A pretty recent article on the area of Arunachal Pradesh where I am going end of the week (well assuming the guy arranging my ride doesn’t run off with my passport. Rookie move? Hope not!) that gives some history and an even handed view on the border dispute between India and China.
It’s an epic trip through the mountains I am told and neighbor Frank James coincidentally is involved in a clinic there.
It also happens to be where his Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 nearly ten years after China invaded.
Most everyone that knows me knows I’ve been practicing Buddhism for about 19 years. I traveled independently in Tibet for about a month in 1998, traveled Nepal extensively in 95, 98, 2000 and briefly in 2006. That same trip I visited Dharamsala (home of the Tibetan Govt in Exile) and got within maybe 50 feet of His Holiness before he gave his talk. I also spent a month in Ladakh and Kashmir in 2010 and a month in India and Bhutan in 2012. Yeah I work believe it or not. Well not now for a bit.
It is my spiritual home and I have not even scratched the surface of many facets of their culture and religion. The Dalai Lama is likely the single most influential person in my life.
The area I visited in Tibet in 1998 had this stunning mountain range off in the distance. I have attached a pic but I dreamed of going there. It seems Tawang is in the area of that range. I also was told by the guide I hiked one of the passes (in reverse) that His Holiness took in 1959.
I will be up where Bhutan, India and Tibet intersect. I will write more about the emotional aspect of Tibet and the Dalai Lama once I am there, but when planning this trip I had no idea the spiritual and cultural significance of the place. I guess you could say I was winging it and got kinda lucky. Stay tuned.
Old guy backpacking examines "How Much is Enough?" 