India Travel

The most frequented route from Dharamsala to the Chamba Valley, over the Indrahar Pass (4350m), is arduous in places, but most trekkers manage it in around five days. The first section, from Dharamkot, winds through thick forest and steep rocky terrain for 9km to a grassy plateau at Triund- From here the path climbs to Laqa Got, and then on a seriously steep section up to the knife-edged Indrahar Pass where, weather permitting, you’ll enjoy breathtaking views south to the plains and north to the snowy Pir Panjal peaks and Greater Himalayas. The descent is difficult in places and will take you via the Gaddi villages of Kuarsi and Channauta to the main road, from where you can pick up transport to Brahmour and Chamba by road.

Dharamsala is one of the most popular starting points for treks over the rock ridges of the Dhauladhar range, which rise steeply from the Kangra Valley to 4600m Most of the routes are used by Gaddi shepherds, who cross from north to south m the winter, cradling bundles of lambs and kids in their jackets, and return to the northern pastures in summer. Trails pass through forests of deodar, pine, oak and rhododendron, cross streams and rivers and wind along vertiginous cliff tracks passing the occasional lake waterfall and glacier. Unless you are very experienced you’ll need a guide as the routes are steep and memorial stones testify to those who didn’t make it. The Mountaineering Institute on Dharamkot Road can help arrange guides and porters and has maps. Despite the availability of rough huts and caves, it’s best to take a tent.

The best season to trek here is September to November when the worst of the monsoon is over and before it gets too cold. Winter climbing should only be attempted by mountaineers experienced with the use of crampons and ice axes.

Banks and exchange The State Bank of India in McLeod Ganj has ceased foreign exchange transactions. There’s another branch in lower Dharamsala (Mon-Fri 10am-2pm, Sat 10am-noon). The Bank of Baroda. in the lower town, issues money to Visa card holders, with one or two days’ delay. There are several authorized private foreign exchange agencies in McLeod Ganj.

Bookshops The Tibetan Bookshop and Information Office is a good place to browse for books on Tibetan Buddhism, as is the friendly and informative Charitable Trust Shop, both on Jogibara Road in the main bazaar.

Bookworm, opposite the Tourist Office, South End, is small bfl has a very good selection especially on Buddhism and also stocks secondhand books.

Your best bets for Indian and Western dishes are the Hotel Dliauladhar and the City Heart in Kotwali Bazaar. There are several cheap and cheerful dhabas serving decent Indian food including Rajinder at the main crossroads. For Tibetan food around Kotwali Bazaar, try the Potala, a small but clean cafe with a sins pie menu.

Ashoka. Jogibara Road. Friendly place with a mellow space upstairs and a street buzz downstairs. Good Indian food and a range of beers, pricier than average.

Chocolate Log, Jogibara Road. Delicious cakes, pies and truffles plus savouries such as spinach pizza. Eat inside or laze on deckchairs in a pleasant garden. Reasonably priced (9,30am-6pm, 5pm in winter; closed Tues). Chonor House, Chonorguesthouse of same name, south end (01892/21077). An excellent but expensive restaurant with a varied menu serving exquisite Tibetan food plus a sprinkling of Thai dishes and even American pies. Worth booking ahead.

Friends’ Corner. Temple Road. Popular, comfortable place by the bus stop, with a range of food and beers, and a good sound system. Gakyi, Jogibara Road. Humble and homely, with great Tibetan and Western veg dishes, and the town’s best fruit muesli and Tibetan bread. Malabar. Jogibara Road One of a row of well-frequented traveller restaurants with a varied menu. McLlo, Central Square. Massive neon-lit monstrosity overlooking the Bus stop.

Large selection of good Western food though overpriced, and second floor drinking den which is pleasant early evening but can get very rowdy later on. Nick’s Italian Kitchen. Kunga’s Hotel, Bhagsu Road. The affable Nick is an excellent cook with a large repertoire including great pasta, banana cake and lemon-curd cake which is apparently a favourite with Richard Gere. Om, Om Hotel. Friendly, comfortable restaurant jutting out over the hillside with the town’s only west-facing roof terrace. Generous portions of good Tibetan and Chinese veg food and a few Western-style snacks. Great value. Sunrise, Bhagsu Road. Small, friendly and popular travellers’ cafe and late-night hang-out place, with a mixed menu, Shambala, Jogibara Road. Cramped seating but good veg food, with fresh cakes and filled pancakes.

Tibet, in the hotel of the same name. Bhagsu Road. One of the best venues in Dharamsala for Tibetan and Chinese food, veg and non-veg High prices, but worth every rupee. Trimurti, Bhagsu. Excellent Indian vegetarian cafe with rooftop terrace. Great value. Yak, Jogibara Road. Small and simple restaurant, popular with the locals, serving good Tibetan food.

