Dharamsala & McLeodganj
Though Dharamsala is some 120 kms away from Dalhousie, the drive through the ghats takes more than four hours. We'd started at 1630 hrs and we reached McLeodganj at 2230 hrs (we are used to taking pee and tea breaks, which added a couple of hours to the journey). The temperature was not lower than Dalhousie, but it felt like 4-5 degrees below freezing point due to the gentle breezes that kept blowing in this part. I never knew I had good bargaining skills until I convinced the manager of the Sky Lark Hotel (at BhagsuNag, a kilometer away from McLeodganj) to slash the charges by 500 rupees. I just took his calculator, added some figures and told him to fit in that amount. In all we just paid 1350/- per day for two rooms (one with a double bed and the other with a double bed and a single bed) along with heaters. The rooms were the best so far in our trip, with long balconies (one could play box-cricket in there) and spacious bathrooms.
It was already 2300hrs and the hotel's kitchen was closed. So we headed to the McLeodganj market to look for a place to have dinner. There was this place called 'Excite' right in the center of the market with a roof-top restaurant. The place served Tibetan, Chinese, Punjabi and Continental cuisines; Drinks and Hookah too. Unfortunately we had reached there so late, that only some of the Chinese and Punjabi dishes could be made available. While the staff went busy preparing the food, we sipped on beers and sucked on a Hookah. I turned the pages of the menu and noticed a message 'We are lazy and take time to serve food'. Quite a straight-forward message to the customer so that he sets the right expectations. And they did stand to their words, it took an hour for them to get the food on our table (we were the only customers at that time, so the whole staff was serving us, still the delay). Moreover, after such a long wait, the food was another disappointment. It tasted rubbish. The hookah wasn't that great either. So overall, the place has nothing good about it.
Naddi
The next day we went a place called Naddi, which is 3-4 kms above BhagsuNag. The weather was chillier here due to strong winds and increase in altitude. We had a nature walk around the mountain admiring the scenic beauty of the snow-capped mountains and coniferous trees of the Dhauladhar range. I guess we also saw the highest peak of Dhauladhar range, called the Hanuman ka Tibba, but we could not confirm as there was no one around. There were bits of melting snow in our way by the road side. It did not snow at McLeodganj, but just a few kilometers above, at Naddi, it snowed a week back. We had tea and biscuits at Naddi and left for St. John's Church, near Dharamsala on the way to McLeodganj. By the way, did I mention that this was the first trip where we did not get decent tea even once? None of the places we went to knew how to make good tea. Some added more water, some added more sugar, while some didn't care to add sugar at all.
Small Church, Big History
I didn't know the history of St. John in the Wilderness until I googled it and James Bruce, a.k.a. Lord Elgin (Viceroy and Governer General of India in 1861), who rests in peace in the premises of the church. Turns out that the church building was built in 1852 and is one of the few buildings to have survived a major earthquake at Kangra a century back. also it is famous for it's stained glass from Belgium, which unfortunately we could not see since the church was closed. It also has a huge bell that was brought from England and installed in the premises. I don't understand why all this information is not mentioned anywhere at the church. This gives a complete new understanding and a new perspective to look around the building and admire the historic monument.
Mini Tibet
From the church we went to the Tibetan Monastery at McLeodganj. It is called Tsuglagkhang, the Dalai Lama's temple. It was a strange experience. We felt like foreigners in our own country. McLeodganj is full of Tibetans and as you enter the monastery, the concentration suddenly grows scarily stronger. But Tibetans are peaceful people, the same is evident through their 50-year long non-violent struggle to free Tibet. There were huge golden idols of Buddha and some goddess inside the temple, where photography is prohibited. This monastery is a tourist attraction as it is the Dalai Lama's temple and just opposite to the temple is his office. Moreover, just behind the office building was his residence. We asked the security outside and he told us the Dalai Lama would be coming out on the evening of Losar, the New Year's Day, 14th Feb 2010. Until then he would not be coming out. Sadly, we were going to leave the next day and would not be able to catch a glimpse of him. There is also a Tibetan museum on the way to the temple. Unfortunately it was closed that day.
We also read about the Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who has been taken into protective custody by the Chinese authorities, reasons unknown. Many of us, who do not know the process of appointing the Dalai Lama or Panchen Lama, believe that Panchen Lama would be taking the chair as the next Dalai Lama after the current (14th) Dalai Lama's death (even I used to think the same). The fact is, Panchen Lama is the next highest level after the Dalai Lama and not necessarily (and seldom the case) the next Dalai Lama. However, both play a role in finding the next Dalai Lama or Panchen Lama.
