The Week India - July 29, 2018

64 THE WEEK^ • JULY 29, 2018

COVER STORY

TRAVEL

markets and commercial buildings. Th e place

being the capital of the Tibetan government in

exile, the infl uence of Tibetan Buddhism can be

seen everywhere, in the form of prayer beads

and Buddha statues sold in the shops; red-robed

monks pottering about in the markets; framed

photographs of the Dalai Lama on the walls of

restaurants; multi-coloured prayer fl ags hung

across trees; and soporifi c chanting emanating

from monasteries.

Interestingly, there is a signifi cant number

of Israelis living in a part of Dharamshala

called Dharamkot. If you walk down

the street, you will see it littered with

homestays run by the local Gaddi peo-

ple, foreigners in bohemian clothes

strolling about, and restaurants

selling hybrid dishes like ‘beetroot

chocolate cake’ and ‘Japanese thali

meal’. Th ere is a conspiratorial air

to the place, where everyone seems

to know everyone else, and you get

that odd longing to belong, instead

of being the spectator. Th e Israelis

mostly come here after completing

their compulsory military service. Th e

Gaddis got rich selling pot to them. Th ey

BIRD’S-EYE

VIEW

Paragliding is

one of the pop-

ular adventure

activities in

Dharamshala

GRAPHICS: DENILAL

TRAVELLER’S

10 CHOICE

1 Madhya Pradesh 8 8 9 9 8 42

2 Sikkim 9 9 7 7 9 41

3 Rajasthan 6 9 8 9 7 39

3 Kerala 7 8 8 8 8 39

5 Karnataka 8 7 8 7 7 37

6 Meghalaya 8 6 8 6 8 36

6 Tamil Nadu 8 7 7 8 6 36

6 Maharashtra 7 7 8 7 7 36

9 Jammu & Kashmir 8 6 7 6 8 35

10 Himachal Pradesh 6 7 8 6 7 34

Ranking States

1

2

3

3

5

6

6

6

9

10

Safety Ease of travel Tourist attractions Facilities Popularity Total score

VALLANGI is a free-

lance travel writer and a

national award-winning

photographer. Her travel

stories and photographs

have appeared in several national

and international publications like

BBC Travel, Smithsonian, National

Geographic Traveller India, Travel +

Leisure India & South Asia, and The

Guardian.

Ranking done by Neelima Vallangi

Score out of ten for each parameter