First Time in DHARAMSHALA 🇮🇳 Surprised by Snow, Monks, Buddhist Temples, and the Dalai Lama

In this India Travel Vlog I explore all around Dharamshala and McLeod Ganj in Himachal Pradesh, Northern India! I hadn't heard too much about Dharamshala before jumping on an 8 hour bus there from Shimla, but I really loved exploring this amazing Indian Hill Station! I started off at my hotel close to the bus station in Dharamshala. I had heard about the Skyway cable car between Dharamshala and McLeod Ganj so I decided to start my day there to take the Skyway up to McLeod Ganj. Unfortunately they said I would have to wait 40 minutes before they started sending cars up. I decided to take a taxi as I was hungry and didn't want to waste time. The taxi ended up being much cheaper than the Skyway as well! There were also amazing mountain views during the drive up. The taxi took me to the main square in McLeod Ganj where I decided to first check out the Kala Chakra Temple as it's also right in the center. I stayed at the bottom of the temple, but it was still really neat to see the Mani prayer wheels. After seeing the temple I went to a nearby cafe for some fried rice, coffee, and. amazing views. From there I decided to head to the Dalai Lama Temple - home to the Dalai Lama since he was exiled from Tibet in 1959. This is one of the most popular things to see in Dharamshala so I wanted to make sure I didn't miss it! I walked by the cute McLeod Ganj market on the way to the temple so I stopped to buy some cheap street jewelry. When I arrived at the temple I was hoping to be able to read a lot of information as I don't know much about Tibet, but unfortunately there wasn't much information there. I also wasn't allowed to take pictures in the inside of the temple - however it was really nice!! (There is a Tibetan Museum and also Tibetan Library closer to Dharamshala town which has much more information). From there I walked back to where I started and continued another 20 minutes into the woods to see the Church of St. John in the Wilderness which is an amazing old neogothic church out in the woods by McLeod Ganj. After spending some time checking out the church, I walked back a little north of McLeod Ganj to see a meditation center and some Buddhist flags in the woods. I had an amazing view of Dharamkot!!! Then I found the prayer flag point. I was amazed at just how many flags were there!!! It was also really nice talking to some random people and watching people play in the snow throwing snowballs at their friends. On the walk back down to Dharamshala I saw some girls leaving the meditation center who said I could walk around and look at it! I continued on to JJ Exile Brothers to try my first ever Tibetan food and I couldn't have picked a better place!!! The owner was so nice and explained all of the menu to me - and the food was so good! I tried my first Thukpa and it was just what I needed to warm up. I then stopped by Synergy Massage and had an amazing foot massage which saved me after all the walking I'd done over the past few days! I decided to try to walk back to my hotel in Dharamshala....which was complicated and I had to ask multiple people for directions. But it led me to the cool path around the Dalai Lama Temple that I would've missed! I made it down to Dharamshala and ended the night seeing the end of the sunset at the Lazy Panda Cafe. It was a great day and I absolutely loved Dharamshala!
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00:01 Intro
00:36 Walking Through Dharamshala
01:35 Dharamshala Skyway
02:17 Taxi to McLeod Ganj
02:48 Center of McLeod Ganj
03:16 Kala Chakra Temple
05:10 Aum Cafe McLeod Ganj
06:34 Walking in McLeod Ganj
07:40 McLeod Ganj Market
11:07 Dalai Lama Temple
12:58 Walking Through McLeod Ganj
14:16 Church of St. John in the Wilderness
19:02 View of Dharamkot
20:38 Prayer Flag Point Dharamkot
23:22 Tushita Meditation Center
24:43 JJ Exile Brothers Tibetan Food
27:55 Synergy Massage
29:58 Hike Around Dalai Lama Temple
33:45 the Lazy Panda Cafe

#dharamshala #mcleodganj #dharamkot #himachal #himachalpradesh #indiatravel #solotravel