If you want to travel to a place which has mix of both nature and spiritual journey , I highly recommend these places of Amritsar and Dharamshala in north India for family .
We booked a flight from Bangalore to Delhi and then Delhi to Amritsar. Since we had a opportunity to visit Delhi for a day trip , we had stayed in Delhi for a night
Early morning we had an morning flight to Amritsar and the main highlight of the trip (Golden temple) was visible even before landing .
As soon as we landed in Amritsar , we could feel a different kind of vibe with fields on both sides of roads . We had booked a cab for the whole trip of Amritsar and Dharamshala in advance. It is better to book in advance because it is more convenient with family to travel around and stop any place which you like on the way.
By the time we reached hotel and freshen up it was around 6 , we decided to have snacks at this small snack place in the city ( Giani tea stall) .
Amritsar is filled with such small snack places with yummy street foods everywhere.
After having snacks we went to golden temple . As soon as you get down from the car , we have to walk for around 500 meters till the entrance of the temple
There are several street vendors on the way. It is very irritating since they will try to sell everything possible to you till you reach the entrance of the temple . Once you enter the temple you can hear the Gurbani Kirtan (devotional prayer of Sikhs) . An amazing experience with peace of another level. Its a must visit for everyone irrespective of any religion belief . You need to pass through a flow of water at the entrance to keep your foot clean. There is a sick Museum and the world largest community kitchen inside this temple which server free food to all the devotees.
You have to experience both the night view and day view of the temple . Architecture of the buildings are marvellous.
Note - Please keep your head covered with cloth all the time inside the temple
We decided to roam around Amritsar.below are the few places to roam around .
1. Jallianwala bagh(was temporarily closed for renovation)
2. Partition museum
3. Wagah Attari border with closing ceremony (it was closed due to covid )
Dharamshala is a city in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Surrounded by cedar forests on the edge of the Himalayas, this hillside city is home to the Dalai Lama and Buddhist culture is visible everywhere in this city .
We had stayed at a hotel which comes in McLeod gunj ,McLeod is a place within Dharamshala also known as little Lhasa.
It took almost 6 hours from Amritsar to McLeod by road . We took rest for the rest of this travel day since it was raining outside and we were tired by travelling.
We started our Dharamshala trip with Dalai Lama temple which was around 5 km from our hotel
Dalai Lama temple has a beautiful huge size artefacts of lord Buddha .Calm and peaceful experience at this temple and good souvenirs to shop around this temple
This place was quite a surprise for me since I did not know much about it till I saw it .
It has a entrance fee of 50 rs but it is worth to spend for couple of hours to spend to check this place .you can check the Tibet culture here,nice path ways ,architecture,water flowing down the path way .if you are interested in learning new culture and art then you can visit this place
Today was our last day at Dharamshala, we decided to just visit one place, Bhagsu waterfall and some temple on the way
There is a nice café known as Shiva café on the way while trek to this waterfalls
Trek will take almost an hour to reach the place of waterfalls .i would not recommended to trek all the way with family since it is tiring and not worth . However you can visit the temple before the trek and may be walk around 20 min till mid way for some great view of the moutain
Serene mountains and beautiful steam of water flowing between the mountains
