A Silent escape to quietude | Kangra and Chamba (Jan 2014) – Part 2

 

 

 (Click here for Part 1)

 

Day 2 : McLeodgunj (Rain, Bonfires, and Bypassed Treks)

 

To good mornings…

 

It had rained a bit in the morning and I hoped there’d be some clear skies today. Opening the balcony door, a pristine, snow-capped peak welcomed me into the day—an encouraging start! Tried to get a couple of shots from the Balcony itself, but then, I hadn't chosen a room on the higher floor, the lighting and angle in the early dawn didn't do it justice.

 

 

 

Javed Bhai’s place has got a roof top restaurant too – so I headed to the terrace. The tables and chairs were wet, but then, I dint go to the terrace to sit there – did I     The views from there were lovely, but so were the clouds.

 

 

That was on one side – on the other side from the terrace, the entire Dhauladhars should be visible, but owing to cloud, much of it was covered. But then, morning sun broke through just enough for me to catch a few great shots.

 

(these pics do no justice to what I actually saw)

 

 

 

 

 

Looking in the opposite direction, the quaint, stacked buildings of McLeodganj stretched across the hills—a bit of an eye sore to some, perhaps, but quite charming in its own way.

 

 

 

I asked the hotel guys if I could hike upto Triund given the weather conditions – I was warned against attempting anything so stupid!! Continuous rain + clouds here could mean a snow storm in the making in higher reaches. I was a bit disappointed, but then when the mountains don’t allow you to do something, the smartest thing would be to accept it. I had a hot shower, then some breakfast (don’t remember what I had, must have been toasts with jam !) and set out with my backpack – all I carried was a rain jacket and some water and biscuits.

 

Time to try something new

 

I walked up to the Jogiwara Road [climbing the fleet of stairs from Pink House to the road itself was tiring !!] and then to the main chowk. The plan was to go around a bit, get to the Galu Devi temple and check how the weather held up. So I headed towards the mountaineering centre, then onwards to Dharamkot [lost my way a bit, but a local helped me find my way  ]. It was raining heavily throughout, so I had to look for shelter at the roadsides ! Finally in Dharamkot, I went into a small stall for some tea  When the rain then subsided a little (or rather looked like it had subsided), I headed towards the Galu Devi temple. Then it started again, a light drizzle, converting itself into a strong one, and then, it rained for an hour or so like crazy !!

 

Enroute Dharamkot-

 

 

 

 

Towards Galu Devi

 

 

At Galu Devi

 

 

 

 

 

Some Grafitti for you:

 

My backpack taking some rest [it was tired of being on my back you see  ]

 

Now there were strong winds blowing and suddenly it all looked so menacing and dangerous, the sound especially amidst the quietude of the hills.

 

I braved the weather a little, only to click photos though and then headed to a Dhaba that was there. I wasn’t really hungry, so I just asked for some tea. There was a bonfire and I warmed myself there

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I was in the Dhaba, the wind blew so hard that I almost thought the sheet on top would just fly off.. thankfully, it held well.. and once the rains receded, I decided I’d get back (no Triund   ) – this time I took the forest trail through Bhagsu though. It was around 1:30pm then.

 

 

Some sunshine restored

 

 

Mustard ?

 

 

More water here

It took only around 25 minutes to get to Bhagsunath temple. After a quick darshan, I followed the stone pavement leading to Bhagsu Falls, located roughly 600 meters from the temple complex. Between the steep incline in certain sections and intermittent downpours, the short walk took a solid half-hour.

 

Distant view

 

 

There were three shops / Dhabas just at the base of the falls, but none were open. There was a shelter though, and that saved me from getting drenched in the rain while taking in the view :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After waiting for a long time, it looked like it would stop raining, but it did not. Not wanting to waste any further time, I started walking back towards Mcleodganj. Initially I could manage, but after sometime, I had to wear my rain jacket !!

 

A snapshot of the route I took during the day:

 

So, I was back at the chowk, and it was raining bad now.. real bad.. Either I could have got back to the hotel and looked out of the window or I could walk around for some more time.. I decided that I’d go to the Dalai Lama monastery.

 

There are some privileges when you travel alone – you decide what to do, when to do and then you don’t have anyone else telling you to do or not to do something  I was just having a good time here

 

 

Time to try something more…

 

I walked upto the monastery – the rain had thankfully become a drizzle by now. I deposited my camera and my backpack and after the mandatory frisking security check, headed into the monastery. There was also a museum with information on the Tibetan struggle for freedom, which I decided to check out on my return. There were not many people and so the place was calm. I spent around 20-25 minutes there and saw that there was a family speaking in Kannada.. I spoke to them and they were from Mysore (sometimes in a distant land, when people speak your language, there’s always a nice feeling). They seemed to be amused that I had come alone, and was traveling by public transport – so much so, that they even offered to drop me at my hotel -  I politely refused.. but then I secretly enjoyed the attention I was getting  

 

 

At the Monastery

 

 

I wanted to go to the Museum, but then it had already closed for the day. There was also a Souvenir shop there, which was also closing. I walked back towards the chowk, and entered the souvenir shop run by Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) – called TCV handicrafts or something like that – it seems all the surplus generated goes towards education of children. I sincerely hope it does.

 

I got a few things to gift my friends here back in Bangalore. With my bags packed to full with the souvenirs, I walked in the rain to a Tibetan restaurant, where I had a steaming bowl of Thukpa [the quantity was real good, and I did not want to waste food, so I ended up overeating]. At around 730pm, I was back at the Pink house, drenched !! – the first thing I did was to remove all my wet clothes, my wet shoe, my wet socks, the wet supposedly ‘waterproof’ Wildcraft Bag and spread them around the room so that they could dry by tomorrow. I sincerely hoped that the next day would be bright so that atleast I’d be spared of the second set of wet clothes to carry with me.

 

After that, I wrapped up some pending office work on my laptop and drifted off to sleep !!

 

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Story continues in  Part 3