We took an overnight bus to Dharamsala, high in the Himalayas. Our hotel was situated between the tiny hippie village of Dharamkot and the Dalai Lama’s home of exile, McLeod Ganj. I have lost count of the number of nights we stayed in Dharamsala, but it was longer than intended – somewhere between two and three weeks.
The weather was bright most of the time and we enjoyed taking walks on the steep dirt tracks and discovering waterfalls and prayer-flag festooned shrines on hilltops.
We went to The Dalai Lama Temple, where we watched debating monks and ate at restaurants that served delicious foods, both Tibetan and Western. Walking the streets of McLeod Ganj felt more akin to being in Lhasa than India. Prayer flags fluttered everywhere and ‘Free Tibet’ was emblazoned across garage doors and on motorbikes.
We were able to switch rooms and for most of our stay, and had a room with mountain views and a balcony. The guys at the hotel were really sweet and couldn’t do enough for us. I think they wondered if we were ever going to leave, but eventually we did…….