A man who fled Tibet and moved to Dundee has told of his initial escape attempt, recapture by the Chinese within sight of the border and his subsequent successful bid for freedom.
Motivated by his dream of seeing Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, Chogonja took the decision to flee the region of China, without telling his family, at the age of 19.
He first tried to cross the Himalayas mountain range into Nepal but he was captured and spent three months in prison for the attempt.
After successfully fleeing the Chinese-controlled region the second time, Chogonja, now 29, met his wife-to-be Isla Bruce in Dharamshala, India, and the pair eventually moved to Dundee together.
Speaking exclusively to the Courier, Chogonja spoke of the challenges he faced on the road from Lhasa to Dundee.
He said: “I just felt very strongly that I should go to India to see the Dalai Lama.
“I was young and it was my dream. Then one day I got the chance.”
Originally from the Amdo region of Tibet, Chogonja’s family were used to him travelling as a dancer and were unaware when he made his first risky attempt.
He said: “The guide didn’t tell me when we would go then one night I got a call saying ‘we are going tonight pack your stuff.’
“I didn’t tell my family otherwise they would have worried.”
Having no passport and not being allowed to obtain one, Chogonja had no choice but to leave the country in secret through a treacherous mountain path.
Travelling by night and hiding to avoid capture during the day, it took 18 days for the group of escapees to reach sight of the Nepalese border, high on a mountain ridge.
Chogonja said: “One of my friends gave me a sleeping bag and I had a plastic sheet to keep me a little bit warm.
“It was monsoon time and it was raining a lot. Your clothes were getting wet and in the day time you couldn’t sleep it was so cold.
“You have to be careful on the path because in some places there are big cracks and if you fall you will die.”
Having not eaten for two days, the group were struggling when they were discovered near Everest Base Camp and the Nepali border.
Chogonja said: “We hid behind some rocks but the Chinese army started shooting the rocks then they let the dogs go and they smelled us.”
The next three months Chogonja spent in prison being interrogated before he was eventually released. Kept in isolation he had nothing to do but chant Tibetan mantras and dream of the day he would finally see the Dalai Lama.
His resolve grew and the first chance he got he took another route, which involved a day long river crossing and finally made it to the Tibetan refugee centre in Nepal.
He called his family, who were surprised but thankful he was safe, and then finally he was taken to meet the Dalai Lama.