Sir, - I am not surprised that the Indian Government has granted refugee status to the Karmapa Lama (Irish Times, February 5th), as he seems to be a very remarkable young man indeed.
According to your Asia Correspondent, he left the Tolung Tsurphu Monastery in Tibet on December 28th, 1999 and arrived in Dharamsala in India on January 4th, 2000 after a gruelling journey of 1400 kilometres on foot through the snowbound Himalayas.
Perhaps I am mistaken, but according to my calculation he made this hazardous journey over snowbound mountainous terrain at the truly astonishing rate of 175 kilometres a day for eight consecutive days. - Yours, etc.
M.D. Kennedy, Silchester Park, Glenageary, Co. Dublin.