After 13 hours of train and almost four hours of sitting in three different overcrowded buses driving on terribly bumpy roads (the regular Indian travel experience that is), I finally made it to my destination just before noon yesterday. McLeod Ganj is located in the district of Kangra in Himachal Pradesh and it's ten kilometers of curvy, climbing roads away from the main city it belongs to, Dharamsala. The average elevation is just above two kilometers, but it varies because of the hilly landscape.
I was tired and exhausted when I got to the city and decided against a long hotel search. I walked for about ten minutes and found a hotel called Annex and after some bargaining, I booked a room for one night. It was more than I normally would pay for a night here (1000rs, around 12e or 15$), but a nice hot shower, comfy bed and a beautiful view from the balcony made the deal sound too nice.
After a two hour nap and a shower, I started exploring the city. I went to the Tsuglag Khang, the Dalai Lama's temple, but unfortunately cameras are not allowed there. I'll try to take a picture or two from the outside later today. Instead, I managed to take a few nice scenery shots yesterday.
The town was a popular place during the British rule, but after an earthquake in 1905, the town lost most of its appeal. First in 1959, when the Tibetan uprising failed and the 14th Dalai Lama took refuge in McLeod Ganj, the town returned to the world history. In 1960 the Indian government officially granted him refuge and the town became his official residence and the residence of the government of Tibet in exile. Thousands of refugees from Tibet live here now and the town has become a pilgrimage site for Buddhists and tourists seeking enlightenment.
Right now I'm having breakfast in a nice cafe. I just found a hotel for the next night as well. I'm only booking one night at a time, because I'm planning to do a trek up the mountains, maybe tomorrow or the day after that. I'm still trying to decide, whether to go for a one night trek or a three night one, but the more I think about it, I'm starting to lean on the latter. How often do I get a chance to climb up to 4500 meters?
Today's plan still includes a visit to the Tibet museum and some relaxed looking around. Later I'm trying to find some Tibetan food for supper, which will not be to difficult here. I already had vegetarian Gyatog (soup with noodles and vegetables) and tsampa (porridge made out of roasted barley flour). The latter was worth trying out, but I think I'll stick to wheat and oats from now on. The first mentioned was something I definitely can recommend.
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