Free Tibet

Tibet has become a very restricted country. Everything that comes in and out of Tibet is being censored, first because its China, then even more because its Tibet. In order to go to Tibet as a foreigner you have to go with a group and a tour guide. Individual travelers are currently not allowed. This makes it much more difficult to get into Tibet, and you don't see many other travelers while you are there. We really saw only one or two other groups the entire time we were there, and neither were very large. To enter into Tibet you can either fly from Kathmandu or China, both of which have one flight a week, take the train from China, or bus from Kathmandu. We drove from Kathmandu then flew out.

While most places search you for knives, bombs, etc. Chinese boarder patrol makes sure that you don't have any Free Tibet memorabilia, Tibetan flags, Dalia Lama writings, pictures of Dalai Lama, the word Dalai Lama, or anything of this sort. The Dalai Lama was kind of the head of the Free Tibet movement, so he was exiled in 1959. I wasn't searched for anything else but they took about five minutes scrolling through my books making sure they were all acceptable.  I had a logic puzzle book that they spent a few min. looking at and kept going back to. I don't think he'd seen one before and there were lots of pictures. He kept looking at it like the pictures were of the Dalia Lama. Josh said he's Chinese so he probably was just solving all the puzzles real quick. It was funny how much the logic book really messed with him though.

On the flight out I got on the plane with a big knife in my bag. I went through all the airport security and they never took my knife. They did take my passport into a back room and had me sit on the side while everyone else went through customs. That was a little different. Apparently weapons are fine, just not information.

Our tour guides were a Tibetan couple who were illegally being tour guides. They told us that as Tibetans you can't be a tour guide, and if an exception is made then you have to pay super high tax's to the government and denounce the Dalai Lama on paper. Because of this they have been doing it under the table for a long time.

 They also aren't allowed to leave. I think there was once a point where Tibetans could leave Tibet, and most ended up in northern India or Nepal. Our tour guide left Tibet when he was young and grew up in India. That is what most Tibetan's do. He came back to see his father and then they wouldn't let him leave again. Tibetan's can't leave Tibet, and they are restricted in what they do in Tibet, leaving them with few options. His wife is pregnant and they said when their child is born they will illegally send it to India, its just more expensive to do it that way. Once they do this though they will not see their child for many years. This is what they have to do in order to give their child a balanced education. In India Tibetan Buddhists will learn both sides of the situation where as in Tibet the Chinese are controlling what is being taught. They said they think within about 50 years no Tibetan Buddhists will be left in Tibet, it will completely be Chinese. Young people have a hard time believing in the Dalai Lama because they are taught by Chinese and only about Chinese culture, and how Dalai Lama is wrong.

In order to be a monk in Tibet you have to sign a paper saying you denounce the Dalai Lama. So most Tibetan Buddhists don't believe the monks in Tibet to be real monks. When the current Dalai Lama dies that will be the end of the Dalai Lama's. They said the Chinese will keep electing people but no one will believe him to be true. Tibet culture and beliefs are luckily being preserved in northern India.

Media is also very restricted in Tibet. China blocks many websites such as blogspot and facebook and our guide said if we tried to look up stuff on Free Tibet or how to get on those sites that the Chinese have cameras and then he will be punished for it. He was really scared about us trying to get past the blocks on the internet because he didn't want to somehow get in trouble. He also was super cautious about what he told us. When ever he would be talking about what was going on he would get quite when someone Chinese would walk by. He said that in the media we will hear about a few Chinese being killed by Tibetan's but they never mention that 100's of Tibetan's were killed by the Chinese.

I learned a ton about Tibetan culture and the conflict between the Chinese and Tibetans while I was there. All of which left me very confused. Tibetans are an extremely interesting and unique culture, and learning their views and opinions on things was probably my favorite part about the trip. It wasn't the sites I saw or the things I did while I was there, but the information that I learned and experienced first hand. It was absolutely amazing learning about the unique and completely crazy situation Tibet has been left in.