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India

Dharamsala

shopping

Because the Tibetans are refugees from China - many of whom made harrowing, dangerous journeys across the Himalayan Mountains - there is considerable anti-China sentiment in the town. There are many, many items for sale everywhere, and nearly every stall and stand displays this sign:

In any case, the locally made items that we saw for sale - such as those by this lady waiting along the roadside - were certainly interesting enough for us to spend time and money on!

Interestingly enough, we heard several conversations where people who were from Taiwan, which is not 'that' China, were welcomed very warmly and treated quite well.
Breck looks through a plethora of sharp items (he loved checking out knives at every stand), and the ubiquitous prayer wheels that are de rigueur for Tibetans. You spin the wheel, and every time it goes around a mantra is 'said.' I supposed it is like racking up Rosary prayers for the Catholics...
 
There were plenty of cold weather items in shops and stalls; things that we hardly need in Mumbai! Many of the woven goods are made out of yak wool. One of Breck's best quotes came after hearing that - he asked what a yak is, and I told him, "It is a kind of Tibetan cow." He looked puzzled for a minute, but had apparently assimilated our rudimentary history lessons on the region better than expected. "Oh," he said, "so you mean it's now a kind of Chinese cow." Ouch.
 
We saw all sorts of colorful characters every day in the various markets, including lots of monks and women dressed in traditional outfits.


They were usually shopping for the basics - rice, vegetables, nuts - and seemed to be just barely getting by.

But all sorts of other things are available, including steamed momos, mobile phones, cigarettes, and special radios that are specifically for religious teachings!


Dharamsala - welcome - shopping - arts and crafts - buddhism - hiking - wrap up

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