McLeod Ganj Visit - A Photo Blog

Day 1: Started from Chandigarh to McLeod Ganj at around 9 in the morning.It is around 6 hours..

The first glimpse of the Dhauladar range of the Himalayas :

(Note : Click on the pictures to enlarge.)

Other views along the way

Reached McLeod Ganj in the late afternoon...McLeod Ganj is a very small place with a small city square and five roads branching out from the square..

The Tibetan and the Buddhist influence is dominant ...

The first stop was "Norling" a restaurant featured on the TV Show "Highway on my plate". The poster hangs right outside. McLLo is full of small restaurants serving a wide variety of cuisine from Tibetan to Italian to Israeli to French to Korean to Indian and Chinese too.The food is amazing and cheap.

McLLo is most famous for its teas and momos.Recommended momos at Norling : Spinach & Cheese momos for the vegetarian and mutton for the carnivores. The spinach and cheese momos have amazing flavor and simply melt in your mouth..

This is Ginger Honey Lemon tea with ginger slices at the bottom.Another local delicacy is the Tibetan Butter tea with Yak butter. We were not brave enough to try it.

So we walked around after the sumptious tea and worked up a appetite for dinner..Went to "Shangrila" for dinner. This is a vegetarian restaurant run by Monks and all the proceeds go to the monastary. Shangrila is supposedly one of the best restaurants in McLLo but we were kinda disappointed ( I think it was the veg food :-) ) But the local Tibetan bread was yummy and the local dish "Thepka" (Noodles in soup) was allright..

Post dinner we went to "Xcite" one of the few places that serves liquor and is open till late.McLLo is not a party place. The Dalai Lama influence is everywhere. You will find a lot of foreigners introspecting and writing their diaries.

"Xcite"  though was a pretty cool (and it was cold too!!) place to hang out..

 "Smoking Kills" - Looks like my hubby is amused by that thought.

"God is a DJ" - Love that thought.

And then a few cricketers from the Deccan Chargers and Punjab Kings XI descended upon "XCite". They had been partying next door at "McLLo" one of the oldest restaurants at McLeod with celebrity guests like Pierce Brosnam and Richard Gere.

RP was very cordial.

                                                   Irfan was most in demand.

And then it was back to the hotel..

The Dharamshala stadium from the hotel room.The stadium looked good.

Day 2 : In and around the hotel.

Next stop :  "St John's Church in the Wilderness". Beautiful church among the trees.Literally in the wilderness.

In and around the church. In the graveyard adjoining the church.

Sufficiently hungry now, we headed to "Jimmy's Italian Kitchen", one of the bigger and better looking eating places there.The whole place was done up in movie posters and they even have Live music sometimes. The menu was amazing. The food ordering ritual is different in McLLo. The waiter hands over the menu and a pencil and paper. You are supposed to write the number of the dish you want and hand back the paper to the waiter.

That was some amazing French Toast with Bacon and a refreshing glass of fresh juice.

Headed out to His Holiness Dalai Lama's Monastary and residence after this hearty brunch. Photography was not permitted inside the temple.

 The Buddhist prayer wheels.

Walked around. Checked out the local bazaar. Did some shopping. Went back to the hotel and then headed out to the "Dal Lake" and "Asian Health Resort" hotel in the evening. This is perhaps the best hotel in the region and has nice views from it's terrace restaurant. It also has had a lot of celebrity guests. Ms Preity Zinta was expected the next day and we got a "sneak peek" into the behind the scene working of a celebrity stay.

Old Monk among the hills. Great experience made better..

Village Naddi at the neighbouring hilltop.

It was getting pretty cold at twilight.

 Moved in to their bar. A very cozy place. Just perfect for a cold night. Had a very indian himachali dinner there. Saag Chicken and rotis. Good but nothing to rave about.

Day 3

Checked out. Headed again to "Jimmy Kitchen" for breakfast. Walked around a bit and headed back to Chandigarh.

That is waffles and Bananas and Ice Cream. Looks better than it tasted.

On the way back:

The famous Anandpur Sahib Gurudwara on the way back. No we did not go in. Just clicked the picture from the car. 

That is our driver.

So that was all. Had a wonderful trip. And if you ever go to McLLo eat, walk, take in the scenic beauty and instrospect. Do not miss the momos. And if you like wine, they have nice apple wine, kiwi wine and strawberry wine.



Last Picture : It is not from the trip but from the day after. Small tubewell at a punjabi pind (village). The water was real cold and tasty.