Out of the monastery, we all were hungry and I was desperately looking for a Tibetan restaurant. Funny thing is there are no Tibetan restaurants near the monastery (or at least we couldn't find one). We had to walk for 15 minutes to get to the market to find a place to eat. But the walk was worth it. We ended up at a place called Norling Restaurant. It serves a good variety of Chinese, Tibetan, Japanese and Korean food. The restaurant is also recognized by 'NDTV Good Times - Highway on my Plate' as one of the best eating joints. I decided to come there again the next day to try out some Japanese cuisine. We spent the rest of the evening wandering in the market. Roopali found an Ayurvedic Massage center where she got a foot massage. While returning we also paid a visit to the BhagsuNag temple just behind our hotel. The temple has a huge history that Roopali can explain better.
We had decided to leave the next day for Rishikesh, but we already had an extra day, and we loved the place so much that we decided to add another day at McLedoganj. This way, we could check out the Tibetan New Year celebrations and might get a chance to see Dalai Lama as well. So we called up Santji and paid him off that night itself and left the car.
Note: You do not need a vehicle to go around places in Dharamsala/McLeodganj. Most of the places are within 1-2 kms distance of each other. Besides, share autos and taxis are also available to visit farther places.
Girl down again!
Everyone was dying due to cold and the necessity of heat for our bodies was growing every minute. So bought some alcohol as a remedy. That night we discussed and debated on a variety of topics (and we don't remember what initiated the first, the next and the last topic). The topics ranged from Tele communication, optical fibers, China, Tibet, Dalai Lama, One Country Two Governments, yada yada. We were so pumped up and engrossed in the discussion that it would have required some disastrous event to make us stop. And that event was provided by Gaury. Gaury after doing a mix and match, felt tipsy, and wanted to use the bathroom. She opened the door and ... THUD! for the second time! This time even the splashing of water on her face was not able to wake her up. Surprisingly this time the situation was not that tense. Most of us were laughing and thinking of ways to get her back on the bed. Finally, it required all the five guys to lift her up and put her on the bed. It was one hell of a task.
The next day was a leisure day. We left the Hotel at 1400 hrs for the market. Everyone spread across in different directions. Roopali had already left for the market to buy some stoles. Manish and I selected a ladies top as a surprise gift for Roopali. Then we, along with Roopali went to the massage center. Nanu and Pedro started to look out for travel agents to hire a vehicle for Chakki Bank (our boarding station for the train to Rishikesh). Gaury, Gayatri and Fahim went out shopping in the market. While Manish and Roopali went in to have the massage, I decided to give another visit to the temple to check out the museum. But it was closed again. Turned out that the museum would be closed till the new year. That's one thing I regret missing to see.
We all had planned to gather back at the Norling Restaurant. This time I ordered Sukiyaki Chicken, a Japanese dish suggested by the waiter. It arrived with a sizzle in a flat base wok. It looked beautiful with perfectly cooked chicken surrounded by broccoli, pickled cabbage and onions, tofu, black mushrooms, tomatoes, red and green pepper, and some kind of sweet noodles. To add more colors and flavor, it was topped with a fried egg, sunny side up. Yummy! The rest of the gang ordered thukpas, thenthuks, Chinese noodles and fried rice.
Note: There are several massage centers in McLeodganj market offering various types of Ayurvedic, Kerala and Tibetan massages. Tibetan massages are the toughest and a bit painful due to the intensity of the massage. A massage would cost you somewhere from Rs. 250 - Rs. 600, depending on the type and body parts in the massage. We went to a place called Synergy Ayurvedic Massage Center. Everyone got at least one kind of massage there. The Masseuse named Purushottam was the one of the best masseuses there.
Losa and Valentine's Day Celebration
I had noticed fire crackers being sold in the market and I got a brilliant idea. Manish had not planned for a surprise on Valentines day for Roopali yet. So I whispered to Manish saying it would make a great surprise event, not just a gift but some fire crackers in the night when the clock struck twelve. We sealed the deal on the plan. While the rest of the gang, including me, went in for our scheduled massages in the evening. Pedro and Manish bought some fire crackers and handed over to me to keep them out of Roopali's sight. I added a jewel cracker to them and gave them all to the manager of our hotel to hide it until midnight. I also requested him to keep the terrace open to light up the crackers.
