Darjeeling was a foothill station for the British. At an elevation of 2134m, it is a good place to get away from the heat of India during summer.
.
.
This is a good place with excellent view of the Himalayas, and an interesting place with alot of Nepalis and Tibetans. It is quite different from the rest of the India.
The train ride to Darjeeling.
.
.
View from the rooftop of our guesthouse
The first Ray of light on the Khanchendzonga (8598m - the third highest mountain in the world).In fact, this is the only place in the world to see the Everest and the Khanchenzonga, which means you can see 2 of 3 highest peaks in the world.
.
.
.
The second highest peak (K2) is at the other end of the Himalayas, so you won't be able see it with the Everest.
Pink Peak
On the lower left hand corner is the town of Darjeeling
It was definitely worth it to wake up at 4.30am and face the freezing cold to see the sunrise.Sunrise is a daily phenomenon that we took for granted, yet, something so ordinary is so spectacular.
Paranomic View of Darjeeling
Tibetan Prayer Flags
Another view...
Tibetan Monastery - Yiga Choling Gompa.
.
.
May be thanks to the Communist invasion of Tibet, Tibetan Buddhism is currently flourishing outside of Tibet.
May be thanks to the Communist invasion of Tibet, Tibetan Buddhism is currently flourishing outside of Tibet.
We met a nice 18-year old Tibetan Lama (left-most) who speaks good english. He brought us around the main hall and explained to us. He became a monk on his own accord at the tender age of 4 year old, and he told us that he wanted to be a lama for the rest of his life..
.
.
For a young man with access to internet (as he has a yahoo email) and able to read & speak english, and meeting tourists like us, this would mean that he has considerable exposure to the outside world. Yet, he chooses the disciplined monastic life as his destiny.
It's quite incredible.
.
.
.
Toy train Station
Himalayan Zoological Park(Clockwise from top right: one of the endangered peasants, Snow le0pard, Siberian Tiger, Tibetan Wolfs)
.
It is the zoo at the highest altitude in the world (Elevation of 2150m - 7000 feet), and specializes in keeping endangered animal species of the Himalaya. Well, the nice thing is that this zoo hilly terrain is quite a natural habitat for the animals.
.
.
Himalayan Mountaineering Institute(Photography is not allowed in the museum)
.
.
.
Surprisingly, it is a good museum. It houses the equipments of the first successful Mt Everest expedition and the different national flags placed at the summit. As for me, it was the story of the previous expeditions that educated me that the achievement of reaching the summit should be credited to the previous failed expeditions and death of the pioneer mountaineers.
.
The first expedition was in 1921, and the pioneer mountaineers died because of lack of oxygen. Back then, who would know that there is no oxygen in the mountain. Subsequently, in the future expeditions, people started to bring oxygen tanks.
Respect!
.
.
.
The first successful summit was in 1953, which was 32 year after the first expedition.
Can you imagine how many people have died trying to reach the summit?
.
.
.
.
found this clip on youtube:
View from the summit of Everest
.
.
.
Where is PanChen Lama? (Click to view the details)
Tibetan Refugee Self-help Centre.
.
.
Isn't sad that you have to leave your homeland and become a refugee in other people's land?
I could sense the activist spirit of the Tibetan people fighting for Tibet's freedom.
While I was Tibet 2 years ago, I know that the Tibetans still revere the Dalai Lama as their religious and political leader, but since they are under the Chinese Communist rule, I did not see any public display of Dalai Lama photos. This time, while I was traveling in India, I could see the display of Dalai Lama's pictures in restaurants, monasteries and shops.
.
.
.
.
To a certain extent, I am happy that these Tibetan people have found a good place like Darjeeling to settle in, yet, I am sad for them as they might not have the opportunity to go back to Tibet, and more importantly, looking at the current situation, it is almost impossible for Tibet to be free again.
.
.
.
We had a lunch at a Tibetan restaurant, where we met a Tibetan lady who told us that almost 10 years ago, she WALKED 25days from Tibet to Nepal. From Nepal, she traveled overland by bus to settle in Darjeeling. Currently, her status in India is refugee. I could sense her determination to get out of Tibet, and walking in Tibet for freaking 25days is no easy feat. The conditions is extremely harsh at such a high altitude, the land is barren and dry, so the day would be extremely hot and night would be extremely cold.
.
Respect!
No comments:
Post a Comment