Now that we are in Nepal and away from the prying eyes of Chinese internet spies I can finally write some of the things we wanted to while in Tibet.

A month ago I wrote on here that I wanted to live in Beijing. Much as I love the city, I can now say that there is no way I could live under a regime that oppresses such a beautiful nation. I don’t know what I expected from Tibet but I was horrified at how few liberties its people enjoy – I knew it would be bad but not that bad.

It’s common knowledge that little religious freedom exists – any photos or depictions of the Dalai Lama are totally banned and the monasteries are fully equipped with CCTV cameras by the Chinese government. Monks cannot trust one another for it is a widely accepted fact that there are ‘monk spies’ living in all the monasteries, reporting to the Chinese of any politically sensitive conversation, anti-communist sentiment or ‘revolutionary activity’. The young Panchen Lama, second in importance to the Dalai Lama, 'disappeared' as a child and has never been seen since - the government instated another of their own choosing, educated the Chinese way.

Tibetans live their lives paranoid and cannot trust anyone, including colleagues and close aquaintances – they cannot talk openly about their situation or their hopes for Tibet. It’s not unheard of for people to just disappear and never return to their families – everything you say and do is under scrutiny. People still hang portraits of Mao in their homes to encourage visiting officials that they pledge their allegiance to the Chairman rather than their spiritual leader.

More obvious was the near-total Chinese presence in even the smallest Tibetan town. Huge tiled buildings bearing Chinese signage line the streets, leaving only a tiny portion of traditional Tibetan architecture. There once thousands of monasteries in Tibet but only a handful remain after the Cultural Revolution, and most of these have been almost entirely rebuilt.

Ah, the Cultural Revolution. This one is brilliant. Tibetans were issued an educational video by the government educating them on the atrocities commited by the BRITISH armies!! Apparantly the Brits rolled in, desecrated the monasteries and left China to pick up the pieces! Unbelievable.

The Dalai Lama has expressed that he will not be reincarnated in a Chinese governed Tibet. However, most Tibetans believe things will change, that the Chinese will back down and that theHis Holiness will return home. But not in their lifetime.