Day 1 - Manali revisited!
The first time I visted Manali was in the last week of September 2006. The places we visted were - Rohtang Pass, Hadimba Temple, and Manikaran on the way back. That journey was adventurous in its own way - we all were in college, and we had a shoestring budget. We never thought about comfort, and in the end we ended up travelling in a hired car with 10+1 people on board with all the luggage inside and no carrier on top of the vehicle. We took 3 rooms, which costed us near about Rs. 50 per head/night. Now, you know what kind of a trip that was. Nevertheless, that was one of the best trips I have ever been on. Some pics from that trip:
The second time I visited Manali was in Feb, 2013. This time it was snowfall which we were chasing, and it was me at the wheel and my brother and his friend for company. We left on Saturday morning, reached Manali by evening, and as soon as we reached Manali the purpose of our trip was fulfilled. We were greeted with snowfall, and pretty heavy snowfall it was. The next day we went to Solang, and there again we were greeted with very heavy snowfall. We returned to Delhi very nxt day, and did not visited any other place. Snow was the purpose, and we returned when the purpose was fulfilled. I'll remember this trip for snowfall and my first drive in the mountains.
This time was going to be my third time in Manali. For the first time, Manali was not the destination, it was a halt midway for the journey ahead. We had no plans about what we were going to do here, it was supposed to be a day to be spent relaxing. When we reached Manali, it was drizzling, we checked into our hotel and after a quick breakfast and tea/coffee headed out to roam around. The drizzling had stopped, and so we were on foot roaming around. As we went about, we discovered that Manali was completely empty, no tourist rush, no polluted air. Uttarakhand floods were to be blamed as per the locals. This was by far the least amount of rush I had seen in Manali in my 3 visites here.And, to be honest Manali looked best when it was not crowded, no traffic on the streets, no pollution - absolute bliss.
We decided to go towards Old Manali, and went about roaming and clicking along the way. A bite from the apples on the trees, checking out places for lunch and being chased by dogs (well, not exactly being chased, they just escorted us to Hadimba temple) :) - this was our day so far. Hadimba temple was completely deserted, and seemed so good and a calm place. On our was back towards the hotel, we stopped for Lunch at Johnson's Cafe - and this was probably the best and calmest place I have ever had lunch, simply loved the food and the ambience.
After the delicious lunch, it was time to head back to the Hotel. We wanted the stay in Manali to be leisurely and relaxed, so we didnt try to rush or try and visit any more tourist places. On the way back to the room, a visit to the local theka and we had lots of beer and an Old Monk :) The evening was going to be even more relaxed now :D. After getting done with the Beer this was what we did in the evening -
Meanwhile, we still had one final thing to do before we leave for Leh early next day - check the car being given to us by the agent! So a few calls, and the car was at our hotel. He showed us the car, it was an Innova with all seats facing front and a carrier at the top, with a tarpal to go with it - that is exactly what we wanted. We fixed the time of 5 AM with the driver, as we wanted to avoid any traffic jams/rains/water crossings etc., so leaving as early as possible was the only choice. Chauhan Ji was going to be our guide/companion all along till Leh.
With the car done, we left the hotel for an evening stroll on the empty Mall road, and have dinner too.
After a not-so good dinner at some restraunt and buying some water bottles, snacks and munches for the journey ahead, we all retired for the day - with alarms set for 4 AM and lots of excitement inside us.
Oh - I forgot we also did some shopping from Manali, a drunk Rohit gifted me this.Thanks Man! -
Next: Day 2 - Rohtang and beyond!
The second time I visited Manali was in Feb, 2013. This time it was snowfall which we were chasing, and it was me at the wheel and my brother and his friend for company. We left on Saturday morning, reached Manali by evening, and as soon as we reached Manali the purpose of our trip was fulfilled. We were greeted with snowfall, and pretty heavy snowfall it was. The next day we went to Solang, and there again we were greeted with very heavy snowfall. We returned to Delhi very nxt day, and did not visited any other place. Snow was the purpose, and we returned when the purpose was fulfilled. I'll remember this trip for snowfall and my first drive in the mountains.
This time was going to be my third time in Manali. For the first time, Manali was not the destination, it was a halt midway for the journey ahead. We had no plans about what we were going to do here, it was supposed to be a day to be spent relaxing. When we reached Manali, it was drizzling, we checked into our hotel and after a quick breakfast and tea/coffee headed out to roam around. The drizzling had stopped, and so we were on foot roaming around. As we went about, we discovered that Manali was completely empty, no tourist rush, no polluted air. Uttarakhand floods were to be blamed as per the locals. This was by far the least amount of rush I had seen in Manali in my 3 visites here.And, to be honest Manali looked best when it was not crowded, no traffic on the streets, no pollution - absolute bliss.
We decided to go towards Old Manali, and went about roaming and clicking along the way. A bite from the apples on the trees, checking out places for lunch and being chased by dogs (well, not exactly being chased, they just escorted us to Hadimba temple) :) - this was our day so far. Hadimba temple was completely deserted, and seemed so good and a calm place. On our was back towards the hotel, we stopped for Lunch at Johnson's Cafe - and this was probably the best and calmest place I have ever had lunch, simply loved the food and the ambience.
Enroute Old Manali
Empty benches at Hadimba - a rare sight.
Johnson's Cafe
Smoked trout
Meanwhile, we still had one final thing to do before we leave for Leh early next day - check the car being given to us by the agent! So a few calls, and the car was at our hotel. He showed us the car, it was an Innova with all seats facing front and a carrier at the top, with a tarpal to go with it - that is exactly what we wanted. We fixed the time of 5 AM with the driver, as we wanted to avoid any traffic jams/rains/water crossings etc., so leaving as early as possible was the only choice. Chauhan Ji was going to be our guide/companion all along till Leh.
With the car done, we left the hotel for an evening stroll on the empty Mall road, and have dinner too.
After a not-so good dinner at some restraunt and buying some water bottles, snacks and munches for the journey ahead, we all retired for the day - with alarms set for 4 AM and lots of excitement inside us.
Oh - I forgot we also did some shopping from Manali, a drunk Rohit gifted me this.Thanks Man! -
Next: Day 2 - Rohtang and beyond!
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