Dharamsala Trips & Tours

Two towns, really, stacked one on top of the other. Down in Dharamshala proper, life carries on much as anywhere else in Kangra, but climb the switchbacks to McLeod Ganj, nine hundred metres higher, and you're suddenly in Little Lhasa. This has been the Dalai Lama's home since 1959, and the Tsuglagkhang Temple, Namgyal Monastery and the Tibet Museum sit at the heart of a community that fled Tibet and rebuilt its world here, prayer flags, butter lamps and all. Narrow lanes smell of incense and simmering thukpa, with momos on every corner and the occasional monk debating loudly outside a monastery gate. Above town, Bhagsu's modest waterfall and the pine-clad climb to Triund (register at Gallu Devi first, permit in hand) draw a steady stream of backpackers, while below, one of the world's highest-altitude cricket grounds sits rather incongruously among the deodars. It's equal parts pilgrimage site, trekking base and hippy retreat, and somehow all three work.