I always wanted to travel to Dharamshala to witness the small Tibetan world and to get the taste of the local cuisine. I got the opportunity this year and that too during His Holiness The Dalai Lama's visit.
I gave Ganpati Visarjan a miss in Mumbai and started my journey on the 28th September late evening by the Rajdhani bound train to Delhi. My 2 friends (Dola Samanta and Punita Parikh) travelling along were just as excited as me. My food marathon had begun. But it started off on a bad note with some disappointing food served on the train. I spent the next 16 hours without good food. After reaching Delhi, we freshened up at my cousin's place and headed straight to Karims at old delhi's jama masjid. I ordered for mutton bhurra and mutton stew. It was a feast. I could not have left this place without having the firni.
From the busy jama masjid lanes we headed to a quieter colony called majnu ka tilla. The colony was Delhi's mini Tibet. Here we got a bus for Dharamshala. The 12 hours journey had 2 halts. The first halt was for dinner at a dhaba at karnal. I was not looking forward to it as it was a veg dhaba. But, i must confess, the food was really tasty. We tried the paneer masala and the dal makhani dipped in butter and only butter.
The second halt was at dhaliara in himachal for a tapri chai at 4am. I was just 2 hours away from Dharamshala and the excitement took away my sleep. I reached lower Dharamshala at 6am but the bus kept moving upwards towards McLeodganj (Mcleod), the last stop. We got down and headed to Dharamkot, a small village 2kms from Mcleod. It was a scenic beauty and we decided to stay here for the next 6 days. We stayed at Moon Light Cafe for a tariff of just Rs.300 a room per night. The view from my room was so peaceful.
From here, the actual food trip started. The breakfast was at the moon light cafe itself. It was a simple yet tasty spanish breakfast.
Heading down to Mcleoad was a task. But i soon realized the best way to explore the place and the food is to walk and eat. We used to take a shortcut via Tushita Meditation Centre to reach the main market at Mcleod. We then visited Tsuglagkhang Complex - the residence, monastery, tibet museum and temple of His Holiness The Dalai Lama to register and book our place for his teachings the next day. We spent few hours in the complex and were speechless looking at the temple and the monastery.
We then met our local friend Jigme for lunch. He took us to the Tibet kitchen in the market. The chicken momos, chilly chicken and mutton noodles were totally irresistible.
The walk back to dharamkot was never ending. We took the longer route to explore the place better. We ventured into the dharamkot village and witnessed the purity and beauty of it. Staying on the mountains seemed to be the only thing in life.
The dinner was at Treck&Dine in the village where i had the sizzling chicken sizzler and honeylicious banana honey pancake.
The second morning at the mountains was spiritual and enlightening. I was fortunate and overwhelmed to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama. His teachings on the path to enlightenment was like experiencing a sea of love and compassion. People from all over the world who attended the teachings got a bread and butter-tea for breakfast.
Back to food and lunch was at Jimmy's Italian Kitchen. The grilled chicken florentine - chicken breast stuffed with mushroom, cheese and spinach along with pasta in white sauce and jacket potato was italian food at its best.
Thereafter it was time to explore the Mcleod market. The first found was the Commonground Cafe. At the first glance itself, this cafe became one of my favorites. I was in love with this place. This is the place where i discovered my love for ginger lemon honey tea. Also, the sweet rum ball was to die for.
The second cafe was the Moonpeak Cafe overlooking the street market. I had a relaxing time with a pot of hibiscus herbal tea and a chicken mozzarella cream-cheese spinach sandwich.
Later in the evening, we all started to head towards bhagsu falls. The trek from bhagsu to shiva's cafe was really adventurous. On our way, we had an omelette and a maggi at a small cafe. Just when it was getting dark, we reached shiva's cafe. A quick rest and trek back but enroute dharamkot. Yes, we came to know that one can trek directly to dharamkot from shiva's cafe. It was a difficult decision to take as it was getting darker. While we managed to reach half way, we got lost in the dark. A villager came to our rescue and guided us appropriately. The trek from bhagsu to shiva's cafe and back to dharamkot was a lifetime experience. I was damn tired and needed a great meal to energize myself.
Dinner was at the Friendly Planet Cafe at the village. Chicken Schnitzel and hummus with fried onions & mushrooms was on my menu.
