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Lhasa is humbling, inspiring, and infuriating... FREE TIBET! |
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Lhasa - the capital of Tibet and seat of the Dalai Lama couldn't have been more impressive as well as humbling... Despite the omnipresence of the Chinese guards, my complete disagreement with the occupation of Tibet, and the fact that my visa extension to stay and volunteer was DENIED - I fell in love with the Tibetans and Lhasa...
I went to Tibet to work at a children's home, but due to the visa denial, I couldn't stay... I was really disappointed because I've heard wonderful things about the home, and I wanted to work with Lisa Danylchuk (she introduced the home to me). Lisa has been a great supporter of Global Colors working in Tibet at the same time, and we at least got to finally meet and have lunch in Lhasa before I headed back to Katmandu. Again, I absolutely love Tibet... |
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Celebrating Losar in Shigatse - TIBET! |
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Traveling across the Himalayas, we arrived in Shigatse when they were celebrating Losar - a 15 day celebration of Chinese New Year - and we were lucky enough to be there when people from all across Tibet were making a pilgrimage to start their new year. When you get to a monastery for Losar, you walk in and spin the prayer wheels, ring the bell, and continue through each temple by making offerings of ghee (a butter-like fat) by adding it to continuously burning candles. The monks will all gather in a service (which I stealthily filmed) and chant, and locals celebrate by singing and dancing outside... I have a bit of it all here on film, and I have to be honest - this is pretty dang rare footage, and I count myself lucky and honored to have experienced it. My favorite part of the experience was a particular monk I met who took some time with me and really made my life - as his face was the epitome of happiness... I later saw in Lhasa that he was the cover of the "Faces of Tibet" promotional materials - yeah, my monk is a supermodel... Tibet and this day have become one of the highlights of my life... |
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OVERLAND THROUGH THE HIMALAYAS... |
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I was scheduled to be in Tibet on the 14th of February to work at the Chushul home, and the only way you can get into Tibet is to go by tour group - they don't allow anyone to go in on their own... The only option is to fly in and out of Lhasa at extraordinary prices with a fancy group, or the trekkers way over the Himalayas by SUV for much cheaper... Yep, I decided on the Himalayan roadtrip... I signed up for a group (expecting to be placed with a group of senior citizens who only spoke Russian), but was so stoked to have a group of all young people. My car was two guys from Holland Dan and Ice (his real name is Ice-something I couldn't prounounce) and Herman from Chile or Mark from Australia. I have to say that it was a huge treat for me to have a bunch of people who became fast friends to tour this part of the world with... A video of some of the trip, and some shots from along the way... |
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Jumping to my death makes me say bad words... |
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I had to go to Tibet overland as flying into Lhasa is just too expensive... On the way out of Nepal I passed a bridge where a crowd was watching something so I decided to check it out... It was a 500 ft high bridge where they had a "swing" but in reality it was a jump to your death free fall for 350 feet before the swing kicked in... Remember when your mother said, "If everyone else jumped off a bridge would you?" Well, apparently yes... |
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Guerrilla Aid is a style of volunteerism - simply go somewhere and do something,
while teaching others to do the same.
