Weekend in McLeodganj @Day 3

To Norbulingka: It was our third and last day. Done with a relaxed breakfast at Llamo’s once again, we hired a taxi for the day. Our destination was Dharamshala’s Norbulingka complex. The complex has a monastery, a doll museum, paintings and a tiny café. There are also monks in residence.

The monastery is colorful and picture perfect. More than that, it was peaceful. The Doll Museum is interesting; depicting Tibetan life and culture; a procession, a marriage, King’s ceremony, a domestic scene around a home. Each depiction is in a glass case with an explanation. Next to this is a large room with beautiful Buddhist paintings- the Thangka.

Finally, a prayer hall where we met a cute girl with her mother. This child aged about two was intent on catching the tail of the monastery’s pet dog. Before leaving though, we did enjoy some honey lemon ginger tea under the colorful prayer flags.

Near to the institute, is the Chamunda Devi Temple. We drove to it and paid respects. There is also a small stream running through the temple filled with devotees.

Soon it was time to back to the bus stop- to catch the dreaded Volvo to Delhi. On the bus stop we met Rahul and Deepti, who were incidentally on the bus on our way to McLeodganj. We chatted and exchanged numbers. Six months down the line we went to Leh together- a fantastic trip it was. All in all, we had a great trip; we relaxed, saw a wonderful place, and unexpectedly climbed a snow capped peak. Travel can gift you so much if you accept with an open mind. Even friends!