MacLeod Ganj, the upper area of the town of Dharamsala is home to the Tibetan government in exile & to the Dalai Lama. It was just over 30 km from Sungal & a scenic 2 hour bus ride from Palampur, so we felt that we couldn't miss the opportunity to visit it & we're so glad that we did.
We walked the 3 km road that winds up 1000 metre through the Dhauladhar mountains to arrive in the bustling main streets of MacLeod Ganj. Of course, it was hot & sunny on the trek up but as soon as we got to the town, the clouds blew over. We were shivering over lunch on the terrace of the Om Hotel, but breathtaking views & wonderful Tibetan soup & dumplings, not to mention syrupy ginger, lemon & honey tea, more then compensated.
The whole town had a great atmosphere & we felt as if we had crossed a border into a foreign country, the Tibetan influence was so strong. The highlights of the weekend were visiting the Tibetan Buddhist Temple Complex, wandering through the streets past the Tibetan & Kashmiri market stalls, sampling the delicious foods available, using the amazingly fast Internet & having a cup of chai with 2 cheerful & friendly Buddhist monks. Thupten Namdol & Choekiy (pronounced cheeky) Niyama were in town for a month to further their studies & to attend lectures from the Dalai Lama. Their home monastery is in Sera, near Mysore, in S. India which they told us is the biggest Tibetan monastery in the world - we have an open invitation to stay there any time!
Thupten was a refugee who had trekked out of Tibet through the Himalayas into Nepal as a young boy, in a group of 70 who took 1 1/2 months to make their escape. Some of the group had succumbed to severe frostbite on the trek, losing fingers, toes & more. This was not an unusual story. We spoke to other Tibetans with similar tales to tell & the most moving place we visited was the Tibetan museum. An exhibition entitled " A Long Look Homeward" detailed the history, geography & culture of Tibet. The destruction & struggle that have befallen the people & the country since the Chinese invasion of 1949 wasn't unknown to us before but hearing about it 1st hand from some of the people themselves, who were all so charming, made a big impact on us. http://www.tibet.org
We didn't have as long as we would have liked in MacLeod Ganj. Apart from the captivating atmosphere in the town itself, we would have loved to have spent a few days walking in the mountains around. Of all the places in India that we have visited so far this was our favourite - we would love to go back...........
We walked the 3 km road that winds up 1000 metre through the Dhauladhar mountains to arrive in the bustling main streets of MacLeod Ganj. Of course, it was hot & sunny on the trek up but as soon as we got to the town, the clouds blew over. We were shivering over lunch on the terrace of the Om Hotel, but breathtaking views & wonderful Tibetan soup & dumplings, not to mention syrupy ginger, lemon & honey tea, more then compensated.
The whole town had a great atmosphere & we felt as if we had crossed a border into a foreign country, the Tibetan influence was so strong. The highlights of the weekend were visiting the Tibetan Buddhist Temple Complex, wandering through the streets past the Tibetan & Kashmiri market stalls, sampling the delicious foods available, using the amazingly fast Internet & having a cup of chai with 2 cheerful & friendly Buddhist monks. Thupten Namdol & Choekiy (pronounced cheeky) Niyama were in town for a month to further their studies & to attend lectures from the Dalai Lama. Their home monastery is in Sera, near Mysore, in S. India which they told us is the biggest Tibetan monastery in the world - we have an open invitation to stay there any time!
Thupten was a refugee who had trekked out of Tibet through the Himalayas into Nepal as a young boy, in a group of 70 who took 1 1/2 months to make their escape. Some of the group had succumbed to severe frostbite on the trek, losing fingers, toes & more. This was not an unusual story. We spoke to other Tibetans with similar tales to tell & the most moving place we visited was the Tibetan museum. An exhibition entitled " A Long Look Homeward" detailed the history, geography & culture of Tibet. The destruction & struggle that have befallen the people & the country since the Chinese invasion of 1949 wasn't unknown to us before but hearing about it 1st hand from some of the people themselves, who were all so charming, made a big impact on us. http://www.tibet.org
We didn't have as long as we would have liked in MacLeod Ganj. Apart from the captivating atmosphere in the town itself, we would have loved to have spent a few days walking in the mountains around. Of all the places in India that we have visited so far this was our favourite - we would love to go back...........
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