At last... a leg stretch

Dharamsala, Wednesday 23 January 2013

Apologies firstly that there aren't any pics in this post. I have forgotten to bring my camera lead. I'll add some tomorrow. [Update: pics now included below.]

I took to the hills above Dharamsala today, and it felt so good to be putting one foot past the other again. I've so missed having a decent walk this past while. My destination was the village of Dharamkot, and then I figured I'd decide where else to go after that.

I had only the map in Lonely Planet to go by, and some tips from the fella at my hotel. I got onto the right road out of town, and then, of course, took a wrong turn. I wound up in somebody's garden, and after a couple of namastes the woman of the house came out and helpfully got me on the right track - speaking perfect English.

When I got to Dharamkot, there didn't appear to be much to it - a school and a cafe were all I could see. After some directions from a man at the cafe, I set off up a trail heading for Naddi, but on reaching a junction of paths opted for up instead of onwards. I wasn't too bothered where I ended up, because I knew I could follow the trail back and was more interested in the walking than the destination. It was a lovely trail through pine forest, passing women collecting wood on the way, and the odd Tibetan monk, both male and female. I soon got some great views down over Dharamsala, and I could see that it sat on a ridge. There in the distance I could pick out the Dalai Lama's complex, which I'd visited yesterday, and the big concrete bus station. It was good to get a better feel for the geography of the place. I sat on a stone to admire the view and two women came along the trail towards me. They were both from Cumbria - and one was even from Appleby - small world, as they say!

They were able to confirm for me that I wasn't on the path for Naddi, which would have been straight on at the junction; I was now on the trail to Triunde, an area right up at the top of the hills above Dharamsala, at 2900m. It's apparently a six-hour walk from McLeod Ganj to Triunde, and you can stay at a lodge up there and come back down the next day, or do it all in one day. But it's snow covered just now, and I'm not equipped for that.

Grover enjoying the view back towards McLeod Ganj from the hills above.

The women wandered on and I set off not long after them. I figured I might as well walk up towards Triunde a ways. I passed them sitting on boulders having lunch, and after a while I arrived at a pass on a ridge with views down both sides. To one side was a town called Bhagsu, which is tucked in behind the ridge that McLeod Ganj occupies, so you can't see it from the town. And I don't know what's in the gorge down the other side, but noticed a sign for waterfalls.

Bhagsu, from the ridge

Anyway, right on the thin ridge at the pass there were two little cafes and a hotel. I wandered on up the trail to Triunde a bit further, until I could see that the trail was snow-covered. By the time I got back to the cafes, the two Cumbrians had reached there and were having a drink.

Things always seem shorter going back - in my case not least because I seem to take an inordinate amount of time to find my way on the outward journey - and I was surprised how quickly I got back to Dharamkot. Following the main road back to McLeod Ganj, I saw where I'd gone wrong on the way up and realised how close it actually is when you don't ramble all over the hillside lost. On the way down, I heard a 'hello' behind me, as a suspected male pest descended. He tried to make conversation, but, as I've discovered, any conversation beyond a simple 'hello' is generally going to deteriorate into a sales pitch or chat-up of some sort. He tried a few questions and didn't get much response, but, not put off, he then announced that he did body massage. 'You enjoy very much,' he suggested. Eh, no, I wouldn't. He was quite persistent and I had to tell him quite forcefully to clear off. As we neared the National Mountaineering Centre, and other people, he finally came to a halt and crawled back from whence he'd come.

I'd remembered overhearing someone say in a shop that some of the businesses were closing earlier than usual today, as there are prayers at the Dalai Lama's temple. So, after a cup of Tibetan tea and cornflake bun at a cafe run by a charity that supports Tibetan refugees, I headed for the temple. Going through the bag search this time, Grover was at the top of my sack and the man on duty picked him up and smiled. 'He's my friend,' I told him, and he grinned back. 'Oh, your very good friend!' he said. He put Grover back, zipped up my bag and searched no more. I guess he figured no friend of Grover's would mean any harm to those in the temple.

I could hear prayer chants as I headed up the steps to the temple. The temple itself was full of monks in their red and yellow robes, and the terrace outside it also had a healthy scattering of people - both monks and Buddhists in normal clothes. Everyone was chanting along with the man leading prayers, whose voice was broadcast through speakers out on the terrace. A young monk was running around with a video camera on a tripod, filming - as were a western camera crew. It was all very informal, with tourists milling around, too.



I sat down among the rocking and chanting people and just took it all in. The chants were mesmerizing. It was such a lovely experience. They were reading the chants from white books, and, after a while, a few men started circulating among the worshippers collecting the books up. I figured the service must soon be coming to an end. The chants stopped all of a sudden, and you never saw a place empty so fast... as soon as the last chant sounded, a whirl of red and yellow robes surged out of the temple and onto the terrace, down the steps and away.

Monks doing one after prayers ended.

Some emerged with a bit less haste, and the remaining few lingered around, talking, putting away the mats people had been sitting on outside the temple, and doing laps of the temple - clockwise, of course. I joined the circumambulation for a few laps, enjoying the views out over the hills where I'd been earlier.

Inside the temple.

Prayer wheels around the outside of the temple.

View from the temple complex.

A policeman guards the entrance to the Dalai Lama's residence.

Looking back towards the temple with my back to the Dalai Lama's residence.

Back up in the centre of town, and it was time for some dinner - Tibetan butter tea and a pasta dish, followed by ginger, honey and lemon in hot water, and a chocolate brownie. All very good. At the table next to me was an American woman, who was studying here and seemed to speak Tibetan very well. I couldn't help overhearing her conversation with the companion who joined her - not that she was loud, I hasten to add, but because the restaurant was quiet. Sounded like she's had an interesting life... travelling from a young age, living abroad in Austria, and now living and studying here for a while. I think you could write a book about the people who gravitate to Dharamsala. There are quite a few places here offering yoga classes, training in various alternative therapies, meditation, etc. 

There seems to be quite a few opportunities for volunteering here. Outside the gates of an organisation that helps Tibetan refugees who've been political prisoners, they've a sign saying they need volunteers for English conversation classes. I wandered in to see if they were after longer term people, or whether I could do a class or two in the days that I'm here. I found a classroom, but nobody seemed to be around. Upstairs I found a roomful of people working away at sewing machines, and they said the classes might be off today. Perhaps it's linked to the prayer day. Anyway, I eventually found a Buddhist monk coming out of a room beside the classroom and I asked her if they needed volunteers. Unfortunately, her English wasn't good enough for me to understand whether they did or didn't! Perhaps I'll wander in at the class time tomorrow and try again. I'm sure English lessons from someone from Norn Iron is just what they need!