Travelogue: Mcloed Ganj & Triund, April 2010

It has been more than 2 months since I went, but I still managed to hold on to my journal & some memories from the trip. So here is a travelogue + photolog of my trip to McLeod Ganj & Triund.

First a few quick facts.

Dates: 1st April to 4th April, 2010 (started on 31st March night, reached back in Delhi on 5th April, morning).

Mode of Transport: Overnight Volvo bus run by HRTC
Stay: Umm .. the hotel didn't have a name I think! None that I saw in the 3 days I was there.

Group: 4 people.

Total cost: Didn't bother noting down (unlike the college days!). Roughly near 4,500/- per person. Most of it spent on food + tents at Triund. None on shopping.

This was my 5th trip to McLeod Ganj for the 5th consecutive year. Yes, I love the place!
And I aso love good food.

Trip log from the next post

The bus dropped us off at (lower) Dharamsala at about 7:00 am. But even after a rather sleep-less night, it felt great to be back in the mountains. We took a taxi from there, straight to our usual hotel in McLeod Ganj. But when we reached there, we found out that it was undergoing renovation. What used to be a pretty basic hotel was now getting LCD TVs and stuff. It was closed too. So we looked around and found another one, down the hill a bit. I liked the place even before seeing the room. They had a small grassy verandah just outside our room, which I loved totally. So we got our baggage etc. and settled there. Started for the main market at around 10 then.


Our old college-time favorite hotel came into view again. I have spent some quality time in there, but now it just wasn’t the same anymore. In fact, much has changed in McLeod Ganj itself. It is just too full of vehicles now. When we reached McLeod square, at least two of the roads leading out from there were jammed with traffic. Everyone honking at everyone else. The sight was pretty much the same whenever we passed from there in the next four days.

Leaving all the commotion, we entered into our favorite breakfast place: JJI’s Café. Ah! Something hadn’t changed. The same photographs in the book case, the same curtains on the walls, the same chairs and the same little love you notes posted by thousands of travelers on the pin-up board. In fact, more had been added to them. The cool ashtray I remembered from the last time was gone though. So was good food, sadly. We ordered our usual Farmer’s breakfast, JJI’s breakfast, honey-lemon-ginger tea and Tibetan brown bread. I don’t know if it was just a bad day for us to arrive, or if JJI’s had lost their touch, but it just wasn’t the same. I haven’t given up on JJI’s as yet though. Next time, next year.


Went to the chocolate log next. No change there as well. None, in fact. Same roof top sitting, and the same shop. The sweet owner Cheryl, whom we had met the last time, wasn’t there though. Her husband, who is quieter in comparison to her, gave us our chocolate cake slice in complete silence. It was tasty anyways.


On our way back, we picked a bottle of the Two Oceans wine. Took it back to our hotel. Me & Jha loved it’s taste, while the other two didn’t even like it. The two of us finished it up in no time. We played some cards along with the wine, sitting in the garden outside our rooms. Reminded me of my earlier visits. We used to have all the time in the world then. And we spent it just sitting there soaking in the mountains. It didn’t feel as if we had reached the same day.

Next ... time for some more food! We went off in search of the famous wood-fired-oven baked Pizza of Dharamkot village. Dharamkot in itself is quite different from the rest of McLeod. Once you leave the hotels of Bhagsu behind, the village starts. First you encounter Israeli places with full Hebrew sign-boards. Then you come across terraced fields and the houses with cows tied up outside. Then the cafes start again.


We asked for the directions to the Pizzeria from a couple of Israeli people we met on our way. Eventually we reached the Family Pizzeria. I remembered reading about it faintly and so decided to give it a try. Well, famous or not, this place was one great find. The Pizzas were out of the world! We ordered 3 pizzas. The Three Cheese Pizza (chee), Chicken Garlic & Onion Pizza (chicken) and the Tuna Garlic Pizza (macchli). The three cheese pizza was the best, not that the others were in any way inferior.


Having re-filled our stomachs to the brim, we headed towards the waterfall. We decided against the hike to the Shiva Café and went to the river instead. Sat on the rocks there, but didn’t quite enjoy. A constant stream of tourists were going to the waterfall, shouting across the valley. So, we made a quick exit from there. Went to McLlo’s next, the restaurant at the main square. But who could be hungry after such a day? Just had a lemon drink and left.