It was 2200 hrs then, and when I reached our room, everybody had already got cozy siting close to each other and watching 3 Idiots. By 2330 hrs, we finished the movie, had our dinner and one by one slowly started sneaking out of the room and going to the terrace to set up the crackers in place. Manish brought Roopali on the terrace by making up some reason (don't what reason he gave her, but I thought it would be a difficult task to get out on terrace in that chilling weather). As they both entered the terrace, there was a loud blast. We all were shocked, even the people who knew about crackers in place were shaken up by the boom. The cracker went up some 50 meters up in the air before it made a second blast and spread all over in the sky over our hotel. Strangely we were the only ones lighting the crackers and people from other hotel were wishing us 'Happy new year'. We all wished each other a Happy valentines Day, and Happy New Year too. Gayatri and Roopali cut the small cake we had bought and Manish gifted Roopali with the gift. Later on we went downstairs and lit some flower pot crackers.
Crazy & Funny Night
Back in our rooms, we were intrigued by the red illumination from the heater rod, which initiated the idea of taking innovative and creative photographs ... Horror poses! Check the same in my Facebook album. We also discovered an ability of Pedro that had gone unnoticed for a long time ... to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. That day he had switched his sleeping place to the side of the bed that is closer to the door. Nanu had happily given up the place since a heater was placed on the other side of the bed. I had already resigned the idea of getting into argument over places in bed, and hence took the center place on the bed. That night we had continuos knocking on the door, a couple of times by Gaury, then by Gayatri, and again a couple of times by Faheem. Pedro was and the peak of annoyance while Nanu, Roopali, Manish and I laughed so hard that our eyes were filled with tears.
The next day was the Tibetan New Year and the Valentines day. I wanted to check the celebrations at Tibetan temple, but most of us were game for the BhagsuNag falls somewhere behind our hotel. so five of us headed towards the falls, Gayatri and Faheem went to the market again, and Gaury attended the Tibetan New Year celebration at the monastery. Gaury's experience of the Tibetan culture is mentioned here.
This year, the Dalai Lama had requested the Tibetans not to celebrate the New Year, and hence the celebrations were limited to just some decorations and sugar idols.
The BhagsuNag have the best flow in the monsoons, but we could still get a pretty good view of the falls. The water in the falls comes directly from the melting glaciers and hence very clean.
Note: We missed out on seeing quite a few interesting places in Dharamsala, like the Norbulinka Institute and the Tea gardens, due to our laziness. Make sure you visit these places if you plan a trip to this part of India.
We wrapped up our visit to falls, packed our bags at the hotel and loaded it on the car we booked for a journey to Chakki Bank.
Next and the last destination - Rishikesh! ... continued in Part 4.
Though Dharamsala is some 120 kms away from Dalhousie, the drive through the ghats takes more than four hours. We'd started at 1630 hrs and we reached McLeodganj at 2230 hrs (we are used to taking pee and tea breaks, which added a couple of hours to the journey). The temperature was not lower than Dalhousie, but it felt like 4-5 degrees below freezing point due to the gentle breezes that kept blowing in this part. I never knew I had good bargaining skills until I convinced the manager of the Sky Lark Hotel (at BhagsuNag, a kilometer away from McLeodganj) to slash the charges by 500 rupees. I just took his calculator, added some figures and told him to fit in that amount. In all we just paid 1350/- per day for two rooms (one with a double bed and the other with a double bed and a single bed) along with heaters. The rooms were the best so far in our trip, with long balconies (one could play box-cricket in there) and spacious bathrooms.
It was already 2300hrs and the hotel's kitchen was closed. So we headed to the McLeodganj market to look for a place to have dinner. There was this place called 'Excite' right in the center of the market with a roof-top restaurant. The place served Tibetan, Chinese, Punjabi and Continental cuisines; Drinks and Hookah too. Unfortunately we had reached there so late, that only some of the Chinese and Punjabi dishes could be made available. While the staff went busy preparing the food, we sipped on beers and sucked on a Hookah. I turned the pages of the menu and noticed a message 'We are lazy and take time to serve food'. Quite a straight-forward message to the customer so that he sets the right expectations. And they did stand to their words, it took an hour for them to get the food on our table (we were the only customers at that time, so the whole staff was serving us, still the delay). Moreover, after such a long wait, the food was another disappointment. It tasted rubbish. The hookah wasn't that great either. So overall, the place has nothing good about it.
