MLG, aka McLeod Ganj.

View from our room.

The trip to Mcleod Ganj was planned more as a tour of desperation since we were not able to travel to Kolkata during the Pujas. Initially my brother, Tulai was to travel to meet our parents in Kolkata in the Puja week. Hence it was no fun for us to stay back in Delhi during the same period. We had only a day's leave at the office on the Dussserra day on Wednesday. And the travel plans were made accordingly around it. We were to start off from Delhi on Nabami night, which happened to be a Tuesday, and will be back on Sunday early morning. Meanwhile, Tulai's plans got cancelled and it was so late that it was not possible to bring our parents to Delhi. And the Durga Puja came just like that.

Shashthi and Saptami were weekends. And we hopped around C. R. Park pandals and the few in Gurgaon. Even on Ashtami we were out in the evening after office till eleven in the night. Hence on Tuesday when we started off for the station, we were a bit taken by surprise.

The ride to the station was not without its share of excitement. It was Nabami, the day before the Dussera, and travelling to the Old Delhi station passing the Ramleela ground became more challenging than we had expected it to be. And there were more than one moment where we felt that we were to miss the train. But it was the nationally famed punctuality of Indian Railways that saved the day for us. The train destined to start at 8:10 actually started at 8:30 pm, and that extra twenty minutes proved really vital for us. The trip had started more excitingly than we had in fact planned and if this was the trailer of things to follow, Mcleod Ganj was going to be a trip to remember.

The train trip to Pathankot was a peaceful night's sleep, sparingly disturbed by the normal murmurs and hubbubs at the intermittent stations. And to our surprise the Jammu Mail reached Pathankot dot on time at 6:30 am. Meanwhile around 5 in the morning Satinder, our driver for pick up from the station had called to inform that he was there already. And upon de-boarding the train we found him near the exit, quite in a cinematic way, holding up a placard which distinctly read “Welcome Mr Debopam Chaudhuri”!

Our ride of 81 kilometers from Pathankot to Mcleod Ganj was relaxing as well. For most parts of the journey, though we were traveling almost in plane land, whilst the steep upward heave happened in the last few kilometers only. The winding roads around the mountain were much steeper than we had normally found in other hill stations like Shimla or Moussourie. But the scenic beauty was no less than any of them. In fact the way the Dhauladhar suddenly sprung up in front of our view with its beautiful snow-capped peaks was really mystical. The mountains seemed much closer to us, and it felt that it may be well with in the reach of our outstretched arm, which actually provided the reasoning behind the steep rise!

We made a stop midway at a place called Hotel Manor for breakfast, a place approved and recommended by Satinder. Generally places like these never hit the mark. But for a change Hotel Manor is a place which I would recommend as an ideal place for stop over for your drive from Pathankot to Dharamsala / Mcleod Ganj. The location for one is very serene, with the windows all looking down on a rivulet rushing down along its rocky route. The food was also fresh and simple. The most memorable part from the place was the hoarding in front of the place which said something like this: “Hotel Manor, Come Hungry, Leave Happy”. It fitted our situation pretty well!

The Balcony and the winding road.

We reached our hotel, Villa Paradiso around 9:30. The hotel is almost a kilometer before the main square, at the intersection of the two roads (which by the way now operate as one way routes, one for going up, and the other for coming down) up to Mcleod Ganj. And our room was on the corner on the first floor. Being on the corner had the advantage with respect to the view. On one side we had the glimpse of the snow peak while the other side looked over the valley side of the Dharamsala town. And the balcony spread across almost three side of the room, with the intersection of the winding road below it. It was really awesome! The welcome drink included a full bottle of red wine, how much we would be able to use it was another question though. And the welcome tray had the usual cookies and chips with a pack of Toblerone in it. Overall the room was cozy and comfortable, and definitely clean and welcoming. But on the downside, it seemed smaller when compared to the money it was charging! But at the end of the day, it was the morning of Bijoya Dashami, or Dussera morning, and it was not the time for all these intricate calculations, and what mattered most was whether we were happy or nor! And happy we definitely were!

Inside Jimmy's Italian Kitchen

We took an hour or so to freshen up, and start our Mcleod Ganj adventure. Our moods were in line with the beaming bright sun bathed morning weather; cheerful and raring to go. Temperatures were well below what we were experiencing at the plains in Delhi Gurgaon region (we needed our light woolens). And the pleasing chill mixed with the balmy sunshine was really a mood refresher. We were out on the streets around eleven, and started our trip up hill along the road on which the Dalai Lama is located. The walk up to the main square past the Dalai Lama temple took fifteen minutes. And we headed straight to the Jimmy’s Italian Kitchen, and had a spread of a Pizza with mostly chicken toppings, a Baked Potato with bacon and Gnocchi. The food was warm, fresh and tasty. The only downside was the gnocchi, which was not as soft and tender to our liking. But the most striking feature of Jimmy’s Italian Kitchen was the décor. All around the walls in the room there were framed print out of posters from famous and may be not so well known movies. It was almost a case of “you name it, and we have it” scenario!

