Living in Himachal Pradesh for 1.5 months!

Tourist destinations:

I visited the stadium, monasteries, dal lake and church. I basically googled places to visit in McLeodganj and ticked off all the tourist destinations. The taxi costs around 2-2.5k for a 1-2 day tour. It takes 2 days to cover all the tourist destinations in McLeodganj. Major attractions are Naddi viewpoint where you can see snow clad higher himalayan ranges and Illiterati Cafe.

Hiking and hidden trails:

Mcleodganj city streets and markets are amazing to explore. Besides that, there are many roads that connect Mcleodganj to nearby villages like Dharamkot and Bhagsu. On the way to these villages, you can find some hidden trails and undiscovered, isolated places. I continued going there for a month exploring a new hike trail each time.

2. Bhagsu

It is a village between McLeodganj and Dharamkot. It is famous for Lord Shiva temple and bhagsunag waterfall. The whole village contains in a single street with vertical development around it. It has very cozy, delicious cafes.

It is a center for arts and spirituality as well. There are a lot of healing courses offered by schools situated in this village. There are music schools, pottery classes, Hula hoops training, etc. I pursued 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training from Chinmay Yoga School. It was a healing and mind opening experience in itself!

Taking the upward road from Mcleodganj taxi stand leads to Dharamkot. It will start from Tushita Meditation Center.

Way from Bhagsu to Dharamkot:

There are two ways:

1. Down trail from Welcome cafe:

Welcome cafe is the talk of town in Bhagsu. It is one of the famous and loved cafes in the village. The vibe is chill and bliss all times of the day.

From the back side of Welcome cafe (where they have a washroom) get down and continue the path until you see an upward going way. It is the way towards Dharamkot. The first stop after hiking up the way is Nature Twins cafe. It is a famous cafe with breathtaking view. Continue in the street beside this cafe and there starts Dharamkot. You will find cafes, homestays, farms, etc. along the way.

2. Take stairs beside Unity Bistro Pizza House:

This is a simple and convenient trail to Dharamkot. There are stairs beside this Unity Bistro cafe that leads to Dharamkot. When the stairs end, an uphill trail starts with a rocky way in the middle. Continuing hiking up, you will reach Dharamkot. There are farms, big rocks, few cafes and amazing views on this way. This trail also has some undiscovered hikes.

4. Biking:

We visited Palampur, Chambi, Bir and Billing. It was a day trip that started in morning and ended by evening. We discovered beautiful roads surrounded by deodars and streams. Bir Billing is famous for paragliding. We couldn't go to the paragliding site due to landsides. We ended up at an unnamed waterfall that was situated at the end of Bir village. There was no way futher than this waterfall, there was a huge mountain connected at the end of it and I felt limitless in the moment.

5. Delhi:

I travelled to Delhi by bus from Dharamsala. It was an overnight journey. I spent a day in Delhi exploring art on Lodhi streets and some nice food places at Cannaught Palace. I flew to Ahmedabad next day.

These two months were one of the best phases of my life!