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Day by Day --
India-Nepal-Tibet
 July 15. Depart with
American Airlines from Minneapolis via
Chicago to Delhi,
India.
July
16. Check in to a centrally located hotel where
you can walk or take
inexpensive motorcycle rickshaws to a variety of sites such as Gandhi's
memorial and Jamma Masjid Mosque.
July 17. Train or bus to
Agra to see the Red Fort and one or more Mogul architectural
masterpieces. Back to Delhi the same day.
July 18. Overnight train
to Pathankot (skirting the Pakistan border) followed by a bus to
Dharamsala, India, the city of the temple of the
Dalai Lama. There we will stay at the Pemathang hotel
which has spectacular views of the Himalayas.
July 19 and 20. The Dalai
Lama’s temple. Introductions to an organization
called Volunteer Tibet.
These folks
will arrange volunteer activities
for us. They will
also arrange trekking, sightseeing
and learning sessions in the area.
In the evenings we will gather for dinner at one of
the great restaurants to talk about our experiences and plan the days
ahead.
July 21-31. A ten-day
service project will involve teaching English
to Tibetan refugees, especially young Tibetan
monks. They are eager to have this practice and would love students who
can talk about anything such as their families, school, travels,
beliefs. We are planning to ask the monks a series of questions to
gather their stories and find out why they have chosen to become monks.
These conversations and friendships with young men in
their early 20's may well be the highlight of our trip.
Dharamsala is itself a very exciting place for young people with many
very inexpensive but good restaurants with fabulous views and a wide
variety of travelers and seekers. The Norbulinka monastery and craft
center, the Tibetan nuns monastery, and many other sights will
definitely fill the time. Pilgrims are everywhere as this is the center
of the Tibetan government in exile and the heart of the efforts to
settle refugees. The Tibetan Children’s Village school provides
opportunities for students who want to come and volunteer for
three months
or longer.
August 1. Back to
Delhi and a day back in the hotel which
will look familiar and welcome. Students could store clean clothes and
make a switch at this point for the trek to Nepal and Tibet.
August 2. Flight to
Katmandu, Nepal, where we
will stay at the Katmandu Guest House
in the heart of the old city.
Tour parts of the city by foot. This city has
plenty to do for
college students as Dharamsala. We will have time for
altitude adjustment and get visas for Tibet. We can
also trek out into the valley and even set
up volunteer work with the environmental organizations there.
August 3-10. Fly
around Mount Everest to
Tibet and spend time in the capital city of
Lhasa. Visits to the Jokhang temple – the most important temple for
Tibetan Buddhists. Here we will also see
the first Buddhas brought to Tibet when Tibet first became Buddhist.
Possible two and three day trips to the Tibetan
country villages and monasteries and to the Everest base camp.
August 11 -15. Start
the trip home through Katmandu, Delhi and return to Chicago on
August 15th.
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