For travellers to McLeod Ganj

Hi - for anyone planning to come to McLeod Ganj maybe you will benefit from these snippets.

Bus from Delhi - we paid a company called Harrison's (from the big bus depot in Delhi).  Don't go with them!!  We were delivered from our meeting point to a petrol station to wait for our bus.  I don't know which company ended up transporting us but they did not take the Government highway/toll roads but the back route which meant a bone-shaking slow long ride with no sleep.  AWe had an inauspicious start to the trip with a flat tyre which they tried to change by the light from a mobile phone.  Being stuck on the side of the road in outer-Delhi watching the thousands of headlights come through the pollution and dust looked like something out of an end-of-the-world movie.  The driver kept stopping in obscure places to load/off load packages to various people.  A horrible experience and we're hoping for a better time getting back.

Bad Business Award goes to the Mount View Hotel...

Beggars in McLeod Ganj - some fellow travellers we befriended got caught up in a scam whereby a woman with a child comes up and says 'no money - baby formula'.  They thought this was a worthwhile request and so followed her to a shop where they purchased baby formula, took a photo of the happy mother and left feeling like compassionate human beings.  Later they observed other tourists go through the same routine...after the tourists left, the woman returned the formula to the shop-keeper who was obviously in on the whole thing.  It is hard to walk by the many beggars and their cries of Namaste/Hello/Madame please...we do give some to older and more disabled looking people but it is a difficult situation - we are affluent but we cannot give to everyone and it is hard not to get annoyed at constantly being asked for money and then cursed or pushed (as I was by a small kid) when you do not give.

We used a good trekking company - Eagle's Height Trekkers - located just near the main bus-stop in town.  We were very happy with the service and the price was reasonable.  The porters and guides work freelance, so if you find someone you are happy with and want to do another walk then you can higher them directly and they get a lot more money!

Bad Business Award goes to the Mount View Hotel - before our 4 day trek we went to them, chose a room, paid for it and explained that we were walking for 4 days and would return in the afternoon on a particular date.  On the appointed day we walked in looking forward to a hot shower and comfortable bed.  We were pretty pissed-off when we found out our room wouldn't be available until 7pm because the woman staying there had extended her stay before leaving for Delhi.  They had no other rooms available and offered us a room for an hour to shower and change - this room happened to be occupied by someone else (a brother/cousin?).  They couldn't seem to understand why we were so upset and we couldn't understand their approach to customer service.  Anyway, we demanded our money back and ended up with a comfortable and cheaper room at Om Guesthouse.

Hope this helps.