I will quickly jot type some of these tips I had in mind when I was in McLeodganj. Once I come back to Mumbai I get so caught up with things that I barely write half of what I want to about places I have visited. So here goes,

Visit the Bookstores
I devour books. Reading 2/3 books in a week is normal for me along with all the work and stuff. So when I saw a quaint little bookstore with a Tibetan lady sitting inside I decided its time for a look. Due to the large number of international travelers coming and staying here the book collection was a brilliant hodgepodge of books from around the world! There are also multi-lingual books in German, French, Spanish… I saw some very good Japanese books like The Maid by TsuTsui Yasutaka. I also saw some real life stories about Tibetan Refuges. I wanted to pick up so many books and fill my whole rucksack in that shop! 🙂
The bookshop I went to: BookWorm, Hotel Bhagsu Road. Tel: 01892 221465

I also visited a couple of other shops and they also had an intriguing collection of books!

Try out authentic Tibetan/Chinese/Japanese cuisine
I probably don’t need to say Visit the Cafes but you should definitely visit some who serve authentic Tibetan cuisine. Many also serve some typical dishes of Japan/China/Taiwan etc.. which we don’t get in our famous Chinese restaurant chains like Mainland China & Five Spice 😉
One such I would highly recommend is Common Ground. It has lovely ambiance and reading collection. This is where I first discovered Osamu Tezuka’s – Buddha Manga Series! The food choices are brilliant. I kept having steamed rice and veggies because finally I was getting no onion/garlic food. Beside the steamed rice was so delicious. I could have gobbled it up on its own!

Explore the Little Roads – Circumambulation around Tsuglag Khang Temple
There is a small road to circumambulate the main Buddhist Temple & Dalai Lama complex. I don’t think too many people know about it. Enroute there are benches to sit on and see the Dharamshala valley view and also some other smaller Buddhist temples. It is a 15 minutes enjoyable walk.

Circumambulate Tsuglag Khang the main Buddhist Temple

There are quite a few of these interesting little roads. Near the Common Ground cafe the dirt road goes up all the way to Dharamkot village. Its a lot more prettier than the tarred car road. There are also small road via trees and back steps which are mostly used by the Buddhist monks and such. So when I was chatting with a Buddhist nun, she took me via some back road through trees to Dharamkot. Then she showed me this other dirt road.

These are the few tips I would give you while visiting McL. There are also some of the usual tips which you will find elsewhere as well,

Talk to Tibetan folks. Lot of them are refugees with hardcore stories.

There are some really good Italian places like McLLo & Jimmy’s Kitchen.

I have heard that the Tibetan trinkets are better bought in the city where its cheaper. I am not sure about this though because I find them to be quite expensive in the cities as well.

To discuss Buddhism – the Library is a good place.

There are a lot of shops which offer workshops in their business like Making Silver Jewellery.

A shop that also teaches their trade. This is quite common here..

There are also Tibetan language classes, discussion groups and other interesting activities. You can see the notices for these on the wall near the TsuglagKhang gate.

Documentaries are screened at the Tibetan museum, which is located within the TK Complex

Apparently every once a week monks meet to have debates as part of their spiritual growth at TK. This would be an interesting watch.

If you have traveled to McLeo.. do add any more tips you have in comments! 🙂