India - 7 - Bir Tibetan Colony

Bir Tibetan Colony

December 7thth 2008 About 70km West of Dharamsala is a small village called Bir. Here there is another Tibetan colony, not one full of tourists, but one full of Tibetans, and more arrive every day. It's a really interesting place, one that we only went to because we needed somewhere to stay and the people in MacLeod Ganj said that the people in Bir would find us a room. We arrived after about 80km of up and down cycling and almost immediately someone came out from a small shop and found us a room in a private family house. We then went for a wander around and discovered that the whole village is full of Tibetan flags, new monasteries, new stupas, chortens, mani stones and monks, with a fair smattering of elderly ladies spinning their prayer wheels and chanting under their breath. There's also a younger generation who either escaped from Tibet when they were young or were born in Bir or elsewhere in India. They have different aspirations, sit in internet cafes chatting enthusiastically, but despite this would still like to go back to an autonomous Tibet, even if it was just to see what it was like. The ones who have escaped can never go back.

The lady who ran the cafe that we ate at, left her mother 27years ago and hasn't seen her since. They did used to speak occasionally on the phone but even that small contact is now impossible since the trouble in March. There are a few tourists here but they're visiting for an all together different reason – paragliding. The slopes of Himachal Pradesh around Bir are renowned as one of the best places in the world for riding thermals and doing cross country paragliding. From 2000m in Biling – the village above Bir, people can climb on thermals to 5000m and then travel to nearby towns, land, have lunch and then use the thermals to rise up and back to Bir. We met a German guy who had been coming for years but was bemoaning the way a great place always ends up being spoilt by too many people...his particular problem being the influx of Russians. While we sympathised with his sentiments, you can hardly begrudge the people of Bir and Biling being able to take their cut of all this new cash, and invest in their own future rather than working for 70 Rupees a day building roads. This is the permanent problem of travel, if it's good, it's not that good for long. All over Himachal Pradesh all the most peaceful and beautiful places have been ruined by another nationality: Israelis. Originally a few came because they were attracted by cheap prices and the peace and beauty of the place...and then their friends came. Before long they've taken over and no other nationalities will go there any more. In this way ghettos are created where they can ignore local customs, introduce a drug culture where there was none, attract the worst of the Sadhus from all over India, and from what we've seen and heard from local people and with our own eyes, have an almost racist attitude towards the Indians, talking to them as though they are lesser people and not deserving of respect. They often don't pay their bills and also many come to India and do jobs for the tourists that local people could have done...cutting hair, selling beads etc. They create a lot of resentment but the locals are caught in a Catch 22 – they'd love to not depend on them ….but they do!! They can't attract other tourists until they close the ghettos, but they can't afford a season with no tourists. In Nepal and Ladakh, many guest houses have signs saying 'No Israelis' or 'Israeli Monkeys Stay Away'. We walked in Ladakh with a couple of really nice Israeli guys who said that it drove them mad, 'suffering for the sins of others', they ended up saying they were from somewhere else just to avoid the stigma. The Indian government are waking up to this fact and visas are becoming shorter for Israelis at the request of the Israeli government who have to pick up the pieces when their citizens 'Flip out'. The Jewish place in Mumbai that was attacked was an orthodox Jewish centre set up to help 'flipped out' young Israelis, and in their vulnerable state get them to become orthodox Jews rather than stay part of the secular majority. This has helped fan the flames of conspiracy in Pakistan, where they say that the attacks were done by disgruntled Indians, protesting about the Israelis influence on India......... Bir is yet to be ruined by Russians...we saw one. It's a great experience stating there and if ever there was a group of people that deserve help it's the Tibetans. They might once of been the robbers and bandits who robbed all the silk caravans, but in their present incarnation they're peaceful, colourful and friendly, and also without a country. When will China wake up to the fact that they offer no threat?!?!?