Himalayas Calling - Solo Trip to McLeod

It is 15:10 and I am on my way to airport. It’s a long 50 km journey to KIAL.It has been almost 3 months since I am back from my last Himalayan trek, which was Har Ki Dun in Uttarakhand. Since I came back, I felt an emptiness inside me. I was not complete. It took me a while to understand, it’s the mountains I am missing. 

This is not the first time. This has happened to me every time I came back from a Himalayan trek. I try to go to Himalayas in search of my lost soul at least once every 6 months.

Now, I am off to McLeodGanj, the hippie capital, the unofficial capital city of Tibet. McLeod is situated at the foothills of Dhauladhar range of Himalayas, at a height of 7000+ ft. 

I plan to roam, travel, work, trek, explore and eat for the next 10 days. That’s right! I plan to work from a remote Himalayan town. I am doing all these Solo.I will try to capture my exploration in this blog for the next 10 days. 

Himalayas calling and here I’m returning to you, as promised!!

So here it Goes..

Day 0:

Oh what an evening it was!! first I was late for the flight. Then flight got delayed by 20 min. when I landed in Delhi, it was 21:00.

Sunset seen from the flight.

I had to catch a bus from Kashmiri Gate ISBT at 22:45. mind you, ISBT is 22km from Delhi Airport. Friday evening traffic of Delhi, and I was sure to miss that bus.

I thought of catching the airport express metro till New Delhi station and then another metro to ISBT, I thought this will take an hour and i’ll at least have time to buy some water.

When I collected my baggage and came out of airport, wrist watch showed 21:15. I rushed to the T1D from where there are shuttles to Metro station. I got into a shuttle and a fight breaks down as someone has lost his purse and suspecting other passengers. It’s 21:35 and shuttle doesn’t seem to move an inch.

I ran out with my heavy bags and run to catch a taxi. I move towards prepaid taxi and there is a huge queue for meru taxis. I desperately look for options and notice another taxi operator with no passengers or queue. I rush to him and tell him I have a bus to catch from Kashmiri gate ISBT at 22:45, can you take me there in an hour? He replies with an ‘Yes’. I wouldn’t have been this happier even if the girl I proposed would have said ‘Yes’.

I pay the money, run to taxi, throw my bags in the boot, and tell him “Chalo Bhaiyya!!!”. And there is a traffic jam right outside thr airpot. Clocks shows 21:50. Jam clears and driver zooms past the traffic of New Delhi. In the mean time I try to call redbus to get hold of the bus number and driver details, but no luck. Is my much waited backpacking trip coming to a halt in delhi itself? I am stressed, worried, panicked and sweating. Heat of Delhi is adding to it.

Cab clocks 80 kmph on open roads of Delhi. Driver takes Akbar Road, India Gate, Pragathi Maidan route and I reach ISBT gate at 22:35.

I run in with the search of my bus to Kangra. To my shock there are no HRTC busses with Destination board as “Kangra”. I run to different busses and finally find my bus at 22:40. to my shock my seat is the last one! When I had booked seat number 34 was 2 rows before last row but to my surprise, it is the last seat in the bus. I keep my luggage and run to buy a bottle of water.

Bus leaves at 23:00 and I settle down for a long 11 hour journey to Kangra.

Day 1:

I reach Kangra at 9:30 on Saturday, I am tired, I am hungry and its hot and humid outside. I run to a nearby ATM and withdraw some cash, run inside the bus stand looking for a bus directly to McLeodGanj. To my surprise, there are no direct buses.

I catch a bus to Dharmashala and hope to find a bus soon to McLeod. I am starving. My stay at the Himalayan Spirit, a yoga centre is at Dharamkot, 2km uphill from McLeod.

I get a bus soon to McLeod, its overcrowded and no place to keep my bag. I hold my bag and stand throughout the journey of 10km, my bad luck, there is a huge traffic jam just before McLeod and nobody moves an inch. 10Km journey takes 1 and half hour and I finally reach McLeod bus stand. I come out, try to negotiate autoes and nobody seems interested because of the traffic jam. Finally one guy shows interest and I hop in. pay 70rs to reach Dharamkot square.

