Trip members: Karthik and family
Trip date: 12 - 19 Jan 2019
Trip Plan : Chennai - New Delhi - Pathankot - Dalhousie - McLeod Ganj - Dharamshala - Gopalpur - Baijnath - Kangra - Pathankot - New Delhi - Chennai
A trip specifically planned as a best attempt to see snow and the plan had its perfect coincidence for the objective to be met.
Distances
We started from Chennai by Saturday afternoon to New Delhi and reached Delhi by 7 PM. We had our overnight train from Delhi to Pathankot via Udhampur AC express from Sarai Rohilla station at 10:15 PM. We reached NDLS from airport by metro and then hired an auto to Sarai Rohilla. We had dinner at a local shop near station and boarded the train. The train ride was comfortable with respect to timings and would reach Pathankot by 5:45 AM.
Day-2
Our cab was ready for our 6-day ride at Pathankot Cantonment railway station by 5:45 AM. We boarded the cab and slowly started towards Dalhousie. We stopped enroute for some tea and killed around 20 minutes as it was very dark even by 6:45. We were missing some valley views as it was dark and used the tea break for the Sun to rise. Across the way, beautiful views were so pleasing.
We crossed Banikhet around 8:45 AM and sighted snow on the pathways and slowly in next 2-3 kms, the whole place was filled with snow, which had just stopped - so fresh, so white and so beautiful. It was a big surprise to see snow across the way as we expected snow in Khajjiar or Chamba. The driver managed to drive 2 more kms in the heavy snow; however, after a point, almost every car was running at the same place and unable to drive on. Only 4 wheel drives were possible. We called up the hotel and they arranged a pick-up for us and asked us to wait for sometime as the roads are blocked by cars. Meanwhile, for the next 1 to 2 hours, we enjoyed our every moment in the snow, our first experience of its kind. The soft white substance was indeed a game on!
Our gypsy arrived to pick us up and reached Dalhousie. Dalhousie is marked by 2 sides of market - Subhash Chowk and Gandhi Chowk, 1 km apart on walking trial and around 2-3 kms by road. Our hotel, Hotel Mogas resort was near the far end of the market - Gandhi Chowk. Our gypsy was stuck in traffic and snow at Subhash Chowk and after discussing with the driver, we left the luggage in gypsy and took a walk to the hotel from Subhash Chowk. The whole walkway was filled with snow and we were feeling heavenly walking along. We indeed got our shoes and socks wet, but, we enjoyed the moment.
We reached Hotel Mongas and had to wait for check-in. It was almost 2 PM. The reason was the guests were doing late check-out as they had no way to get out of Dalhousie. We waited and got our room at the attic - very spacious, quite warm, fitted with Heat pillar, big bed and sofas. We refreshed and had lunch in their restaurant. The food was prepared fresh and tasty and surplus quantity; we enjoyed it thoroughly.
We took some to rest as we were tired with the overnight journey, early wake-up and walk / time on the snow. We went out for an evening walk in the mall road across Gandhi chowk. The place has shops for snacks like momos, maggi, sandwiches, coffee and more; and shopping winter items and local souvenirs. The snow had started to solidify and turn to ice. Walking was little slippery and we enjoyed every moment of it. We returned back to the hotel and had dinner.
Day-3
Starting the day before 8 AM was very difficult because of the weather. Reception people confirmed there is no transportation in Dalhousie and snow had not cleared even a bit. All we can do was walk around for 1-2 kms in different directions and return back to hotel. We had buffet breakfast at the Hotel and started the walk on vehicle route of Gandhi Chowk to Subhash Chowk; earlier when we arrived at Dalhousie and caught up in traffic, we took the walking route and now we took the road route. The beautiful white coloured snow peaks and eye-catching sides on the roads, snow mounds, snow-laden deep green pine trees were a treat to watch. We walked around for around 2 hours. We also did some small shopping in Indo-Tibetian market - souvenir, and shoes for my daughter to walk comfortably on snow/ice.
