- Where projects based in Palampur
- General information on Palampur
- What we provide?
- Volunteer's safety
- Volunteer options in Palampur
- Useful links
Where we are based in Palampur
General Information on Palampur
Palampur is a hill station in Dharamshala region. It is the tea capital
of northwest India, surrounded by pine forests and flanked by the Dhauladhar
ranges. The town derives its name from the local word palum, meaning lots
of water. There are numerous streams flowing from the mountains to the plains
from Palampur. The combination of greenery and water gives Palampur a distinctive
look.The markets in Palampur are one of the most upscale markets in the Kangra
District of Himachal Pradesh. Palampur is well connected by road to all major
cities and towns in and around the state. Volvo (AC) buses can be taken from
ISBT Kashmere Gate, Delhi to reach Palampur.
About Dharamshala- Dharamshala is a twin town city; divided into a lower
and a upper town with a difference of 457m height
(1500ft.) between them. The mountains enfold 3 sides of
the town and the valley stretches to the south.
Dharamshala is known for its scenic beauty, calmness and
tranquillity. It has high pine trees, tea gardens and
timber yielding trees. Dharamshala is now the seat of
His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. After the Chinese conquest
of his country, Dharamshala is evocative of the imperial
days in places like McLeodganj and Forsytheganj.
Dharamshala is the headquarters of the Kangra district.
What we provide
Our program fees include your airport transfers, food,
accommodation, transport, travel and support. Program
fees are set by a weekly basis ranging from one to eight
weeks. If you want to volunteer for more than eight
weeks, you can add as many extra weeks as you like
(within visa restrictions).
Visa & Flight Assistance
Obtaining a visa and book the flights are
volunteer's responsibility.
Visa - All our volunteer programs fall under the
category of volunteer tourism and we recommend you state
your purpose of travel as "tourism" on your visa
application. Stating any other purpose of travel will
not be applicable to us. We provide information such as
references and local address following the approval of
the volunteer application.
To obtain a short term visa (e-Visa) up to 2 months,
visit following link -
https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html
If you wish to volunteer longer than 8 weeks you will
need a long term visa, please visit your own country's
government visa website for more information, as each
countries long term via requirements vary.
Flights - We are flexible here, you can book
flight into Delhi/Jaipur airport any time any day.
However, it is recommended to arrive on Saturday but if
flights are not suitable or it is expensive then you can
arrive 1/2 days prior from your program start date.
For any further questions, please feel free to
contact us.
Pickup and Transfer
Pickup & transfer service would be available to
volunteers from Jaipur or Delhi airport.
On arrival; our personal driver, working with the
Sankalp Team, will be awaiting your arrival at the
airport. You will find him in the arrival hall, past
immigration/customs/baggage claim, with a placard
displaying your name.
You are provided three days stay in Volunteer House (Jaipur)
for the Orientation and then travel to Dharamshala by
Train which takes 14 hours to reach nearest railway
station. On arrival at railway station local driver will
be available to pick you up and transfer to host family.
Program Orientation
Next day of your arrival we organized an orientation
for each program where you will gain an understanding on
the entire volunteer program, introduction to rules and
regulation of the organization, Indian history, its
culture and traditions.
Accommodation
We offer comfortable accommodation with easy
approach to project sites for the volunteers. On
placement, you ought to live with a middle class local
Indian family in a remote area. A separate living-room
on dual or triple sharing basis with other volunteers
will be provided but you should not expect luxury on
your stay and it is different from what you are used to
at home.
Host family will serve three local area meals a day
(breakfast, lunch and dinner). You may help the host(s)
in preparing the meals so that you may learn cooking of
various India dishes, which would be liked by your mates
when you go back home. You may also cook food of your
own choice. Living with Indian families will prove for
you the best track of learning the Indian tradition,
culture and behaviour without much cost and effort.
In Dharamshala it's a rural placement and more likely
that you will have a traditional squat toilet and a
cold/hot bucket shower.
Volunteer's Safety
At Sankalp-Volunteer we make safety a high priority for
each and every volunteer and staff member that join our
program. Our program has been running for several years
and we have had the great joy in welcoming hundreds of
volunteers into our program, please trust that we have
extensive experience in caring and protecting all of our
volunteers. This includes safety within the house,
transportation provided by us, safety at the program
locations, and any emergencies that may arise.
We do not conduct any program that could in any possible
way jeopardize the safety of any volunteer or staff
member. We are very proud of our ongoing commitment and
provision of safety for all that join our team.
In order to continue our priority and contract with
safety, our organization maintains very set rules and
regulations. We ask that you join our program with
adherence to the set rules and respect them
appropriately for your own and others personal safety.
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