Travelling, it turns you speechless and then into a storyteller !
As the cliche says, "Sometimes life's best adventure comes from the unplanned moments" our trip to Dharamsala, Himchal Pradesh was one of the best adventure trips, unplanned which is so not me. When I decide to travel, the first things I do is virtually travel the destination and as my friends say you just go and validate your research !
We started from Mumbai and flew down to Chandigarh, from 26 degrees we landed in 6 degrees, acclimatized ourselves and prepared ourselves for the 7 hour bus journey across Punjab to reach Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh! As a reward to our bodies to cooperate with us for the bumpy ride, we decided to give it a rest !
p.s. please ensure to book a place with AC (heater) as the temperatures can go down to 2 degrees, you would not want to feel sick and not enjoy the trip.
Next day after the fresh breakfast at Hotel Shiva castle, we went and rented a scooty from the Mcleod market. For me the best way to explore a place is on foot or on a two wheeler. At the end of the trip we really felt that we knew each and every turn and the roads recognized us !
Coming back, once we rented our bike, the owner of the bike also gave us a MAP and highlighted the places to visit. As it was a Monday as well as Holi the markets were shut, we continued going towards Palampur. We stopped at Neugal Cafe for lunch, passed through the Tea plantations and returned to Dharamsala.
As a hardcore cricket fan myself, we headed towards the HPCA stadium. The security guard was kind enough to let us enter even after the closing time and witness the picturesque stadium during sunset.
We came to back to the Mcleod market, grabbed some momos for dinner at the Khana Nirvana Community cafe and decided to end he day early as we had to get up early next day for the teaching by HH Dalai Lama.
Next day, after listening to the teaching by HH Dalai Lama and going around the Monastery and the Tibetan museum, we went towards Bhagsunath Temple and the Bhagshu waterfalls. After the 15 - 20 minute hike we reached the famous Shiva Cafe, indeed its located at an awesome location. You truly deserve a cutting chai after the small climb, combine it with Hot Vegetable Maggi !
Later in the evening, we went to Dharamkot for a small ride to the village and then headed straight to Naddi for the majestic Sunset. Here again, we "planned" to see the sunset, when we reached there, it was so windy and cloudy. As the saying goes, "Without the rain, there would be no Rainbow" So somewhere in the middle of the mountains we were lucky to see the best Rainbow I have ever seen so far. From there we headed to Clay Oven for dinner, please visit this place for authentic pizzas and Tibetan food. We went back to the same place next day for lunch as well !
For the Bollywood lovers, visit the Mcllo restaurant for their Live music and if you are travelling solo, you would surely make some friends there !
Early morning we prepared ourselves to go for one the drop in classes of meditation, but due to some residential program the classes were not being conducted, so we continued to go by scooty till the Galu devi temple or the base for the Triund trek, the camel ride as my friend felt while being a pillion was an adventure in itself. We visited the sacred DAL lake which we passed since two days and took some touristy pictures there. Later we headed straight to Clay oven for the Autentic Tibetan food and took a stroll around the Mcleod market.
Do not miss this awesome Woesar bakery, where you get Handmade Cappuccino and yummy paradise bar. Also try the Tibet Kitchen, they served us pure veg Momos,
Next day after seeing the sunrise from the Naddi Hills, we started our return trip and left some part of us in the Dhualadhar range somewhere !
p.s. In the hope to find that part of us , we wish to climb the range soon !