We returned back to hotel for lunch, relaxed for 15-20 minutes and started our walk in other other direction towards Dalhousie forest, thanks to Jeya for choosing this direction. In 5 mins walk, we got into thick woods with heavy snow all around. This route was not touched by any vehicle or people that much and the snow was very fresh and had great photographic moments! We spent almost more than 1 hour on this route enjoying on the snow. We also witnessed a colourful sunset from Gandhi Chowk.
We returned back to the mall road for some hot tea, Gulab Jamun, maggi and much more. We had dinner at Dosa Plaza - serving several varieties of Dosa. Masala dosa was good, Uthappam was just ok and chilli paneer dosa was awesome. They also served filter coffee and it was quite a yummy dinner to end the memorable day.
Day-4
The plan was to check out by 9 AM and reach McLeod Ganj by noon. Yet, the snow was not cleared and police had not cleared for vehicles to operate. Past 2 days, our driver was staying in Bhaniket - 9 kms from Dalhousie. He had reached the Dalhousie bus stand - 3 kms from where we stayed and police were not allowing vehicles till 11 AM. Then, only local small cars were allowed to port tourists and we hired one for Rs.500 to reach the bus stand. By noon, we left Dalhousie with amazing memories towards Dharamshala. One can stay either in Dharamshala or McLeod Ganj. McLeod Ganj is small Tibetian town around 6 kms from Dharamshala.
There are 2 routes to reach McLeod Ganj from Dharmashala - one is 6 kms - very narrow and steep pathway; very difficult to navigate; other one if 11 kms - typical ghat roads and lands you at the top of McLeod Ganj. First time, our driver took us on the first route and found it very difficult to cope up the climb. Following days, our driver took the detour. McLeod Ganj is overall a small town with 2 parallel one-way roads in the market area and 6 local sight seeing locations - overall, worth a day trip and a night stay. We planned for stay here for 3 nights with plans of going around in the Kangra district and staying in McLeod Ganj.
Enroute, we had lunch around 2:30 at Hotel Daawat on the Mandi road near Kotla. The food was prepared fresh. No complaints place with respect to food - good service and clean restaurant. We reached McLeod Ganj around 4 PM. We had booked Hotel Pink house based on the reviews - a budget place with great ratings and reviews. The hotel is located in a steep close with steep stairs - around 50 to reach the hotel. The hotel is little difficult to locate, however, fortunately, one of their employees were standing in the place we got down and helped us reach. The place is like a maze, sufficient size of the room and great views. The rooms and bathrooms were clean, food was quite good and the service of the place was absolutely good. No frills place; but comfort for the budget is good. We asked for a kettle and got it. We rented a heater (small one) for Rs.250 per night.
Post check-in, we hardly had 45 mins for sunset and planned to visit Naddi Hill point. One the way to Naddi Hill point, one can also stop by at St.John's in the wilderness, a very old church located in the thick woods - apt for a moment for photography.
Naddi Hill point is one of the very popular spots in the locality known for trekking to Triund hill. The famous trek routes from this spot are - Guna Mata temple trek, Triund kill trek and much more. There are 2 spots for views - one if the Naddi Hill point and then one other - Sunset point - 2 minutes walk from the parking on the opposite direction of Naddi Hill point. The golden panoramic view of Naddi Hill point was mesmerizing. After taking few snaps, we ran down to the sunset point and sunset had started. The sunset was quite colourful and it happened very fast.
We then visited Dal lake - a very small lake in McLeod Ganj. The place was not so attractive and one can give a miss to stop. May be summer evenings could be exciting.
We reached back McLeod Ganj market area and took the place by foot. We walked around the market area - had super hot momos, cakes and bought some souvenirs. We had dinner at a Tibetian restaurant - pure vegetarian - Shangri La. We ordered for Tupkas and momos. The momos were very bland with no salt and spice and so was the soupy noodles - Tupka. We experienced the Tibetian food but did not suit us for the blandness of the food. We found it difficult to complete it.
