Devbhoomi Himachal - A Trip to McLeod Ganj

The trip was getting planned since long. After all, I had not been anywhere since May ’09, so it was high time now. I decided to go to Lonavala first...but the plan got cancelled. I tried to persuade so many people but apparently it was only me who badly needed a break. Ultimately, me and my colleague Krushna got our tickets booked for McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala. The volvo leaves ISBT Kashmiri Gate at 8:00 pm and we managed to reach just-on-time...it left at 8:20 pm though...!!! We fetched some snacks and a water bottle and comforted ourselves in the bus. Bus crossed Delhi border, breezed through the GT road and we slept...!!!

We reached at Dharamshala bus terminal at about 8:00 in the morning. From there we boarded a local bus to McLeod Ganj...just 8 rupees for a ticket...wow...!!! After reaching McLeod Ganj, we started our search for a decent hotel in our budget. Hotel Bhagsu failed in our test, i.e. Budget test...!!! We then moved ahead a bit and found a room for just Rs 600/- a night in Hotel Green on Bhagsu Road. Then after having Tibetan Bread and Tea in breakfast and taking a warm shower, we started to trek on the way to Triund, we did not plan to trek till Triund though. From McLeod Ganj, Dharamkot is about 2 km, and from there we took the usual road instead of the shortcut, and I thank myself for that...!!! The trek was full of amazing views every 100 meters. On that very calm trek, only sounds were of chirping of birds and the breeze...!!! We spent some 40-45 minutes sitting on the side of road, facing towards the valley...it was an unforgettable experience.

After reaching Gallu Temple mid-way to Triund, we took a halt at one of the few cafe-cum-rest-houses there. It was named Horizon Rest House where we had chapattis with mix-vegetable, omelette and Tea...and we had this gastronomic treat along with the visual treat on the terrace of the rest house. The beauty and serene mystery of the place is beyond words. The owner, Ajay, is very friendly and hospitable. He says he doesn’t want the place to be popular among the youth of India, because if this happens, the place will be doomed to get ruined like most of other places which have got commercial over the period of time, and he is right to believe so. At least I would certainly not want to publicize that place. After spending some time there, surrendering ourselves to the clouds that came to overpower the entire being of the place, we started trekking along the waterfall trail. It was not like usual trek...in fact it was like finding your way through a dense jungle where clouds come and spread whenever they feel like. Putting firm steps on the slippery rocks and dodging the thorny bushes, we trekked for around 40-45 minutes...but couldn’t make it to the waterfall. It had started getting dark and we were sort of stuck at a point where it was not easy to move ahead from. It got real cloudy like hell...quite dark on that...and wet too...!!! So...just to save our souls and acting cautiously we came back to the rest house and from there to Dharamkot through the short-cut....and its really a “short-cut” believe me...then came to the hotel in an auto rick-shaw....!!! We had our dinner at the Oogo’s Italian Cafe on Temple Road...had paani-puri and pastries at the shop just below the Mc Llo restaurant. I was having a bit of a cough problem for the past few weeks, so I then had some medicine, brandy with hot water, and came back to the hotel, watched TV and then slept...a sound sleep it was...!!!

We got up not so early the next morning, but still we got ready after finishing our daily chores by 10 am. We then slipped into the market and visited a small temple on just the adjacent road, i.e. on the right side of Mc Llo restaurant. We spun the cylinders (containing Tibetan mantras) and thus completed one round of the temple. We were now ready for our breakfast which was waiting just in front of that temple. I had Apple Pan Cake, Hot Chocolate and Bread Butter and Krushna could not stay away from Aaloo Paratha anymore. We now had to check-out from the hotel but we didn’t want to carry our bags and trek till Bhagsunag Falls, and luckily the hotel had a facility for Luggage Storage. So we dumped our stuff in and headed towards the falls. It was not as difficult a trek as Triund’s, but offered equally beautiful views on the way. There is this temple called Bhagsu Temple on the way, and this place looks like any other pilgrimage in the hilly part of India. It has all those small hotels, lodges and rest-houses around, small shops and road-side thela (carts) selling Prasaad. The temple was built by some King Bhagsu of Ajmer after he came here in search of water while his state had scarcity of it. The place has natural springs that form two ponds, one of which has now become a swimming pool. The water is super cold, of neutral taste and is really refreshing. Crossing that temple complex led us to the track that goes further to the falls, but after going about 100 mts from there, we slipped a bit down in the valley to the stream that was coming from the falls. There are huge rocks one can make a bed or a dining table of. Tens and tens of local people, Buddhist Lamas and European tourists (most of them Israelis) were spread out on different rocks and planes near the stream and we spent about 15-20 minutes there. One thing which I noticed there was the slovenly inconsiderate acts of people littering indiscriminately in the area, and really broke my heart. I wanted to shout it out on the people, but could not do so. I wonder what kind of mentality such fools possess and how do they manage not thinking twice before ruining such a place. I believe that they don’t think even once, forget about thinking twice. I wish that soon the basic/elementary education in India starts focusing on such civil conducts and environmental awareness so that the next generation has some love and care for Mother Earth.

After that, we again came to the normal track and started to move further towards the falls. This fall is not as high as Iruppu Falls in Coorg, but is surrounded by more hills, and green ones on that. There is a cafe besides the falls we got our stuff from – a Maggie, bread butter, tea and Apple Juice. We kept sitting there for a while, watching people around, and the ones who were daring enough to take a dip (and sometimes a jump) in the freezing water of the falls. We decided to come back half way on the rocks along the stream, not by the usual track. It is a bit dangerous if you are not wearing proper shoes, but we were not prepared and were wearing sandals...but we still managed to climb down the rocks till mid-way, where there were very few people around, spent some time there savouring the breathtaking views 360 degrees around us. There were clouds on the hill-tops, smooth and cool breeze was kind of titillating us and above all, the sounds of stream flowing around us.

After coming back from the falls, we rested a while on the benches lying near the square, on the road to Dal Lake, shopped a little and collected our stuff from the hotel. We then decided to return to Dharamshala so that we can spend some time in the market there and get the bus on time. We caught a bus, a local one that runs between Delhi and Dharamshala, and reached Dharamshala at about 6 PM. Now it was time for killing the “tongue-desires”, so we slipped into the market and had Paani-Puri, Gulab-Jamun, Gujhiya and Shahi-Tukda...just for the taste you see...!!! Then we had tea near the bus stop and waited for the bus. In the meanwhile, I utilized the weighing machine lying there, and it read 64 kilos...“Thank God, I’m not losing weight”, I said to myself. The bus that took us back home crossed a place, I don’t know what it was, but it was a kind of a small village in the foothills and all I could see and appreciate from my sleepy eyes was a temple that was quite well illuminated and a river (proper mountain river) flowing by its side. The image of the temple, bathed in the light of small lamps, was so well visible, glittering in the flowing waters of the stream that I would like to have that view in my dreams all through my life.

Journey back home was not as long as it was while going and it was a bit more comfortable also because we could sleep all night, or probably we were so tired that we couldn’t even wake up for dinner or other types of nature’s calls. We reached ISBT, Delhi at 7:15 AM and from there I boarded a metro to my place. In totality, the experience was unforgettable, especially the place where we sat in solace on the road side while trekking towards the Triund, the cafe that we found mid-way to Triund and the short-cut we took while coming back and the feeling of oneness with nature. Every view, every smell and every taste we had while this time is something I’ll definitely cherish always. And most certainly, I will again go till Triund in January some time, when its totally covered by snow...can not wait for that time.