Ama and Karma are Danny's other parents-the Tibetan family that takes diligent care of him as if he is one of their children,when he is in Kathmandu. Karma walked out of Tibet many years ago with his family and has made a decent living as a Tibetan Thangka painter-and Ama,his loyal Nepali wife, has completly adopted Tibetan culture as her own,wearing the Tibetan chupa dress and aporn and speaking fluent Tibetan and practicing the Buddhist faith as if her birth religion. The two have raised 6 children and through hard work have managed to send them all over the years to the USA. They have always sacrificed for their children, and have traveled very little,rarely leaving Kathmandu, so when Danny and I announced we were going to Pokhara, a lakeside city about 6 hrs.bus ride from Kathmandu, to visit the Tibetan Refugee Camp, I invited them both to come along my treat for all their good care of Danny, who they dote over as if their own son.
We left on a "tourist" bus, term used loosely here to note a bus that isn't going to stop every ten minutes to cram more bodies in, and immediately Karma,who showed up with a huge mala of bone carved in skulls and adorned with turquoise (you would have to know about Tibetan Buddhism to understand that this is a very powerful mala) slung over his left shoulder and under his right arm, began to chant a Buddhist mantra-something like "Om Mani Padme Hum" but many more syllables and over and over ina drone, that later he said was blessing the bus,driver and all the occupants. As we passed broken down busses, crashed busses and stalled busses, this became very reassuring.
We made several stops along the way for bathroom breaks and meals, as is typical in bus travel in Nepal. Karma and Ama took in the beautiful green scenery as we sped downhill from Kathmandu and then along the river, past rice paddies and fields of corn and terraced hillsides and Karma exclaming: "Oh My God" at the pristine scenery. We eventually made it to Pokhara about 3 that afternoon,and took a taxi, the 5 of us (Yungdung was also along, Danny's Tibetan brother) crammed in a Suzuki taxi, and found a guest house called "Moonland" a few blocks up from the lake that a tout had convinced us was a great bargain at 400 rubees a night ( about $6/night). We got two nice rooms, one with a double and a twin bed for Yungdung,Danny and myself,and a double for Ama and Karma. Then we ordered milk tea onthe veranda and sipped it enjoying crickets and frogs,and Karma noted there were no cars "singing" inthis peaceful town, compared to all the "singing" that goes on in Kathmandu!
I convinced them to take a stroll lakeside, and Karma, still wearing the protective mala,and Ama in her Tibtan apron, agreed to venture out before we had dinner and check out the lake. There are large wooden boats you can rent for a few dollars and I had a dream of rowing Ama and Karma around the lake, but they quickly shook their heads and waggled fingers they would not enjoy it at all/ Ama said she was once in a boat on a lake when they lived in India and did not enjoy it at all and Karma then told us a story about being in a rice pot when a child and playingiin the river and tipping over and water cominglike this (gestures as water is swallowed and belly grows large) and throw up water like this (again more gestures) and I understood then how scary it must seem to be on water when you can't swim.
Danny, Yungdung (who also can't swim) and I rowed about as Karma and Ama smiled and waved at us from shore. Then we found a lakeside cafe and ordered pizza to munch with a pot of milk tea and I realized this was also a first for Karma and Ama, who after that, insisted on eating only dahl bhat every night.
The next day we hailed a cab and paid the driver an extra 50 rubees (about .75) to take us all the way to the Tibetan Refugee Camp, which was built in1965 after China invaded Tibet and many Tibetans poured over the Himalayas to Nepal to escape the persecution and oppresion of China against their culture and religion. This camp houses about 1,000 refugees, or 'fugees, and our friends in Nepal say it, and is one of the largest and oldest. We came to see if HANDS could do something to help the children in their education here,and we were very surprised at what we found!
For part two go to http://handsinnepal.blogspot.com/p/tibetan-refugee-camp.html
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