Dharamkot is a small village with only cafes and yoga places. No roads but only gullies with foreigners everywhere sitting In cafes, probably stoned already, mostly hippies practising yoga. To be frank, Dharamkot doesn’t interest Indians who are mostly tourists just want to take selfies wherever they go rather than trying to spend quality time and understanding the importance of a place.

I walk on the gullies to reach Himalayan spirit, a yoga place hosted by Akshay, a young Yoga enthusiast who once was an IT professional but quit to stay in Himalayas.

There is a Cafe just before Himalayan Spirit, Called “The Cool Talk Cafe” probably the only cafe that doesn’t offer Free Wi-FI and encourages people to chat and eat. This cafe would become my one place to have coffee and food for next 7-8 days.

I take rest and take a walk towards the square of McLeodganj which is busting by tourists from Punjab, Himachal, Haryana and Delhi. The quiet yet steep shortcut towards McLeod Square is full of Oak trees, chirping birds and mist. The aroma of the forest is orgasmic. Its a quiet walk of 15 min and I reach McLeod Square.

The walk towards McLeod from Dharamkot

There are 3 main roads in McLeod. One towards the Dalai Lama temple, and one towards Dharamshala and one main road coming from Dharamshala which is a wide enough road but full of traffic jam.

I visit the Tibetan Dalai Lama temple and get lost in the beauty of the temple. Those Buddhist monks with a peculiar charm on their faces, that smile bring a peace to my body and soul with just a look at their faces.

Idol of Buddha at the Dalai Lama Temple complex

And then I stroll in the markets of McLeod looking at the various Buddhist artifacts, home decor, dream catchers, ornaments for women, toys for kids. it’s a different world all together.

The Prayer roller at the market for sale

Then I visit the famous Norling Cafe for some cheese momos and Tibetan Butter Tea. I kind of like the butter tea but can’t drink full. I do not like the momos either. So I walk out and go to the famous Nick’s restaurant for some Pasta. Pasta is uncooked and I walk out have a spoon of pasta. Duh! Whatta tiring day it has been.

The Idols of Buddha at the McLeod Market

It’s Cold, it’s dark and I have to climb a km of steep road to reach Dharamkot. I pant, It’s tough to breathe, my heart pains and screams, yet I make it to Himalayan Spirit and crash for the night.

Day 2:

Today I rent a Bullet Electra and intend to get hold of the bike early in the morning. The guy who had to handover the keys to me doesn’t pick my calls. Finally he picks up and says i’ll give you the bike at 9:30. I remind him I had to take the keys at 7:30.

Finally the guy shows up and gives the key to me telling the location of the bike parked. While leaving he drops a bomb saying, if the key doesn’t work, call me and i’ll give you another key. Because the key looks similar to the key of another Bullet electra. He also apologises for this saying he was drunk last night and has a bad hangover. He wishes me good morning while leaving and I reply to him “Good night to you”.

I walk to the cafe where the bike was parked and to my joy the key works. I bring the bike to my place and get ready and leave. I had plans of visiting the church “St. John’s in the wilderness”, then head to Dharamshala for breakfast.

But, there is a huge traffic jam towards the church and I realise there is not even 50ml of petrol in the bike. I turn back, head towards the McLeod city again, take the narrow down winding path towards the petrol bunk in Dharamshala. Its a 6km journey and my bike goes off!! I ride in neutral for most part of the road and finally reach a petrol bunk in Dharamshala. It is a 300 mtr descend on neutral.

I fill fuel and head towards the HPCA stadium in Dharamshala. Entry is easy and the stadium looks stunning. Only sad part is that the Dhauladhar mountain behind the stadium is not visible. I click a few pictures and head out to have breakfast.

