Manali - A Photo Travelogue Part 1

8 years of marriage and the short holidays we embark on have always been great time to bond. Over the years, it has become a habit to save for our annual holiday and set out on spontaneous journeys that always end up being soulful ones. And this year our holiday season began with a trip to Manali! You name it and this place has it all that every tourist needs. 

As much a keen traveller I am, I battle with a distressing and unpleasant condition every traveller fear - motion sickness! So, unless I give in to certain limitations, I hold the power to sabotage any trip. Also since we wanted to cover the distance by road (yes, that’s the irony) and night driving didn’t appeal much, Volvo seemed like a safer bet to cover 540 Km from Delhi to Manali. And that came out cheap (yes, we are saving for another trip later this year), comfortable, and most importantly, gifted us with sights of breathtaking view!

The view with a plethora of gigantic mountains and one mighty river, Beas, echoing it loud and clear how puny we are against nature’s might. A road trip that will leave you frightened and fascinated at the same time!

For the lazy bum and the photo buff I am and because pictures speak louder than words, here’s a quick photo travelogue capturing the highlights of the trip. It's a mix of Digital SLR and Mobile photography, and hope you enjoy going through as much as we enjoyed clicking them! 

The Byke Neelkanth - Stay for 5 days and 4 nights

Located at Naggar Road, Prini, and away from the hustle and bustle of the Mall Road, this tastefully designed hotel was our home away from home for our stay in Manali. With spacious rooms, good restaurant (serving only vegetarian), polite staff and more, I can give the little troubles we faced a skip and go ahead and recommend this place for more like minded travellers visiting Manali. However, like us, if you do not own a vehicle during your stay here, be prepared for long waits for auto rickshwas, especially when planning for a lazy visit to the Mall Road or a good restaurant nearby. But again, you could opt to walk, like we did in most cases and soak in some local breeze. 

Mall Road, Manali - Mind you, try not to get lost!

This is the place you must begin your sightseeing with and this is the place you must end it with! And for the tiny place Manali is, you will be overwhelmed to see the amount of tourists, both Indian and foreign, flocking the mall road. Markets and more of it, Tibetan as well as Himachali, shopping complexes, eateries, bars, temple, massages, tour and taxi operators – you name it, they have it all here.

Sit on the wooden benches lined along the length of the mall road and if observing people fascinates you, enjoy doing that with some roasted corn on the cob or a cone of softy from a nearby store! And the local masseurs walking around with three coloured bottles of oil – I doubt if they leave you any choice but to forcefully indulge in a lavish leg, shoulder and head massage. I skillfully managed to escape but he willfully gave in! 

Talking about restaurants here – when in Manali enjoy trout! Butter fried trout at Kyber restaurant is a must try and so are the many varieties of Indian breads and accompaniments from Sher-e-Punjab! 

At the cross road, a little ahead of Kyber restaurant is a small store, otherwise easily missed, which sells Himachali fruit wines. If you wish to carry back home some locally produced stuff as gifts, these wine bottles are good buys. So are the fruit burfies, but I personally found them very sweet! 

Rohtang Pass - Elevation about 4000 m (13,050 ft)

Yes, I earned that pose! :P Mist, rain and moreover my condition didn’t stop us from reaching this elevation, although we had initially thought of giving it a miss. This is one of the highest mountain passes in Himalayan range and connects Kullu valley to Leh in Ladakh.

The condition of the road was pathetic more because some kind of construction was in progress. But, on the way up I realized, the local construction workers are like unsung heroes – with visibility down to zero, continuous rain, taxis and self driven vehicles plying up and down, and freezing cold weather, they were there (both men and women) doing their best for us to have a good drive . When we complain, there are these little links we overlook - they deserve a salute and big thank you!  

July is not the right time to visit Manali, because that's when monsoon sets in. Moreover, the snow at Rohtang may have already melted away. But it seemed like the hills were expecting us and hence saved the last bit for us at snow point! 

P.S - So, I made him read this post till here yesterday, and the only issue he came up with was that there were no photos of him! So, here's my man in dungarees! 

And in the bargain, I got to adorn the dungarees and walk like an astronaut. Oh yes, I didn’t have the head gear though! But that's okay as long as I made good use of the Rs.250/- rental we paid for this.

Marhi is a possible halt on the way to Rohtang – we had plans to do paragliding here, which according to the driver was better than what they had in Solang Valley. But as our luck would have it, all adventure sports activities including paragliding, river rafting and zorbing, anywhere in Manali had come to a halt due to bad weather. 

That’s okay, but what you shouldn’t miss at Marhi is some steaming hot parathas for breakfast. Almost fried and made crispy, I could easily gobble up at least 2 in no time. And guess what, do not give our familiar Maggi a miss! 

Thank you for reading and part 2 of this post will be updated soon.