Tradition vs. Tourism - Part 4

Likir, Ladakh (Tues. 7.11.06)

I've now had TWO redeeming monastery visits to take the sting out of Thiksey. Yesterday's visit to Spituk where monks had created a sand mandala for a 4-day Puja ceremony. I sat and meditated while around 30 Lamas, wrapped in golden robes, chanted and rang bells. No tourist-trap here, they're just going about their business while still extending the hospitality of offering salt-butter tea as I sit.

Now, I've decided to venture alone for a few days to some quieter villages. Today I visited Likir monastery which is beautifully sited and boasts an enormous golden Buddha sitting atop the roof gazing calmly out at the mountains. I'm staying with a wonderful Ladakhi family of women + children and have my own room with FANTASTIC views. This has given me a great opportunity to put some of what I've learned into practice and Ringchen (the woman of the house who speaks English very well) and I have had a nice talk about life in the US vs. Ladakh over dinner preparations. Now we sit in the kitchen/living room around low tables and a large iron + brass stove that's such a work of art it could easily be in a museum, unwinding at the end of the day.

I guess this was a pretty quick + painless lesson to me that people that survive on working the tourist industry are each going to take a different tactic, or no tactic at all. Just live their lives and include you in them enough to make you feel welcome.