A Tourist Haven and Home to the Tibetans
McLeod offers a lot of options for short walks in the vicinity a 2 km stroll to Bhagsu waterfalls, a 3 km walk to Dharamkot or a slightly longer 6kmwalk to the Sacred Dal Lake and Naddi. The view of the Himalayan range from these places is spectacular and one tends to get lost in their beauty.
This town sees a lot of foreigners every year (they are drawn back here year after year) because of the sheer number of NGOs working for the Tibetan cause in every field including education and medical facilities. Some of the popular places they volunteer at are LHA, Volunteer Tibet, Tibet Hope Center and Tibet Charity. Tibetan refugees and monks are helped to learn English, trained as home nurses, as well as to set up small businesses, among others. “It feels good to give to a cause and make a difference in the lives of others,” says Matthew Burrows from Washington D.C. He is working as an English teacher at Tibet Charity since four months. The foreigners working here as volunteers are keen to spread the word back in their hometowns about how Tibetans suffer and how they can help. “Back home in Canada, I felt I had to do some work for the Tibetan people in India. The experience you get from such an invaluable time gives you rewards far beyond what you are actually teaching!” says Simon Veilleux from Montreal who teaches the basics of networking at LHA,Volunteer Tibet and Tibet Charity.
Gitanjali More writes about McLeod Ganj, the place where adventure begins for most foreigners, the land that will make you forget, the land that will make you learn and explore, and well, just be yourself and more.
Foreigners find McLeod to be a getaway from their lives. Yoga, Vipassana, Buddhism and Tibetan massages are extremely popular here. “The Vipassana course, challenging though it is, really helps to test your limits and discover yourself because you only meditate and introspect,” says Valentin Zackerevicj, a student from France.
I have been working with Tibet Charity here since three weeks and have found that the Tibetans are peace loving people and are really keen to help their people. This has inspired me to give my best at the Charity and make any difference I can possibly make. Neil, an English volunteer at the NGO describes it best, “I have worked here as a volunteer, meeting my own expenses, and never resented that for a moment. I feel I have had a unique experience that I wouldn’t have had elsewhere as a traveler.”
As I’ve observed, McLeod Ganj is a smaller world with the permeation not only of Buddhist culture but of cultures around the world. People from different countries are so often found sitting around a fire and exchanging their beliefs and thoughts. Despite the problem of dogs and big cars passing through small streets, this has become a home away from home.
