Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh

I woke up feeling a little unwell. I couldn’t tell exactly what was the matter, but something didn’t feel quite right – was I going to be sick, or was it the other way around? Whilst James was checking us out of the hotel, I went out to get some fresh air, thinking it would be helpful. Then, as soon as I walked outside, the change from very cold air conditioning to the heat outside made me instantly vomit. The Uber arrived just a few minutes later. We thought we’d see how this five-minute journey went before making any cancellations to our bus plans.

I seemed okay – just a little weak – so we carried on with our plan to go to Dharamshala. The only slight change was to take a taxi up the hill rather than walk, which I’m so thankful James persisted in suggesting. After a bit of rest at the hotel, we had a wander around the small town of Dharamshala. We had lunch at a very lovely Tibetan café which became our go-to food place for the next couple of days. Unfortunately, over the next three days, I came down with my first bout of the famous Delhi belly, so we couldn’t really do much. I think the highlight for me was just looking out the window, watching the glorious views and the paragliders getting whisked away. James went for a run. We then decided to book somewhere slightly further up the mountains, as we still hadn’t managed to see much of the area. We opted for accommodation in a little village called Naddi. Thankfully, by the time we got to Naddi on day four, I was starting to feel a lot like myself.

Naddi was breathtakingly calm and beautiful. It was quiet, sunny, and away from all the noises of motorbikes, tuk-tuks, and tourists. We finally found the place we thought India was going to be like.

Over the next few days in Naddi, we went on plenty of mountain hikes. The homestay had a dog called Bruno. Bruno was well known around the village and took a particular liking to us, so he joined us on all of our hikes. He was just a small dog but had lots of character – running after monkeys, going up and down the hills, and playing with the bigger, more boisterous dogs. We explored a few different waterfalls, walked to some of the nearby towns, and just relaxed. This was the first place I woke up before the alarm went off, excited to go out and explore. Our hosts were very welcoming. They didn’t have a restaurant on site, so they helped us order takeaways for dinner. When we mentioned how cold it was, they brought us extra blankets and even hot water bottles. There were many times we huddled around the indoor heater, pre-heating our clothes so they would be warm when we got out of the shower. Not much went on in Naddi, but that was where the beauty lay. Once the sun had set, it got chilly very quickly, so each night we tucked ourselves up in bed, watched a film, had plenty of snuggles, and positioned the electric heater directly on us.

On our second hike, Bruno followed us up the hill, as he had his own doggie friends at the top. When we got there, Maharaj, a slightly bigger dog but far more wimpy, joined us without any encouragement. In fact, we didn’t want Bruno following us, as we didn’t want the responsibility of him getting lost. We would try to lose him, but then we’d turn a corner and he’d already be there waiting for us – he knew the mountains and all their shortcuts far too well. So Maharaj and Bruno also joined us on a walk to Dharamkot, another small village. But when we got there, both of them wandered off. We were worried the dogs wouldn’t make it back to Naddi, especially since we knew Bruno belonged to the homestay. I messaged the homestay to see if they knew the other dog, but they weren’t sure at the time. They said to just make sure Bruno didn’t go into the roads – he should be able to make it back on his own through the mountains. So again, we tried to lose him, but then we turned around and he came flying through the street. Then the other dog disappeared but magically rejoined us ten or so minutes later. We thought we had both the dogs safely back together but then a pack of dogs came out and ushered Maharaj into a corner, whilst Bruno, being such a quick dog just flew past them,. We were also a little scared for ourselves, so we walked on ahead, hoping Maharaj would run past. The whole way back, we kept a lookout for him, but he never joined us.

On our last day in Naddi, we went to another waterfall, which of course Bruno joined us on. He loved it and enjoyed chasing after the monkeys in the trees. When we got there, the waterfall was so peaceful – the blue-green waters were blissful and serene. We stopped on the way back at Sunset Café, although we decided not to stay for sunset, as it was still a moderate walk back, and we didn’t want to do it in the dark. Instead, we managed to catch the sunset in the village – again, Bruno joined us. As we walked through the village and past the locals, people would exclaim, “It’s Bruno!” It was getting busy now, with lots of cars coming down the main street. We’d been told Bruno didn’t have much road sense, so James picked him up and cradled him in his arms until we reached a quieter street.

On our last day at the hill station, we changed accommodation so we were a little lower on the mountain, allowing us to explore McLeod Ganj, the home of the Dalai Lama – which of course we visited. The rest of the day we took slowly, looking around the town and having dinner at Jimmy’s, a lovely Italian/pizza restaurant, which gave us a nice break from all the curries.

When we left our Naddi homestay Bruno came running after the taxi, even after it started driving away.

India