INDIA – Up the hill!

My destination in India is an Ayurvedic school in the small town of Bhagsu Nag (pronounced BOG sue nog).  It’s located in the ‘foothills’ of the Himalayans in northern India.  The flight from Delhi takes about an hour and 45 minutes (gate to gate) on a mid-sized over wing propjet commuter plane.  As you look at the travel map of Northern India above, we are in the northern section of the state of Himachal Pradesh (pronounced him MAH chul prah DESH.)  The name roughly translates to Himalayan Precinct.  It is nestled between the western tourist meccas known as Pakistan, Kashmir and Tibetan China.

Since we have no checked luggage, we go straight out to the taxi stand.  The state set rate for our trip from the airport at Gaggal to Bhagsu is 900 rupees (about $13.50), and I think that’s fine for a 20 km trip with no guarantee of return fare.  Now I am telling you that man was highly underpaid.  The ride takes almost an hour on a winding mountain road, I cannot begin to guess the average grade.  What I can tell you is this:  Gaggal airport sits at roughly 2400 feet in altitude.  Bhagsu is at 7200 feet.  Altogether that’s not too far off the altitude differential between Phoenix and Flagstaff… Only it’s 20 kilometers (as the crow flies).  Which is 12 ½ miles.  Yeah.  Interesting ride.  The last 2 km (between Dharamshala and Bhagsu) is an altitude increase of 2400 feet.  So, roughly the altitude differential between Sedona and Flag in 2 kilometers… 1 ¼ miles.  The ride is made even more interesting by 3 additional factors:

• The road is not wide enough for 2 cars to pass without coming almost to a stop and gently easing past each other.
• The car is a standard shift.
• It is just the end of the rainy season, and there are places where the road has been recently washed out or covered over by mud slides, and by all appearances, only very recently cleared enough for us to pass.

We encounter traffic in both directions, of the pedestrian as well as wheeled variety.   We are in India, so the driver makes significant use of the vehicle’s horn, using it as a warning just prior to and during each hairpin curve.  As in hiking, the uphill had the right of way – at least theoretically. We pass through a National Park on the way and our driver stops so that we can take photos.  It is lush and green, and very well manicured.  During this stretch, the road is a bit wider and very nice.  The sign says is it Dharamshala Park, and the trail through it is called the Himachal Trail.  I wonder if it is similar to the Appalachian Trail, instead running along the Himalayans.  Given the location, probably best for me not to hike it. Between the airport and our destination are 2 towns, the one we come to is Dharamshala, the largest town in the precinct.  We reach it at lunchtime when the locals are in the streets.  Oh my!  Getting 2 vehicles and hundreds of people up and down this road requires that we slow to pedestrian speed and fold in the side mirrors.  We creep along the street.  As people pass us, it is apparently accepted practice for them to reach in through the window and steady themselves by grabbing onto the seat back.  It took us a good 10 minutes of the drive to get through what by any standards is a very, very, small community.  All of one main street with one side street in each direction. The second town we come to is Mcleodganj (pronounced MAC lee odd gahnj).  It is here that the Dalai Lama has his monastery.  Macleod is a distant downhill kilometer from where I am (between here and Dharamshala) and it is commonplace to see the red clad monks in town and walking the roads.  We reach Bhagsu Nag and our driver asks again where we are staying.  Turns out our accommodation is in Upper Bhagsu.  The driver stops at the local cab stand to get directions and then turns around and flat out tells us no, his car will not make it up that road.  Holy Crap!  If it has done fine and he has not hesitated thus far, what must that road look like?  He turns in and takes us to the first (and it turns out only) parking lot that he can turn around in and lets us out.  It is all of 10 yards up the road, which to us does not look significantly different from the rest of the road.  We grab our luggage and begin the trek up the road.  At the first turn we see what the cabbie was saying.  The road really isn’t all that much different, but it is just a bit narrower, and the grade actually may be a bit tougher.  Initially we do not see any cars at all, though eventually a jeep passes us (naturally with horn honking).  It seems like forever (about ¼ mile) before we see our destination, and another 50-60 yards before we reach the entrance.  We go up 3 flights of uneven concrete stairs to our room, drop our bags, and head back out. For a number of reasons (having nothing to do with location) we decide the place I had booked was just not going to work out.  So we wandered the street looking at what else was available beginning at the school (bottom of the hill) and ending at Sky Pie Guest House.  If/when you have time please go online and read all about it.  It’s wonderful!  The service, room, staff, and overall energy are all fantastic.  I am supremely happy, and grateful to be in this beautiful place. I have done it!  I start school tomorrow!  YAY!!!