McLeodganj: A great getaway from Delhi

March 20-23, 2009

Off we go: Sanjay and I finally had a long weekend all to ourselves and we were going to make the most of it! So we booked our tickets on the Volvo to McLeodganj- a place on our travel radar since some time. It is about 20km up the mountains from Dharamshala and primarily a Tibetan settlement; filled with monks and foreign students/tourists.

We were picked up by the hotel car- we were staying at Udeechee Huts in Naddi, an isolated village, about 20km higher up from McLeodganj. Our hut room was of OK size and clean.  The best part was that we had unobstructed views of the Dhauladhar range.  

Exploring McLeodganj: It was just 8 in the morning and we had the whole day to ourselves and we headed to town. The best part about the town is that it is walkable. There are two main streets running parallel and a few streets behind. All you have to do is walk and observe. It is a quaint place filled with character. We headed first to the Tsuglag Khang, the Dalai Lama's temple complex at one end.  A simple building, it houses statues and paintings of Buddha.

It was almost noon and time for lunch. Mcleodganj is a foodie’s paradise. But what you need to do is explore, explore, explore!

We headed off to Jimmy’s café serving mostly Italian food and sandwiches. It is a cheery looking place with old movie posters and shelves lined with books.  Post lunch, we went again strolling down the streets, first to the prayer wheels at the center. These are red and blue and green versus the plain gold in the temple. The streets are filled with cafes, curios and stalls. You can look around for a long time. We window shopped on the streets and walked till we reached the town’s end- which came pretty soon.

We walked a bit further out of town towards the St. John’s church (constructed in 1852) and the memorial of Lord Elgin, the British Viceroy of India (1862-63) who died while on a tour to McLeodganj. You need to walk down and then take a left. The area befits a black and white Hindi horror movie.  After some exploring, we caught an auto to Naddi/ We were just in time before it started to drizzle and then pour. Sanjay asked Shabhu (the caretaker) if there would be any snowfall and he said there had been none in summer in the last 2 years.  It continued to rain and we slept to the sound of raindrops splattering on our roof.

Impromptu trek to snow at Triund: The next morning Shambhu told us it had snowed in Triund. Wow; Wish Sanjay had asked for something more! We decided then we just had to trek upto Triund no matter what. We packed a bag with some food, water, torch and clothed ourselves in layers.

But first we needed to have a good breakfast for the climb. So we headed to town to Llamo’s Croissants. Triund is about 24 km from McLeodganj. Since we had one day we were going to cover half the distance by car. The road is narrow and bumpy. A local taxi dropped us at the mid point where there is a temple and a tiny tea shop. Only trails from here and we began our climb waved off by a local couple. It was 11 in the morning and we were running late. We had about 7 hours at the max. to go up and be back before sunset-after which the temperature drops considerable and the paths and stones become unsafe due zero lighting.

The trek up is scenic with rich green trees and bright red and pink flowers. The city is below you in a distance and there are stretches where you see no one but yourself.

After some time, the climb making tougher now as we had to climb over rocks versus walking on stone filled trails. The snow made it a slippery and slow climb. But the nearer we went, the more enticing it became to reach the top. Digging shoe heels and fingers in the snow, we finally reached up at about half past 3. And what an achievement it felt like! Triund was almost a snow field. No civilization except a tiny Daak-house and a tea stall. Someone had made a statue and a snowman. We sat and enjoyed our maggi and tea with them. Soon it was time to head back. The tea stall owner told us we must head down fast and wished us luck.

Down we went; this being tougher than we had anticipated. It took us almost 4 hours to reach the point where we had started off- a little longer than our climb up. Thankfully, the taxi driver was waiting and we heaped into it. It was pretty dark by now but we decided to head to town and not Udeechee for dinner. What don’t we do for good food joints, I tell you! We dragged our almost collapsing legs to Carpe Diem – a place which serves all kinds of yummy food. Carpe Diem means “seize the day”; it is from a famous Latin poem and also the slogan of a group of Middle Ages Knights. How cool is that?

Done with dinner we took an auto back to Udeechee and crashed into bed after a hot shower. Shambhu kindly gave us 2 hot water bags. We slept with those plus our own electric heating pad tucked under legs and backs!

To Norbulingka: It was our third and last day. Done with a relaxed breakfast at Llamo’s once again, we hired a taxi for the day. Destination was Dharamshala’s  Norbulingka complex. The complex has a monastery, a doll museum, paintings and a tiny café. There are also monks in residence. The monastery is colorful and picture perfect. More than that it was peaceful. The Doll Museum is interesting; depicting Tibetan life and culture; a procession, a marriage, King’s ceremony, a domestic scene around a home. Each depiction is in a glass case with an explanation. Next to this is a large room with beautiful Buddhist paintings- the Thangka. Near to the institute, is the Chamunda Devi Temple. We drove to it and paid respects. There is also a small stream running though the temple filled with devotees.  

Soon it was time to back to the bus stop- to catch the dreaded Volvo to Delhi. On the bus stop we met Rahul and Deepti, who were incidently on the bus on our way to McLeodganj. We chatted and exchanged numbers. Six months down the line we went to Leh together- a fantastic trip it was. All in all, we had a great trip; we relaxed, saw a wonderful place, unexpectedly climbed a snow capped peak. Travel can gift you so much if you accept with an open mind. Even friends!      

For more pictures and details, please see my blog:

http://postcardsandpins.blogspot.com/search/label/McLeodganj