A Highlight

A couple of entries back we told you about Tamkey the Buddhist monk. Well we invited Tamkey and his friend Lekshey, also a Buddhist monk, back to our hotel one afternoon for tea. They were thrilled at the invitation and we sat in the dining room and had lemon tea and chatted as much as we could about them and their everyday lives. They speak very little English but we managed to understand each other and have a kind of conversation. We told them about our families and we'd shown them some photos of home and where we live.

These guys both grew up in Tibet and at 16 managed to join a monastery and came to India to study with the Dalai Lama in Daramsala. They gave us photos of them with the DL. They are studying to be doctors and will be in Darjeeling at school for another 4 years. They are so gentle and so happy looking despite the hardship they have been through.

Last evening before we left they came to our hotel and gave each of us a book written by the Dalai Lama (Tamkey wrote a note to each of us in the front) but even more special, they draped white silk scarves around our necks and gave us a hug... both of which are a very special honour as it is not the done thing to even touch a monk. All the hotel staff were gobsmacked and they just stood and looked at us in awe so I guess it was something pretty neat. We'll post the photos soon. One of the highlights of the trip so far.