What McLeod Ganj has to offer

In my opinion, McLeod Ganj (just up the hill from Dharamsala) gives an overwhelming appeal to those interested in learning something about Buddhism or some of the other Eastern customary healing processes. In fact, it takes about a week to sort through it all and have some idea as to what and when you'd like to participate. Of course, the real draw here is the central availability to all of this at a cheap price. Albeit, a bit touristy but hey, you can't have it all!

Massage is abundant with such types as Ayurvedic, Tibetan & Thai leading the pack. Although I haven't had my Thai massage yet, I can give some comments about the other two.

Ayurvedic uses hot massage oils and comes from the Hindu culture. For about 350 ruppies ($1 = 43 rp), you can have a nice oily one hour massage from neck to toe. I liked it but I think my favorite thus far is Tibetan.

There is a Tibetan family here providing massage needs - the wife is (from what I've heard) the better of the two. It's a much more physical massage with little use of oil. Not only does she massage but she also provides some stretching and working of the joints. To my surprise, she gets right up on the table with you pushing and pressing out any balls of tension you might have. I fancied the belt trick! You lay on your back while she gets on top and straddles you. She then takes a wide, long belt and pulls it under your lower back and then wraps it around her back all in one go. Carefully positioning the belt around the very bottom of your back she then leans backwards in order to pull your lower back down. Amazing and felt fantastic! I loved it.

Reflexology is another product of this place. For those that are unfamiliar, this is based on the notion that all parts of your body are mapped on the bottom of your feet. Lungs, kidneys, heart, etc! You can really get a sense about what's going on with a person just by rubbing their feet. Although I don't think we had any great discoveries yesterday, it still felt amazing.

There are a few meditation centers, Reiki, astrology. . . Then you have language and cooking classes, palm readings! Just all sorts of things to get into.

My latest discovery is a breathing session and some accupuncture I just received. Still have a few more sessions to experience and hoping to get to the bottom of this crazy knee problem which I fully believe is non-physical related.