LaBa was our designated driver for my trip of 6 days in Tibet. While driving us from attraction to attraction, he share his stories and his knowledge to us.

Narratives of Connection in Many Accents

Tibet is an amazing place that I longed to go. The spectacular views, culture and religion were always something that interested me and the stories I have heard from friends and family has given me cause to make this thought become a reality. In April 2015, I embarked on my trip to Tibet via railways.

At first, my main focus of the trip was to experience the stunning landscape and architecture first hand but as the trip progressed, I found myself learning more about the culture, religion and the complexity of the province. By talking with the people I encountered during the trip, I was astonished by the citizens’ ability to be joyful and friendly despite the chaos and the complex situation that the government has placed them in. Their willingness to help strangers, be friendly and give off a safe vibe to those around them is extremely rare and contradicts the persona foreigners tend to give them. Though strolling through the tourist attractions and talking to people has allowed me to have an insight to their culture, I was able to learn most from our driver.

LaBa was our designated driver for my trip of 6 days in Tibet. While driving us from attraction to attraction, he shared his stories and his knowledge to us. I knew that Buddhism is the religion of Tibetan but their devotion really surprised me. LaBa told me that the core of Tibetan Buddhism is “peace”. I can see many Tibetan kowtow with their whole body. All their prayers are for others and the world but not themselves. Their selflessness is something we all should learn from. In this day and age, most problems in society stems from selfishness and greed. The Tibetan’s peaceful way of thinking has not only given me new perspective in life but also a new approach towards obstacles. If their peaceful ways can be spread to developed countries, more problems will be solved without inflicting pain to innocent civilians. Their pursuance of world peace is something we should all learn from.

Tibet has not only satisfied my initial desire of a stunning image of Mother Nature, it has also given me a new approach towards life and obstacles I may face in the future.