Day - 5
Breakfast in McLeod Ganj is a challenge till 10 AM. Every day the weather had been hovering around 1 to 4 degrees during this time! Having been used to early breakfasts, we struggled to find restaurants open till 9:30 in McLeod Ganj. Hotel Punjabi Tarka was the only restaurant open and we had aloo and paneer parathas. The parathas were average but the only one available. Tea was quite good. We then walked down the road to HH Dalai Lama's main temple - Namgyal Monastery, 500 m from the chowk. At the entrance one can see Tibetian museum. Tibetian museum is free to visit and has the history of Tibet - how it was, what happened during the political issues with China, exploitation and how the monasteries and religion have suffered till now. It was very disheartening to understand what had happened to the so peace loving community known as roof of the world.
We visited Namgyal Monastery - which hosts 2 sanctums - one for Kalachakra and one for Lord Buddha. We spent close to 30 minutes inside the monastery very leisurely. There are some nice views as well from the premises.
We then drove down to Dharamshala and visited Norbulingka Institute which is a great demonstration of Tibetian culture - displays of Tibetian dolls, cultural epics, arts, dresses and much more. This is a summer residence of Dalai Lama as well. This place also trains and generates employment for Tibetians. The premises also hosts a monastery known as Seat of Happiness Temple. We spent around 1 hour here in the premises going around. There is an entry fee of Rs.50 to enter here; open from 9 AM to 5 PM. There are paid parking areas around for the car.
Next stop, was one of the most famous places in Dharamshala - in recent times. The HPCA stadium. This cricket stadium is the highest situated active cricket stadium and the views they give are very grand with the mighty snow clad Himalayas in the back ground. The visit was truly satisfying with visiting of the special cricket grounds in the world. We spent around 20 minutes here. There is an entry fee of Rs.20 per adult.
Next, we visited the Martyrs memorial. It is around 2-3 kms fom HPCA stadium. The entry fee is Rs.10 per adult and Rs.20 as parking fee. The place is a memorial for the veer jawans of Himachal. The place was a great moment of truth to realize the sacrifices and successes of Indian army. We spent around 15-20 minutes here.
We then started back to McLeod Ganj. Enroute on the way to McLeoad Ganj, we stopped at Hotel Dana Pani Dhaba. The hot rotis, dhall, rice, sabji and curd - all were too good and yummy. We liked the food as it was quite spicy as well in the cold weather. We then visited BhagsuNag temple and falls. BhagsuNag temple is a temple for God Shiva and is situated around 2 km from McLeod Ganj market area. This temple is said to be constructed around 1800 and then worshipped majorly by local village people around.
The Bhagsunag water falls is a km walk from the temple by a well laid pathway on the slopes of the hills. Unfortunately, there was very less water by the time we went and we did not prefer to walk all the way. However, the view of the stunning surroundings with cliffs and thick trees is a treat to watch.
We then returned back to the market, visited the Kalachara temple in the market - a small local monastery. We had some snacks around - paneer momos, samosas, peanuts and reached the room back. We had light dinner and ended the day.
Day - 6
The plan was to visit Gopalpur zoo and Baijnath. We started around 10 AM from Mcleod Ganj after breakfast at Hotel Punjabi Tarka again. We stopped at Gopalpur zoo from expectations of Himalayan wildelife. Rs.20 being entrance ticket reset our expectations. We cited Grey peacock, Grey parrot, Himalayan Goral, Himalayan Vultures, Eageles, Leopard and Leopard cats.
We then reached Baijnath by noon. Baijnath is a small town in Kangra district and hosts an ancient Shiva temple. This Shiva temple is an ASI site, located by the banks for river Beas. The temple has nice artistic work and is a rock temple. We spent around 15-20 minutes to visit the active temple and then around the temple to admire the beauty of the surrounding mighty Himalayas and the temple.
One other most important place to visit is Bir - Billing - World's best place to paragliding ! I was tempted to do but reserved for another visit to do the same!
Next, we tried to locate a Bhakalakukhi temple and were mis-led wasting around 40 minutes of time. However, we got a glance of the amazing Kangra valley. The Kangra valley view point is at the end of Mandi district and entry point of Kangra district. The view of the pine forests on one side and the beautiful valley is one of those moments where one forgets oneself!
