Beginners and experienced writers alike - master the art of travel writing for your blog, journal or publication. Seasoned travel writer, photographer and author Angus McDonald leads this tour of Dharamsala and the Kangra Valley, home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan exile community. Meet the Indians and Tibetan refugees who live in this idyllic place, and tell their stories to the world. Draw inspiration by reading and discussing some of the great authors who have written about the region. In evening workshops, participants learn to create compelling articles, journal entries and blog posts. You will learn about descriptive writing, rendering character, interviewing, story structuring, and other essential techniques for the successful writer. Classes in photography are also an option.

Angus McDonald has explored Dharamsala and the surrounding area extensively since 1998. He has written about Tibet, China and India for many publications including the Associated Press, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian and The South China Morning Post, and is the author of The Five Foot Road: In Search of a Vanished China. He has taught travel writing and photojournalism in Melbourne since 2008.

Dates: 2-15 April 2012, 14-27 October 2012

Cost: $AUD 2995 ex Delhi – airfares to Delhi extra

SPECIAL PACKAGE FOR INDIAN RESIDENTS: Rs 40,000 for one week, 7-14 April, including 2 or 3 AC train from your city and pickup in Pathankot.

Contact: info@eknoexperience.com

www.eknoexperience.com

Phone +61 (0) 437 967819 (Australia), +91 98166 85999 (India)

angusmcangus@gmail.com

www.angusmcdonald.net.au

Phone +91 97363 27158 (India)

ITINERARY (one-week tour commences on Day 6, ends on Day 13)

Day 1: Arrive Delhi International Airport – Rest of the day at leisure. Evening meeting with Angus and introduction to the writing course. Overnight Metropolis Guest House, New Delhi

Day 2: Sightseeing tour around Delhi. Evening – writing class. Overnight Metropolis Guest House, New Delhi

Day 3: Leave early morning for Dharamsala by car. Travel through the plains of the Punjab and into the Himalayan foothills. Overnight Jagori, Rakka

Day 4: Morning – writing class. Afternoon – visit McLeod Ganj, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Temple and Tibetan Museum. Evening free. Overnight Jagori, Rakka

Day 5: Visit the Tibetan Children’s Village and surrounds. The Village is a thriving, educational community for Tibetan children in exile. Visit the local town of Dharamsala in the afternoon. Evening – writing class and sharing work. Overnight Jagori, Rakka

Day 6: Visit Norbulingka Institute with a guided tour of the workshops to see traditional Tibetan art and the preservation of Tibetan culture. Evening – writing class, sharing work. Overnight Jagori, Rakka

Day 7: Rest, journal writing, observation of local community. Optional return visit to McLeod Ganj/Dharamsala for individual note-taking. Evening – writing class, sharing work. Overnight Jagori, Rakka

Day 8: Trek to Triund from Dharamkot village. Evening free. Overnight Jagori, Rakka

Day 9: Drive to Palampur and onto DGL Nunnery for a discussion with Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo at her nunnery (her schedule permitting). Visit the ancient temple at Baijnath. Return to Dharamsala via Kangra Valley Railway (schedule permitting). Evening free. Overnight Jagori, Rakka

Day 10: Rest, journal writing, observation of local community. Evening – writing class, sharing work. Overnight Jagori, Rakka

Day 11: Morning visit to Tangde Gatsal thangka painting studio and interview Indian thangka painter Sarika Singh. Afternoon visit to Gyuto Monastery. Have public audience with the 17th Karmapa (both schedules permitting). Evening – writing class, sharing work. Overnight Jagori, Rakka

Day 12: Visit to Garli-Pragpur heritage village. Evening free. Overnight at Judge’s Court, Pragpur

Day 13:  Leave early morning by private car to Delhi. Overnight New Delhi

Day 14: Tour ends after breakfast.

Recommended reading:

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, My Land and My People

Freedom in Exile

Heinrich Harrer, Seven Years in Tibet

Return to Tibet

Vikram Seth, From Heaven Lake

Colin Thubron, To a Mountain in Tibet

Pico Iyer, Video Night in Kathmandu

Sun after Dark

The Open Road

Patrick French, Tibet, Tibet

Younghusband: The Last Great Imperial Adventurer

Dervla Murphy, Tibetan Foothold

Vicki Mackenzie, Cave in the Snow

Tenzin Palmo, Reflections on a Mountain Lake

Ani Pachen and Adelaide Donnelly, Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun

Mary Craig, Kundun: A Biography of the Family of the Dalai Lama

Orville Schell, Virtual Tibet

Vanessa Walker, Mantras and Misdemeanors

Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance

Pankaj Mishra, The Romantics

Jamyang Norbu, Warriors of Tibet

Dawa Norbu, Red Star over Tibet

Thubten Jigme Norbu and Colin Turnbull, Tibet

John Avedon, In Exile from the Land of Snows

Isabel Hilton, The Search for the Panchen Lama

William Dalrymple, City of Djinns