Located just outside Dharamasala, Mcleod Ganj or "Little Lhasa" is a town situated in the Dhauladhar mountain range and has become famous for being the headquarters of the exiled Tibetan government and home to the Dalai Lama. As such the town has become an important pilgrimage and tourist attraction. Many people come to the area to learn about Tibetan culture and crafts and to admire and purchase the beautiful Tibetan handicrafts that can be found throughout the town. There are opportunities to attend the Dalai Lama's temple and see the monasteries and other religious attractions that have built up in the area. McLeod Ganj was named after Sir Donald Friell McLeod, a Lieutenant Governor of Ajmer during British colonial rule in India; the suffix ganj is a common Persian word used for "neighbourhood"
Monday, October 27. Shimla to Pragpur
We enjoyed a pleasant breakfast and we had a chat to Mr Singh's sister for a few minutes, she been in the head of the adjacent school. We then left. Mr. Singh's residence at 9 am . We then had an hours journey at least to clear the outskirts of Shimla, the traffic being very thick. So we think this added at least half an hour to our journey time expected. The first two hours of the journey were very pleasant with good views over many levels of hills, but after that the weather became very hazy and the landscape seemingly less interesting. There were lots of towns en route. We passed near a large cement factory and for miles and miles there were hundreds of lorries queuing up to be called in for their loads, This process may be taken four days of waiting. We stopped at a café for restrooms and for Ajay to have a cup of tea.
Eventually, well after six hours of the predicted 5 1/2 hours, we reached one of the heritage villages and were given a tour by Ajay for 10 minutes or So. The heritage buildings seem similar to Chris to old buildings in France or Spain.
To get a larger photo, click on a thumbnail below
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
So we eventually arrived at the Judges Court Hotel, where the welcome was non-existent, probably due to the non-existence of their English. But our room was charming and although it was late in the day I was able to have a swim in the dinky swimming pool which was still at a reasonable temperature. In the afternoon we had had a knock on the door with a menu presented to us, this menu was mainly in Indian and we decided then that we would not eat as we did not really understand what we would be ordering.
Then we had a mug of tea on the balcony and at 6:30 pm plus we went down to the bar but found they had no idea of what a cocktail was. But in the bar they showed us the European menu and we ordered some soup and fish for 7:30 pm, to be eaten outside and not in the huge empty restaurant. It was really magical sitting amongst the surrounding buildings on a large lawn area and would’ve been even more so had we not felt that no one understood English at all. We drank half a bottle of wine with the meal, this white wine being complementary with the room. As per usual and early night.
To get a larger photo, click on a thumbnail below
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
Tuesday, October 28. Pragpur to Dharamasala
We had a very basic breakfast at 8 am although the scrambled eggs were very good. We then went for a walk around the heritage village trying to follow the map which was not to scale and was completely useless. Nevertheless, we really appreciated what we saw and it was kept in very good order and was a much bigger village than we thought it would be.
To get a larger photo, click on a thumbnail below
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
On returning to the hotel I had a quick swim and was ready (almost) by 10 am to depart with the driver. The two smartly dressed men on reception duty had no idea of any word of English and tried to charge us for breakfast, which was included in our package. How on earth can they run a 30 room hotel with only one lower employee barely speaking English. We learnt that the owners were resident in Delhi now and they obviously need a decent manager here.
It was less than a three hour journey to Dharamasala and we stopped once at the ruins of a fort where we just took photographs from the gate. On entering Dharamasala we were informed that where we were staying was several kilometres outside it at a place called McLeod Ganj, this being about 400 feet higher and considerably cooler and, surprisingly actually whether the Dalai Lama resides while all the world thinks he’s in Dharamasala! The car had to squeeze up a fantastically narrow steep road to reach the hotel car park and then we had to climb up 50 steps or so to reach reception. We were shown into a room right beside reception and on first sight were enchanted with it but later on we realised that it had no view, although there was a balcony of sorts, and that the majority of the rooms were on higher floors and did have views.