We then had some hot samosas and jelabis as we crossed Baijnath again. We drove all the way back to Chamundeswari temple near Dharamshala before we stopped for lunch. We had lunch at Hotel Abhinandan - we were the only customers. We had orders Aloo sabji, rice, dhall and curd. The food was fair enough and fresh. Post meal, we visited the temple of Chamunda Devi. Currently,, when we visited the temple was undergoing renovation and available for dharshan - The name is a combination of Chanda and Munda, two monsters which Devi killed. The temple is around 10 kms after crossing Palampur. There is also a small temple of Shivalinga in a small cave below the temple - climbing down few stairs. We had a very good dharshan and left in 15 minutes.
We returned to McLeod Ganj. The sunset was as usual great ans stunning - the golden glow on the snow capped peaks ! We had dinner at Hotel Anand Dhaba - chappathis (tawa roti), paneer mutter masala. The food was prepared well and homely. It invited us for one more meal but unfortunately not open till 10 AM for breakfast.
Day - 7
The plan was to visit Kangra fort and Kangra Devi temple and proceed to Pathankot. We checked out by 9 AM and saw that no shops were open for breakfast. We had couple of aloo parathas by a road side tea shop. We, then, started to Kangra. Kangra fort is around 18 kms from Dharamshala and takes are 40 minutes to reach. The entry ticket is Rs.25 per person and no fee for still camera. Kangra fort is the oldest fort in India, said to be built 3500 years ago! The fort is built on a hillock at the confluence of 2 rivers - Banganga and Majhi. The fortress walls are absolutely amazing and runs across for 4 kms. The Royal Rajput family had built this fort to withstand time and enemies against the massive treasure trove they enjoyed. There were 52 attempts made to enter the fort as part of war by every famous invader - Alexander the Great, Mahmud Ghazni, Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, akbar, Jahangir, Maharaja Ranjit and the British. Jahangir was the first to capture the fort, after which, in 30 years, the fort was recaptured. Later, the British occupied and followed by a devastating earthquake in 1905, the fort became ruined and the fort then became devoid of army and people.
The fort palace is at the highest point while on the way climbing the fort, one gets to witness several gates through the curves of the fortress and few temples - Laxmi Narayan, Ambika Devi and the Jain Temple. The Laxmi Narayan temple is so architectural and can be observed by the one wall that stands today! All over, the mighty Himalayas gives an amazing background to the whole fort. We spent almost 90 minutes in the fort.
Bajreshwari Mata Temple or Kangra Devi Temple or Vajreshwari Mata Mandir is located in Kangra. This temple is one of the Sakthi Peet temples out of the 51 of such. This temple was rebuilt several times as it was ransacked during various invasions and then an earth quake. The current temple is approachable through narrow lanes across thousands of shops from the parking area. The temple is open from 5 AM to 9 AM in summer and 6:30 AM to 8 PM in winter. There are times inbetween pooja happens during which dharshan shall be halted for 30-45 minutes. There are quite a lot of shops around for eating, snacking and for pooja items. We had to wait for close to 20 minutes to have our dharshan and the dharshan was very peaceful with no rush to get out.
We then had some snacks - hot samosas, hot jelabis at one of the shops near the parking area - absolutely lip smacking. We started back to Pathankot by 2 PM. On the way back, we again stopped at Hotel Dawaat on the Pathankot - Mandi road. The lunch was good as like last time. We reached Pathankot around 4:30 PM, stopped at Bikaner Mithai Bandar - bought some snacks for home and some fantastic kachoris for us to eat. We boarded the train to Old Delhi through Jammu-Ajmer Pooja SF express and reached Dlehi around 3:45 AM. We had our flight to Chennai by 8:20 AM - after several of our opted flights cancelled - twice and third time, on this flight back home!
Other places of interest to see in the region - Sakthi peet temples of Bhakalamukhi, temple of Jwalamukhi, paragliding at Billing. Khajjiar and Chamba at Dalhousie - we would not visit as roads were non-motor-able because of heavy snow.
Trip date: 12 - 19 Jan 2019
Trip Plan : Chennai - New Delhi - Pathankot - Dalhousie - McLeod Ganj - Dharamshala - Gopalpur - Baijnath - Kangra - Pathankot - New Delhi - Chennai
A trip specifically planned as a best attempt to see snow and the plan had its perfect coincidence for the objective to be met.
