Where to Find Peace in Dharamsala?
Posted on Nov 12, 2008 under dried flowers | No Comment
India – Himachal
Where to find peace in Dharamsala?
TOP OF THE WORLD
I stepped off the overnight Jammu mail train from Delhi into the dusty market town of Pathankot. From there it was a two hour drive across dry flood plains and stony riverbeds, to the foothills of the Himalayas; a sheer wall of blue and white rising to the north.
At the base of this wall lies Dharamsala, the town famous as the home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile. Beyond Dharamsala the road becomes a series of switchbacks through a pine forest all the way to the town of McLeod Ganj. The modern world ends here: the road, and western creature comforts, peter out a few yards beyond the town.
Ahead of McLeod Ganj, in a sparsely populated area known as Upper Dhararnkot, the path crossed exposed tree roots and straddled boulders, beneath garlands of billowing Tibetan prayer flags. Finally we passed through dappled woodland at 7,000ft, where the grass is cropped short by fleshy local cattle.
There in a small clearing stood a two-storey hotel, Eagle’s Nest â two hours from the nearest village and unbelievably on the top of the world.
EAGLES NEST
Built of brick and locally cut wood, a porch ruts across its entire width, with a hanging basket chair and hammock. There are three suites on the ground floor, opening onto a garden at the back with unimpeded views of the mountains.
From the Eagle’s Nest we would sit and watch distant beads of amber fire, flowing like lava through the steep conifer forests, leaving the cool night air scented with wood smoke and pine. This was bliss.
The next morning, after breakfasting upon spicy masala omelettes and hot buttered chapatis, we took the decision that our goal for the week should be to walk to the top of Triund, a 9,500ft peak. A minimum of six hours hiking there and back meant that we would have to get our legs and lungs into shape. And that, said our guide Rajesh, meant lots of preparatory short walks.
GETTING READY FOR THE TOP
DAY ONE: On the first day we went along a steep man-made path through a village to the Shiva Temple at Bhagsunath. Crossing a field of wheat, we came upon hotels and cafes where young Europeans, ate pizzas and drank cappuccinos. This beautiful temple, with its shady terrace, was set above the road, overlooking an open-air bathing pool that was fed by an under-ground stream.
DAY TWO: Next day we passed through McLeod Ganj, between the rows of cheap-ethnic clothes shop, past groups of interest rhesus monkeys, down to the Dalai Lama’s temple and palace. There were monks in red robes, Tibetan prayer flags like bunting in the breeze and rows of traditional prayer wheels, turned slowly by devotional Buddhists. After a lunch of vegetable dumplings in the Chonor House, a secluded 1930s hotel where Richard Gere stays on his frequent visits, we carried on down the mountain, past more temples, to Dharamsala.
DAY THREE: Today we went on the other side of our mountain on a long winding path through forests, and across meadows of wild flowers, through muddy farmyards, to a lunch- stop at the Udechee Huts. While our food was prepared, we sat on the terrace watching lammergeier vultures and imperial eagles circle overhead. With Kashmir closed, places like this are enjoying a boom in tourism. New hotels are opening all the time, to cope with the demand from Delhi-ites aiming to escape the unforgiving summer sun on the plains.
DAY FOUR: We went on 4Ã4 Jeep for two hours due South to see the remains of the huge Mazroor Temple, carved out of a limestone hill. It was overgrown yet incredibly serene reflected in a black lake, and known only to some local children and goat farmers. It ought to have been a great day, and in some ways it was: the sparse lunar scenery was among the strangest I have ever seen, like waves of molten arid land.
FINDING PEACE
By Day five, Rajesh, our guide was convinced that Sue and I were ready for an assault on Triund. After an early breakfast and before the morning sun had time to get too hot, we started our long march. By now we had got the trek from McLeod Ganj to Upper Dharamkot to within 90 minutes, but Triund was an altogether tougher and slower proposition.
The path is fairly flat for the first hour, turning into a climb about halfway up. And the further we climbed, the tighter the angle to the summit became.
Almost three hours to the minute we hauled ourselves over the last boulders, high above the tree line, and found ourselves faced with one of the greatest views on earth. From here the Himalayas were suddenly much closer and more daunting. Like staring up at the Empire State Building. And to the south the great northern plains stretched all the way to Rajasthan. This was absolute peace, a small piece of land located between humanity and heaven.
We didn’t want to return the way we had come. We returned down the eastern rim of Triund that had little or no shade from the sun. The journey was exhausting and precarious and took us another five hours to get back to Upper Dhararnkot, via the Bagsunath Temple and McLeod Ganj.
I kept losing my footing on the loose surface, and when we finally reached the bottom, the waterfall Rajesh had hoped would cool us down had all but dried up in the spring drought. I could sense the forces of nature conspiring against me.
Nevertheless the sense of achievement was overwhelming and that night we sat on the porch counting the fires and listening for langurs. I realised how little it takes to find peace in the Himalayas. The magic of finding peace is in finding a combination of simple things and thoughts.
