The treasures in McLeodganj

My travel journal of the trip to Mcleodganj continued from day 2. This is the second half story of our second day in McLeodganj. 

Memorial at Dalai Lama 

As we left from St John's Church, it poured heavily for a good forty minutes. We were stuck in a massive traffic jam for more than an hour on the two kilometer road. Yet, we enjoyed that traffic snarl because of the pleasant weather and lush greenery around. Such amazing weather is so rare in the city.

We reached McLeodganj by half past one. The slippery wet roads and traffic in the narrow lanes of the market welcomed us. Post a hearty lunch we headed to Dalai Lama Temple.

On your visit to McLeodganj, Dalai Lama temple is a must visit. You never know you might get lucky to meet his highness, the holy Lama.
The temple premises has basic infrastructure with beautiful view of the mountains around.

As we entered the security check zone, to my surprise mobile phones and cameras were allowed as against my last visit in 2014 when they were not. People were free to take pictures even inside the premises this time!

Prayer Wheels of Dalai Lama Temple

Prayer Hall at Dalai Lama Temple

The temple complex attracts tourists globally who come in search of answers to questions of life and death. His highness Dalai Lama's temple houses a hostel complex for monks and students. Many have converted into Buddhists who spend their lives serving mankind or mediating there. The first floor with prayer bells and mediation hall gets the maximum footfall. 

Deep dive into the beautiful spiritual sojourn as you witness the large holy sculptures of Buddha, Avalokiteshwara and Gilded Chenrezig

Buddha

Avalokiteshvara

                Chenrezig

We had looked forward to spend some quiet peaceful moments in the temple, but it just did not happen. The place became noisy and a ground for selfie obsessed crowd. It surprised me to see the priests totally cool about it. We settled with some pictures of the deities and moved towards the prayer bells. It was not a pleasant experience unlike my last visit. Teens and young people obstructed the way of the prayer bell direction, posing for pictures and refusing to budge. Whatever happened to the peace of mind and maintaining the sanctity of a holy place?

The view from the first floor overlooking the green mountains is a visual treat. Infact the balcony view is more soothing than the statue premises. 

The whole premises takes less than an hour to see and soak in the positive vibes. We sat across the front gate of the ground floor trying to calm our minds and heal our hurt soles. By 3 pm, we departed from Dalai Lama temple, ticking it on our travel bucket list. :-) 

Our cab driver, suggested us to either go for para gliding or visit Khanyara. For the former we were not prepared nor had planned anything. So choosing the latter sounded a better option to us. Curious to explore, we covered a distance of around twelve kilometers to this lesser known place.

With very less footfall and serene beauty around, the isolated place boasts of a very old Aghanjar Mahadev Temple and a little river flowing in the backyard. Of-late this has emerged as a fun picnic spot.

Walk through this main entrance and see the open temple under the sky. The simplicity of the temple and the people is worth noting. No show of money, no royal ancient carvings on walls, no customary 'chadhawa', no loud bhakti sangeet would make you feel so free and at peace. I pondered over the show offs God is disturbed with. Isn't it? Why not just thank God for his blessings and give him a break? That's my idea of praying to the almighty.

History of the temple- During Mahabharat era, once when Arjun, was on his way to the Kailash Mountains. Lord Shiva appeared in front of him and blessed him with the Boon of Victory over the Kauravas. At this place Baba Ganga Bharati has fired "Akhand Dhuni" (Sacred Fire). 

Descend from a flight of stairs at the backyard, cross a little bridge and treat yourself to a splash of cold water from the Himalayan river.  

  

Slippery in many places, its good to seat yourself on the big stones. Dip your feet in water and relax. The backdrop is perfect for few selfies too! hehe

                                  

Though the place is extremely relaxing and worth travelling a long distance, Indian tourists always disappoint big time! Needless to mention how they litter all places and prove their cheap traits. To add to all this, there were beer bottles  at a holy place! Only God knows why does the temple authority ignore this. Atleast  people should respect the place! 

Anyway, we left the place heading to The Kashmir House crossing the Kotwali bazaar where we shopped for local specialties. We filled our shopping bag with lemon and honey flavor green tea, coconut cookies and tangy apple jam, of which the latter is my favorite. 

We retired to our lovely hotel and unwind-ed before packing and leaving from Dharamsala the same night after an eventful weekend. Dharamsala and McLeodganj happily ticked on our travel list in two days :-)

Enter and exit

                               Clicked at the tunnel leading to Chamera Dam, Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh.

Hills Paradise - Dalhousie

To visit Dalhousie was my dream that I nurtured since many years. A busy work life and other priorities deterred me from this heavenly place. A three day holiday came as a blessing in disguise and my desire to visit Dalhousie found wings. Around 84 kilometers from Pathankot, this lovely hill station is located at an altitude of 8000 ft above sea level in the lap of Himachal. We were welcomed by a light shower of rains at Pathankot, from where we hired a taxi driven by Kishori Lal.

Road Side Traffic

Kishori Lal ji ferried us to Dalhousie and through the entire place for sightseeing. Reliable, polite and experienced, he did not give us a single chance to complain. A straight two hours’ drive from Pathankot would have brought us to our guest house Silverton estate. However, we detoured and visited Chamera Dam first, which is a boating site and a nice picnic spot. (Our primary reason to detour- Silverton Estate check in time was 12 Noon and we had ample time to kill). Awestruck by the beauty of nature, our three hours’ drive of 120 kilometers from Pathankot to Chamera dam was full of stopovers for photography & fun. Chamera Dam is in the heart of Chamba valley (The very serene place where Bollywood film Taal was shot).