Distances
- Pathankot – Dalhousie – 83 kms (3 hours)
- Dalhousie – Chamba – 54 kms (2 hours)
- Dalhousie – Dharamshala – 117 kms (4 hours)
- Pathankot – Dharamshala – 88 kms (3 hours)
- Dharamshala – McLeodGanj – 6 kms / 11 kms (20 mins / 25 mins)
- McLeodGanj – Pathankot Cantonment – 92 kms (3 hours)
- Dharamshala - Palampur – 39 kms (1.5 hours)
- Palampur – Billing – 26 kms (1 hour)
- Palampur – Baijnath – 17 kms (40 mins)
- Baijnath – Kangra valley view point – 4 kms (10 mins)
We started from Chennai by Saturday afternoon to New Delhi and reached Delhi by 7 PM. We had our overnight train from Delhi to Pathankot via Udhampur AC express from Sarai Rohilla station at 10:15 PM. We reached NDLS from airport by metro and then hired an auto to Sarai Rohilla. We had dinner at a local shop near station and boarded the train. The train ride was comfortable with respect to timings and would reach Pathankot by 5:45 AM.
Day-2
Our cab was ready for our 6-day ride at Pathankot Cantonment railway station by 5:45 AM. We boarded the cab and slowly started towards Dalhousie. We stopped enroute for some tea and killed around 20 minutes as it was very dark even by 6:45. We were missing some valley views as it was dark and used the tea break for the Sun to rise. Across the way, beautiful views were so pleasing.
We crossed Banikhet around 8:45 AM and sighted snow on the pathways and slowly in next 2-3 kms, the whole place was filled with snow, which had just stopped - so fresh, so white and so beautiful. It was a big surprise to see snow across the way as we expected snow in Khajjiar or Chamba. The driver managed to drive 2 more kms in the heavy snow; however, after a point, almost every car was running at the same place and unable to drive on. Only 4 wheel drives were possible. We called up the hotel and they arranged a pick-up for us and asked us to wait for sometime as the roads are blocked by cars. Meanwhile, for the next 1 to 2 hours, we enjoyed our every moment in the snow, our first experience of its kind. The soft white substance was indeed a game on!
Our gypsy arrived to pick us up and reached Dalhousie. Dalhousie is marked by 2 sides of market - Subhash Chowk and Gandhi Chowk, 1 km apart on walking trial and around 2-3 kms by road. Our hotel, Hotel Mogas resort was near the far end of the market - Gandhi Chowk. Our gypsy was stuck in traffic and snow at Subhash Chowk and after discussing with the driver, we left the luggage in gypsy and took a walk to the hotel from Subhash Chowk. The whole walkway was filled with snow and we were feeling heavenly walking along. We indeed got our shoes and socks wet, but, we enjoyed the moment.
We reached Hotel Mongas and had to wait for check-in. It was almost 2 PM. The reason was the guests were doing late check-out as they had no way to get out of Dalhousie. We waited and got our room at the attic - very spacious, quite warm, fitted with Heat pillar, big bed and sofas. We refreshed and had lunch in their restaurant. The food was prepared fresh and tasty and surplus quantity; we enjoyed it thoroughly.
We took some to rest as we were tired with the overnight journey, early wake-up and walk / time on the snow. We went out for an evening walk in the mall road across Gandhi chowk. The place has shops for snacks like momos, maggi, sandwiches, coffee and more; and shopping winter items and local souvenirs. The snow had started to solidify and turn to ice. Walking was little slippery and we enjoyed every moment of it. We returned back to the hotel and had dinner.
Day-3
Starting the day before 8 AM was very difficult because of the weather. Reception people confirmed there is no transportation in Dalhousie and snow had not cleared even a bit. All we can do was walk around for 1-2 kms in different directions and return back to hotel. We had buffet breakfast at the Hotel and started the walk on vehicle route of Gandhi Chowk to Subhash Chowk; earlier when we arrived at Dalhousie and caught up in traffic, we took the walking route and now we took the road route. The beautiful white coloured snow peaks and eye-catching sides on the roads, snow mounds, snow-laden deep green pine trees were a treat to watch. We walked around for around 2 hours. We also did some small shopping in Indo-Tibetian market - souvenir, and shoes for my daughter to walk comfortably on snow/ice.
