2 Day trip to McLeodganj, Dharamshala

Tripoto
23rd Mar 2019

The Majestic Dhauladhar Ranges at Dharamshala

Photo of 2 Day trip to McLeodganj, Dharamshala by Kanika Justa
Day 1

So we recently went on a 2 day trip to Dharamshala.

Day 1: We drove on Friday early morning (around 6 am) & reached there at around 5 or 6 pm. Yup it took us the entire day.

Photo of 2 Day trip to McLeodganj, Dharamshala by Kanika Justa

Around 4 -5 hrs from Delhi to Panchkula and 6 hrs from Panchkula to McLeodganj. If you can then you MUST take a halt in Chandigarh or Panchkula, spend the night there and cover the rest of the journey the next day. Since our friends had limited days off, we decided to cover the entire distance in one go. But trust me it gets very hectic.

We checked into the Forest Guest House in Dharamshala. It is located outside of the main market and takes around 10 to 15 minute's of drive to reach there.

Forest Guest House, Dharamshala

Photo of 2 Day trip to McLeodganj, Dharamshala by Kanika Justa

Forest Guest House, Dharamshala

Photo of 2 Day trip to McLeodganj, Dharamshala by Kanika Justa

The location is great:

(a.) It is away from the main market, so it is not noisy or crowded.

(b.) You get ample parking space. Trust me this is such a big factor in mountains !!

After reaching the guest house, we freshened up and left for the main market for our dinner.

Now everything here closes by 9 or 10 pm. We went to the Dhauladhar Hotel (in the main market) for the dinner. The food was OK. Nothing great and kind of expensive too.

Photo of 2 Day trip to McLeodganj, Dharamshala by Kanika Justa

DAY 2:

We woke up fresh and pretty late at around 9 am. Had a light breakfast at the guest house and headed out by 11:00 a.m

Day 2

The McLeodganj market opens at around 10:30 a.m to 11 a.m, so there is no need to hurry. Also, there is multi-level parking available at the mall road, McLeodganj. So if you are travelling by your car you can easily take it upto the mall road and even beyond. The roads are in good shape.

We started exploring the mall road on foot, had the jahaazi maggi (as the uncle called it). The main attractions on the mall road are:

1. The Tibet Museum: A visit to this place is a must if you love history. This museum tells you all about the struggles of the Tibetan.

Photo of The Tibet Museum, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh by Kanika Justa
Photo of The Tibet Museum, Temple Road, McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India by Kanika Justa
Photo of The Tibet Museum, Temple Road, McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India by Kanika Justa

2. The Dalai Lama Temple: It is adjacent to the museum and both of these have free entries. After offering our prayers to the Dalai Lama we went to the rooftop of the temple to get a glimpse of the majestic Dhauladhar ranges.

Photo of H.H. the Dalai Lama's Main Temple, Temple Road, McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India by Kanika Justa
Photo of Hotel Tibet, Distt, P.O, McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India by Kanika Justa

For lunch, we wanted to try some Tibetan cuisine since Tibetans are a big part of Dharamshala. So off we went to the The Tibet Hotel at the mall road that offers authentic Tibetan cuisine at extremely pocket friendly prices. We ordered: Veg and non-veg Thukpa, veg chopsuey and the Tibetan bread: Tingmo for 4. The portion size is humongous so order wisely.

Photo of 2 Day trip to McLeodganj, Dharamshala by Kanika Justa
Photo of 2 Day trip to McLeodganj, Dharamshala by Kanika Justa
Photo of 2 Day trip to McLeodganj, Dharamshala by Kanika Justa

After our lunch, we headed out for the Bhagsu Nag temple. As per the legend, King Bhagsu had built this temple after seeking forgiveness from the Snake God. It is believed that the Nag Devta was raged in anger as King Bhagat stole water from their sacred Nag Dal Lake (another famous point).

Photo of Bhagsu Nag, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India by Kanika Justa

Bhagsu Temple is only about 10 minute's of drive away from the mall road. The temple itself is very small, although the premise is decent in size.

There is also a swimming pool where you can swim (ofcourse). But it was pretty cold that day so we skipped it.

Next on the list was the famous Bhagsu Waterfall. This is where you have to walk your way up to the main point. No cars, or bikes ! And it is quite a walk. I mean I personally loved it and it wasn't difficult at all. But people who are not active in general may find this difficult. The couple with us definitely struggled to walk up there.

Photo of Bhagsunag Waterfall Dharmshala, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India by Kanika Justa
Photo of Bhagsunag Waterfall Dharmshala, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India by Kanika Justa

You can also visit the oh so famous Shiva cafe here.

Photo of 2 Day trip to McLeodganj, Dharamshala by Kanika Justa

After spending couple of hours here, we set out to explore the last spot for the day: Dal Lake.

Must Read: dharamshala stadium

Honestly, there wasn't much to see. It looked more like a marshy pond and it had started raining as well. So, we quickly had some chai and tikki chaat on the road side stall and headed back to our hotel rooms.

Photo of Dal Lake, McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh by Kanika Justa
Photo of Dal Lake, McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh by Kanika Justa
Photo of Dal Lake, McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh by Kanika Justa

We rested there for couple of hours, since it was raining non-stop. At around 7:00 pm we headed back to the mall road for dinner. A friend had suggested Mcllo and must I say that we were not disappointed.

Apart from the mocktails, everything else was great: right from the ambiance, to music and the food was AMAZING. The best part is that it is located right in the beginning of the mall road, near the multi-level parking.

Day 3:

This was the day when we checked out of the guest house. But before leaving Dharamshala, we made sure to check out the tea gardens and the Cricket stadium.

There are a couple of tea estates/gardens in Dharamshala. You can take the tour and buy some organic Kangra tea.

The cricket stadium here is the highest one in the whole world !! It offers such an amazing view ! The ground is surrounded by the beautiful Dhauladhar ranges covered in snow ! I am sure it is one of the most beautiful cricket stadiums in the world.

Photo of Mcllo Resturant, Forsyth Ganj-Mcleod Ganj, McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh, India by Kanika Justa
Photo of Mcllo Resturant, Forsyth Ganj-Mcleod Ganj, McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh, India by Kanika Justa
Photo of Mcllo Resturant, Forsyth Ganj-Mcleod Ganj, McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh, India by Kanika Justa
Photo of Mcllo Resturant, Forsyth Ganj-Mcleod Ganj, McLeod Ganj, Himachal Pradesh, India by Kanika Justa
Photo of 2 Day trip to McLeodganj, Dharamshala by Kanika Justa

With this ended our short and sweet + very tiring journey. We had fun time there and definitely recommend going to Dharamshala for at least 3 full days to soak in everything.

I made a small vlog of this trip. You can watch it here: