February 2011
Introduction:
One of the reasons I liked India so much was also all the foreigners I met in Chandigarh. Each one willing to discover the maximum of the country during their stay. So here again the initiative was coming from someone to go to Dharamsala for a weekend trip... so we did. The complementary motivation was the opportunity to see Dalaï Lama. Indeed, Dharamshala has been the spiritual capital of the Tibetans who have escaped from the Chinese communist party.
As almost all our trips, we have been leaving on Friday night and reaching the city in the early morning. It is what happened this time too. We reached Dharamshala around 1-2am. Quite complicated to find a hotel at this time (yes we have never booked a hotel when traveling in India). So by the end we found our happiness. A nice small hotel in the city hold by an Indo-belgium couple.
The problem: I was freezing (again) because of the bad isolation of the hotel and also because of the negative temperature in the Himalayas at this period of the year and especially the hour.
Day 1: visit of the city and the temples
First impressions:
What really impressed me was the mixture of different cultures in one such a small place. It also shows how open the Indians are. Indeed, India is a huge country with a lot of cultures, languages, religions, cuisine... and they all live together. It is definitely something I adored there.
Several signs which were everywhere:
-the gratitude of the the Tibetan people to the Indian nation was expressed through posters, pictures, paintings while over the city.
-the fight of the Tibetan people to become a free nation with a lot of paintings and memorials around the town.
-the will of leaving in world of peace. I think I have never seen so many "Peace Coffees or Restaurants" in my life.
This first day we managed to visit the Thekchen Chöling Temple Complex with the hope to see Dalai Lama... well it seems he is a busy person sharing the Tibetan wisdom abroad and almost never at Dharamshala... to be honest I was not really impressed by size of the temple or the decoration but maybe by the Monks who were praying or just walking around the temple.
The afternoon, we went for a walk around the mountain from where we had a nice view of the nature. Quite a nice walk with one or two more Buddhist temples or small "meditation" places either hidden a bit in the rocks or quite obvious.
The next day and before leaving it was relaxing time where we enjoyed a nice breakfast and a walk in the city to get some souvenirs.
One of the reasons I liked India so much was also all the foreigners I met in Chandigarh. Each one willing to discover the maximum of the country during their stay. So here again the initiative was coming from someone to go to Dharamsala for a weekend trip... so we did. The complementary motivation was the opportunity to see Dalaï Lama. Indeed, Dharamshala has been the spiritual capital of the Tibetans who have escaped from the Chinese communist party.
As almost all our trips, we have been leaving on Friday night and reaching the city in the early morning. It is what happened this time too. We reached Dharamshala around 1-2am. Quite complicated to find a hotel at this time (yes we have never booked a hotel when traveling in India). So by the end we found our happiness. A nice small hotel in the city hold by an Indo-belgium couple.
The problem: I was freezing (again) because of the bad isolation of the hotel and also because of the negative temperature in the Himalayas at this period of the year and especially the hour.
Day 1: visit of the city and the temples
First impressions:
What really impressed me was the mixture of different cultures in one such a small place. It also shows how open the Indians are. Indeed, India is a huge country with a lot of cultures, languages, religions, cuisine... and they all live together. It is definitely something I adored there.
Several signs which were everywhere:
-the gratitude of the the Tibetan people to the Indian nation was expressed through posters, pictures, paintings while over the city.
-the fight of the Tibetan people to become a free nation with a lot of paintings and memorials around the town.
-the will of leaving in world of peace. I think I have never seen so many "Peace Coffees or Restaurants" in my life.
This first day we managed to visit the Thekchen Chöling Temple Complex with the hope to see Dalai Lama... well it seems he is a busy person sharing the Tibetan wisdom abroad and almost never at Dharamshala... to be honest I was not really impressed by size of the temple or the decoration but maybe by the Monks who were praying or just walking around the temple.
The afternoon, we went for a walk around the mountain from where we had a nice view of the nature. Quite a nice walk with one or two more Buddhist temples or small "meditation" places either hidden a bit in the rocks or quite obvious.
The next day and before leaving it was relaxing time where we enjoyed a nice breakfast and a walk in the city to get some souvenirs.
In few words, really amazing trip which definitely made me love the Indian hospitality, mixture and openness.