Random plans of packing the bags and hitting the hills to
beat the heat! Very typical of Delhi summers… *phew*
Duration Tip : for an adequately relaxing yet engaging trip
you must plan it for 3 days and 2 nights.
That’s exactly what we did and the next thing I know was I was sitting in Dharamshala bus and planning my trip to McLeodganj.
Bus Tip : board the Himsutta bus from ISBT station at 20:05 hrs for an air conditioned luxury all the way to McLeodganj. For those who cannot make it, catch the 20:50 hrs one that takes you to Dharamshala and McLeodganj is only a few kilometers away by taxi at just Rs. 200.
Enjoy the bus journey… Look up in the sky for in the words of Van-Gogh, the starry-starry night! Spot the constellations. A sight you don’t get in the city life!
You’re sure to reach your final destination – McLeodganj by
6 to 7am. Hotels are plenty and you don’t need to pre-book unless you’re going
on one of the long weekends. Then be ready to pre-book hotels at a hiked up
prices and gear up for dhakka-mukki in the city.
Planning Tip : don’t wait for a long weekend and behold the beauty of the Dhauladhar hills and this silent city before the peak summers break (ideally March). This is when you get to live 3 days of absolute serenity, away from the hustle-bustle of the city life.
Day - 1
After spending some time finding out the right place at the right price, we landed at the ‘Deodar Villa’ & true to it’s name the rooms balcony faced the valley that hosted forests of Deodar trees. Clean linens and a hot water shower… What more do you want from a hotel? View… of course! I opened the balcony gate and there it was… The valley… The sound of water… The golden sun… The Dhauladhar… I cannot imagine all this beauty fit into one picturesque view was right outside my balcony door!!
Room Tip : take a room on the top floor of any hotel for the best view. This will make your morning cup of tea absolutely blissful. And you can thank me later for this!
First day in the hills… take it easy! Really!! Rent a bike and make your life easier. After such a long bus journey, your body refuses to accommodate to more pressures in life and taking a tour of the city should be your best choice. We took an avenger to take ghedis in the hills and chose to start with going to re-fuel it first! You don’t want to be dragging yourself with an empty tank bike on the hills.
First things first… Hunger gave us missed calls inside and we went to Namgyal Café, aka Om Café. And you can take my word for this place to serve you the best thin crust pizza. We ordered a Mordello Pizza along with fresh lime soda and got some jokes from the person serving us, FREE! Since they make everything fresh, hold your hormones and tell yourself to wait while this guy entertains you with his wise-cracks. Every penny spent at this café was worth it. I broke my navratri fasts this morning and what better than a cheesy pizza?
Foodie Tip : When you go to cafés that are very humble and basic, yet famous for their simplistic food, please don’t test them by requesting them to make something that’s not in the menu. Order the items listed in the menu and you are in for a delight!
After satisfying those taste buds, we went around to see the Church. I could literally hear the sound of the wind while sitting in the church. That moment calmed my inner senses and it felt like time had paused. Visiting every ‘place to visit’ is followed by the ceremony of selfies and umpteen pictures in multiple poses that make you look a little less fat!
After this, we were back on the bike & on our way to Dal
Lake. Please… if you are looking forward to the Kashmiri beauty, hold on. This
is not going to be the best sight but definitely worth a visit. We only spent
about 5 mins there, quite literally and then moved on to Naddi – a closeby
village from the lake and assures to give you the most breathtaking views of
the Dhauladhar Range. The broken roads leading to Naddi can be a little
dangerous on a two-wheeler. Guys, beware, helmet is a must! Afterall, it’s for
your own safety. We chose to drop by at the Udechee Huts in the Naddi village.
It’s the resort I basically wanted to stay-in, but too expensive for youngsters
to afford, also because we reached there by public transport I did not want to
stay at a place that’s not-so-walk-able from the main city area. Sighed at the
view Udechee had to offer and I thought, beggars are not choosers but we can
certainly choose to enjoy a cup of coffee in the midst of the cute little huts
and the spectacular views. Trust me, in all my life, this has been the best cup
of coffee!! After spending some great time there and another round of selfies
we rode back to the city.
Sightseeing Tip: If you have the money for a lavish stay and you don’t want to compromise on a great view from the room, make sure you stay here. This place promises you a great morning cuppa!
My body wanted some stress-busting tonic and for that we went to the Woeser Bakery and requested the aunty to make some honey-lemon tea. My better half chose to be very modern and instead of choosing something humble he requested for the city like iced tea. And to his misfortune, it was the home-version of an iced tea, which he obviously did not like. I mean what do you expect? A spoon full of iced-tea premix to be dissolved in water and voila!! Not really, not when you are in the hills.
