Himachal Pradesh
Dharamsala, Manali and more
For many Himachal Pradesh is only worth for visiting Dharamsala, where
the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama, lives, or to
Manali, for other reasons. Himachal
Pradesh has however a lot more to offer.
Let's explore the province which is bordered to the north with Jammu &
Kashmir and in the south with Punjab
and Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on south, Uttarakhand on south-east and by
Tibet on the east. It is known as the land
of the Gods. It is also a very mountainous province.
High above Shimla on the way north into the mountains
There are several places worth a visit. Shimla
was already in the British colonial days a hide away from the heat of Delhi.
In Dharamsala (McCloud Ganj)
the Dalai Lama found residence after fleeing from Tibet in 1959. This has
obviously lead to a significant Tibetan population in this small town with
several monasteries and foreigners seeing truth and wisdom.
Rishikesh became world famous when the Beatles in 1968 visited the Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi's ashram. Few realized then that Rishikesh, together with Hardiwar
was since long holy town and pilgrimage destination for Hindus.
And then there is Dalhousie, another, less known, founded by the British in
1854, at almost 2000 meters altitude where the British escaped from the heat of
the Indian lowlands. It is arguably not the most exciting town to visit but
nevertheless a welcome stopover and worth a few days walking and hiking in the
hills.
Temple outside Manali Himachal Pradesh
The state was also known as Deva Bhumi, the Land of the Gods). It is a
part of India with a lot of history in the Hindu culture with many pilgrimage
places. For that reason it is also a popular destination for travelers although
traveling here can be a bit time consuming.
Shimla
Entrance
to Himachal Pradesh is Chandigarh, capital of both
Punjab and Haryana. Although
many Indians are very proud of Chandigarh because it's a modern and very
well planned city, there's little to keep you here longer then absolute
necessary.
The bus station is well organized with connections all over the
state (and Punjab
and Haryana). But that all said, you can easily get a bus from Delhi to
Shimla, Dharmsala
or even Manali.
The roads in the state are (what I at least travelled) in good condition.
However, as many destinations are on altitude, expect some serious climbing to
for example Shimla, Rishikesh or
Manali.
We have more details about Shimla,
Dharmsala,
Dalhousie, Rishikesh
and Manali here.
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