The next day, Alex and I started at 08:15 to hike up to Triund. That’s a well known spot around here where you have a wonderful view over the mountain range.
After some short-curt (Alex is all for short-cuts) which already exercises our muscles, we ended up at a police post where we had to give our passport number, name and telephone number. That was around 08:50.
Then the real track started. The path is mostly bare rock.
It alternates with wide views over the valley and forests. Very pretty.
There were quite some people coming down as well. Not that they already finished the hike. They stayed there overnight in order to watch the sunrise. That seems to be a very popular thing to do. You don’t even need to bring a tent because the rent them on the top.
We were also lucky to leave early in the morning. That way, the sun was not as strong and in the beginning also behind the mountain. That made it a lot more bearable.
What surprised me was the greenness. Lots of trees, grass and shrubs. Pretty flowers. Always bird sounds and butterflies.
After 2,5 hours of hiking up, up, up, up, up, up (1000 meter!), we finally reached the top 🙂 🙂 !! The view was sooooo worth it. There were hardly no clouds, so you could see the mountains very well.
We had lunch there and then headed back. That went a lot quicker 🙂 Going back, we also found out how they bring all the goods to the top (food, gas, …). They use donkeys for that as you can see.
After coming back, I crashed and only went out at 6 to eat something at Trek&Dine in Dharamkot. Recommendable. Also a lot of Israeli foods there.
Today I was a little lazy in the morning and then went to McLeodganj to find out if I could change my bus to something more comfortable. I also wanted to get a book to read and find some Tsampa. As you could read in the previous post, the latter didn’t succeed.
However, at that stall, I met Lenka, a Tsjech girl who was just wrapping up a 200 hour yoga teacher course. We started chatting and went looking for Alex who was already at the Japanese. On the way over there, the two of us also met Heather, a Canadian who’s been living in McLeodganj for already 4 years.
The three of us joined Alex and we had a very nice chat together. I ended up spending the afternoon with Lenka and Heather, chatting and walking around. That was a lot of fun since everyone had a lot of interesting things to tell. I also managed to change my bus (at a travel agency that Heather had recommended) from a seater leaving at Dharamsala to a semi-sleeper leaving from McLeodganj. That’s going to be so much nicer !
I also found a book from the Dalai Lama about the connection between Buddhism and science. Heather knew that book and tells me it’s very interesting.
One thing that was unfortunate, is that I just missed seeing the Dalai Lama. Apparently he was at the temple in the morning to start the election process. Meeting him will be a goal for a next life-time 😉
Now it’s time to do packing so I can leave tomorrow to Delhi.
