08/2026
Dubbed “Little Tibet”, it is located between the two highest mountains in the world, the Himalayas (Himalayas) and the Karakoram (Khmer Lat Khun Lun) mentioned in many documentaries as a land of happiness, a sustainable lifestyle despite the hardships of nature and climate.
In the past, Ladakh was a transit stop on the journey of traders on the Asia-Europe Silk Road, with its special location in the Himalayas, Ladakh connects Central and South Asia, East and West Asia, and is also a bridge between the Muslim world and Buddhist countries.
Ladakh was closed to the rest of the world until 1974 before being opened to tourists. Since then, Ladakh has been constantly “growing” and attracting a lot of attention of not only tourists, but also a lot of filmmakers, especially documentaries, as well as many scholars, researchers, NGOs who come to study, research, work, not only contribute to this land, but also share works and films for the world to better understand this mysterious land.
After the fall of Tibet to China, Ladakh was particularly attractive and attractive to those who studied Tibetan culture, because in addition to having a long cultural connection and origin with Tibet, Ladakh is a country with a large population of Tibetan Buddhism, with a large number of Tibetan refugees living throughout Ladakh, especially in the capital. Leh province with 12 asylums.
Due to its very special geographical location in the Himalayas, which is a bridge, religions, ethnicities and cultures are equally diverse, with the population of eastern Leh predominantly Tibetan Buddhism and the western part of Kargil according to Islam, Ladakh's religious heritage is also very diverse.
Today, Ladakh is an important military base for India because of its special strategic location between Pakistan and China's Tibet region, and border conflicts remain hidden. All over Ladakh are military zones of the Indian government.
But on the other hand, Ladakh is a tourist destination that attracts a large number of tourists every year, the economy from self-sufficient, sustainable indigenous architecture with soil, stone and wood turns to dependence on mass tourism business with hotels and motels built of cement and reinforcement sprouting up everywhere.
There are many tourists who come to Ladakh, but few people spend enough time and experience to understand and connect with the land and its people, to be able to see the problems of mass tourism, climate change, unsustainable economic development and the efforts of local people and international friends to build and regenerate this important and beautiful land. Keep it for future generations.
✨ WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VCIL TRAVEL SCHOOL LADAKH VIII PROGRAM?
We were shocked by the words of the Ladakh friend: “In the photo of the visitors to Ladakh, the faces of the Ladakh people are missing.”
Vcil Travel School: Ladakh - Mindful Travel & Sustainable Living sets out to change this reality, to bring a more complete and deeper image of Ladakh, so that visitors and locals alike benefit from learning tourism, so that tourism and the land economy become more sustainable, and for us to connect more deeply with people and land, and learn to learn the set of solutions Ladakh is studying to apply to sustainable development, natural building, renewable energy, clean food, climate change adaptation solutions, with extreme alpine weather.
Throughout the 14 days of the program, we invite you to practice slow down on your journey of discovery, connect with the people of Ladakh more, eat together, stay together, work together with the locals.
- We invite you to discover the beauty of the natural landscape with the Nubra Valley, with the Khardung La pass - one of the highest passes in the world that cars can run, with centuries-old monasteries carved into the cliffs, with the labyrinthine old town with structures built of earth, stone and wood.
- We invite you to join the students of an alternative education school dedicated to you “passing the 10th grade exam” - where the film “Three Idiots” inspired the film “Three Idiots”, participate in learning workshops, study problems and find solutions, practice telling stories about Ladakh differently under your own eyes and personal experience.
Welcome to Vcil Travel School itinerary in Ladakh!
Rest adapted to the environment, climate of Ladakh at an altitude of 3500m
The capital of Ladakh (Leh in the past and modern) - BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE OF THE LAND
- Explore the old town and learn about the heritage of Leh in the past.
- Old Town/Heritage Walk by LAMO
- Leh Palace (optional)
- Central Asian Museum
- Centro LAMO
- Workshop on Ladakh+Related FAQs
- Learn about the development situation and problems in Ladakh
(The role of Buddhism in the lives of the people of Ladakh)
- Learn about Tibetan Buddhism in Ladakh, the land known as Sub-Tibet through visiting temples and pagodas
- Live and work with locals in the village
- Learn about traditional agriculture | Sustainable agriculture
- Learn about the sustainable lifestyle of those
- Learn about traditional, indigenous architecture and houses
- Local Food
*If you sign up for the 8-day program, you will return to Leh on the 7th to prepare before flying the next day.
- Experience alternative education and ecological lifestyle at SECMOL
- Workshop on ecological lifestyle (or building with natural materials)
- Workshop/experience on alternative education
Day 11: Go to Nubra Valley
- Khardung La Pass (Khardung La Pass) - one of the highest passes in the world
- Gompa Disks
- Dogs/Sand Dunes
- Stay and chat with locals
- Draft legislation on the state of tourism development in Ladakh
- Sustainable tourism development solution and contact with the local each person
* The above is the expected program, the content may vary slightly depending on reality.
* Organizer: Vcil Community (Vietnam) & Local Futures
* Accompanied by: LAMO Center, SECMOL
* Duration: 14 days night
Vcil Travel School in Ladakh has two options:
+ Full program (14 days): from August 10 - 23, 2026.
+ Short-term program (8 days): from 10 - 17/08/2026.
- Participation in the entire program (14 days): 840 USD (equivalent to 24,360,000 VND)
- Participation in the short-term program (8 days): 610 USD (equivalent to 17.690,000 VND)
- Participation in the entire program (14 days): 1000 USD (equivalent to 29,000,000 VND)
- Participation in the short-term program (8 days): 690 USD (equivalent to 20,010,000 Vnd)
Financial support: Vcil Community also provides financial support for individuals in need.
1) Accommodation and travel according to the program schedule in Ladakh
2) Three meals a day during the trip
3) Logistic and learning materials
4) Travel insurance
5) Program organization and design costs
6) Costs of guests and instructors
7) Permit to enter areas in Ladakh
1) Round-trip flight ticket to Ladakh
2) India Visa Fees
After completing the registration form, based on the criteria suitable for the program, we will be able to contact you to conduct an interview for the trip.
- The program can take place only if there are at least 5 participants with a full contribution of the organization fee.
- At altitudes above 3500m, with cold and dry weather all year round, participants please consider ensuring their health before and during participation.
- Phương Anh VTS Ladakh II 2023 -
- Ngọc Châm - VTS Ladakh VII 2025 -
- Kiều Búi - VTS Ladakh II 2023 -
- VTS Ladakh VII 2025 -
Helena is the director of Local Futures, is a linguist, author and filmmaker. With decades of experience in indigenous cultures, she has been promoting re-indigenisation or localisation while raising awareness about the disastrous impact of the global consumer culture.
Helena is author of the inspirational classic Ancient Futures which, together with a film of the same title, has been translated into more than 40 languages, and sold half a million copies. Other books include Local is Our Future: Steps to an Economics of Happiness, Bringing the Food Economy Home: Local Alternatives to Global Agribusiness and From the Ground Up: Rethinking Industrial Agriculture, as well as a Local Food Toolkit, which won a prestigious UK award for investigative journalism.
Helena is the producer of the award-winning documentary The Economics of Happiness, which has been described by the media-activism site Films for Action as “truly one of the most important and useful films for inspiring change that has been made in a generation”. Her other films include Closer to Home: Hope in a time of crisis, and Planet Local: A Quiet Revolution.
She is the founder of the International Alliance for Localisation, and a cofounder of the International Forum on Globalization and the Global Ecovillage Network.