Cricketer's Heaven, HPCA Stadium

I find a HPTDC hotel and eat parathas there and I head more down towards Kangra.

Kangra has a fort which was built centuries and centuries ago. The fort stands on a hill surrounded 3 sides by river and one side by land.

The journey is 25km long and beautiful. However I am too cautious as I am riding in these unknown downwinding roads for the first time. I try not to cross 40kmph and ride slow.

Its hot and humid as I descend from 1500mtr to 700mtr. I am sweating and need water. I miss turns to reach the fort and end up in a Kangra Royal family’s museum and gallery. There is a huge family tree indicating the royal family ruled this area for over 5000 years, the kings of this family fought in Mahabharatha as well as against Laxman, the brother of Lord Rama. I doubt that but the curator says its true.

Then I proceed towards the fort which is beautiful but I am too tired because of the harsh sun and hot weather. I climb the steps to take a few pictures, turn back and head back towards Dharamshala.

View from the Kangra Fort

Now I am confident because I already know the roads, I ride fast but still cautious. I navigate the curvy roads, overtake traffic and reach Dharamshala in 30 minutes.

I visit the Martyr memorial in Dharamshala and head up to McLeod. And I see a huge, I mean HUGE traffic jam towards McLeod. The cars have been stopped till eyes can see. I navigate through the cars to find out these cars have been stopped because of a traffic jam in McLeod. However, I am let to go.

Now I take the Longer yet wide main road towards McLeod. The road has zero traffic. I enjoy riding. I reach my place and rest a while.

I wake up at around 18:00, have a cup of coffee, take the bike and head towards Dal lake. I am surprised it is still bright and sunny. I roam Dal lake, ride to Naddi, take a break at ‘St. John’s in the Wilderness’ and head to mcLeod for Dinner. And it’s finally dark and 20:00.

St. John's in the Wilderness

I have a quick dinner, return the bike and head back to my place early. Because tomorrow is a long and tiring day!! I am planning to trek to Triund and Snowline on Monday and Tuesday.

Day 3:

It’s Monday, the Festival of Ramadan and the last day of a long weekend. I expect the crowd at McLeod to reduce today. Crowd and Traffic has been too much over last two days.

I wake up at 7:00 and walk outside. it’s raining heavily. Loud thunders and clouds are at my door steps. it’s totally dark. I turn to my left to see the hill where trail to Triund is clearly visible. I see nothing today. All I see is black clouds, rain and thick fog.

A sigh of worry crosses my mind. I can’t trek in this rain. The much awaited trek to Triund is going to be cancelled without a single step being walked.

I sit for 10 minutes and think what to do. Rains looks to be reduced a bit. I think and think and decide to get ready by 8:30 and see what happens.

I get ready be 8:30 and walk to cool talk cafe for some breakfast. I order a cappuccino and pita with hummus. Enough protein for the day. Thanks to rain and mountain gods, rain stops by 9:00.

I pack my bag, take all essentials to survive a night on a Himalayan hill top. A rain coat, jacket, my trekking pole, couple of apples, snickers, a water bottle, a ltr of tropicana juice and m&m’s are put into the bag and i’m ready to start by 9:30.

I walk towards the Dharamkot square, 100 mtr before the square, a path towards right goes towards the Gallu Devi temple. Its a well laid path through the Pine forest. Ascent is not steep but gradual. The rain has just stopped and the freshness is still in the air. Its foggy and aroma of the pine forest fills my lungs. Nothing else matches the joy of walking in such a beautiful pine forest in such a perfect weather.

View from Magic View Cafe

I hike for 45 minutes without a break and reach Gallu Devi temple. The sight of temple shocks me. There are 100s of trekkers standing, sitting, chatting and eating maggi at a cafe, cab drivers calling “McLeod, McLeod”. I realise these are the people who have come back from triund after hiking the previous day.