Naddi
The next day we went a place called Naddi, which is 3-4 kms above BhagsuNag. The weather was chillier here due to strong winds and increase in altitude. We had a nature walk around the mountain admiring the scenic beauty of the snow-capped mountains and coniferous trees of the Dhauladhar range. I guess we also saw the highest peak of Dhauladhar range, called the Hanuman ka Tibba, but we could not confirm as there was no one around. There were bits of melting snow in our way by the road side. It did not snow at McLeodganj, but just a few kilometers above, at Naddi, it snowed a week back. We had tea and biscuits at Naddi and left for St. John's Church, near Dharamsala on the way to McLeodganj. By the way, did I mention that this was the first trip where we did not get decent tea even once? None of the places we went to knew how to make good tea. Some added more water, some added more sugar, while some didn't care to add sugar at all.
Small Church, Big History
I didn't know the history of St. John in the Wilderness until I googled it and James Bruce, a.k.a. Lord Elgin (Viceroy and Governer General of India in 1861), who rests in peace in the premises of the church. Turns out that the church building was built in 1852 and is one of the few buildings to have survived a major earthquake at Kangra a century back. also it is famous for it's stained glass from Belgium, which unfortunately we could not see since the church was closed. It also has a huge bell that was brought from England and installed in the premises. I don't understand why all this information is not mentioned anywhere at the church. This gives a complete new understanding and a new perspective to look around the building and admire the historic monument.
Mini Tibet
From the church we went to the Tibetan Monastery at McLeodganj. It is called Tsuglagkhang, the Dalai Lama's temple. It was a strange experience. We felt like foreigners in our own country. McLeodganj is full of Tibetans and as you enter the monastery, the concentration suddenly grows scarily stronger. But Tibetans are peaceful people, the same is evident through their 50-year long non-violent struggle to free Tibet. There were huge golden idols of Buddha and some goddess inside the temple, where photography is prohibited. This monastery is a tourist attraction as it is the Dalai Lama's temple and just opposite to the temple is his office. Moreover, just behind the office building was his residence. We asked the security outside and he told us the Dalai Lama would be coming out on the evening of Losar, the New Year's Day, 14th Feb 2010. Until then he would not be coming out. Sadly, we were going to leave the next day and would not be able to catch a glimpse of him. There is also a Tibetan museum on the way to the temple. Unfortunately it was closed that day.
We also read about the Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who has been taken into protective custody by the Chinese authorities, reasons unknown. Many of us, who do not know the process of appointing the Dalai Lama or Panchen Lama, believe that Panchen Lama would be taking the chair as the next Dalai Lama after the current (14th) Dalai Lama's death (even I used to think the same). The fact is, Panchen Lama is the next highest level after the Dalai Lama and not necessarily (and seldom the case) the next Dalai Lama. However, both play a role in finding the next Dalai Lama or Panchen Lama.
We had decided to leave the next day for Rishikesh, but we already had an extra day, and we loved the place so much that we decided to add another day at McLedoganj. This way, we could check out the Tibetan New Year celebrations and might get a chance to see Dalai Lama as well. So we called up Santji and paid him off that night itself and left the car.
Note: You do not need a vehicle to go around places in Dharamsala/McLeodganj. Most of the places are within 1-2 kms distance of each other. Besides, share autos and taxis are also available to visit farther places.
Girl down again!
Everyone was dying due to cold and the necessity of heat for our bodies was growing every minute. So bought some alcohol as a remedy. That night we discussed and debated on a variety of topics (and we don't remember what initiated the first, the next and the last topic). The topics ranged from Tele communication, optical fibers, China, Tibet, Dalai Lama, One Country Two Governments, yada yada. We were so pumped up and engrossed in the discussion that it would have required some disastrous event to make us stop. And that event was provided by Gaury. Gaury after doing a mix and match, felt tipsy, and wanted to use the bathroom. She opened the door and ... THUD! for the second time! This time even the splashing of water on her face was not able to wake her up. Surprisingly this time the situation was not that tense. Most of us were laughing and thinking of ways to get her back on the bed. Finally, it required all the five guys to lift her up and put her on the bed. It was one hell of a task.
The next day was a leisure day. We left the Hotel at 1400 hrs for the market. Everyone spread across in different directions. Roopali had already left for the market to buy some stoles. Manish and I selected a ladies top as a surprise gift for Roopali. Then we, along with Roopali went to the massage center. Nanu and Pedro started to look out for travel agents to hire a vehicle for Chakki Bank (our boarding station for the train to Rishikesh). Gaury, Gayatri and Fahim went out shopping in the market. While Manish and Roopali went in to have the massage, I decided to give another visit to the temple to check out the museum. But it was closed again. Turned out that the museum would be closed till the new year. That's one thing I regret missing to see.
