McLeod Ganj for awhile...

lunachick

Hey there, just wondering if anyone has some advice for me... I'll be heading up to McLeod Ganj, planning on staying there for at least a month... wondering if anyone can recommend a cool place to stay - cheap but clean and comfortable? Any advice would be appreciated! Peace.

SHIMLA

Try here :

http://himachaltourism.nic.in/hotdir/hotkhoj.asp

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Rob_The_Pom

There's lots of good accommodation in M.G.
I found the Green Hotel to be a really nice place.
It made three days in bed with dysentry almost bearable!
I can't recommend a place higher than that!!!!

Cheers

RTP

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Dr Funkenstein

Kunga's on Bhagsu Road's nice.

Rooms range from rs. 150 singles to luxurious rs. 500+ with balconies with their own bathrooms and balconies etc. I had a really nice Rs. 375 a night room with it's own bathroom and a fantastic view down the valley. Comfiest bed in all of india, too. (Probably ) Very nice - it's a couple of doors down from Green that Rob mentions. Mike's done a good review in the Hotels Section.

While you're there, have a look at my review of Tse Chokling Gompa, my favourite place to stay in McLeod Ganj. Unbeatable for peace and quiet and an atmosphere that's second to none.

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amogasiddhi

I arrived at Green hotel (you'll find it just down the road after Yellow hotel which has much nicer views of the vallet and mountains but not as nice to hang out in) with some major bug that was going around. A lovely Tibetan woman (Yeshe) said that I could dispose with the formalities as I was so sick and showed me to my room. It was basic, cold, concrete box with a bathroom for 250 a night and next to a Monk....what isn't? I stayed there for about a week and made plenty of freinds. Nothing much to write home about except for being about 3 feet away from the reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara himself.
As a little aside to this, McCleod is on it's way out! I'd give it another few years and it'll be just like any other tourist place. Unless you have a particular purpose (teachings by His Holiness, a course or going onwards) I'd go to Manali. Mcleod and Dharamsala are already noisy and congested....lorries sqishing people against the sides of buildings (saw a monk get run over by some prat in a jeep just because he couldn't hear us shouting due to the airhorn he was blowing other people out of the way with), the fumes from goods lorries, the constant barking dogs who reach a crescendo once there are about 30 of them howling and barking at any time of the night, the place just isn't meant for what's going on there and watch out for the small gangs of Indian children who pose as beggars while pickpocketing you for whatever they can get. If you want to buy a Thangka, beads, a rug etc etc thenn fine, if you think you're getting a good deal, the Tibetan blankets cost 130-200RS in Mcleod Ganj and 100 in Mumbai.
Think carefully and please don't get on a '12 hour deluxe bus' from the bus stand as it was excruciating and not worth nearly 500Rs.
Hoipe this helps,

Moga

lunachick

Thank you everyone for the advice... So, if the bus is not a good idea, what do you think is the best way to get there? Train and then bus?
Peace.

lonelyaztec

Hi

I have been to D'sala and it is a great place.

Pls read my travelogue, it is on Indiamike, the url is given below.
http://www.indiamike.com/india/article.php?a=25

I am sure, it will be information, and gives info on where to stay, where to go, what to do, where to eat etc.

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My photoblog

amogasiddhi

As a monk said to me and another monk over breakfast, while I was in Mcleod Ganj; well actually we were in the restaurant of Green Hotel which is conveniently situated near to the Yellow hotel which has better views,

'there's not much point in coming here unless you are taking a course in Buddhism or want to attend several teachings by His holiness or one of the visiting Rimpoche's (teachers)'.