We returned back to hotel for lunch, relaxed for 15-20 minutes and started our walk in other other direction towards Dalhousie forest, thanks to Jeya for choosing this direction. In 5 mins walk, we got into thick woods with heavy snow all around. This route was not touched by any vehicle or people that much and the snow was very fresh and had great photographic moments! We spent almost more than 1 hour on this route enjoying on the snow. We also witnessed a colourful sunset from Gandhi Chowk.
We returned back to the mall road for some hot tea, Gulab Jamun, maggi and much more. We had dinner at Dosa Plaza - serving several varieties of Dosa. Masala dosa was good, Uthappam was just ok and chilli paneer dosa was awesome. They also served filter coffee and it was quite a yummy dinner to end the memorable day.
Day-4
The plan was to check out by 9 AM and reach McLeod Ganj by noon. Yet, the snow was not cleared and police had not cleared for vehicles to operate. Past 2 days, our driver was staying in Bhaniket - 9 kms from Dalhousie. He had reached the Dalhousie bus stand - 3 kms from where we stayed and police were not allowing vehicles till 11 AM. Then, only local small cars were allowed to port tourists and we hired one for Rs.500 to reach the bus stand. By noon, we left Dalhousie with amazing memories towards Dharamshala. One can stay either in Dharamshala or McLeod Ganj. McLeod Ganj is small Tibetian town around 6 kms from Dharamshala.
There are 2 routes to reach McLeod Ganj from Dharmashala - one is 6 kms - very narrow and steep pathway; very difficult to navigate; other one if 11 kms - typical ghat roads and lands you at the top of McLeod Ganj. First time, our driver took us on the first route and found it very difficult to cope up the climb. Following days, our driver took the detour. McLeod Ganj is overall a small town with 2 parallel one-way roads in the market area and 6 local sight seeing locations - overall, worth a day trip and a night stay. We planned for stay here for 3 nights with plans of going around in the Kangra district and staying in McLeod Ganj.
Enroute, we had lunch around 2:30 at Hotel Daawat on the Mandi road near Kotla. The food was prepared fresh. No complaints place with respect to food - good service and clean restaurant. We reached McLeod Ganj around 4 PM. We had booked Hotel Pink house based on the reviews - a budget place with great ratings and reviews. The hotel is located in a steep close with steep stairs - around 50 to reach the hotel. The hotel is little difficult to locate, however, fortunately, one of their employees were standing in the place we got down and helped us reach. The place is like a maze, sufficient size of the room and great views. The rooms and bathrooms were clean, food was quite good and the service of the place was absolutely good. No frills place; but comfort for the budget is good. We asked for a kettle and got it. We rented a heater (small one) for Rs.250 per night.
Post check-in, we hardly had 45 mins for sunset and planned to visit Naddi Hill point. One the way to Naddi Hill point, one can also stop by at St.John's in the wilderness, a very old church located in the thick woods - apt for a moment for photography.
Naddi Hill point is one of the very popular spots in the locality known for trekking to Triund hill. The famous trek routes from this spot are - Guna Mata temple trek, Triund kill trek and much more. There are 2 spots for views - one if the Naddi Hill point and then one other - Sunset point - 2 minutes walk from the parking on the opposite direction of Naddi Hill point. The golden panoramic view of Naddi Hill point was mesmerizing. After taking few snaps, we ran down to the sunset point and sunset had started. The sunset was quite colourful and it happened very fast.
We then visited Dal lake - a very small lake in McLeod Ganj. The place was not so attractive and one can give a miss to stop. May be summer evenings could be exciting.
We reached back McLeod Ganj market area and took the place by foot. We walked around the market area - had super hot momos, cakes and bought some souvenirs. We had dinner at a Tibetian restaurant - pure vegetarian - Shangri La. We ordered for Tupkas and momos. The momos were very bland with no salt and spice and so was the soupy noodles - Tupka. We experienced the Tibetian food but did not suit us for the blandness of the food. We found it difficult to complete it.
