July 4th weekend in Dharamsala

On a Thursday, two week ago, six of us decided to visit Dharamsala for the weekend. We broke out the guidebooks and were amazed by what we found- only five hours away in Mcleod Ganj (upper Dharamsala) was the home of the Tibetan government in exile and the Dalai Lama! Mcleod Ganj is in the Himalayas, and would be cool, as in temperature, and views potentially breathtaking. We decided to head up Saturday morning, stay overnight and then return on Sunday or on Monday depending on how things went.

Thankfully leaving behind the truck-like Summo, we drove up in a Toyota Qualis - a large SUV-like vehicle supposed to be be equipped with shock absorbers for a comfortable ride. The Quallis seats nine comfortably; including the driver, we were just seven. The two people in the back could stretch out and sleep, or so we thought. Things were going well, as we listened to Minty Chachi's tapes of the radio from her time in SFO. The tapes happened to be from July 4th weekend in 1996. Listening to the dj talk about the fourth made us all feel as though we had entered a parallel universe- especially when "I believe i can fly" started playing. However, about an hour into the trip, our journey took a fateful turn. There are two roads to Dharamsala, both past Hoshiapur. One is a smooth road. The other is dirt and rock. We had taken the dirt and rock road. Aditi and I were awakened by the shaking Toyota. The reputed shock absorbers couldn't do much when faced with the DirtRock Road to Dharamsala. It was pain, until we arrived at a rest stop. The rest stop had a strange large concrete-model jumbo jet in the front with the restaurant inside it. We decided to skip the restaurant and tank up on Limca's (our favourite lemon fizz) while our driver took a suspiciously long food break. After the stop the road became a little better (I think). Althought the drive was still bumpy, now the rolling hills of the Kangra Valley were peaceful and beautiful.
When we arrived in Dharamsala, we found it to be a typical city and so we continued on for another 10 km up to Mcleod Ganj - tourist heaven. We had a debate along the way as to whether we should stay at the $1 hotel, but gave in and splurged on the american-style toilets at the $10 hotel. Hotel Tibet was in the heart of the town and with the best restaurant in Mcleod Ganj (according to the Lonely Planet). We immediately sat down for kanna of momos and noodle dishes- traditional tibetan cuisine. In the restaurant we found many foreign tourists and Buddhist monks!! The people in Mcleod Ganj looked quite different from what we had seen so far in the rest of India - it felt like a long way from Ludhiana.
After eating we decided to walk to the Dalai Lama's home. Unfortunately, we had left our maps at the hotel and we just wandered, hoping for the best and trying to ask directions along the way. The shops which lined the road were loaded for the tourists- wonderful trinkets, different from those we had seen before. We walked beyond the shops and were greeted by the beautiful views- definitely the scenic route. We tried to reach the Namgyal Monastery, and finally arrived at a Monastery-like place that looked promising. We wandered in; although we did not know at the time, we had stumbled upon the monastery and the Dalai Lama's residence. We went into the main temple and sat for a while and meditated. Monks and others were praying and chanting around us; and the peacefulness of the place made me want to continue sitting there for ever. We walked around to try and find the residence of the Dalai Lama, not realizing we were right there. After we got some more directions we went back and found the gate of his home. Unfortunately, altough it is possible to set up an appointment and meet him, one needs to write a letter way in advance. His birthday is July 6th so we thought he might be around; but no luck, we did not bump into him.
We started to make our way back to the hotel. Not really sure where we were going, we wandered through people's backyards, through a door under barbed wire and found ourselves on the grounds of a temple, filled with streamers of prayer flags and the beads you turn to make a prayer. We had a pleasant walk through forest, talking to each other in our American accents, and finally made it back to our hotel.
Early next morning, Elizabeth, Aditi, Crissaris, and I went on a hike to a nearby town where there was a waterfall. When we arrived at the path to the waterfall we were greeted by a sign which forbid travelers from walking up to the waterfall because the path was not safe. Our guidebook had not mentioned this! The path was paved and looked completely harmless, and we decided that this sign might be similar to the traffic lights in ludhiana (not really the law, just a suggestion), so we started to climb. When we reached the main area of the waterfall, we saw another set of stairs which looked as though they led to the top of the waterfall; we kept on going. Along the path, mountain goats perched precariously around us and a steep drop to the water below was on one side. We tried to be friendly to the mountain goats and paused to let a few go by. When we reached the top of the waterfall, we found it deserted and spectacular. We sat on a rock for a while and gazed at the view and the water gushing below. We waded into the water which was little more than ankle deep and not moving too fast. It was so refreshing and we wanted to bathe in it. But by that time more tourists had made their way up. We headed back to the hotel and shopped along the way. Meanwhile we were trying to contact our driver, whose cell phone appeared to be turned off.

Back at the hotel we found Sailaja who had spent the morning in the monastery. She had an amazing story to tell! While she was sitting in the monastery, she saw a familiar face- it was Ben and another Yalie who was in Delhi! It is a small world for Yalies - earlier, we also ran into Ben in Bombay. We had lunch with them and then went to find the driver. We would have loved to stay longer, and advise those who go next year to spend at least two days in Mcleodganj and also to go on to Palampur to see the tea gardens.

We came home in time for dinner of tandoori chicken and chocolate cake, and finished off the 4th with the sparklers Colleen had sent.