Having stayed there for a week or more, I completely agree with his opinion and both myself and the other monk couldn't wait to leave. There are lots of people selling beads (mala's), 'Tibetan' blankets (which I found for less in Mumbai), and all sorts of other Buddhist paraphenalia but there isn't a great deal to 'do' there.
I was unfortuantely very sick while I was there so I had the opportunity to see the inside of Delek Hospital down in Dharamsala. The taxi ride back was the highlight of my entire trip to Dharamsala/ Mcleod, as it followed a bumpy side track up the hill towards Mcleod Ganj proper from the hospital and as we rounded a corner, the mountains nobody can see from Mcleod Ganj because they are behind the nearest range, came into view. The sun was setting and it cast an orange glow over their snowy peaks. They were the biggest mountains I have ever seen; a great shame I had a temperature of 102 at the time but a memory I will cherish for a long time.
I also found Mcleod to be a very noisy and congested place, far removed from the tranquility I associate with mountainous regions and after chatting to a few regulars of His Holiness' teachings, it appears that the Goods Carriers (huge lorries with air horns whose driver's really don't get the concept of what people do inside Hotels at 3 am or any other time of the day for that matter!) find it slightly more challenging to squeeze their way down narrow side streets whenever possible but oh how they try. Those poor men in their steel tankers Pharrrp and blow their horns all day long but you know what? buildings don't move because of an air horn, although once eveyone inside has been choked by Diesel fumes while lying in their beds as the drivers contemplate their next bout of deafening incongruence the lorry drivers blast away until something else happens and they attribute that to their senseless actions.
I found the place to be anything but relaxing and peaceful although I did attend a teaching given by The Dalai Lama and was fortunate to not only find an unnoccupied 1 foot square piece of floor to sit on for the 7 hours or so duration but a lovely person allowed me to share her earpiece through which a translation of His instruction was being given. Again no point going if all you want to do is see His Holiness as it's often impossible to find a place to sit and the teachings can be somewhat lengthy and inappropriate for anyone but a serious practitioner of highest tantric Buddhism.
If you go, or if you're already there, watch out for a gang of small street children. Their eldest member is a girl of about 9 or 10 years of age and while they distract you, she'll be rummaging through your nice tourists treasure chest which you have kindly slung over your shoulder for just that purpose.
The main road leading up to Mcleod is lined with leppars and beggars, the bus stand is an intolerable mess of noise and pollution (much like the rest of India) and the side roads leading away are where you'll find people squished against the sides buildings and shops as car after lorry after motorbike after jeep ram their way along their windy and bumpy tracks. It's not unusual to see a traffic jam outside Green Hotel as Indian drivers lack the ability to think any further than their front windscreen.

Enjoy,

Moga

Kapumana

Actually, I took the overnight bus to Mcleod from Majnu ka Tilla Tibetan Colony in Old Delhi. Can't remember the cost but it was a comfortable enough ride with one long rest stop. Left Wongdhen House at bout 7 p.m. and got into Mcleod about 6.30 a.m. I've done the train too and the advantage is that it's a more comfortable night, however, it's still a long old bus ride from Pathankot to Dharamsala and then you change buses to get up to Mcleod. On balance I'd take the night bus again.

cheers

borsi

I have to second Moga. We visited the McLeod Ganj during the teachings of the Dalai Lama this year (although we didn't attend the teachings it was just a coincidence) and found the place very disappointing. It is unbearable how those lorries and taxis force their ways through the crowded streets without any respect to pedestrians. The place is drowned by garbage, it is particularly disappointing when one tries to take a walk around the town. There are piles of garbage deep in the forest and everywhere near the road which is a shame, because the landscape would be sooo spectacular with the valley in front and the snow-capped mountains behind. We didn't find the place tranquil and peaceful at all. I think if you come here to learn Tibetan buddhism it might be the place (I cannot comment on it), but if you come as a tourist, well...you might be disappointed.

Syiem

Hi Lunachick,

I live very close to Dharamshala and have been to Dharamsala several times. Several opinions and bits of advice have been offered. I would like to say a couple of things which may help you.

McLeodganj can be a very good place or a very bad place depending upon what you have come here looking for. As someone has written earlier, unless you are looking for something special (e.g. a course in Budhism or anything else that you would not find elsewhere in India), a month may be too long to stay in McLeodganj...it just does not have that much to offer. It is certainly not a tourist's paradise.

However, since you have a month, you can stay for a few days in the nearby town of Palampur, which is peaceful and has some nice green tea gardens. From there you can visit Dharamsala and Mcleodganj for a day. It is hardly 1 hour drive from Palampur. In palampur you can stay in Hotel Teabud (comfortable, inexpensive) or the Taragarh Palace Hotel (good, expensive). But do get the bookings in advance. You can also use some of the days to go to Kullu and Manali.

Let me know if you require more info.

Regards

Syiem

....and by the way, Pathankot is a much longer route. Go to Chandigarh instead. There is a comfortable train to Chandigarh from Delhi (Shatabdi Express, fair Rs. 455). From Chandigarh you can take deluxe buses to Palampur and Dharamsala.

amogasiddhi

A month! Are you planning on learning Tibetan or studying Buddhism? What on earth would anyone do for a month in McLeod and/or Dharamsala if they weren't?

