Dharmasala and McLeod Ganj, India
One thing our tour guide was quite helpful for was arranging first rate transportation. Rather then the dreaded 12 hour public bus, we were treated to a 8 hour jeep ride to Dharmsala. Jeeps are definitely the way to go on these gnarly, pitted, roads.
After a couple of weeks of being on the road at least every other day, we were very happy to be spending 3 nights in the alpine village of McLeod Ganj.
McLeod Ganj had been the original British headquarters, but they moved to Shimla after the town was nearly wiped out by an earthquake a century ago. It wasn’t until the 1940s that the town was reincarnated as the home of the Dalai Lama and the exiled Tibetan government. The Tibetan people really do live up to their reputation as being friendly people, quick to smile.
We had one day to hike up the mountain behind our hotel, with a local guide and a large group of travelers from 2 different Imaginative Traveler tours. The other tour group was on a slightly different plan, which involved higher class hotels, but had the misfortune of doing the circuit backwards: starting in the refreshing, less populated mountains, and ending in the hot, crowded state of Rajasthan. I did not envy them.
On our second free day, we toured around the Tibetan Government’s grounds, doing the obligatory clockwise walk around the Dalai Lama’s residence. It was pretty earie how even the packs of local dogs were only walking in the clockwise direction along the trail! The Tibetan museum is quite small, but sure packs a lot of punch with its political statements and pleas regarding what has happened to Tibet and its people.
