Dharamshala. Review on Dharamshala

Enroute to manali from Vaishnodevi, Dalhousie we stopped at Dharamshala on the day of IPL match.  Anticipating IPL rush we had done advance hotel booking at hotel Sahiwa, mcleodganj thru makemytrip which charged 1650 for 2 days (only stay) plus 5.5% tax to be paid at the hotel, while the hotel’s site showed 800 per day but since we did not get time to deposit the amount in the hotel’s account we preferred paying through credit card on makemytrip site.

We never do hotel booking in advance and get cheaper rates on spot.  After getting off at bus stand we took a cab (150) to mcleodganj and the roads were jam pack. We could see the snow clad mountain from close quarters which was just behind a tree covered mountain. We reached our hotel at 1 pm which is just next to the Tibetian Monastery.  The décor of the hotel impressed us and we thought we got a cheap rate but inspite of informing well in advance about our arrival time we had to wait for 1 hr for a room and even the response at the reception was not so encouraging just because we came thru makemytrip.

The room given to us was big and appeared neat and clean including the bathroom but here again we could not open the window because it opened out on an elevated parking behind.  Instead of giving us higher floor good view rooms which were on both the sides of the building they purposely gave us this room because we had no options.  The flush was not working and inspite of complaining at the reception no one came.  We ordered lunch thru room service and after resting for a while went for local sightseeing of the Monastery and the museum.

Prayers were going on in the monastery and the discipline they followed and their artcraft impressed us.   A visit of the museum next to the monastery  made us aware of the Tibetians hardship and why they settled in Dharamshala.  We walked on the mall road and went through all the shops put up by the tibeti locals containing mostly accessories made of beads, stones, wood, etc but since this place is mostly visited by foreigners the rates quoted by the shopkeepers are exhorbitant and you would get any item at 1/4th the price quoted by them in your city itself.  Here again you have meals containing mostly parathas/chinese and nothing much for breakfast. My daughter enjoyed the momos.  We went to our hotel restaurant for dinner and after placing the order waited for 1 hr 3o minutes and yet they were uncertain about the time of serving but we had no option but to wait as all other places close down maximum by 9 pm.  People with small kids were waiting and trying to pacify their kids by offering cold drinks and chips.

Never before I encountered such a lax service.   We could not sleep peacefully at night because surprisingly there were bugs in the bed.  Next day morning the heater was not working but yet again no one came after complaining.  We had our breakfast outside and started our walk towards bhagsunath which is 3 km from the mall road.  Whole place was full of vehicles and all the roads were jam.  There are many hotels near bhagsunath and definitely one can find a good hotel at a much cheaper rate here.

We first visited the Bhagsu temple and later on proceeded  for the waterfall which is another 20 minutes from the temple but the view would enthrall you.  The water was totally chilled and it was difficult to stand in the water even for a few minutes but my 10 yr old enjoyed the waterfall.  People  had put up tents near the water flowing downwards which has taken up the form of a river.   Since I had gone through various sites for information on this place I did not find anything interesting in lower Dharamshala infact I had heard a lot about mcleodganj but was disappointed.  May be in winter it would be beautiful but not so in peak summer.  since we were tired from our journey  right from Vaishnodevi we decided to rest and later in night took a bus to Manali which was 240 kms/9 hrs away.