Jan 28, 2009 01:53 PM
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Our group of friends boarded the Volvo Coaches operated by HRTC from Delhi for Mcleodganj to utilize the extended weekend we got for this 26th of January. Mcleodganj or upper Dharmshala is definitely a scenic place, ‘the little lhasa” on the Himalayan foothills.
The place is peaceful and is definitely gives you a picturesque view of the Dhauladhar range and the Kangra valley. Filled with greenery and snow in the upper reaches the mountains surrounded by interspacing clouds give you enough to keep you camera clicking.
The places we visited in Mcleodganj are the Bhagsunag Temple, Naddi Point which provide an incredible view of the snow capped Dhauladhar Range, the Tsuglagkhang Temple (Dalai Lama Temple) and of course (my personal favorite), The Church of St. John in Wilderness (built in 1852) in Forsythgunj.
This church is build with grey stones with a neo – gothic architecture. It was generally cloudy in Mcleodganj and hence this old church building was reminiscent of small English churches which we know thru pictures. Mcledoganj has incredible cafes to sip in a hot cup of coffee with continetal sncaks.
In general the food is very cheap and you could taste Tibetan cuisines with a lot of Gusto. But simply the best amongst the eateries was Jimmy’s Italian Kicthen. It serves Italian food and believe me its one of the cheapest around as our gang of five had a full feldged dinner for 1200 bucks (would write a review of this restaurant soon).
On the second day of our trip we went to Kangra. We visited the Jwalamukhi Temple and Vajreshwari Temple (both Shaktipeeth’s) and went to the magnificent Kangra fort.
The Kangra fort is supposed one of the oldest forts in India and the oldest in the Himalaya’s. This fort dates back to 1009 AD and is believed to be buillt by the Royal Katoch family of Kangra which was later seized by the Sultanate and Mughal Invaders followed by the Sikhs and eventually british.
Now a protected monument of the ASI the fort gives splendid views of the Himalayan hills and the Kangra town, it’s a place worth visiting and I wonder why most of the tourists visiting Dharamshala and nearabouts avoid this place.
We were unable to visit Palampur which has tea gardens (only tea gardens in Himachal), some Budhdhist sites and the Biajnath temple, hence would suggest fellow MS ians to visit Palampur and Chintpurni too if you plan a trip of Mcleodganj/Kangra.
Bikes/Taxi’s for rent are easily available and it is best to use the Taxi’s provided by the local Taxi union to roam around. Lots of Alto and Omni taxi’s and a good bargain would fetch you reasonable prices to roam around. We expected snowfall but this year this as per the locals the whether was pleasant and hence there was no snowfall like conditions.
Except for the Volvo coaches operated by HRTC the other options to reach Dharmshala is by rail upto Pathankot. It’s better to visit during the off season i.e the winters to check your prices with total enjoynment.
