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?!?!?