A new day with a new agenda and new things to learn about McLeod Ganj. We started with a leisurely breakfast at the rooftop restaurant of our hotel The Pink House. Here’s what our breakfast looked like. (details in my detailed review of The Pink House )
While we were waiting for our taxi we craved for a cup of Masala Chai with what we got our way called – Local doughnuts. Different shapes and sizes and yummy flavour. You must have this if you spot it around.
First place of the day was Bhagsu Nag temple and waterfall. About 2 kms away from McLeod Ganj , Bhagsunag is considered to be an ancient temple. The story goes back to about 5000 years ago when the King of Demon called Bhagsu had to steal water from this area to save his people ( rather demons ) But Nagdevta- Serpant King got infuriated by this act. However, when Bhagsu asked for forgiveness and was also found to be a devotee of Lord Shankar, Nagdevta forgave him and announced that this region will be called Bhagsunag.
It’s a tiny temple. Beautiful. A little commercial on the outside but quaint on the inside. I don’t know why they have made a pool in the temple complex. Unfortunately, a lot of fellow ‘Tourist” Indians have turned this into a local swimming pool.
From here there was a hike uphill of about 2 kms to reach the Bhagsunag waterfall. Some parts of this hike were tough especially since we are not such health freaks. We had our pit stops until we finally reached the top. But it was worth it. The water of this fresh water spring was so clear! We could see the bottom of it and a good variety of fish in it. We relaxed there for a bit and got back.
After this, we covered – War Memorial .( Unfortunately it was closed due to renovation.) We then headed for HPCA Stadium. En-route we also saw Tea Gardens and clicked some more pictures here 😊
Coming back to HPCA i.e. Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium at Dharamshala. Well, this has become a must visit to every tourist visiting Dharamshala and why not? This has to be the most stunning Cricket stadium in the entire country. The Clear blue skies and snow capped Dhaulandhar range in the background. Who wouldn’t want to witness a match here ! We did what everyone around did i.e. clicked loads and loads of selfies 😉
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After coming back, we were super hungry and to kill hunger we tried something unique. Himachali Burger is what the locals called it. Here is what it looked like-
( do check out the video 😉 )
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Next place visited was Norbulingka Institute. It was little off from regular Dharamshala sightseeing we had to pay a little extra for this detour but it was worth it.
A liitle bit about Norbulingka- It’s a Tibetan institute that’s working hard for preservation of their heritage, art and culture. They have different studios dedicated to different art forms such as Thangka Paintinings, Wood Carving, Pottery any many more art forms. They also have accommodation under the same campus in the names of Chonor House , Norling House and Serkong House. It houses a huge Monastry with a magnificent statue of Buddha. We found it very peaceful and spent almost half an hour meditating there.
It also has a doll museum, displaying the culture of Tibet in Miniature Doll format. There are a 2 cafeterias one a la cart and other with buffet. We found it to be very expensive and thought we could eat somewhere out. But that was a mistake as there are not many good places around.
Next was Gyuto Monastry. a very quaint monastery that reminded us of ‘3 Idiots’ vide of monastery. Hardly any tourists here made us happy.
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From here we visited Nadi. A photo-stop and Dal Lake. We found both the places to be a little over rated. ( this doggo near Nadi kept us entertained though 😉 )
What was a highlight of late evening was this gorgeous church in the middle of nowhere. Its called St. John in the wilderness church. A Neo Gothic church that was built in 1852! We reached here at almost closing time and I’m glad we did so. There was nobody around and it felt right out of the movies. Pictures will do the justice.
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I could not spend one more evening, not visiting Illiterati café. So without wasting our time we went there for a relaxed evening after all the running around through the day.
Illiterarti Café is a reknowned café in McLeod Ganj. So famous that they say your visit to McLeod Ganj is incomplete without visiting it. Its officially called Illiterarti Books and Coffee. They have a wide range of books ( trust me its like a bloody library ) Indoor and outdoor seating both offering stunning view of the Dhaulandar Range of Himalayas. And the sunsets ! Oh My God ! The golden sunrays falling on its peak making it shine like real gold while you sip on your coffee / ginger honey lemon tee… If this isn’t heaven, I don’t know what is !
From the moment we set our foot in McLeod Ganj, I knew I wanted to go there and I had to had to get that outdoor seating spot to gaze out to the mountains 😊
We stepped in at around 5ish ( you have to go there early so that you can catch a place you wish else no chance) Even at 5 pm it was quite full. We waited patiently or rather impatiently till we got the place we wanted. I picked up a book and curled up in the corner for quite some time.
Each and every corner of Illiterati is cute. Here’s a look.
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We had repeats of our respective drinks and had some piping hot waffle ❤
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Some heart warming conversations , little bit of planning of the next day’s agenda and the cozy ambiance didn’t make us realize that we had spent more than 3 hrs sitting in this café.
After the sunset at Illiterati café we got back to our hotel and shared a wholesome meal thali(I don’t know where one gets an appetite in mountains to eat so much )
A little tired but content ,that’s about our day 2 in McLeodganj 😉
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