| What you shouldn't miss, however, is the Tibetan Refugee Self-Help Centre.
Trek or a taxi over and discover the rugs and hand-woven sweaters the
Tibetans are selling to help their own people. The purple-and-black-striped
sweater I'm wearing at Jain Bhojnalaya was purchased for about US$13 and
there are a large variety of hand-woven rugs for sale. To buy a rug, you
choose from a selection of 30 or 40 display rugs, decide if you'd like
any of the pattern colors changed to match your hair or home, hand over
about US$300 for manufacture, shipping and insurance, and three months
after you arrive back home a lovely and very durable reminder of your
trip will appear on your doorstep. Most of the rugs are about three feet
by six or seven feet and ours has seen constant use for the last two years.
You'll meet lovely people, you'll get a great rug and you'll have the
pleasure of helping the Tibetans. |