Day - 5
Breakfast in McLeod Ganj is a challenge till 10 AM. Every day the weather had been hovering around 1 to 4 degrees during this time! Having been used to early breakfasts, we struggled to find restaurants open till 9:30 in McLeod Ganj. Hotel Punjabi Tarka was the only restaurant open and we had aloo and paneer parathas. The parathas were average but the only one available. Tea was quite good. We then walked down the road to HH Dalai Lama's main temple - Namgyal Monastery, 500 m from the chowk. At the entrance one can see Tibetian museum. Tibetian museum is free to visit and has the history of Tibet - how it was, what happened during the political issues with China, exploitation and how the monasteries and religion have suffered till now. It was very disheartening to understand what had happened to the so peace loving community known as roof of the world.
We visited Namgyal Monastery - which hosts 2 sanctums - one for Kalachakra and one for Lord Buddha. We spent close to 30 minutes inside the monastery very leisurely. There are some nice views as well from the premises.
We then drove down to Dharamshala and visited Norbulingka Institute which is a great demonstration of Tibetian culture - displays of Tibetian dolls, cultural epics, arts, dresses and much more. This is a summer residence of Dalai Lama as well. This place also trains and generates employment for Tibetians. The premises also hosts a monastery known as Seat of Happiness Temple. We spent around 1 hour here in the premises going around. There is an entry fee of Rs.50 to enter here; open from 9 AM to 5 PM. There are paid parking areas around for the car.
Next stop, was one of the most famous places in Dharamshala - in recent times. The HPCA stadium. This cricket stadium is the highest situated active cricket stadium and the views they give are very grand with the mighty snow clad Himalayas in the back ground. The visit was truly satisfying with visiting of the special cricket grounds in the world. We spent around 20 minutes here. There is an entry fee of Rs.20 per adult.
Next, we visited the Martyrs memorial. It is around 2-3 kms fom HPCA stadium. The entry fee is Rs.10 per adult and Rs.20 as parking fee. The place is a memorial for the veer jawans of Himachal. The place was a great moment of truth to realize the sacrifices and successes of Indian army. We spent around 15-20 minutes here.
We then started back to McLeod Ganj. Enroute on the way to McLeoad Ganj, we stopped at Hotel Dana Pani Dhaba. The hot rotis, dhall, rice, sabji and curd - all were too good and yummy. We liked the food as it was quite spicy as well in the cold weather. We then visited BhagsuNag temple and falls. BhagsuNag temple is a temple for God Shiva and is situated around 2 km from McLeod Ganj market area. This temple is said to be constructed around 1800 and then worshipped majorly by local village people around.
The Bhagsunag water falls is a km walk from the temple by a well laid pathway on the slopes of the hills. Unfortunately, there was very less water by the time we went and we did not prefer to walk all the way. However, the view of the stunning surroundings with cliffs and thick trees is a treat to watch.
We then returned back to the market, visited the Kalachara temple in the market - a small local monastery. We had some snacks around - paneer momos, samosas, peanuts and reached the room back. We had light dinner and ended the day.
Day - 6
The plan was to visit Gopalpur zoo and Baijnath. We started around 10 AM from Mcleod Ganj after breakfast at Hotel Punjabi Tarka again. We stopped at Gopalpur zoo from expectations of Himalayan wildelife. Rs.20 being entrance ticket reset our expectations. We cited Grey peacock, Grey parrot, Himalayan Goral, Himalayan Vultures, Eageles, Leopard and Leopard cats.
We then reached Baijnath by noon. Baijnath is a small town in Kangra district and hosts an ancient Shiva temple. This Shiva temple is an ASI site, located by the banks for river Beas. The temple has nice artistic work and is a rock temple. We spent around 15-20 minutes to visit the active temple and then around the temple to admire the beauty of the surrounding mighty Himalayas and the temple.
One other most important place to visit is Bir - Billing - World's best place to paragliding ! I was tempted to do but reserved for another visit to do the same!
Next, we tried to locate a Bhakalakukhi temple and were mis-led wasting around 40 minutes of time. However, we got a glance of the amazing Kangra valley. The Kangra valley view point is at the end of Mandi district and entry point of Kangra district. The view of the pine forests on one side and the beautiful valley is one of those moments where one forgets oneself!
