From the spiritual point of view there seems to be nothing which you can not learn in a course in MC Leod Ganj. People are standing around on their head practicing what they learned in Yoga classes. Others offer massage which they have learned in massage courses or sell silver rings they have learned to do here. Many do volunteering or join Buddhism classes. Those who love mountains go for few day treks, sleeping in caves or tents and making bonfire at night to keep warm. People are joining meditation courses and don’t speak to anybody for 10 days. Westerners chat with Tibetan monks and exchange about their way of living. Young guys from Delhi come to walk up to see the first time in their life snow, collecting it in plastic bottles and carrying it home to show their friends in 40 degree hot Delhi.
at the snowline with chris from austria
After all this you can hang around in one of the countless reggae cafes and smoke the day away, listening to travel stories of the other smokers. You can meet people who have lived here for half a life, who have traveled all over the world or who find themselves after joining one of the above mentioned classes.
I met a few people who came here first time 20 years back. They are complaining about all the backpackers hanging around smoking, about the many guesthouses, about the high prices, the internet cafes and basically about everything which is not the same as 20 years back. But hey, who brought these changes here? Wasn’t it us tourists? Don’t the people here as well have the right to make their life more “modern”, using hot shower or motorbikes?
I personally love the spirit of the area here especially because of this interesting mix of different people…
Dharamsala or
