Unfeasibly Large Update 3 - Momos and More in McLeod

And so this epic update continues, though I dare say we've lost some readers half way through due to exhaustion. Can't be helped I'm afraid...

Anyway, I arrived into McLeod on the Monday morning and stayed until Wednesday, during which time I did a good bit of shopping - McLeod is very good at taking away your money - and some sightseeing too. I went down to the offices of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile via a nice little shortcut which is, in my opinion, one of the nicest walks I've done here. You go along a small path which encircles the Dalai Lama's temple and is decorated with hundreds of prayer flags and with rock paintings of various Buddhist mantras (especially Om Mani Padme Hum). The path splits in two after a couple of minutes - one to the government area, the other continuing round the DL temple complex. The latter first goes past an amazing area where there are a couple of elaborate stupas, a long wall of prayer wheels including a few large wheels, some inscriptions in Tibetan, Hindi and English about the Tibetan cause, and more prayer flags than a hundred people can shake a hundred sticks at. It is a fantastic place to see, especially in the late morning, when the sun shines down on it.

As I said, the down path takes you to the CTA (Central Tibetan Administration) area. The government buildings are, as you'd expect, nothing special. Much more interesting are the non-government (or at least non-administrative) buildings: the Tibetan Library (technically the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives), Nechung Monastery and, a little further down, Men-Tsee-Khang - the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Society. I visited the library museum (the library itself is just a bunch of books...) which was pretty interesting. It was full of statuettes of various Buddhist deities and a few thangkas. There was also a sand mandala, which, I think, wasn't as good as our one at Tashi Jong (but then that may just be a bit of parochial pride slipping in).

Nechung monastery, where Patrick (an Aussie gapper) is, is a nice little monastery, home to the Tibetan National Oracle (more on that in a later post). Despite being a nice monastery, it doesn't really have much (other than the oracle, of course, and Patrick) to set it apart from any other Tibetan Buddhist monastery. I didn't see Patrick as he was away on a ten day vispassana meditation retreat - ten days of meditating under strict rules (waking up at 4.30am and no talking, reading, writing or eye contact for the whole ten day period). Men-Tsee-Khang (a general term for any Tibetan traditional medical centre) is worth a visit for its museum. The ground floor is fairly dull - a whole bunch of minerals and herbs used in tradtional Tibetan medicine - but downstairs is an interesting collection of thangkas instructing people, in explicit and graphic detail, on various medical complaints. Also at MTK, you can get your entire life planned out for you in a detailed astrological prediction. All for the low, low price of $60. Well, I'm not about to fork out £30 for some astrological bullshit (or so I perceive it) and anyway, I'm not sure I want to know my entire future, it would ruin the surprise. Either way, though, it didn't matter as they weren't accepting any more requests as they already had a waiting list to rival the worst of NHS hospitals.

I also visited TIPA (the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts) whilst here. The LP told me that I could go and watch the lessons at TIPA. A very big sign on the gate begged to differ. It was a little disheartening given the kilometre or so walk up there, but the miser in me was glad I didn't take a rickshaw ride instead. A 2 minute walk down some stairs from McLeod leads you to a lovely little monastery called Dip Tse Chok Ling (or Dipsy, as I call it). It is very nice because it is quite small, with about 50 monks, and, despite being within 2 minutes of McLeod, feels like a totally detached other world because it is down this short flight of stairs.

A long kilometre (longer than normal ones, but the sign insists it is only 1km) out of McLeod is the Church of St. John in the Wilderness. This, surprise surprise, is a Christian church. It has a decent-sized cemetery which you can wander around. Among the graves of interest are a host of people who fell victim to the 1905 quake and a large monument to Lord Elgin (he of the marbles), who was Viceroy of India (as well as, at other times, governor to various other places, including Jamaica). The church itself was locked, but didn't look too special (something about corrugated iron roofing doesn't really befit a church), though the LP insists the stained glass windows are nice. But then the LP insists that TIPA's lessons are open to visitors, and that a run-down, dilapidated building in Amritsar that is undergoing much-needed renovation is a "must-see museum".

And so we come to the momos I mentioned in the title. I did a cooking course on the Wednesday, all about momos. I learnt to make veg momos, potato momos, spinach & cheese momos (which are bloody good) and chocolate momos (which are also really nice). As the only pupil on that day, I was, alas, forced to eat almost everything we cooked.

A couple of hours before leaving McLeod to go home, I ran across one my institute monks, Ngawang Sangpo. He had been in McLeod visiting his cousin (I think, my memory and his English are both less than perfect). I got the bus back to Tashi Jong with him, which was good as I had some company. Also, there's nothing better than walking through the streets of McLeod with a monk by your side. We arrived home at 11.30pm, and thus began the Adventure of the Last Day of Mahakala Puja. Which, just to keep you on edge, I will cover in the next episode of this frankly disgustingly long update.

Until then, goodbye!