We then had some hot samosas and jelabis as we crossed Baijnath again. We drove all the way back to Chamundeswari temple near Dharamshala before we stopped for lunch. We had lunch at Hotel Abhinandan - we were the only customers. We had orders Aloo sabji, rice, dhall and curd. The food was fair enough and fresh. Post meal, we visited the temple of Chamunda Devi. Currently,, when we visited the temple was undergoing renovation and available for dharshan - The name is a combination of Chanda and Munda, two monsters which Devi killed. The temple is around 10 kms after crossing Palampur. There is also a small temple of Shivalinga in a small cave below the temple - climbing down few stairs. We had a very good dharshan and left in 15 minutes.
We returned to McLeod Ganj. The sunset was as usual great ans stunning - the golden glow on the snow capped peaks ! We had dinner at Hotel Anand Dhaba - chappathis (tawa roti), paneer mutter masala. The food was prepared well and homely. It invited us for one more meal but unfortunately not open till 10 AM for breakfast.
Day - 7
The plan was to visit Kangra fort and Kangra Devi temple and proceed to Pathankot. We checked out by 9 AM and saw that no shops were open for breakfast. We had couple of aloo parathas by a road side tea shop. We, then, started to Kangra. Kangra fort is around 18 kms from Dharamshala and takes are 40 minutes to reach. The entry ticket is Rs.25 per person and no fee for still camera. Kangra fort is the oldest fort in India, said to be built 3500 years ago! The fort is built on a hillock at the confluence of 2 rivers - Banganga and Majhi. The fortress walls are absolutely amazing and runs across for 4 kms. The Royal Rajput family had built this fort to withstand time and enemies against the massive treasure trove they enjoyed. There were 52 attempts made to enter the fort as part of war by every famous invader - Alexander the Great, Mahmud Ghazni, Muhammad Bin Tughlaq, akbar, Jahangir, Maharaja Ranjit and the British. Jahangir was the first to capture the fort, after which, in 30 years, the fort was recaptured. Later, the British occupied and followed by a devastating earthquake in 1905, the fort became ruined and the fort then became devoid of army and people.
The fort palace is at the highest point while on the way climbing the fort, one gets to witness several gates through the curves of the fortress and few temples - Laxmi Narayan, Ambika Devi and the Jain Temple. The Laxmi Narayan temple is so architectural and can be observed by the one wall that stands today! All over, the mighty Himalayas gives an amazing background to the whole fort. We spent almost 90 minutes in the fort.
Bajreshwari Mata Temple or Kangra Devi Temple or Vajreshwari Mata Mandir is located in Kangra. This temple is one of the Sakthi Peet temples out of the 51 of such. This temple was rebuilt several times as it was ransacked during various invasions and then an earth quake. The current temple is approachable through narrow lanes across thousands of shops from the parking area. The temple is open from 5 AM to 9 AM in summer and 6:30 AM to 8 PM in winter. There are times inbetween pooja happens during which dharshan shall be halted for 30-45 minutes. There are quite a lot of shops around for eating, snacking and for pooja items. We had to wait for close to 20 minutes to have our dharshan and the dharshan was very peaceful with no rush to get out.
We then had some snacks - hot samosas, hot jelabis at one of the shops near the parking area - absolutely lip smacking. We started back to Pathankot by 2 PM. On the way back, we again stopped at Hotel Dawaat on the Pathankot - Mandi road. The lunch was good as like last time. We reached Pathankot around 4:30 PM, stopped at Bikaner Mithai Bandar - bought some snacks for home and some fantastic kachoris for us to eat. We boarded the train to Old Delhi through Jammu-Ajmer Pooja SF express and reached Dlehi around 3:45 AM. We had our flight to Chennai by 8:20 AM - after several of our opted flights cancelled - twice and third time, on this flight back home!
Other places of interest to see in the region - Sakthi peet temples of Bhakalamukhi, temple of Jwalamukhi, paragliding at Billing. Khajjiar and Chamba at Dalhousie - we would not visit as roads were non-motor-able because of heavy snow.
