#9 Dharamshala & Manali
Dharamshala:
Before I came here I pretty much knew nothing about Tibet. Sure, I did hear some things about ‘Free Tibet’ and things related to China. I have Tibetan prayer flags hanging in my apartment, not because I know a lot about their spiritual meaning but because I find them pretty.
Some might say ignorant.
The first thing I noticed when arriving in Dharamshala - or its upper district McLeodganj I should say to be precise - was how different it looked. The buildings, these very hilly streets with the Himalayas in the background, and especially the people: how they looked different. Not only that they were a lot of Tibetan monks in their red gown but also the faces of the people looked different. I hardly saw any saries.
If I would not have known better I would have said that I’m not in India anymore. It seemed to me to be more like Nepal or Tibet - the irony being that I never was there either, so how could I know?
Dharamshala is the place where the Dalei Lama lives, so it becomes a place of refugee for a lot of Tibetans. And the town do has a Tibetan-vibe, with a lot of Tibetan restaurants (Momos!!!), Tibetan libraries and signs in Tibetan. Just very different from the other places I have been so far - and maybe because of this my favorite one.
While i was here I was allowed to witness one of the praying ceremony of the monks. Sadly I do not know a lot about what they were saying, if the ceremony was for a special purpose or how often they meet like this - but it was truly special. Their low, deep, singing voice put me in some sort of trance.
Another district of Dharamshala however, Dharamkot, was completely different again and reminded me more of Rishikesh in its hippy-yoga-show-skin-vibe.
Manali:
From here I continued to Manali, which consists of New Manali and Old Manali. New Manali is soso, but Old Manali was so incredible charming!! Winding up a very narrow and steep road it had the vibe of a remote mountain village. Manali is the ‘party&techno’ city, and a lot of cafes offered special space cookies and techno parties. As cute as it was the food was not ideal, very basic and boring and, how I felt, targeted at people who are drunk and/ or high and don’t really care WHAT they eat, just that it is sweet or fatty and cheap.
As beautiful as Manali was, I also felt a bit like a tiger in a cage. The wheather was constantly shifting between (thunder-)storm, rain and sun. This made me hesistant to go and explore much of the surounding mountains. I felt the urge to explore but also the insecurity and hesitation to do so with this unpredictable wheather. Luckily I found myself some smaller parts of nature(-walks) which lead me out of the city but weren't too far away to not get back in time should the storm decide to rage again.
After months of heat the chilliness of mountain region came with a big relief. It even got so cold I bought an additional jacket which I very much appreciated.
And this old, middle-aged-vibe town with it's up-winding roads was definitely worth a visit!
