After sleeping in on a snowy night, we woke
up to a beautiful view of snow covered mountains. But we couldn’t wait for long
as we were in a hurry to reach McLeodganj by evening and make a stop at
Palampur too!
Day 6
- Manali – Naddi via Palampur –
We started out in the morning after
breakfast and I was most excited for the next destination. Because Manali and
Shimla was a bit overcrowded and commercial and I wanted a place with less
number of people to just relax a bit.
The way to McLeodganj has a lot of pin
curves, so keep this in mind, if you yourself are driving or tend to get
nauseous easily.
We made a stop at Palampur and took in the
view of the beautifully landscaped Tea gardens! While going through the town,
the beautiful town itself mesmerized us with its charm. But since, we had less
time on our hands we moved on ahead towards McLeodganj.
We reached Naddi, which is around a few
Kilometers away from McLeodganj, just before the sunset and checked in to our
hotel with a magnificent view! Now, we stayed right at the sunset point of
Naddi, so that’s the reason for the beautiful view of the sun playing its magic
on the Dhauladhar range.
We decided to relax a bit after and had a
lovely chat with the locals about the “Things to do”, which majorly consisted
of Trekking. Naddi is a starting point for a couple trekking routes and way to
few small waterfalls. We slept early since we wanted to watch the sunrise.
Also, on the way to McLeodganj, you will be
able to spot the once glorious Kangra fort, almost on the verge of breaking
apart. If you have ample time make a stop at Kangra too.
 |
| St.John in the wilderness |
Day 7
– McLeodganj
We wanted to explore the town today and see
all the places possible, but come back to Naddi, to catch the glorious sunset!
We started a little late, around 10 and headed towards McLeodganj.
The Naddi View point is a great place to be
at as you can have a leisurely stroll to a Yoga School and the view is magical!
The whole place is dotted with small
villages and terrace farm. It is beautiful! When you reach the city center of
McLeodganj, everything is accessible on foot. We went to Baghsunag temple and
falls before the city center.
The temple is a nice place with a history
behind the temple’s foundation, by Indian soldiers. The temple is at the foothill
of the Bhagsu Fall. It is around a 2km
walk/trek to the waterfall. It must be really beautiful when there is a lot
of water, but it was quite dry when we were there. But the view from this
height is awesome and you mustn’t miss this!
If you want to shop, there are quite a lot
of small stores outside the temple to pick up some really unique stuff!
 |
| Bhagsunag Falls |
 |
| Namgyal Monastery |
 |
| City center, McLeodganj |
 |
| St.John's Church in the wilderness |
 |
| Kalchakra temple |
 |
| At Dal Lake! |
When in the city center, roam around the
rustic and charming lanes dotted with street side vendors selling all sorts of
stones, jewelry, food and what not!
The next stop for us was the Tibet Museum
and the Namgyal Monastery, which is also the place of residence for Dalai Lama.
It is really serene and a must visit. After this, we hogged on some authentic
Tibetan food! Followed by which we shopped a bit, like flavored teas, solid
perfumes etc. Next stop was the beautiful and vibrant Kalchakra Temple.
We left from McLeodganj towards Naddi and
on the way made two stops. The Church of
St.Johns in the wilderness is one of the most important churches of Himachal Pradesh.
It was built in 1852 and the architecture is awe-worthy. It’s quiet, peaceful
and beautiful here.
The next stop, right near Naddi, was Dal
Lake. The name is derived from Srinagar’s Dal Lake, but it’s nothing like it.
It is small lake, surrounded by old deodar trees. It is a nice place, but not
really a “must visit”.
We headed towards the Sunset point, to soak
in the magnificent sunset once again. I tried to soak in as much as I could!
Everything about standing on the edge of the hill, with a cold breeze playing
around, and looking at the Sun saying “see you tomorrow”, was so serene and
calm, That I wanted to do just that every day.
But, it dawned on me, as the sun had set,
that this trip was about to end. But at the same time, I couldn’t be more excited
to go on another trip like this one!
The next Day, we left for Delhi, then I
headed to Bangalore!
I really hope you liked reading the series
of my travel posts. Because I absolutely LOVED writing all of these! I cannot
wait to write more!
Please let me know, what more I can add or
what I can remove from the travel posts. If you haven’t Read the First two parts then
give them a read –
Wish you plenty of great travel and
adventure!
Love,
Priyanjana