Walked back to the hotel in the dark, fun as usual. Played some good old card games & went off to sleep, in preparation of an early morning hike to Triund.

Me & Jha got up up at 6:00 in the morning and left for Triund by 7. Kunal & Prats were to join us later, because they didn’t know what to do at Triund the whole day (!!).

But for us, nothing like an early morning start to a good trek. Started on a leisurely pace and took lots of short breaks. First stop was the little corner shop at Dharamkot. After some chai, we climbed up to the Gallu Devi temple. There we met Mr. Sharma, the owner of the Snow Line Café (his brother runs it). He was carrying provisions to the shop. Chatted with him for some while and then began our ascent again.

Next we stopped at Joginder Sharma’s oldest chai shop, which is supposed to be mid-way between McLeod Ganj & Triund. We ordered omlettes, chai and a bar of Snickers each. Gulped all of that down and started for Triund again.

Saw some butterflies on the way

We had felt a bit tired initially, but the body adapts quickly. So even though the way became steeper and steeper, we were able to do it without feeling completely drained. We reached there at about 11:30, and as usual, the feeling of reaching Triund was simply great. And this time we had a whole day there too!

So the rest of the day was spent in clicking some photographs, reading a book, trying to meditate, eating at the tea shops and in general, relaxing. It is a wonderful feeling, sitting at such a beautiful place, doing nothing at all.

Some pics of Triund:

Thankfully, it being a Friday, there was hardly any crowd there. Thankfully, also, a huge group of French people (they had their stuff on 40 mules!) had just left. So we saw a relatively quieter Triund, compared to our last time. We also arranged two tents from one of the tea shops (the one in the centre).

Kunal & Prats arrived just before the evening. We then began the task of pitching the tents, which was relatively easy. The shadows were going long by the time we finished. Soon the sun went down completely and it suddenly became very cold. So the jackets came out and then we made our way towards the tea-shop.

We had a pretty bad tasting dinner of dal chawal and then sat outside the shop, near the fire. But it started raining soon and so we went back to our tents. Some time was spent in listening to the rain fall and trying to sleep. But I soon gave up. So, after the rain stopped, me & Kunal got out of the tents for some night time photography. While the clouds prevented any moon light from reaching the mountains across the valley, we still got some pretty good shots of the city below.

Some night-time shots at Triund:

Finally we came back, but I couldn’t sleep all night, even though I felt comfortable & warm. Either that, or I kept waking up at frequent intervals, which is tantamount to the same thing.

By 5 in the morning I was fed up with trying to sleep and decided to wake up Jha. He muttered something to the effect of 5:30 and went back to sleep. So I woke him up at 5:30 and then at 6. Finally, I couldn’t lay there any longer and decided to go out on my own. So, I took my camera & tripod, and ventured out.

It was a bit cold, but my thick jacket was enough. I decided to take a walk towards the other side of Triund, i.e., the side further away from the Forest Rest House & the tea shops. Came upon the private guest house then, which is otherwise hidden from view by a small hillock. I ventured a little further from here too. That place was beautiful & secluded. Definitely pitching my tent there, the next time. I even saw a huge eagle on the next hill, but I didn’t have enough time to go up to there and wasn’t carrying my zoom lens as well.

Got some great sunrise photographs though.


When I reached back, I saw that we were nowhere near to leaving for the snow line. Jha was busy playing with a pahaadi dog, while Kunal & Prats hadn’t even woken up. So after half an hour of calling him, Kunal emerged from his tent. But Prats was too tired from her climb to Triund. After much convincing, she finally agreed.

We had a quick breakfast of aaloo parathas, which tasted decent and cost us Rs. 30 a piece. We finally left for Illaqa at around 11. Met a lot of people who were coming back, because they had started earlier.

The climb was good and the views were stunning. Rhododendrons were in full bloom and lined the side of the valley. Butterflies and ladybird swarms flew across the valley. I was enjoying our every step. But just then, Prats stopped. She was breathing a bit heavy. She was feeling very tired too. So after much discussion, Prats & Kunal decided to head back to McLeod Ganj, while me & Jha went ahead. In hindsight, it was best that she left then because it got tougher from there. But the views became spectacular too.


