New room on Wednesday

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First thing, we checked out of the Him Queen and into the Asian Plaza, which we subsequently found out was only a year old, which is why it's in such good shape. A friend of a friend of Debash's, who is studying Buddhism and art here for a few months, met up with us for a leisurely breakfast in the indoor portion of the terrace restaurant. Unfortunately it was overcast and a little breezy, so sitting outside would have made for quite a parky experience.

Lunch was back at the Green Hotel, and this time I tried a ganthuk, which is a Tibetan soup containing noodles - almost like a ramen. Definitely a good option on a cold day.

After lunch, we went to the temple complex containing, among other things, the Dalai Lama's residence. The temple itself was surprisingly low-key for somewhere so important to the Tibetan Buddhist faith. No security, and free access to almost everywhere. We completed a 2.5km circumambulation of the complex, that went up and down with no regard for unfit foreigners, and we were both quite winded when we returned to the starting point. We were accompanied by a street dog that adopted us for the trip plus waited for us outside the temple cafe when we had a post-walk cup of tea, then followed us part way back up the hill to McLeod Ganj before looking for other tourists to guide.

The rest of the day involved a great deal of nothing, except chat, chai, and comfortable chairs.

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Photos

McLeod Ganj hillside
The second hotel from the left is the Him Queen