We loitered around in the streets around the main square for a couple of hours (which also was a premier requirement after such a heavy meal); going up and down road that leads to the Bhagsu Falls and also peeping in to the various small curio shops selling small mementos. After that we started our way back to the hotel along the other road which was meant for vehicles coming up to Mcleod Ganj. On our way down, we stopped for refueling at the Chocolate Log. The place is known to be an institution and has been included in the local foodie folk lore with distinction. But the desserts we had were a bit letdown there. The Chocolate cake was pretty disappointing, as it was just average in taste and pretty dry as well. The other chocolate dessert (I do not remember the name) which I had was though much better, without giving the “out of the world” feeling. The only “out of the world” feeling we had there was due to the ambiance of the open air terrace sitting arrangement with the trees providing the all necessary shades.

Our trip back down the steep slope somehow seemed a more tricky and challenging task than climbing up! The slope was really steep and the road in many places seemed to be strategically broken and damaged to make the task of walking down the road look almost like trekking! The road condition definitely need some proper maintenance and some serious repair work at many spots. We agreed on that moment to take the other route while coming down for our next venture, since it had a faintly defined walk way with steps and hand rails across most part of the road, making the walk slightly easier and safer as well.

Ramleela from our hotel window.

We were back at our hotel around four; put our feet up for the next hour or so, then had our afternoon tea and enjoyed the onset of the evening from our room through the balcony door. The play of the light and dark and the colour of dusk on the palette of the sky extended up to the horizon was a mesmerizing affair as darkness gradually sunk in to the earth. And after sometime the night lit up again; this time it was set alight with the firecrackers from the Dussera celebrations in Dharamsala. Far far away, and down below, we even witnessed the Ramleela celebrations some where in Dharamsala. Only the smoke and the light from the crackers were visible from up there, and it all made it an enchanting spectacle.

Dinner was at the restaurant below, and an Indian spread of Roti, Rice, a Daal and a Chicken. The food was pretty average, and again seemed pretty expensive considering the choice and quantity offered. And we were ready to go to sleep. The sleep though was very comfortable.

Next morning, after a very ordinary breakfast at the hotel we had booked Satinder for a day tour around Mcleod Ganj. (though it is possible and also in many places recommended to trek and walk along the tourist spots in Mcleod Ganj to get the proper feel of the place, yet for Debarghya, our dear old car fanatic we needed the car ride). We started with the Bhagsunath temple and the Bhagsu Falls.

The car dropped of us at the car park, from where the temple was just a stone throw’s distance. But there was a pool in front of the temple which caught the eye of Debarghya, combined by the fact that he also eyed a small toy pistol at a shop near the temple entrance and it resulted in the fact that our stay was very short at the temple. Then the walk up to the falls was almost a kilometer and a half from the temple. The walk was fun and enjoying, but we were not able to reach the exact base of the waterfalls, as the final section of the route really needed us to put our trekking shoes on! Yet we had a fun time there, as we found an alternate route to go down to the little stream, and roam around the rocks and enjoy the water. We spent some fun time around the water, and then decided to return from there; and as always the walk back seemed to be much longer.

Dalai Lama temple

Our next destination was the Naddi view point, which rather turned out to be a dampener as the clouds took out the View from the view point. We though had a small tea break; and moved to the next point which was the St John’s Church in the wilderness, which was in fact a typical quaint church available in any Tom, Dick and Harry of a hill station. Next was the Dalai Lama Temple. It is also known as the Tsuglagkhang or Tsuglag Khang. It houses the statues, in sitting postures, of Shakyamuni  (the central image), Avalokiteśvara (the deity of compassion sculpted in silver with eleven faces and thousand arms and eyes -linked to a legend), and Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) - both facing the direction of Tibet. Beyond the facts and fictions of religion and its beliefs, the temple had somehow a very very calming effect on us. The simplistically arranged plan, the paucity of glitter and a plethora of tranquility will in some way make you feel humble and respectful.We collected a few mementos from the souvenir shop inside the temple complex, but skipped the Tibetan Museum there.

Spread at Tibetan Kitchen

What followed was a late lunch at the Tibetan Kitchen and ordered a Chinese and Tibetan platter of Momos as starters and Noodle soup in Tibetan style as the main courses. Food was quite awesome, and we managed to finish off every single bit off the plate! It is to be noted here that, our choices of restaurants were almost preplanned following the extensive studies of the reviews available in multiple traveler sites in the internet.

