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McLeod Ganj
After leaving Punjab we made the long journey to Dharamsala in the Himalayas; home to the exiled Tibetan government and his Holiness the Dalai Lama. We were so excited to be heading this far north away from the chaos, noise and intensity of the big cities. We had to take two buses with a journey time totalling around 8 hours and the roads up the mountains were so bad that my teeth were chattering from the bumpiness! In the final couple of hours of the journey, the snow-capped Himalayas came into sight and they were absolutely breathtaking. We finally reached our destination and head off in search of Om guesthouse which we'd read about in the guidebook. We decided beforehand that we would shop around for the best deal but once we saw how nice the rooms and the views from the balcony were, we took them straight away. So much for shopping around!
As we'd had such a long and tiring journey with no food except one bag of peanuts between the three of us, we decided to treat ourselves to a slap up meal and went out to a lovely restaurant called Tibet's Kitchen to sample the local cuisine. The best way to describe Tibetan food is that it's very "wintery" -lots of dumplings, vegetables, rice and soupy noodles. Yum! After that we went out for a few drinks and some shisha at a rooftop bar. Not a bad evening overall.
Our first full day in Dharamsala coincided with the 51st anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising. The Dalai Lama gave a speech that morning and hundreds turned up to see him. Everyone was walking around McLeod Ganj with Tibetan flags and handing out leaflets with the Dalai Lama's speech on it. It was a really special day for the Tibetans and everyone was in good spirits because the Dalai Lama was in residence. That afternoon we decided to walk the spiritual trail around the mountains that the monks do several times a day. You can only walk clockwise on the trail and walking the other way is very offensive for the Tibetans as we soon found out! It's a beautiful walk with paths lined with Buddhist flags and colourful stones with Tibetan carvings in them. You may need to look at my pictures to see what I mean! In the evening we joined a candlelit procession which marched several times around the tiny town of McLeod Ganj before ending up at the Dalai Lama's Temple. It seemed like the whole town had turned up with hundreds of Tibetan flags waving and several speeches being given (only one of which was in English!)
The next day we woke up early and went off on the spiritual walk around the mountains to admire the landscape. It was a really clear day and the mountains looked stunning against the bright blue skies. Instead of going the whole way around the walk, we cut through a monastery to try and reach Lower Dharamsala where we'd heard there was an astrological institute located in the Tibetan government compound Gangchen Kyishong (I'd seen the astrological institute on Michael Palin's documentary "Himalaya" where he found out he'd been an elephant in his former life and would be the daughter of a rich man in his future life!) There didn't seem to be a clear path down the mountain side and I began to wonder if we should have just taken a taxi. We eventually reached a road however and some nuns pointed us in the right direction. In Lower Dharamsala no one seemed to be able to help us find the institute but after following our dodgy map we eventually found the government compound. It was fascinating to see the Tibetan government buildings which had been uprooted from Tibet and rebuilt in the Indian Himalaya. Unfortunately we arrived right in the middle of the government's daily siesta so we killed some time using the Internet before finally heading to the astrological institute. Any glamorous images I'd had in my head of handing over my birth details to a wiry old Tibetan man staring into his glass ball and telling me I'd been a Princess in my former life were soon dashed! We were told at reception that we could leave our birth details and due to the long waiting list we could expect to receive the "information" on our previous and future lives after six months. Oh and all at the small sum of 50 pounds. See ya! It was time to cut our losses and head back up to McLeod Ganj.
McLeod Ganj is incredibly different from everywhere else in India we've been so far. For one the climate is a lot cooler as it's so high up. It's a very small but well set-up town with cafés and restaurants that wouldn't be out of place in Europe. It's quite funny seeing monks using wifi whilst sipping their herbal tea! During our stay in McLeod Ganj we volunteered with Lha Charitable Organisation holding daily English conversation classes for Tibetan refugees. Volunteering was the highlight of our stay. The Tibetans we met are genuinely wonderful, peaceful people full of smiles and inspiration. One of the monks I volunteered with told me in very broken English that if I become a lawyer I must be sure to study Buddhism. That really made me smile and I will keep his advice in mind whatever my career!
We decided to go on a trek one day to a famous spiritual lake called "Dal Lake" which is also home to the Tibetan Children's Village. This took a few hours and we passed some nice villages along the way. After climbing a particularly steep hill we saw a sign to Dal Lake. We walked a little quicker to see the magical lake we'd be trekking to see and when we finally reached it, we looked over the wall and saw that the whole lake was in the process of being dug up. Nice one! At least the surrounding scenery made the trek worth it.
On our last day in Dharamsala we didn't do much other than sit in cafés and do a bit of shopping. I have to say that Dharamsala is one of the nicest and most relaxed places I've ever been to. Being here has really inspired me to explore more of the Himalayas. I would love to head to Nepal next year after Law School, funds permitting!
- comments
Daz Yet another gripping instalment. Great reading.
Girija C K Balan Mmmmm.... nice and soothing.