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McLeod Ganj - The Dalai Lama's PalaceSep 24, 2009
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I am definitely in the minority here in McCleod Ganj - home of the Tibet government in exile and the His Holiness the Dalai Lama. 95% of the Westerners are what I would old fashionedly call "Hippies". I honestly think there must be some sort of competition for the hippiest look.
Trendy Tibet bags abound - for the men as well as the women; long (dirty) hair, tied back; beards (again, men and women); lots of beads (neck, wrist, ankles, I am guessing other places); rampant thinness to the point that people look unhealthy; pale skin; a deep, serious look; scarves (OK, I am wearing a scarf, but that's to mop up the sweat, not as a fashion statement); no cameras; long baggy flowing clothes with no brand names or logos, often burgundy or saffron in colour.
I on the other hand am the shiny clean capitalistic materialist. Clean white Adidas shirt; short, kempt hair; freshy shaven chubby pink face (not unlike the Dalai Lama); modern back pack (although it is orange - saffron - which almost makes it look buddhist). Still, Buddhism and the Dalai Larma love everyone, and the local people smile at me as I smile at them. Maybe they are tired of the hippies...
I like my backpack. It's highly functional and secure, unlike the open flapped satches - which, forgive me, I think look gay on men who aren't monks.
Something else noticable about McCleod Ganj - the Indians are in the minority. This place is basically a little Tibet, and apparently has the same look and feel as Tibet (which I have yet to visit). Just no Chinese telling the Tibetans what they can and can't do.....
The attached photos show the Dalai Lama's Palace and a walk around the palace and monastery called a Kora - where you spin lots of prayer wheels to gain merit. I could probably do the walk 100 times and I will still end up in Hell. But what the Hell....
The Dalai Lama is travelling (U.S. and then Canada funnily enough), but I was lucky enough to view a religeous ceremony at the temple, and to place a scarf as an offering.....
