Mcleodganj is a small but a beautiful bustling town near Dharamsala. It is also home to the Tibetan Spiritual leader Dalai Lama. Being a tibetan settlement, the place is majorly influenced by the colorful Tibetan culture.
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Places of interest:
1. Kal Chakra temple: Kal Chakra temple is located just near the entry point to Mcleodganj market. This temple however opens for a very small time in the morning and is mostly closed after that.
2. Dalai Lama temple: Dalai Lama temple is situated on the Dalai Lama temple road and can be easily accessed by foot. Near to Dalai Lama temple is also the residence of Dalai Lama.
3. Cafes to hang out: Though there are a lot many eating joints and cafes in the streets of Mcleodganj and you can always do hopping from one to the next; there are a few most talked about.
Four season cafe
Black Magic
Jimmy's Italian Kitchen
Tibet Kitchen
Crepe Pancake hut
Restaurant Mcleo
For the tea lovers you can take a tea break while coming back from Dalai Lama temple at this tea cafe called Apna Chaiwala which serves amazing flavored teas. We tried the rose tea and paan tea both of which had amazing aroma and taste.
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4. Walk through the market streets of mcleo: The streets of Mcleodganj are an exhibit of shops full of tibetan handicrafts, artefacts, stones, crystals, jwellery, decor pieces and souvenirs . Whether you are an actual shopper or a window shopper, you are definitely going to have a nice time just setting your eyes on these trinkets of beauty. Every second or third shop will have the beautiful thangkas hanging outside ( Thangkas are intricate cloth paintings representing some religious aspect of buddhism in the painting ). Except there are some nice garments shops also run by tibetans where you can splurge if you would like but bargain is surely advised.
5. Bhagsunath temple and waterfall: Bhagsunath temple is at a distance of around 3 km from Mcleodganj and can be easily reached through auto. After offering prayers at the temple, you can do a mini hike to the waterfall which is around 700 to 800 meter from the temple. The waterfall is huge and delightful once you reach the top. Please be mindful of not polluting the place which many people here are thoughtlessly doing.
6. Taking a ride in the skyway from Mcleodganj to Dharamsala:
The recently started ropeway ride takes you above the forests and the scattered villages and will take only 10 minutes to reach Dharamsala from Mcleo. You may take the ride just for fun and come back to Mcleo in the same cable car again. Or you may explore Dharamsala and come back taking a cable car scheduled later in the day. Skyway definitely saves time that will otherwise be lost in traffic congestion if going by road.
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P.S. If you have more time in hand, there are some other places of interest in the vicinity like Dharamkot, Triund trek, Dal lake, Cricket stadium, Norbulingka Buddhist Institute, St. John Church and War memorial. I'll cover those places in a separate blog post.
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