Dharamshala

Date arrived: 7th March 2024

Date Departed: 11th March 2024

Favourite sight: The Himalaya!

Average Cost: £28.25 PPPD

When working out the final part of our itinerary, we were torn between Dharamshala and Shimla. When it turned out that the final test match of the England cricket tour of India was taking place when we would be there, that clinched it for Dharamshala. The location did not disappoint. The cricket - predictably - did.

7th March 2024

Climbing aboard our taxi for the 3 hour journey into the foothills of the Himalaya, we were unsure why the suggested 92KM trip might take so long - but then it quickly became apparent that a lot of work is going on on the roads along this route. I would have said that 70% of the route was in the midst of some kind of construction work, ranging from road widening (where it seems that chopping the houses that abutt the road in half is the norm) to the construction of full elevated roadways. It made for a very slow journey!

As we arrived in Dharamshala we made our way up through the streets to the high point of the town, where our accommodation could be found. Whilst these roads were intact, they were also pretty narrow and windy. Most of the taxis in this part of the world were tiny little Suzuki Altos, or the equivalent. There were plenty of tuk-tuks, of course, although I have no idea how some of them made it up the steep hills.

Our accommodation here comprised a room in a small cafe and homestay, run by a Tibetan family. We were in a third floor room in the block across the road from the cafe, which suggested that several of the business owners clubbed together to share resources. We didn't mind though, as the room was lovely, and had a balcony with an amazing view over the mountains (see below.)

We didn't go far this afternoon, having a brief rest before heading down to the cafe to eat. We did meet a couple of English chaps staying at the guest house who were also here to see the Cricket match, and had arrived that afternoon, and we agreed to try and share a taxi down to the Cricket Ground the following morning.

8th March

Today was all about the Cricket. With England already 3 matches to 1 down in the series, this fifth and final test was just about pride really. Apparently England aren't all that proud. Having been bowled out for 218 just after tea on the first day, India had already gained more than half of that before close, starting Day 2 at 135/1. We had managed to acquire a 5 day ticket for the match for just a few pounds, but nonetheless felt that we should definitely go on Day 2... just in case there wasn't much more!

Logistics were a little challenging as we had to get right down to the Stadium (a taxi ride) and then find the ticket booth. Once our tickets were collected, we had to find the right entrance which, due to some dodgy labelling, was not as straightforward as it should have been. We got there in the end, however, and took our seats in what I can only describe as a truly spectacular stadium!

It was fortunate, really, that the stunning scenery gave us something to watch other than England's mediocre bowling performance. Anyway - we enjoyed a fun day at the test match, with the largely Indian crowd in good humour and fine voice, supporting their team as they gave us - well - a sound kicking.

If you're interested in the score, we didn't quite manage to bowl India out on day 2, but did so quite early on day 3, after they had made comfortably twice our score. They had skittled us completely again by lunchtime - winning the match by an innings and 64 runs, in just 2 1/2 days. It was just as well we went to the match on Tuesday!

9th March

After the disappointing England performance at the Cricket the previous day, we decided not to go back for Day 3 (prescient as it turned out) and instead to head across to the small town of Mcleod Ganj, which sits just above Dharamshala. This is where the Tibetan Government-in-exile is based, and also the Kalachaka Temple, which is the home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

We were able to walk around the top of the valley into Mcleod, along a very calming and relatively quiet road, under pine trees, with a view out over the valley below. This was definitely quite different to McLeod itself which, although heavily influenced by it's largely Tibetan population, is still very much a part of India.

The temple was relatively simple, athough I was quite entertained by one of the signs near the shoe-cubbies...

10th March

On our last full day in the mountains, and with the flight back to the UK very much in sight, our minds turned to souvenir shopping. We walked around the same mountain trail as we had yesterday, enjoying the relative solitude prior to coming out into McLeod, where we braved the shopping streets to try and get a few ideas. 

We also took the cable car from McLeod Ganj back down into the main part of Dharamshala. The cable car was impressive and very modern, and the station at the McLeod end sat right on the main street opposite bars and cafes. Surprisingly, once you reached the Dharamshala end of the run it was quite difficult to figure out where to go! It looked as if the cable car had been completed, but somebody had either not thought, or had run out of money, to make any kind of access road at the bottom station. We did find our way into town, but it was quite tricky, and involved a dusty trail through some shanty style huts and a dusty car park.

We were very lucky to be in this part of the world on March 10th, the day when Tibetan's remember the Tibetan uprising of 1959. As a consequence we witnessed the enormous parade weaving it's way through the town as part of that remembrance. It was quite fasicnating to see, and to think that it is 65 years since that uprising against China, and the pretty unpleasant connotations it had for the people of Tibet.

We did manage to find a few good souvenirs here, including a Tibetan Singing Bowl, which will take pride of place on our mantelpiece when we return home!

11th March

Today marked the start of our long trip home - and our last full day in India. With 720KM ahead of us to get back to Delhi, we were giving ourselves plenty of time, aiming to get back to the capital a full 24 hours ahead of our flight. As well as some contingency, this would give us a chance to see a little bit of Delhi - a city we didn't really prioritise on this trip.

This morning we had a cab booked for 10.30am, so after a decent breakfast and checking out of our lovely homestay, we set off for a brief walk up into the hills above the town. We managed about an hour, and some excellent views, before we returned to meet our taxi.

The drive back to Pathankot was similar to the trip up, with massive infrastructure work going on almost everywhere along the route making for slow going. We arrived at Pathankot with about an hour to spare, giving us time to grab a Samosa from a street vendor before getting on the long sleeper train to Delhi.