I reach a forest check point, where a couple of forest officials sitting and noting down names and address. There are two registers, one to note today’s trekkers and one to note yesterday’s trekkers who had hiked the previous day. A guy comes and says his name and number 307 to the official. Official notes down his name, number and total trekkers. That means he was the 307^th trekker group trekked yesterday.

I give my name, address proof, sign in the register and start walking. i’m the 13^th trekker for the day. I want to reach the summit before it gets too hot and sunny. But it doesn’t seem like clouds are going away anytime soon.

I see a continuous wave of trekkers descending from triund. I start to count, I lose count after 100. then I think, if there were 400 groups and average 4 persons per group, there were at least 1600 trekkers on triund yesterday night. It must have been such a chaos and mess.

I trek slow and steady, not giving any breaks until I reach the famous “magic view cafe” somewhere mid way between Gallu Devi and Triund. I eat a snickers, drink some water and continue walking. Slowly fog starts to clear up and I get a few views. Just as I click pictures, clouds cover up again.

The trail turns to be a bit steeper and tricky now. I slip a few times. Though my new pair of shoes is providing good grip, I slip on flat skiddy rocks. I wonder how are these girls trekking with heels and sandals. I walk and walk till 12:30. I have been walking continuously for 3 hours now. Slowly fatigue starts to set in. also the height is slowing my down. And now the last 1km of final ascent starts, also known as the famous 21 hairpin bends. It’s steep, it’s treacherous, it’s skiddy. I pant, I cry with breathlessness, I drag my body up with so much difficulty. I take an hour to ascend last 1 km and I finally make the triund summit at 13:35.

A Tent at Triund

Triund is a Meadow with a shiva temple located at a height of 9700ft. Triund is a perfect campsite for those who trek to Indrahara pass up in the Dhauladhar.

I sit on top of a rock and try to get hold of the heartbeat and breathe. Cool breeze blows from west to east along with the monsoon clouds hurling towards the hill. Visibility is not even 50 ft. I see a lot of cafes selling maggi and tea. Also few tents pitched which are for rent. I take rest for 15 minutes and my stomach starts shouting for food. i’m hungry, I need to eat.

I go to a cafe and ask “Bhaiyya, khaane me kya hai?”. He replies “Daal Chawal”. My eyes lit up, I get to eat rice! What else is needed for a south Indian than a plate of rice? I take a serving of dal and rice, he has added soy chunks to dal! Protein again, which is good. I ask him to put more dal and start savouring. it’s yummy, its heavenly. I finish the entire serving in no time. I pay 130rs, which is costly but totally worth it if I think of the effort that goes into making it here.

I ask the cafewala for a tent and get one for rent. I pay 800rs for a tent and sleeping bag and retire for the afternoon.

I wake up to the hunger cries of my tummy. I run out, it’s still foggy and zero visibility. I order for a maggi and tea. I finish in no time. Slowly the number of trekkers on the hill is increasing as more and more groups are coming up.

Maggi!!

By 17:00 clouds clear up for a few minutes that’s when the Dhauladhar range is visible I click a few pictures before the clouds cover again. The meadow looks stunning, green grass everywhere, valley on both sides, trail to snowline at my back and trail to bhagsu in front of me. what’s disheartening is the abundance of garbage everywhere. Even though the cafes keep dustbin and ask everyone to throw garbage there, our fellow trekkers who are more of a tourists doesn’t seem to care. They eat-drink and throw garbage everywhere.

The fog clearing not only shows the beauty of meadows and mountains but also the sad part of it.

Night gathers and so the drunkards and party people. They drink, they dance, they fight, they shout. Everything that a peaceful trekker like me doesn’t need.

This goes on till 3am and I lose all my sleep. 3-4 girls in the next tent keep on fighting and loudly shouting “BC, Bitch..”

I try to shut myself from all the drama and sleep, but I can’t. Hell with these senseless people who doesn’t respect nature.

Forest Rest house and tents

Rain gods has shown mercy today since I started trekking and I wish for the same tomorrow as well.