Dharamshala,
“Take your happiness with you and spread it wherever you go”
-His holiness Dalhi Lama
The drive to Dharamshala would take nearly 1.5 hours to travel 34kms to climb the mountain on narrow and winding roads with a lot of traffic. The sky was starting to clear so hopefully I would see the snow capped Himalayas soon. The first stop of the days was a visit to Norbulingka Institute, dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan culture. The apprentices practice the ancient Buddhist art forms of statue-making, thangka painting and appliqué, as well as woodcarving, tailoring and weaving, they don’t create any new art so as to maintain Tibetan tradition’s and culture.
It was time for lunch I took it at the temple cafe the menu had western, Indian and Tibetan selection I went with the a vegetarian Momo soup. This is vegetable Momo (dumplings) in a vegetable broth with a mint and lime drink both were excellent. I might have been a little heavy handed with the chilli
The temple was under renovation on the outside but inside was colourful and highlighting the journey the Tibetan had made to reach Dharmashala. They even had a wooded carve statue of the Dhali Lama (so live like).
That evening I did a Kora Walk with locals around that Dali Lama temple this was a spiritual walk but the clouds and weather was starting to change that my photos are not worth sharing. The storm brought a lot of thunder, lightning and rain hopefully it would clear the haze and air. Next morning the sun was shining and you could finally see the Himalayas. We went higher up the mountain to a lookout point at Naddi the air was clear and a cool breeze then walked through the village with many guest house I was very welcomed break from the heat.
On the way back yo Dharamshala we stopped at the St John church the top had been destroyed by fire and has no been restored. The cemetery was interesting with many tombs to the British who helped settled the area and is named McLeod who loved this area
We stoped at a traditional tribe of the mountains Gaddi and took tea and a snack. the lady was beautiful dressed with jewellery given to her on her wedding day whe spoke some English . The house was small but so very clean. Yes I was hot and hot look at those curls
A chance to explore the Dalai Lama’s monastery, Tsuglag Khang, the largest Tibetan temple outside Tibet and home to around 200 monks. The temple had colourful décor, and the Tibetan-style architecture was very modest compared to other major temples I had previously visited. I was not able to have an audience with his holiness the Dali Lama due to his age however he was doing two audiences to celebrate his 90 birthday in June.
I took lunch at one of the many cafes on the walk up to the temple once again Moma soup this time with spinach and paneer dumplings I think this broth was better than the last, but it was the view that was totally outstanding
The last stop in Dharmsala was the area dedicated to the Tibetan in exile administration offices and the museum dedicated to the journey the Tibetan have made to seek there freedom.