Promise us that when the time comes for you to leave Mcleod if you do go there, that you WILL NOT take the 'Deluxe bus' to Delhi.
AVOID: The 'ticket office' (concrete bunker) on the left of the 'bus stand', underneath a restaurant. It will cost about 400Rs, take a lifetime, stop everywhere and leave when the driver is ready whether or not you are on the bus, you will need sedatives and a strong constitution for the 15 hour journey. My arse still throbs from the thought of it and there aren't many things I can say that about! Infact that is the only thing I can say that about apart from a camel trek in Rajasthan but Camels weren't made for being ridden.
Visit it sure but you really don't need to stay there. Bhagsu, Manali, Kullu, any other small town in Northern India will have the same volume of traffic, the same volume of noise, the same quantities of rubbish and filth everywhere and the same amount of rickshaw/ autorickshaw/ touts/ etc to disturb your day and night so why go all the way there......

amogasiddhi

You may well be thinking of a rather romanticised notion of what you think McLeod and Dharam are like. I based some of what I expected to see on my cultural upbringing of nature programmes, documentaries, films, conversations etc and to be honest, none of the above gave me the slightest hint of what these places are actually like as they left out the biggest part of India and that is the grossly underestimated population of about '1.3 Billion', most of whom are poor, filthy humans who were born because their parents wanted kids, and their parents were born for the same reason and their parents and theirs etc etc ad finitum. There's something about all this 'religion' which never deals with what happens when it has so many followers all doing the same thing in a totally unsustainable manner. Still if you had to marry someone you'd never met at the age of 13, how would you feel?
People who stand to make money out of filming India in one way or another never show the tossers who constantly distract you from the potential view and boy there are a lot of them. They demonstrate 'India's culture' by constantly asking if you want a balloon? Postcard? Hello Boat? (an interesting reply is 'oh hello boat' or some equally inane reply to someone who didn't engage in a thought process before following you for 200m along a river bank). Rickshaw 400 rupees, road closed have to take ring road 15km (the road between Old Delhi and New Delhi isn't straight but it's there alright and it's about 2km), landslide/ earthquake/ fighting/ bomb/ shootings/ accident/ fire/ flood/ hotel closed/etc. Hello you want Taxi? Where you going, i take you. Which Hotel you stay? Hello yes,Marble carving? Massage? you want girl? You, hello Peacock feathers? some nasty souvenir you never wanted? Hello,T-Shirt? You come my shop, very good price. Hello friend, hello yes, you want 'xyz', very good price? Beeeeeeeeeep (motorcycle with a deafening horn) Hello yes? You follow me, i'm not guide, no money, ticket office this way (as you are lead out of the station. I went with one tout just to see how long he thought he could lie to me for while another friend went to buy tickets at the ticket office which was inconveniently situated in another building, up some stairs, right out of the way, where tourists would not voluntarily go.Typical! ) Hello yes, where from, UK? USA very good country, hello yes?
It's incessant and very irritating. It also shows a total lack of appreciation of other cultures, a lack of respect or rather choosing to disrespect people and other cultures while demanding that you spend your money on them, though they will be very quick to demand that you appreciate their 'culture' by telling you to remove your nice new walking shoes, leave them with someone you may never see again and pay them too, then walk along the 'Holy Ghats' barefoot, through streams of raw sewerage, animal shit, human shit, goat/chicken/pig/cow/buffalo/dog/more human shit while dodging the man playing 'twinkle,twinkle little star' on a stringed instrument while following you about then demanding money, while a 4 year old girl, black from her years of living rough, tugs at your pocket and asks if you want a postcard for 50 rupees while her 'pimp' sits chewing Paan and spitting red slime right where the source of his income are about to walk.
Still, as Lonely Planet's authoratative guide to India says, 'It's all part of the vibrant personality of India'. The only part of India I saw any semblance of personality in was a smattering of Indians who didn't want anything from me and some wonderful humans who were travelling as I was.
McLeod Ganj is a tourist trap and it has nothing to do with Buddhism or Culture unless you are there to study or attend Teachings in which case you will pass the rest of it by so you might as well be anywhere else on the planet rather than there.
Okay you don't want to believe me, so go and discover 'India's vibrant personality' for yourself. I'd rather spend the time on a nice tropical beach or a villa with a pool than spend my money in a place which is so corrupt that nobody cares unless you can pay 'Bhaksheesh' to them for dressing up like a prat and smoking Chillums until they buy into their delusion.
The Taj Mahal takes 'over $4.1 million in ticket sales each year' (25Rs for Indians, 750 for tourists) and nobody knows where the money goes. It certainly isn't on the starving, begging millions on it's doorstep.
india-shmindia.

lunachick

Thank you everyone for your advice. There are certainly a range of opinions on Dharamsala/McLeod Ganj, so it will be interesting to see for myself...
I'm actually going there to, hopefully, do some volunteer teaching, and maybe a meditation course... That's why I'm planning to go for so long. Has anyone done any volunteer work there? Or can recommend a meditation course? Has anyone done the Vipassna course??? Thanks again, peace.