. I know there’ll be more kids in Guatemala and Costa Rica but nobody’s the same. For me at least, this trip has gone very, very fast, which is not a bad thing, but still, it feels like yesterday I stepped off the plane in Delhi, and here I am with three weeks left. As I said about a month ago, I really want to soak up everything this trip has to offer, learn everything I can. Our flight is on the 25th and we’ll actually be in the Houston airport on Thanksgiving and probably rent a hotel because of the 8 hour layover. Looking back to a year ago last Thanksgiving, the thought hadn’t even come close to entering my head that a year from then I would be in an airport, coming from India, going to Guatemala. It’s really crazy how different a world I am in now than the exact same time last year. I think I was actually at Science Camp, which is a week long field trip my school goes to. I’m very excited to go to Guatemala, but I’ve come to love India, and I’m saying to myself, “I’ll be back someday.”