From the land of Buddha to the land of Allah

The difference is stunning! Slowly, as we go west from Leh to Srinagar (Kashmir), the faces change, the clothing change, the expression and attitude of people change. The women disappear from the streets - we're surrounded 90% by men... I start to feel uncomfortable. The language, the way speaking, the expression on their faces evokes some sort of fear. The air is electric.
Has the unstable situation in Kashmir shaped the people? Or have "electrical" people created the situation in Kashmir?
2 weeks before our arrival, there were some protests and shooting here...
A Ladakhi person told us: "you can never be sure of weather in Ladakh, situation in Kashmir and fashion in the US".
Of course we meet kind people as well. But the welcoming in Srinagar was a shock for me. Surrounded by taxi / boat / guesthouse solicitors straight on and around our bus at 6am (after 12 hours night ride)... They stick to us like flies. My, finally impatient, "no, thank you. If I need a boat I will come and find you" met with a surprised answer: "why are you so rude?". We clearly have culturally different idea of "rude" and personal space. Then a taxi driver shouted at us and became physical with us 'cause we refused to be screwed over 10 times a rate for a 5min ride. Then a boatman took us to his friend's boat instead of the one we asked. Then he reluctantly took us to the one we wanted but he couldn't find it, in spite of his reassurance before that of course he knows where it is....
I want to be back in Ladakh!!!!

Moonland

Did I tell you that Dharamsala was my favourite place in India? Well, that was before I saw Ladakh! I'm officially in love with this place! It's a perfect place for Vio!

We arrived to Leh with Baska and were both immediately enchanted with the people there. They are amazingly soft, quiet and extremely kind. Their magic word for everything is "juley" (pronounced "joolay"). I can tell you, you feel like a queen of England when a lady on a street greets you with the most cheerful smile and "juley", like you just made her day by simply being in her way!
And of course the landscape! Endless mountain desert - sometimes only rocks, sometimes sand, sometimes some attempts of a greenery. The vast space that one gets there is humbling you to a little human being that should know his place on Earth and respect the Mother Nature. You can feel there the power of the giant mountains and the altitude, the weather that can change in some minutes, the power of water that destroys rocks, roads, floods the villages, the power of the sun that burns you painfully within quarter of an hour...
We are on the roof of the world! Leh, the biggest town, is at 3500m. My body sometimes felt like not my body - less oxygen made me tired, breathless or dizzy...but bloody happy to be there :-)

Buddhists everywhere. There is so much peace and kindness in the air... If the whole world could be like this :-) Although Buddhism had originated in India, Ladakh and Dharamsala are remaining oasis of this religion in India.
Ladakh used to be a kingdom. Going through different rulers and periods of better or less good prosperity, it was finally joined with India by the British in 1947. They still feel Ladakhi though, not Indian.
It's the most clean state in India I have ever seen. The eco conscious and self sustainability is very present for obvious reasons - for most of a year they are cut off from the rest of the world. Nevertheless, at the altitude above 3000m they have electricity (with frequent power cuts but what to do!), Internet!, little veg gardens by every household and efficient distribution of drinking water (to avoid plastic bottles).

I intended to trek here a lot but it happened otherwise, as often during travels. We hanged out with interesting people, having interesting discussions, went around to see old Buddhist temples, had meditation retreat out in one of the villages, learnt to ride a motorcycle! :-)

This a couple...of Ladakhi shousies... :-) 

I like Buddhist idea of locked door - the keys are hanging next to the door :-)













We needed to deserve to ride this bike - we walked for a loooooong time to any open and running gas pomp... Then only we had our fun :-)

A couple of days of trekking gave me a good taste for more! The ever changing landscapes from valley to valley, the vastness and emptiness, the roughness of nature here: hot sun, harsh mountains, fast streams, make it perfect place for Vio! I absolutely loved it!

My night at "million star hotel".
I slept outside like Ladakhi used to do in the summer. Now they don't 'cause don't want to be considered as "backward people" and villein...
Sad, as the climate is perfect for watching stars as you drift into a dreamland.
And that's the view when I opened my eyes in the morning :-)

 

Tushita

Tushita is a dharma centre in Dharamsala. I signed up for 2 courses on Buddhism. Since my intro course in Katmandu I'm hungry for more :-)
So in June I've spent 3 weeks basically in silence and meditative ambiance. We were about 120 people in the centre, walking around without talking or looking at each other, we resembled a ghost city. My attention was directed very much inward reflecting how principals of Buddhism are applied or would be potentially applicable in my daily life. And I read and read and read.
The results / conclusions? I don't know. I guess I will see in my every day life in Bxl. And I will let you see if sth has shifted in my old machine :-)
For sure the questioning, new look at life and our endless discussions during the group exchanges, were very stimulating and refreshing. I'd love to have the opportunity like this in Bxl. Maybe instead of a book club or gossiping :-)
My second course was remarkable not only because of the subject (very intellectual) but equally because of my teacher. She is a young ('cause younger than me :-) "geshe" which corresponds to an university PhD in Tibetan Buddhism monastic education. She is German by origin. A s a very young girl she's decided to become a Buddhist nun and study with monks. It didn't matter that back then 1) nuns didn't go through the same education as monks, 2) she did not speak Tibetan (no such level of monastic education exists in English). Well, 15 years down the line, she is the first woman, and western in addition, to become a geshe. And the title is well earned: she is incredibly bright and quick thinker and debater, extremely clear and patient teacher and, to add some colour, very cheerful and good humoured person. All in a nice and good looking body...

Besides getting the knowledge, I had a chance again to enter some wonderful new worlds of other people. Listening to their stories is inspiring. And I hope that some of these worlds will stay close to mine :-)
We have hard time quitting each other - hanging out together for another a couple of days.

 I even hanged out with the men! 2 out of 3 are guys though. So everything is fine - Vio is being her old Vio. 

Tibetans on the day of Dalai Lama's blessing in the big temple.
It's Wednesday as well - the Tibetan day. On Wednesday people in Tibet and Tibetan refugees all over the planet connect in their identity - they wear tibetan clothes, speak tibetan, eat traditional dishes.
The way to keep Tibet alive...