Darjeeling Adventures

Today we went to ride horse through Darjeeling, but it turned out they were not cared for very much and Mark and another fell off while walking. It looked scary, but these horse are so short for the terrain that the fall was not harmful. After the second fall, when the horse collapsed, we quit riding halfway through the trip, and paid the man a smaller amount. It was really sad to witness the neglect these animals receive, and we are looking to protest to the owner of the guide service for better treatment of these animals. After that, we walked to the Tibet Refugee camp, which we thought was a five to ten minute walk, but took over an hour. However, the long journey was worth it. We bought some of the homemade goods that the Refugees make on campus, and we got to witness there working practices. Later, I played some basketball, badminton, and a kind of hackey sack with some of the children. We went through a museum that described the creation of this particular refugee camp in Darjeeling, and the unjust tale of the Chinese occupation of Tibet. It was quite moving, and I feel I could spend time volunteering there in the future, or at another Tibet refugee camp.