My Trip to McLeod Ganj

In November 2019, we travelled to Amritsar for my National level Karate Championship; and then proceeded towards our vacation destination – McLeod Ganj. McLeod Ganj is a suburb in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh; well known for a large Tibetan population and culture.

It was a long and tiring journey of nearly 12 hours from Amritsar to McLeod Ganj; and on reaching our hotel, we slept early.

My first day in McLeod Ganj, I witnessed the most beautiful sight and sunrise from our room balcony; and our room overlooked the vast Dhauladhar range of the Himalyas covered with a white blanket of snow. It was a perfect view that I cherished. Then, we visited beautiful tea plantations and took several photos; and proceeded towards Goddess Parvati temple which was located at a height where a strong wind blowing. During our journey back to the hotel, we visited a location which overlooked a valley; and I enjoyed adventure sports, especially the zipline, where it was fun swinging over this deep valley. On our return to the hotel, the temperature had dipped to 9^oC and we enjoyed partying through the night and slept at mid-night.

Next morning, we went to the local monastery; and then visited the Dal Lake. Around noon, we had momos – a local food – for lunch and proceeded towards the Bhagsunag waterfall. There was a long walking trail leading to this well-known, scenic waterfall. Along with my father, I started climbing on this walking trail to reach the top of the waterfall. However, during our climb, we saw a ram, and a goat with her calf. Thinking we would harm the calf, the ram attacked me; but the goat approached me, smelt me and then the calf started playing with me. Due to this incident, I got scared and refused to climb any further; and so we climbed down back again. While climbing down, I saw a small walking trail that led to a river whose water was coming from the waterfall. Along with my father, I climbed down this rocky trail and reached the river. And then we walked on the rocks in the river where I saw tiny fishes as the water was very clear. I put my hand in this clear water which was very cold and my hand felt numb. After our adventurous climb down to the river, we had our lunch and proceeded towards Dharamshala, our next destination, to see the famous cricket stadium there. Unfortunately, the stadium was closed for visitors as our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was visiting Dharamshala for an International Summit which was held in the stadium. Near the stadium was a military garden, where we saw several models of warships and fighter planes. Given that I am really interested in pursuing a career in the Indian armed forces, I really enjoyed this garden and got good information about our armed forces. Later we had our meals and rested for the day.

Third day of my already exciting trip, we relaxed and spent time in the Tibetan market located within a few minutes from our hotel. My mother and my father’s friend bought a Tibetan style wind-chime and I bought a Nepalese knife key-chain. We enjoyed a nice Tibetan lunch in a local restaurant. After our shopping, it started drizzling and poured heavily by the time we reached our hotel. It was a very cold and windy night, the temperature touched 4^oC with dense clouds passing by our room balcony and we could barely see anything. But it was a very exciting experience for us.

The last day, we visited the Dalai Lama Temple – the most famous monastery where His Holiness Dalai Lama resides. We were also lucky to witness His Holiness Dalai Lama during our tour of this monastery. It was a very sad moment for me to bid goodbye to this awesome and beautiful heaven like place. Then we proceeded towards our destination, Amritsar; and on the way visited the Jwala Mukhi Temple. This temple is famous for the holy flames that emerge from the rocks on which this temple is built. At a certain time in the day, these flames flare up and are worshipped by the locals here.

We reached Amritsar late at night, very tired but with a lot of beautiful memories to remember and share. Next morning, we boarded an early train back to New Delhi on our way back to our home in Thane.

And that was the best trip I ever experienced!