Passed through this tunnel right before the dam approach roads

Chamera Dam

The kissable roses

Beating around the bushes-Literally!

Boating was restricted day due to rains. So we had to settle with posing along everything and anything around for pictures. The dam site blossomed with pink roses and fluffy red flowers that filled the air with sweet fragrance. I could not stop myself from kissing the charming roses!

The 3^rd week of April was surprising chilly against our expectations with locals still wearing woolens and I carried none.  I clung to a thin shawl which I had brought along anticipating cold at night. The drive at the hilly roads towards Chamera Dam offered breathtaking view of the lush greenery, dreamy fog, crystal blue water and blossoming flowers. Such beauty is so rare in the cities.

The peaceful ambiance of the place was only interrupted by the cold breeze and rain drops. The feeling was beyond words. I wanted to stay in the paradise for longer. We stuffed ourselves with maggi, momos, flavored tea and marked an end to our short stay at the divine Chamera Dam.

Silverton Estate

Window overlooking the lawn

Living room of Silverton

We covered a distance of 35 kilometers driving for another hour from Chamera Dam that brought us to our guest house Silverton Estate. Located at a hill top amidst snowy fog and plush greenery, the heritage property was undreamed-of. I jumped with joy the moment I entered the property. Built during the British era, the three room apartment with bedroom, living room and dining room boasted of elements from the past. Be it the furniture, the windows, the lights, the flower vase or the switches, you feel no less than a queen with the fringes of the opulent history bustling in the room so perfectly. Old yet strong, the beautiful artifacts were very well maintained. The windows overlooked green lawn surrounded by cedar & chir trees.

Dining room@Silverton

Vikram, the owner welcomes us with rejuvenating lemon tea.  The dining room had a book shelf which immediately caught my attention. The books were of stories from the British rule to history of Dalhousie. My friends of course did not let me read books, as we were on a fun vacation, and not a boring tour. Thanks Shivani and Pooja! Silverton has an in-house kitchen which serves simple and healthy food. This is a must during trips as often people neglect their health and gorge on anything while travelling. We were lucky to get home made food in Silverton with an attendant to serve us, as done in Army style. We were more than impressed! I could not get enough of Dalhousie and the lovely Silverton Estate. The all girls trip became a memorable one. Most of the photo credits goes to our polite driver Kishori ji.

Places to see in Dalhousie-

Ghandhi Chowk Market- The central point of Dalhousie is a small local market with speciality wooden works, sweets made of fruits, fresh cakes, and pickles. Nothing spectacular to shop for, unless you want to enjoy hot momos/maggi and hot beverages.

St Francis Church

St Francis Church- Next to the Subhash Chowk vicinity. A quiet place housing an old church, few caged birds and of course the beautiful garden. Built in 1894

Subhash Chowk- The commercial point of the town with a memorial of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. The road connects to the beautiful Panchpula waterfall. Trek up on the waterfall hills for adventure or startling pictures. We visited the place with a borrowed umbrella while it rained throughout the day.

Around Dalhousie-

1. Kalatop- A wildlife sanctuary with forest guest houses, this place has been a popular shooting location for many movies, including bollywood flick Lootera (2013). Spread in a wide area, the forest has a heavy flora & fauna along with guest houses for accommodation. You can also trek up to the peak of Dainkund. (We skipped Kalatop, only to realize later "Lootera"was shot here and the place is a heaven! 

2. Khajiaar- Popularly known as the  mini Switzerland of India, the place is a huge expanse of a green pastureland surrounded by the hilly trees, 21 kilometers away from Dalhousie. Soak the sun on the green pastures while sheep grazing by your side. The place makes a nice picnic spots with lot of eating joints around.

Khajjiar

3. Dainkund- Named after the witches that disturbed the villagers, Dainkund is a hill top to trek on amid the marvelous vegetation and foggy trails, just 12 kilometers from Dalhousie. The mountain of Dainkund rises to an altitude of 2,745 meters above sea level and provides a breathtaking view of the surrounding regions. Dainkund is the highest mountain in Dalhousie that provides a picture book scenery of the whole valley. Daikund is popularly known as the singing hill. Protected and maintained by the Indian Airforce , the area gets a fair share of snowfall throughout winters. My friends and I enjoyed snowfall in April!!!!!!!!! Climatic changes may be?

4. Dharamshala/McLeodganj-  About 124 km from Dalhousie is McLeodganj, bustling with tourists from all over the world, good night life and not so quiet like Dalhousie.
(Read: https://expressunleashed.blogspot.in/2014/05/memoirs-from-mcleodganj.html) 

Do's and Don'ts-

• Do try the ginger chutney which is a local pickle preparation that adds wonderful taste and aroma to food.
• For those with sweet tooth can gorge on to fruit burfi and fresh cakes.
• Be prepared for abrupt rains or freezing wind and carry anything warm.
• Dalhousie is quiet place with no night life or pubs/discs. Only photography enthusiasts, nature lovers and those looking for peace of mind should visit the place.