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This is the beginning of re-defining my travelling ways and reasons.Garlichead
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Travel Blog Posts
steaming ahead
Published: July 1st 2006North America » United States » District of Columbia » Washington
June 30th 2006
A rather momentous event will happen tomorrow, July 1: China will officially open its railway to Tibet. It is a hugely contested issue and stands to benefit the Chinese more than Tibetans in many respects. Most of the articles coming out of China laud the railway as a progressive step towards modernizing Tibet and building up its economy. However, given China's track record in economic development, and given the number of Tibetans already adversely affected by the railway's construction, this praise is excessive. In brief, to mention some of the negative results of this massive $4.1 billion endeavour: *environmental repercussions: expected widespread erosion, damage to plantlife, contamination of major rivers that flow into surrounding Asian countries; increase in garbage and litter; devastation of wildlife areas in order to build train line; by the admission of the ... read more
February 2nd 2006
I wrote the following article in order to spread awareness on what is still occuring, not only to Tibetans, but to Uighurs, ethnic minorities, and even citizens in the People's Republic of China today. While I am not actually there now, travelling is about being there and about how you are affected by, how you affect, people from the places in which you travel. So, these people affected me a great deal. And I can try to help affect their shameful circumstances. Besides, I did kind of travel... to Toronto...just over an hour away... that's travelling. Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, an incarnate lama from Eastern Tibet, will pass yet another year in his Chinese prison cell, location unconfirmed. He’ll spend a solitary Tibetan New Year’s, or perhaps he’ll have the company of his captors, because he had ... read more
December 16th 2005
After having spent two months in Tibet (that is including the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai), over a month in Nepali Tibetan areas, and another 2 months in Tibet-in-exile, I have had a chance to see different forms of Tibetan life. I'm still learning, don't have the answers to the problems, can't predict the future or even the best way to continue. What I have seen in McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala is a mixture of continuing efforts at changing the system from within and outside. There are 7 or 8 established NGOs in McLeod Ganj, including the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), GU Chu Sum, Tibetan Youth Congress, Students for a Free Tibet, Tibetan Woman's Association, and others. From their titles, one can guess what aspect of society they are directed towards and ... read more
December 16th 2005
Who am I to pretend to understand impermanence? I am the most sentimental, backward-looking fool, despite years of goodbyes. Less than a day away from boarding a flight to return home, I thought I'd take a bit of time to summarize some of the nice aspects of my time in McLeod Ganj during the past couple of months. My initial goal in going was to learn a bit about the Tibetan exile community, to contrast it with what I saw in Tibet and in Nepal, to get an idea of where Tibetans stand on independence and what they are doing to achieve their dreams. My secondary goal was to learn a bit of Tibetan, aside from my traveller's speak. And my usual, continuing goal was to just explore and indulge in the different ways of life. ... read more
December 4th 2005
Following last week's events at Drepung monastery in Lhasa, Tibet, where the Chinese authorities sealed off the monastery, strictly controlling who enters and exits, Tibetans in exile have taken up the protests. In a march and rally organized by the Tibetan Youth Congress in McLeod Ganj, Tibetans, locals, and foreigners streamed to lower Dharamsala where a number of speakers from the Youth Congress and local committess talked about the current situation in Lhasa. Speakers urged Tibetans in exile to continue to be vocal and active, reminding that Tibetans in exile have the freedom to speak and act out which those within Tibet do not have. The walk down to Dharamsala lasted about an hour and a half. Different Tibetans, in numerous squads within the long lines of marchers, led the protest slogans in Hindi, English, and ... read more
December 1st 2005
...the title of a 35 minute documentary produced by International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) in 2004. Devotion and Defiance: Buddhism and the Struggle for Religious Freedom in Tibet is a vivid declaration of religious control in occupied Tibet. Containing footage from inside monasteries as well as from the Lhasa demonstrations in the late 1980s, it reveals what limitations prevail in and out of the "T.A.R." even today. For example, in 2001 the well-known and attended Larung Gar Buddhist Institute, in Serthar Co., Eastern Tibet (Chinese-claimed) was the target of the Communist Party's paranoia. Fearing the increasing interest by Tibetans, Chinese and overseas buddhists, the Party first ordered the downsizing of Larung Gar (a.k.a. Serthar) after approximately two decades of growth. From a small number of students, the institute grew to attract over 8,000 students, includi... read more
November 3rd 2005
As I walked with the demonstrators, an American man on the road paused to tell us we were wasting our time and angering people. The only way to make your voice heard, according to him, is by appointment in court. Feasible, perhaps, for someone from a country where it is permissible and possible to voice your difference of opinion in a court of law. The mass of protesters, however, represented Tibetans inside of Tibet, those who have been and are still affected by Chinese rule in their country. November 3rd marked an International Day of Protest against Bombardier's involvement in the Gormo-Lhasa railway. Bombardier, a Canadian company, earlier this year signed a contract to provide China Railways with highly specialised railway coaches for the invasive railway. While the railway line is touted to bring further development ... read more
October 23rd 2005
Dalai Lama: Rail Link 'Cultural Genocide' AP September 12th, 2005 HAILEY, Idaho — A rail link being built between Tibet and several major Chinese cities could lead to "cultural genocide" by luring more Chinese workers to the region, the Dalai Lama said. Tibet's spiritual leader said following a speech in Idaho Sunday that more pressure will be placed on native Tibetans by the rail line scheduled for completion in 2007. "Some kind of cultural genocide is taking place," the Dalai Lama told reporters. "In general, a railway link is very useful in order to develop, but not when politically motivated to bring about demographic change." Increasing numbers of ethnic Han Chinese have been moving to Tibet in recent years to work in construction and other booming government industries. Tibetans, working mostly i... read more
October 15th 2005
Entry into India from Nepal was easy, like walking from one neighbourhood to another. The only trying aspect was the frustrating slowness and pointlessness of the questions at immigration. Having just arrived in India, the only logical point I could have come from, in that small border town, was the Nepali border. Yet, the procedure entailed that very much-repeated question, "Where have you come from?" which required setting sarcasm and impatience aside, just in case this was a test. The first big city from my entry point was Lucknow, a city rife with fantastic architecture. Unfortunately, I was dropped in a run-down sort of area rife with over-priced hotels. However, on to Agra the next day, for a well-deserved detour to see one of humankind's wondrous architectural feats, the Taj Mahal. It shone, in its white-marbled ... read more
October 5th 2005
not about India or Nepal, but I wanted to post it anyway: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/09/17/china11754.htm The incident occurred during a heightened security alert before September 1, when China celebrated the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region. “Given the poor treatment often meted out to Tibetans in detention, we are very concerned about Sonam’s physical condition.” also, a very vivid website: www.guchusum.org http://studentsforafreetibet.org/downloads/BombardierCartoon.pdf... read more
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