Most of our time in the Himalayas was spent in the region of Ladakh. The area is largely Buddhist, mostly above tree line, and isolated from the rest of India 9 months out of the year. Some remote villages are still only accessible by footpaths (A.K.A. no roads). During our stay, we had the privilege of taking a 10 day trek to visit some of these peaceful communities hidden by 20,000 ft tall mountains. The trek gave us a glimpse into the daily lives of the villagers, which is very similar to what it was a century ago. What we learned from the villages changed our definition of community.
Our government would consider the people of Ladakh to be among the poorest in the world as they make less than a dollar a day. In fact, these people are so "poor" that they are completely sustainable, not having to rely on currency at all (though the idea of wealth as money is slowing being introduced into some communities and becoming more popular among younger generations who want to become more "rich"). Whole communities live in the barren high desert (a desert above tree line) valleys of the Himalayas producing all the food and clothing they need to survive; working together to build homes and keeping each other company in the freezing winter months; having no waste or environmental degradation because they never take more than they need; they are completely sustainable.
This way of life has created communities so close that the line between community and family has become blurred. Each spring the harvest dates of families crops are staggered to allow time for neighbors to help each other harvest the barley. Through this method, whole communities can work together at a leisurely pace to make sure that the village, as a collective unit, has enough food to last through the winter. Working together goes beyond just the fields and into almost every aspect a life. New homes are built by the community. Life events such as birth, marriage, and death are as much a part of the old woman down the street's life as it is immediate families. It made me think how great it would be to be able to rely on a neighbor like a family member and how much more fulfilling life would be if everything I went through was the burden or celebration of everyone around me.
To a certain degree this same mentality of "brotherhood" and "extended family" was an aspect of every culture we traveled through in India. In the Sikh religion (a religion similar to Hinduism) all males change their last name to Singh and become "brothers". It is common for Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist extended families to share one home. A Muslim family we stayed with in Kashmir lived in a home where three generations lived (grandmother and grandfather, two of their sons, their sons wives, and all their grandchildren). The family atmosphere made me long for the same kind of support and guidance for my future children.
Even Delhi showed hints at a community... one where a man would do anything for a fellow friend. Which can be demonstrated by a story that happened to us as we arrived in Delhi this last time... we were getting a ride from a rickshaw (three wheeled small cart of a taxi) from the train station to our hotel when we heard a small thump on the side of the rickshaw. Moments later a man ran up to our driver forcing him to stop and grabbing him by the shirt shaking and yelling at him for hitting his friend (who maybe had a bump but surely was not hurt worse). Apparently (our only interpretation was the angry look on the man's face and our drivers reluctance to get out of the rickshaw) the man was so upset by our driver accidentally hitting his friend that he took it upon himself to let the driver know just how upset he was. That's some camaraderie that we have seen multiple times throughout mainland India.
These aspects of India, as well as some events that have occurred in my life over the last two weeks has really made we realize just how precious life is and how important it is to really support those you love. It made me want to be geographically closer to those close to me where I am in a better spot to be of support...
Now to a less mushy topic... Delhi. It seems India has taught us a bit of how to defend for ourselves because our last trip to Delhi was almost enjoyable and I think I might even miss the challenge a bit. On the 30th of September we flew into Bangkok's three day old airport (surprisingly everything went really smoothly, though the flight was empty - it appears others thought ahead about this major move and made plans accordingly...). Though Thailand is now ruled by a military coup we are a bit disappointed because we have yet to see a military officer or even a policeman. I guess all-in-all this is good for our travel plans but a bit disconcerting that the Thai people showed so little opposition to the military overthrowing their democratically elected Prime Minister... we will report more later because if I wrote more now I would be talking of ignorance ;).
Thailand so far has been a breeze to navigate compared to India and we feel as if we are back in a U.S. city (a week in and we have yet to see a cow!). For the first month here we will be spending time in the rice farming community of Surin (near where Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand meet) working with and learning from a fair trade rice co-op here. We look forward to learning more about how fair trade has affected the lives of the farmers and what daily life is like on a rice farm! We will hang out for a month or so before heading on to Cambodia...
A picture of Jason and I on our co-birthday (the 8th) because both of our birthdays was spent on a terribly cramped 8 hr bus ride. To celebrate we climbed a pass to look at India's tallest mountains (24,000ft - almost twice the hieght of CO's mountains) eye to eye.
Ladakh:
Spiti:
Kinnaur:
Shimla:
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