McLeod Ganj is one of those places where sitting, chatting and philosophic in restaurants is the favoured activity.Tibetan dishes such as thukpa and tna are prominent, along with Chinese egg noodles, chow inein and stir fry’s Frp h baked Tibetan bread and cakes are widely available, and you’ll also come arm omelettes, chips, toast, veggie-burgers and plenty of Israeli dishes I Dharamsala, there’s no shortage of snack stalls, but less choice of cuisine

A minor road winds northwards from the McLeod Ganj bus stand to the Mountaineering Institute ($01892/21787; Mon-Sat 10am-1.30pm & 2-5pm; closed 2nd Sat of month), where Mr Saini provides information on the region, including books and maps on the Dhaula Dhar range, and organizes trekking expeditions. Continuing up the road you approach two Buddhist retreat centres both beautifully situated in the midst of forests and most conducive for meditation and spiritual furtherment. The Tushita Tibetan Buddhist Centre was founded in 1972 by Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, while just around the corner is Dhamma Sikhara, a Theravadan Vipassana centre (see Listings p.552 for details of courses at both centres). From here the road contnues to the small settlement of Dharamkot, starting point for walks to Triund (2975m) and treks over the high passes to the Chamba Valley. Tabla lessons are available at Trimurti Niwas (©01892/21364) in lower Dharamkot.

The small, murky Dal Lake, connected to Dharamkot by a path down through the wooded slopes, is the scene of an animal fair and Shaivite festival in September. It stands behind the Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV), a huge complex providing education and training in traditional handicrafts for around 2000 students, many of whom are orphans or have been brought to safety by parents who have returned to Tibet.

The Bhagsu road heads east from McLeod Ganj’s main square, skirting the hillside for 2km before reaching the tiny village of Bhagsunath with its ancient Shiva temple. The last couple of years has been massive changes here with the construction of several incongruous hotels catering primarily for the domestic tourist market. However it is still a pleasant enough place with a few cafes near the temple complex including the excellent vegetarian Trimurti with its roof terrace. Beyond the temple a path meanders up the boulder-strewn slopes of a small stream up to a waterfall where there’s a small chai stall. It is inadvisable for women to walk alone between Bhagsunath and McLeod Ganj at night as there have been several attacks in the past few years.

The Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (01892/21478, 21033) was founded in 1959 to preserve the Tibetan identity jn exile. Around 120 people live on its campus in the forests above McLeod Gam overlooking Bhagsunath, including artists, teachers, musicians and administrators. The TIPA troupe perform traditional lhamo operas (see box opposite) and have played a morale-building role at Tibetan refugee camps throughout India, while also sharing Tibet’s rich cultural heritage with international audiences. Information on upcoming events and tours can be sought at its office (Mon-Sat 9am-12 & lpm-5pm, closed 2nd & 4th Sat of month). Lhamo instructors from the institute teach the art to Tibetans in India and Nepal and also to non-Tibetans, Other traditional art forms such as literature, crafts, statue making, thangka painting, woodcarving and metalcraft are held in the Norbulingka Institute (01892/22664) near Sidpur, 30min by bus from Dharamsala. Accommodation is available at the institute guesthouse.

Lhamo originated from the masked dance drama of Tibet, dating from the sixth to ninth centuries. In the fourteenth century, Lama Thai igtong Gyalpo recognized the potential of this art form to teach the morals and philosophy of Tibetan Buddhism to ordinary people. Lhamo performances traditionally last a whole day and are accompanied by musicians playing cymbals, drums and horns. Before each performance the arena is purified in a complex procedure involving seven Ngonpa characters in flat black masks and six dancing fairies, or Ringas. They give thanks to Thangtong Gyalpo, the patron saint or lhamo., and place his statue in centre stage.The narrator, Shung Shangen, then enters and offers a resume of the opera in classical Tibetan (now understood by very few), culminating with a high shout.

The performers enter to the sound of music introducing the various characters -the hero (a prince or king), dressed in dragon-patterned brocade and j wide-bnmmed hat; the heroine, draped in golden silk and wearing a hat of flowers: the villain, often a witch, dressed in black and hiding behind a black-and-white mask, followed by a retinue of ghoulish demons whose masks show wide stam. blood-red lips and sharp fangs. Each character has a special dance, and sings in -1 drawn-out, droning manner known as namthar - throaty, high and resonant and so strong that the voice carries beautifully, riding clearly over the accompanying drums and cymbals. The plots revolve around tales from early Buddhist texts, re-enactments of the Buddha’s life and the deeds of great Tibetan saints, or stories from the courts of the emperor Songsten Gampo, under whom Buddhism was established in Tiber. Even if you don’t know what’s going on, you’ll catch the drift of it from the bursts of laughter and expectant faces in the audience.

Even. Pulse and urine, and prescribe pills made of herbs, precious stones and sometimes animal products, mixed on particularly auspicious lunar dates. You can also have your horoscope prepared here.

The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives (Mon-Sat 9am—lpm, 2-5pm-closed 2nd & 4th Sat of month; (01892/22467, 23723) has one or the world’s most extensive collections of original Tibetan manuscripts of sacred texts and prayers, books on all aspects of Tibet, copious information on Indian culture and architecture, and a rich archive of historical photos. Decorated on the exterior with bright Tibetan motifs, it is housed in the Tibetan Central Administration compound, below the southern end of McLeod Ganj. The library is not the sole attraction -Tibetan language and philosophy courses are held each weekday.

On the first floor of the library, a small museum (Rs10) displays Buddhist statues, finely moulded bronzes, and mandalas (symmetrical images, used in meditation to symbolize inner spiritual journeys and the pattern of the universe). In front of the library, a small cafe serves hot drinks and cakes. An information centre in the Tibetan Secretariat beside the entrance to the compound provides up-to-date news about the Tibetan community in Tibet and around the world.Jus: outside, the small Astro Medical Institute (9am-lpm & 2pm—5pm) is staffed by monks who diagnose symptoms by examining.