After my rejuvenating tea, we started to walk around the
town for some local shopping and then headed to Seed Café. You’ll have major
trouble finding this café, and if you are not on a bike, just count your stars
and start praying to god cause you are in for a loooong walk! Once we managed
to spot the café, it was worth every effort spent in finding it. The sight was
awe-inspiring, a look out the window and all you can see is a black-hole valley
with twinkling lights that bring the glitter in your eyes. We played a round of
chess that he won, but actually who cares, I have already won him! We waited
really long for food and it did not get ready, so we had to leave as it was
getting really dark outside and being in the city for the first time, we did
not want to take any chances. We rode back to the bike shop for returning the
bike and then walked to a beautiful restaurant called – Indique. Since we were
not very hungry and wanted to eat something light we ordered the desi daal
chawal along with some crunch of the onion rings. Food as simple as this can
get really awesome with great views and needless to mention, great taste!
Indique was a winner in my opinion.
Now that the bellies were full, we wanted to go back to the
hotel and get some sound sleep. We called for someone to help us walk back as
we did not feel right to walk back alone at 11 pm. The person who came to get
us assured us of the city and the people and secured us about the fact that we
will not have a forbidden experience here.
Day -2
Wake up! Chaiii!! Awesome weather!!! Brilliant view!!!!
For those 5 mins of sipping my chai, I felt like I have
achieved the world and all I wanted was right there in my hands. Those moments
of bliss, I can only cherish now!
I think I thanked my stars too soon, coz it was not time to
get geared for the Triund Trek.
Trek Trip : Wear the most comfortable cotton clothes and the best shoes in your wardrobe. You don’t want to be walking bare feet on the trek path. Carry basics from the point of start in a back-pack – water, biscuits, chips, Gatorade, chocolates, dry-fruits, pain reliever spray etc.
We took a cab to the trek point – Gallu Temple – and began the journey of a lifetime on the hills. This was the first time I decided to teak, and that too because my better half is a strong man (every woman claims that, I know!) and he is extremely motivational. He keeps inspiring me to fight my weaknesses and do things whose memories last a lifetime. With great difficulty I made it to roughly 7kms, and then we hit a huge patch of snow. I tried walking on it, coz I wanted to go on the top and witness the magnificent view but unfortunately I kept slipping and then we finally decided to go back from that point. I could not believe that I walked up facing the horrible terrain, just to turn back only 15 mins before I could make it to the top.
Safety Tip : My wisdom echoed – the spectacular sight was worth the effort but not worth the risk!
We played in the snow for a while, and I threw the biggest snowballs on his face!! So much fun!! Then we began the descent back to base. By the time we started heading back, I had no energy. My knees were wobbling, my eyes were shutting, my back was hurting and I felt like this is the end of the world. But to my amazement, and my better half’s motivation, I made it to the base where the cab was waiting for us.
Trek Tip : Make sure you reach back to the base and finish
your trek before the sun sets.
As soon as I hit the hotel, I ran to the shower and crashed
in the bed! And he had got down midway to grab some food – pasta & pizza from
Jimmy’s Kitchen. This was by far the best pasta I had ever eaten in my life.
Popped a pain killer after relishing on the meal followed by a herbal oil
massage and then finally took the good night sleep. The day was a little too
eventful for me to digest and I was waiting for it to end.
Comfort Tip : Once you are back from the trek make sure you
pamper your senses with a warm oil massage and pop a pain killer to make sure
the next day doesn’t turn out to be a painful nightmare.
Day – 3
Woke up with a sort-of hurting body, and went out for
breakfast. It started to rain on our way to Main square and I was glad I
finally experienced the ‘pahaadon waali baarish’. We decided to pit stop at the
Moon Peak Café. The best cold coffee and chicken grilled cheese sandwich. Ummmm…
The perfect way to start my day. And while the rain slowed down, we walked
around the streets for some window shopping. Psstt.. He’s a compulsive window
shopper!! And he can do it for hours together!!
We finally thought, let’s hit the Bhagsunath Falls. Took an
auto till the point from where the walk start and you won’t believe, we
finished the 1.5 kms trek to the falls in just about 30 mins. This was quite an
accomplishment. Walked all the way up to the Shiva Café where we enjoyed the
view of the waterfall and a piping hot maggi. Clicked a round of selfies from
the base of the waterfall too.
Foodie Trip : This will be the most blissful maggi of your life!
The feeling of little droplets of water touching your face… I don’t think I even want to explain. I want you to go and experience it for yourself. Soon after we were done adoring the beauty of the nature, we walked back to the hotel, backed our bags and headed for some lunch. I had to eat Chinese before I go back. We went to the much hyped Tibet Kitchen and I relished on awesome Chopsuey. My better half chose to eat aloo ghobhi at a chinese restaurant! *faceplam* The food was great but the service was pathetic and these guys almost ruined the goodness of my entire trip!
Now our business at Mcleodganj ends and we left for Delhi,
back to the daily chores and enjoyed every bit of the bus ride to make the most
of every moment spent together.