Our room had painted walls but unfortunately the lighting was very dim in it, but we did eventually managed to get it warm when the AC control was found by housekeeping. Whilst we were being shown in there was a telephone call from Delhi for David from the agency office and the man there was told in no uncertain terms of all our problems that we had had with windowless rooms and crowded second class carriages with no view on the Shimla train. We settled in and then went for a walk after sitting out in their open air restaurant with a shake and a cake and tart. This was very pleasant.
Another disadvantage of the room was that it was open to view of anyone entering or leaving the hotel. And at night the street dogs barking sounded as if they were in the room
To get a larger photo, click on a thumbnail below
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
McLeod Ganj
There was quite a long walk into town, uphill to start with which puffed me out then a myriad of shops and views of the hilly surrounds (but no views of the snowy mountains as there was considerable pollution everywhere). Next day though we did see the Himalayas rising up behind the town
To get a larger photo, click on a thumbnail below
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Back at the hotel we sat in a very nicely decorated and spacious lounge for over an hour and then went back to the room for some more honey tea, this having been served to us on arrival, and the remains of the walnut tart and a banana. Then back to the lounge again until almost 7, when I retired to the room for a 20 minute nap Before going into the restaurant at 7:30, the time they said it opened at. There was a large group in there of 10 people making a lot of noise and when we placed our order we were told that we could not have the food until 20.30. So went back to the room for a while. But we stopped at reception to complain about this stupidity and they said that we will get our food within 10 to 15 minutes, but this was not to be. The food when it came bang on 20.30 was indeed quite pleasant. Then back to the room for a bath.
Wednesday, October 29. Dharamasala.
A very basic breakfast but the surroundings were nice sitting outside. Our first encounter with our new guide was not auspicious as he wanted to guide a Mr. John and only came back to us five minutes later and said Mr. David. We went down to the car and walked past it to the Dalai Lama temple. We had learnt that he never gave an audience to anybody who wasn’t Buddhist or a celebrity in their own right. So that was a bit of a disappointment. We went into two temples in his complex. Which were quite plain on the outside, as his holiness apparently wanted them as spacious as possible for as big an audience as possible. From the temple complex we could see the snowy peaks so at least that was one bonus.
To get a larger photo, click on a thumbnail below
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
We then drove out of town and stopped at the St John in the Wilderness church which had been built around 1850. It contain the grave of a Lord Elgin who have been there, governor general of India when he died in 1918 . His wife built a memorial to him in the churchyard and there was stained glass window inside for him too. Surprisingly, we had to take our shoes off to go inside the church here, very odd.
To get a larger photo, click on a thumbnail below
 |
 |
 |
 |
We then drove up the mountain to get a better view of the snowy peaks and had a short walk there. It was quite a resort and people obviously stayed there rather than in McLeod Ganj for their visit to the Tibetan community here. Then back down again to a tea plantation where they used a sort of scythe to pick the tea leaves so obviously not such a good quality of tea we walked through the bushes for awhile but it was quite tough underneath,with lots of roots.
To get a larger photo, click on a thumbnail below
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Then on to the largest Buddhist monastery in the area which had been built in the 1990s. It housed over 400 students and we were able to wander around it. They practice Tibetan Buddhism and were not fed by the locals at all, but were self-sufficient. A new building has just been completed which house up to 100 classrooms. The monks lived 2 to a room , a young novice of 4 or 5 years sharing a room with an older boy in order to learn the ropes to become self-sufficient. After this, we drove to the other property of the trust that owns the hotel we are staying at. This contained a guest house, a café and several workshops where people were doing metal work intricate painting and woodwork et cetera. There was also the inevitable shop at the end . We stopped in the café there whilst our guide went off his lunch and we had an orange juice and a cake each.
To get a larger photo, click on a thumbnail below
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
So back to the hotel at about 4 pm, walking the last 15 minutes or so from the town centre. We had a glass of honey tea in the room and then went to the lounge and read for the next 2 to 3 hours.
Meanwhile, I had given an order for supper and a time to the girl on reception, so when we went to the restaurant at 7:30 pm, we were served quickly, enjoying more Tibetan food including sampling their dumplings. Back to the room for another bath and the dreaded diary.
Thurs 29th of October 29 Dharamasala to Amritsar
Another so so breakfast and we left by about 8.45 the guide appearing and then disappearing without getting into the car.
