Photos from Dharamsala

I spent the middle of the trip in the cooler Dharamsala, a small mountain town in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The state borders Tibet, with the Himalayas acting as a natural border. Most refugees who came straight to India did so through a treacherous passage through the Himalayas that takes up to two weeks, including the Dalai Lama himself, who fled Tibet in 1959. From Dharamsala, you can see the Himalayas in the distance. Planes land in the Dharamsala airport in the Kangra Valley, then it's an hour ride up treachorous dirt roads that are very, very steep and often one lane even though traffic goes in two lanes. Dharamsala contains the largest gathering of Tibetan refugees in the world and is the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile.

Most of "downtown" Dharamsala is actually McLeod Ganj, named after a British Governer of Punjab. It's not any flatter than any part of the mountain, but it's based around the Tsuglagkhang Complex, which contains a monastery and most importantly the private residence of the Dalai Lama, which was gifted to him by Prime Minister Nehru upon his arrival to India. The Dalai Lama does all of his public teachings and most of his press conferences in the main temple complex, either on his throne or sitting in front of it. Pictures of thrones that contain a picture of the Dalai Lama mean that only he can sit there, even if other people are meeting without him. They leave the throne empty.

Dharamsala is cooler than most of India because of the elevation, which meant it was hot but not unbearably, and in the winter it snows. None of the hotels have air conditioning, and the majority of them are, by normal standards, not very good. On the other hand, they are all very cheap. I was staying at one of the most expensive hotels, and I think I was paying about $42 a night, which was worth every penny. Dharamsala is safer than most Indian areas for tourists, with lots of women seen walking alone, and there's all kinds of cuisines, from Tibetan to Israeli to Italian. The town is particularly popular for Israelis, and many of the signs are in Hebrew. Despite the presence of so many Tibetans, Indians own all of the land because the Tibetans are refugees and are not allowed to own land, even if they were born here as a child of refugees. So many of the shop owners, hotel owners, staff, and especially construction workers are Indian.

A very interesting place. If you're not tremendously fascinated by Tibetan culture, you can do the town in a day, maybe two. I was there for four, not counting Shabbos, and saw pretty much everything. Also I used the time to rest from the pace of the trip, as I get sick when I get overtired, so it was good for me.

Also there were a lot of monkeys.

Dharamsala