Ecosphere, a social enterprise, brings alive the concept of Volunteer Tourism in the Spiti Valley.
The Spitian communities live at altitude ranging from 3500m to 4600m in the Himachal Pradesh, northern India. They have farms and cattle but are completely cut off from Nov to May every year due to snow. Villagers here have to endure prolonged isolation and bitter cold.
Ecosphere has successfully experimented with a Passive Solar Home, which is essentially a room extension from their home at the sunshine-facing side that is made of wood and plastic covering. The idea is to entrap heat based on greenhouse principle during the winter months. This warmer room then allows the family to carry out their activities with lesser need for burning of fuel for warmth. Ecosphere has also implemented a Solar Greenhouse which is a greenhouse made of mud bricks, wooden poles and plastic sheets to allow the villagers to grow vegetables during winter months. This way, they can enjoy the nourishment of green vegetables during the long winter period when no supply can reach them.
Tourists who are keen to visit the Spiti Valley may sign up for a voluntary stint to help build Passive Solar Homes or Solar Greenhouses by working and living with the villagers. This is a wonderful way to travel and experience the Spitian life, leaving behind a meaningful dose of contribution, and taking away warm friendship and immense satisfaction. So it's a great idea for tourists!
Volunteers and interns with primarily a social cause to help the villagers or to champion the use of solar energy may sign up too. Coupled in with the voluntary work is the opportunity to travel and take in the breathtaking sights of the Spiti Valley and its surrounding snow-capped mountains, visit the numerous monasteries that are over a thousand years old, and experience the delightful and simple Spitian life such as shepherding cattle and making momo. So it's a great idea for volunteers and interns.
It's a magical formula that has proven to work so well for Ecosphere, and it has benefited so many villagers here in the Spiti Valley. It now tickles me to see how to adapt and apply this formula to benefit the tribal community in Jharkhand, the rural farming community in Karnataka and the Karen community in Chiang Rai via Tigerlandricefarm.
We squeezed up the 12.30pm bus that took us from Nako in the Kinnaur Valley to Tabo in the Spiti Valley today, passing 2 police check posts at Chango and Sumdo, which are next to the Tibetan border. Following the winding Spiti River, we arrived at serene Tabo at about 4.30pm. What a wonderful place of tranquility and peace.
With some day light left, we visited the famed Tabo Monastery (right) that is reputed to be the oldest of the numerous thousand year old monasteries in Spiti.
Stupa at Tabo Monastery.
Alvin turning the prayer wheels.
Monk strolling the monastery perimeter in prayer.
Spacious monastery ground with many temples.
14 Jun 2011: Tabo Explored
We awoke to a sky that was so beautifully blue with patches of white cloud. So we went to the roof top of the hotel to have fun with our yoga asana.
Peaceful Tabo
Robyn in eagle pose.
Jin praying to blue sky.
Alvin in warrior III.
Yongs in yoga (union).
We stayed at Hotel Mentok Dumra which was a stone throw away from the bus stand. Sonu Kumar Shodi is from Delhi and he leases the place and runs it every Jun-Oct, after which he would head for Goa to run another hotel. Enterprising young 25 year old!
We enjoyed a breakfast of croissants and honey nut cake at a German Bakery run by a Nepali young man. We learnt that he does the same as Sonu. After Oct, he would head for Goa and run a German Bakery there!
Mentok Dumra Hotel next to Tabo bus stand.
Sonu is a great cook!
Experiencing Tabo Monastery +ve Energy
We learnt from the previous day's visit to the Tabo Monastery that there would be a special prayer at the monastery by all the lamas from 5am till 9pm, and that we were allowed to sit in their ceremony.
We sat quietly behind the lamas as they chanted with elaborate dancing hand signals in this same temple hall that has witnessed 1000 years of such prayers, and where Dalai Lama himself presided over important Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies. We meditated and took in all the positive qi we could absorb...
Thanks to Namgial Lama who showed us around the various temples within the monastery ground.
We also scrambled up the hill slope to explore some ancient and deserted caves.
From the caves, we could appreciate how pretty and tiny Tabo really is.
Inside one of the cave with wooden door.
> Finally, Alvin saw THE light! No, it's just sunlight...
At 5pm, we squeezed up the bus bound for Kaza. It was a dusty and bouncy ride. Seated at the last row, we experienced air lift many a times.
Once again, we followed the winding Spiti River with stunting brown and barren scenery. Nearer to Kaza, the river opens up to a wide delta quite unlike the narrow gorge that we observed all along our journey.
By 7pm, we were glad to finally arrived at Ecosphere and met up with Sunil and Angchuk, who helped found us a lovely room at Le Karze Hotel.
Ecosphere and Robyn Yong.
Robyn in Ecosphere office.
15 Jun 2011 - Siesta in Kaza
We met Ishita at the Ecosphere office and learnt that 3 NUS interns and another Indian lady who worked with Singapore Tourism Board had just arrived to do voluntary work. She also has a few other interns from Indian institutions. Having many brains and hands was definitively a good problem. I wish this was the case at Tribal School in Jharkhand, and made a note to find out Ecosphere's secret in attracting volunteers and interns.
I was really glad that NUS students come all the way here for social entrepreneur internship. No doubt they would return to Singapore with very valuable experience to value add and serve the community in the days ahead.
It turned out perfect for me to not be needed by Ecosphere as it offered me a few days of quiet time in the comfortable hotel room to complete the "Children of a Lesser God" movie script for Tribal School Project, worked on the new Tribal School Project website.
18 Jun 2011 - Kye Monastery
Benedict and Wan Hui arrived at Kaza after 2 days at Tabo, and we met up again. We decided to visit the nearby Kye Monastery together.
Kye Monastery is another thousand year old monastery of significant importance to Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Buddhists in the Spiti Valley.
Majestic Kye Monastery perched high into the air.
The sight all round was snow-caps.
There's a feel of serenity at the monastery.
Serenity blended nicely with playful joyousness.
Robyn, Wan Hui and Benedict.
A scenic stroll down to the Kye Village.
Breathtaking sight of Kye Monastery from afar.
Yongs at Kye surrounded by snow-caps.
< "FREE TIBET" signs are everywhere.
The road to freedom is a long one, but can be beautiful if taken moment by moment. Same for our life.
At the Kye Village, one of Ecosphere's Green Houses was being constructed, assisted by a French couple who came as volunteer-tourists. It was hard work but a worthy experience that money can't buy.
We managed to have someone cooked us lunch at the Kye Old Aged Home as there was no restaurant around. After lunch, Wan Hui, Benedict and Robyn helped an elderly at the home to plant some flowers.