The path to the snow line is quite narrow. Mostly just rocks at a few places. But every now and then you see a small blue arrow pointing in the correct direction. The advantage of being a bit late was that the path was devoid of any other tourists. Hence, peace & quiet all the way. Towards the end, we reached a flattish place. I think this was almost the top of the mountain. The narrow trail from there takes a sharp turn, and the next moment you are at the snow line café.

Snowline & beyond


We sat there at the snowline café, enjoying the views. Had some maggi and then clicked a lot of photographs. We then proceeded to a little distance towards Illaqa, but since we didn’t have enough time left, we decided to push back after about half an hour of hike. By the way, there is only old snow at the snowline in summers.

We began our continuous descent from there. In four hours time, we were back in the hotel. The downhill tread left us with tired calves and aching legs. But we were happy.


Had a nice shower in the hotel and then went to McLeod Ganj. So even though we were not really hungry, we were bent on having something to satisfy the foodie in us. We first went to Nick’s and then to Tibet Kitchen. Had mutton paa there, which was very tasty. Took a taxi back to the hotel as we were too tired to walk.

The last day was spent on gorging on whatever we could place our hands on.

Got up at 7:30 after a good night’s sleep. Then the time was spent in the garden, completing my journal and watching a pair of beautiful yellow-billed blue-magpies dart across from tree to tree.


I simply sat there and remembered the build up to the trip. The impatience and the excitement. Felt a bit sad too, now that it was our last day already. Wish I had forever in the mountains!

My peace was disturbed by a few foreigners who wanted to book our rooms after we left. So after assuring them that they can have the rooms, we made our way to the main bazaar, with only food on our minds!

We started at Nicks Italian Kitchen. A great place with nice views from the balcony. Ordered a lot of food here. The list included two kinds of Quiche, hash brown potatoes, French toast with honey, penne ala arabiata, thukpa and the famous: brownie with chocolate sauce. While the quiche and pasta were not all that tasty, the other things were excellent.


Next we went to the Chocolate log again. Met Cheryl this time. Had a good long chat with her on a huge variety of things. Had some tasty stuff from there (don’t remember what). Spent a good 2 hours there. While coming back then, we shamelessly tucked into the taste of India. This time it was just aaloo parathas. But our hogging was far from over.

Next we went to a the One Two café, near the Temple. Sat there for a while. Had some good Coffee. Then, after some shopping, we headed to our final food stop.

We reached Chu Sum just before an hour our bus was scheduled to leave. Ordered only a mutton dish (because we were not so hungry!). Had problems explaining anything to the staff, because they didn’t speak English or Hindi. Finally finished the awesome dish with chop sticks and then made to our bus.

This time thankfully I had a great sleep.

Dude...This not a travelogue...this is a food blog !!

And awesome pics by the way. My mind has just oscillated back to DSLR

Hahahaha ..

For all the foodies heading out to McLeod Ganj .. here is a The Definitive Restaurant and Café Guide to McLeod Ganj. I carried a printout of this article all throughout the trip!

wow great pictures...and good food!

lovely compilation of pics! ..am yet to read

Thank you for interesting info, especially the Guide for restaurants. I will keep it for next years trip to McLeod Ganj.

The first photos that I have seen of this area......really great, enjoyed seeing a new area that I did not discover on my last trip

Great and pics were good. Whole thing will be quite useful

Lovely travelogue and awesome pics. Just wanted to know if a day trip to Triund is doable with a one year old ? Are there porters to carry the kid as in some parts of Uttaranchal ?

Great going! I trekked up to Triund just two days before you did - and it was an awesome experience..Nice to read it again in ur words Too bad i didnt know u were going to be there at the same time - would have been nice to meet a fellow IMer.

When we went to the snowline, the cafe there was closed though..met the owner on the way back. he said that because of the stormy conditions on the previous day, he hadnt stayed back there..So missed chai/maggi there

Couple of comments on the food -

• The chocolate brownies at Nick's kitchen are amazing.. I had about four of them in 2 days..
• Also outside the temple near the left-hand side of the gate, there is a road-side vendor selling momos..4 pieces for Rs. 10 - and these were the best momos i had in McL
• The shop (below McLlo's) sells amazing cold sandwiches - very fresh and filling