We all had planned to gather back at the Norling Restaurant. This time I ordered Sukiyaki Chicken, a Japanese dish suggested by the waiter. It arrived with a sizzle in a flat base wok. It looked beautiful with perfectly cooked chicken surrounded by broccoli, pickled cabbage and onions, tofu, black mushrooms, tomatoes, red and green pepper, and some kind of sweet noodles. To add more colors and flavor, it was topped with a fried egg, sunny side up. Yummy! The rest of the gang ordered thukpas, thenthuks, Chinese noodles and fried rice.
Note: There are several massage centers in McLeodganj market offering various types of Ayurvedic, Kerala and Tibetan massages. Tibetan massages are the toughest and a bit painful due to the intensity of the massage. A massage would cost you somewhere from Rs. 250 - Rs. 600, depending on the type and body parts in the massage. We went to a place called Synergy Ayurvedic Massage Center. Everyone got at least one kind of massage there. The Masseuse named Purushottam was the one of the best masseuses there.
Losa and Valentine's Day Celebration
I had noticed fire crackers being sold in the market and I got a brilliant idea. Manish had not planned for a surprise on Valentines day for Roopali yet. So I whispered to Manish saying it would make a great surprise event, not just a gift but some fire crackers in the night when the clock struck twelve. We sealed the deal on the plan. While the rest of the gang, including me, went in for our scheduled massages in the evening. Pedro and Manish bought some fire crackers and handed over to me to keep them out of Roopali's sight. I added a jewel cracker to them and gave them all to the manager of our hotel to hide it until midnight. I also requested him to keep the terrace open to light up the crackers.
It was 2200 hrs then, and when I reached our room, everybody had already got cozy siting close to each other and watching 3 Idiots. By 2330 hrs, we finished the movie, had our dinner and one by one slowly started sneaking out of the room and going to the terrace to set up the crackers in place. Manish brought Roopali on the terrace by making up some reason (don't what reason he gave her, but I thought it would be a difficult task to get out on terrace in that chilling weather). As they both entered the terrace, there was a loud blast. We all were shocked, even the people who knew about crackers in place were shaken up by the boom. The cracker went up some 50 meters up in the air before it made a second blast and spread all over in the sky over our hotel. Strangely we were the only ones lighting the crackers and people from other hotel were wishing us 'Happy new year'. We all wished each other a Happy valentines Day, and Happy New Year too. Gayatri and Roopali cut the small cake we had bought and Manish gifted Roopali with the gift. Later on we went downstairs and lit some flower pot crackers.
Crazy & Funny Night
Back in our rooms, we were intrigued by the red illumination from the heater rod, which initiated the idea of taking innovative and creative photographs ... Horror poses! Check the same in my Facebook album. We also discovered an ability of Pedro that had gone unnoticed for a long time ... to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. That day he had switched his sleeping place to the side of the bed that is closer to the door. Nanu had happily given up the place since a heater was placed on the other side of the bed. I had already resigned the idea of getting into argument over places in bed, and hence took the center place on the bed. That night we had continuos knocking on the door, a couple of times by Gaury, then by Gayatri, and again a couple of times by Faheem. Pedro was and the peak of annoyance while Nanu, Roopali, Manish and I laughed so hard that our eyes were filled with tears.
The next day was the Tibetan New Year and the Valentines day. I wanted to check the celebrations at Tibetan temple, but most of us were game for the BhagsuNag falls somewhere behind our hotel. so five of us headed towards the falls, Gayatri and Faheem went to the market again, and Gaury attended the Tibetan New Year celebration at the monastery. Gaury's experience of the Tibetan culture is mentioned here.
This year, the Dalai Lama had requested the Tibetans not to celebrate the New Year, and hence the celebrations were limited to just some decorations and sugar idols.
The BhagsuNag have the best flow in the monsoons, but we could still get a pretty good view of the falls. The water in the falls comes directly from the melting glaciers and hence very clean.
Note: We missed out on seeing quite a few interesting places in Dharamsala, like the Norbulinka Institute and the Tea gardens, due to our laziness. Make sure you visit these places if you plan a trip to this part of India.
We wrapped up our visit to falls, packed our bags at the hotel and loaded it on the car we booked for a journey to Chakki Bank.
Next and the last destination - Rishikesh! ... continued in Part 4.
2:17 AM |
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