We were back at the hotel and were declined room service at dinner due a combination of lack of staff and almost full booking; and the Chinese platter we had at the restaurant was not even worth of any mention here. But the night’s sleep was replenishing to the extent to make us ready for another hard day of touring and toiling (!) at Mcleod Ganj.

The next day was planned as free day, a full day without any plans, a full day to roam around as per our will, a full day to explore Mcleod Ganj aimlessly. So we started off from the hotel after the usual bland breakfast towards the main square. After a bit of to and fro we stopped at the Nick's Italian for a brunch. We had a pizza and a spinach and mushroom ravioli; and had a chocolate brownie to finish off. Then we walked around the main square, poking our nose in to almost every alternate shop in the street trying to locate the best fit 'Japayantra'. But our all our attempts failed, as none simultaneously had the 'good looks' and yet fitted into the budget. We ultimately ended up in the souvenir shop owned by the cooperative society right at the corner where the two roads again meet in the square. We tried to get a little something for our near and dear ones; and we actually completed the list after repeated attempts and venture into that shop. We also located Bookworm, the book shop and got a Noddy book for Debarghya. We tried to locate the Norling Guest house, went around the bus stand and taxi stands; had brief stop over where we had a Cola drink manufactured by Catch company in a 200 ml PET bottle, while observing the hustle bustle of a normal afternoon in the town, the mundane routine of local people, the Lamas dressed in their normal attire adding the specific colour in the crowd, the usual group of children returning from school stealing some moments to chat and share an ice cream and simultaneously playing around with a stray puppy in the road.

More than three hours had passed just like that. And we were hungry again. We wanted to have Tibetan and without venturing anywhere else went back to Tibetan Kitchen. This time we had Chicken Drumsticks as starters, followed by a Noodle, a Thupka and a Pork side dish with vegetables as main course. After the sumptuous second lunch session for the day we were too tired to start a new adventure and planned to trudge back to the hotel. After our not so good experience last night combined with the fact we had practically two lunch we planned to skip dinner altogether. On our way back we packed three pastries and a few fruits; as well as a small packet of Chocos for Debarghya's breakfast the next day.

Next day, we had planned to be a day trip to Dharamsala, and Satinder was ready at the doorstep early morning. We started with the tea garden in Dharamsala! Yes, you read it right, a tea garden! We initially had a lot of reservations about it as well. How can a tea garden be present there, but what awaited us was a picturesque greenery in front of a white snow-capped mountains beneath the clear azure blue sky. Really colorful. It was followed by an inconsequential visit to a temple in the hill side, which was made memorable by Debarghya, as he wanted to bring back the idol of tiger near the temple entrance from there!. Next was an Army memorial park in Dharamsala. Debarghya had a field day there, with almost a life size model of a fighter plane and a not so good model of a battleship (not life size of course) to play around. Overall, it was not a “not to be missed” item, in case any of the readers plan to travel to Dharmasala in the future. Our next stop was the HPCA Stadium. It has almost turned into a tourist spot in a way, as one of the gates is open to public for getting inside the stands and to get a feel of the cricket ground from inside. This time around I was having a field day in more ways than one! The snow capped mountains at the back drop makes this stadium, may be, the prettiest cricket stadium of the world.

Deden Tsuglakhang

Our final stop for the day was the Norbulingka Institute at Sidhpur. The Norbulingka Institute was founded in 1988 by the present and the 14th Dalai Lama. The institute is dedicated to the preservation of the Tibetan language and cultural heritage and is named after Norbulingka, the traditional summer residence of the Dalai Lamas, in Lhasa, Tibet. The main building is a replica of the Norbulingka palace in Lhasa, and was really breathtaking. Overall the ambiance inside was so peaceful, that it seemed that we were actually in a different planet. The 'Seat of Happiness Temple' (Deden Tsuglakhang) was equally astounding, with its magnanimity of the 4 metre high Copper statue of Buddha, intricate detailing of the innumerable Buddha murals and frescos of all the Lamas. The Losel doll museum is also not to be missed; it houses an array of diorama displays of traditional Tibetan panorama and lifestyles.

We were dropped off at the Main Square at Mcleodganj in late afternoon, and we were so famished that we rushed in to Jimmy’s Kitchen and ordered a Pizza, Grilled Chicken and Banoffee Pie! And, as before, we finally lumbered back to our hotel room. It was now time to pack our bags and say our final farewell to our charming holiday in Mcleod Ganj. We started off from the hotel around seven aboard our constant travel companion, Satinder’s Indigo; made a stop over at Hotel Manor for a fresh and warm dinner, to reach Pathankot Station a couple of hours before the scheduled departure of Dhauladhar Express. The wait at the station was impatient and irritating, but the journey back in the first class coupe was very peaceful and comforting. We reached Old Delhi station on time next morning, and travelled back to Gurgaon through leisurely Sunday morning traffic pretty smoothly. And Monday? Back to our normal mundane routine, what else?