Still suffering from mountain sickness and feeling dizzy most of the time. Sunbathe on the terrace for a while, and start reading the Dalai Lama’s autobiography. April 30th will be the 40th anniversary of his arrival in Dharamsala.
The Dharma Bums bring left over momos from Phil’s party and we get to know them a bit more. We go to visit the Tibetan Doctor both of us have a consultation. She says I have bad tonsils and sells me a tonic. She tells Charlie he has high blood pressure , to drink less alcohol and get more exercise and lose weight etc. We both get some enormous maroon pills to take as well! kind Spinach and garlic Momo for lunch …delicious …then later walk back down to the library temple no sign of the Karmapa! As we walked down there is an impressive thunderstorm in the mountains following us. Meet an old man who who says his umbrella will be no good in the wind which arrives five minutes later!
At night there is another excellent concert by the Dharma Bums with a large crowd. Phil keeps breaking strings which means meansTim plays a couple of numbers then Ted sings some non-dharma songs…amazing hear them doing their own stuff. Walk down the hill in pitch dark to go for a few beers in McLlo’s…race home at 11:55 pm before the Green Hotel locks up!
On 30 April 2000, we got up early to head down to the temple for 7:30 a.m…there was a rope across gateway but stand and watch the dignitaries arrive…all very smart!
By 8:15 a guard suggests we go up to the back entrance of the temple, so race up and sit with lots of Tibetans. Finally the Dalai Lama’s entourage appeared…he smiled broadly as he walked up to the temple, which had been decorated with yellow cloth wrapped around the banisters. After the ceremony to inaugurate the new Tibet museum we returned to the reception area to chat and wait, and later he came back up, greeting everyone on his way back to the palace before eventually leaving in his motorcade Dharamsala.
It was a day I will never forget…he had a definite aura about him as he passed us by. There such an amazing feeling of community excitement.
The inauguration was a fitting celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s arrival in Dharamsala, commemorating four decades of Tibetan exile and the resilience of its people.
We pack and sit in the sun waiting for the overnight bus back to Delhi. The journey is maybe not quite as bad as coming despite two punctures. Rickshaw drivers try to persuade us to get off the bus saying it’s the last stop but eventually we get dropped off quite near the YMCA but have to wait till 9.30 am to check in!
