McLeod Ganj

Written: Jul 01, 2002
Location: McLeod Ganj, India

I had always intended to leave Delhi fairly quickly and my first impressions of the place did not change this view. To be fair I had hardly slept and found it difficult to get my bearings. In the Main Bazaar all stalls and shops merge into one and it is impossible to find a particular place. Add to this the heat and the noise; it is quite an assault on the senses. Of course I couldn't leave Delhi before at least one travel agent had attempted to sell me a tour to Kashmir!

The bus to McLeod Ganj took 14 hours overnight. We changed buses on the outskirts of Delhi and there was the usual confusion about which bus we should get on. The driver had taken our tickets so potentially we could have been left stranded. In the end everyone got on the one bus that had been sitting there since we arrived.

We gave a few Rupees to a beggar with no hands. At first the beggars can be quite a shock especially those that are disabled. There is no social security in India so those that can't work have to rely on begging. There are some "Professional" beggars however that prefer to beg rather than work. A woman with a child asking for money to buy milk is a common scam.

Another bus had a minor collision with ours on the way and compensation of five hundred Rupees was obtained from the other driver to pay for the damage to our bus. The road was very bumpy and every so often after driving into an especially large pot hole everyone would be pitched out of their seats into the air. Everyone was tired and glad to arrive in McLeod Ganj at 8 am.

I stayed for the first week in the OM guest house, a nice place with a great view of the Indian plain below.

One of the first days I went for a walk higher up the valley past the village of Dharamkot. On the trail I saw a group of monkeys picking at some rubbish. There are lots of monkeys in the area and they often come into the town scavenging for food. I eventually reached the top of the ridge and rested at a cafe to admire the wonderful views.

McLeod Ganj has a large Tibetan community as the seat of the exiled Tibetan government is nearby in Dharamsala. The Dalai Lama has his residence in McLeod and also a temple where he often performs ceremonies. Monks in their red robes are seen everywhere around the town. The temple contains several Buddha statues; footwear must be removed before entry. It is surrounded by prayer wheels that devotees spin to send their prayers to the gods.

Nearby is The Tibetan Museum that shows in photographs and words the occupation of Tibet by China and the struggle for freedom. It is very moving.

The Dalai Lama was performing a public ceremony during my stay so I waited for an hour and a half and saw his Holiness as he left the temple and got into his Land Rover.

Foreign visitors to McLeod are way down on the usual numbers due to the problems between India/Pakistan. However there are still quite a few foreigners, mostly Israelis and Americans in the town. The lack of tourists has led to the closure of the Tushita meditation centre and many other courses are suffering from lack of numbers. The towns many English language schools are also short of teachers.

I volunteered to teach English at GuchuSum a school especially for Tibetans that have escaped political persecution in Tibet. All the students had escaped from Tibet over the high mountain passes. I had ten students of different abilities but they were all keen to learn. Despite their past troubles they liked to laugh and were very friendly. The curriculum was somewhat disorganised however and I had to make up the lessons as I went along. This was tricky at first but I gradually found out what the strengths and weaknesses were. I enjoyed the classes and got good feedback from the students but I felt I needed to move on after a couple of weeks in McLeod.

One of my students took me to see the Norbulinka Institute, a centre for promoting the heritage and culture of the Tibetan people. The institute has beautiful gardens and an impressive temple. Inside the temple there is a large golden Buddha and the walls are painted with scenes from the Buddha’s life. There are also paintings of all 14 Dalai Lamas, the last two being surprisingly lifelike. We took a local bus down the hill and it was quite exciting, like being on a rollercoaster.

After a week I ate a chicken Chow Mein and the chicken was very bad. I had a fever the next day and was ill for four days. It took a course of anti-biotic to cure me. I am now in good health however and looking forward to some trekking.

My next stop is Manali on route to Ladakh.