McLeodganj is a Himalayan Hill Station which the British used as an escape from oppressive summer heat waves. McLeodganj is now mainly known for being the home of the Dalai Lama’s temple—Tsuglagkang Temple—and the exiled Tibetan Parliament. It is also home to many NGO’S and charitable organizations.

I am here to volunteer with Lha Charitable Trust as an English tutor for Tibetan refugees. Installed in an apartment with other volunteers, my door opens to lovely mountain scenery. Built into the Himalayas, McLeodganj’s mountainous terrain feature scant areas of level surface, therefore one is constantly climbing steeply uphill or downhill. My apartment, a near vertical fifteen minute hike from town, leaves me heaving and panting by the time I reach my door. Thus, I’ve learned to organize my trips into town to minimize the sprints up and down the mountain.

A sizable Korean expat group own and operate several restaurants. There is also a Korean-run volunteer organization that operates a cafe, boutique, and daycare center, allowing Tibetan parents to work during the day.

McLeodganj is an interesting convergence of hippie backpackers, international volunteers, Kashmiri traders, Nepalese laborers, Indian tourists, Tibetan monks and Tibetan refugees.

Street Scenes