Once you have traveled the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey – Pat Conray

The outside was still pitch dark when the alarm woke us up. I looked out of the door and what I saw dampened my spirits a bit. It was raining outside.  Rain always meant trouble when you were about to go for a trip to see a snow mountain and that too Rohtang. We had already heard how bad the roads were beyond Marhi, and if the rain didn't stop it could create a hindrance for us to go up to the actual snow point of Rohtang. More over snow capped mountains look best in a sun lit morning rather than a grim cloudy day where clouds could even completely cover the mountains deprive us from getting a good view. Still I kept my fingers crossed hoping that it’s just a short spell and would subside soon.

It was 2.30 AM and Vijay was not there yet. We quickly freshened up and changed into proper clothes for the Rohtang journey. The temperature in Manali was still pretty high hence we didn't need any warm clothes even during the wee hours of the morning. I had read that the ski suits that one needs to rent if planning for Rohtang is good enough for the snow conditions, but since I hadn't seen one yet I wasn't much sure about the cold protection it would be able to provide. We discussed and decided to pack a few warm clothes just in case. I took my woolen knee length coat, sweater and pull over for A, the woolen head caps and my woolen gloves (A felt that a gloves wasn't required). We wore full sleeved tee-shirts, jeans and sports shoe. Sunglasses were absolutely mandatory when going to any snow point. The reflection of the sun rays off the snow bedazzles the eyes if proper UV protection glares are not used. Though it was raining, we were hopeful that we would be able to use the glares.

Vijay came at 3 AM. We packed everything into the car. We also brought the biscuits and chocolates we had got last night. The rain had become light drizzle now raising our hopes. Though we had ensured that we made an early start and would ideally be able to cover the entire journey in less than half a day, we were mentally prepared for 12-14 hours of being on road if traffic became bad as was always the case in Rohtang trips.

Here I want to mention a very important point about Rohtang. While we were doing R&D about Rohtang before starting on our trip, everywhere I read that Rohtang was closed for visitors on Tuesdays for maintenance work. Every single site told the same thing. Even coincidentally two friends of mine had been to Rohtang weeks before we went. But none of them had traveled on a Tuesday to Rohtang and couldn't confirm whether Rohtang was really closed on Tuesdays. Unfortunately when we calculated the dates the Rohtang plan was falling on a Tuesday. It was pretty disappointing news for us because the way our tour plan was made we didn’t have any extra days at Manali, where we could adjust Rohtang if it was really closed on a Tuesday. The only option being that we go for Rohtang on the very first day spent in Manali. But that also seemed like a far fetched idea considering we were supposed to reach Manali the same day by 2 AM after a 14 hour journey from Delhi by road ( 2 AM had become 4 AM in reality – refer to previous parts of the travelogue) and again starting off at 3 AM for Rohtang was not at all a feasible plan. The only glimmer of hope was provided by the taxi company. The owner had said that Rohtang is open on Tuesdays. But then travel agents and taxi companies tend to give false promises at times to pull customers. So we had left everything to our lady luck when we started our journey. When Vijay had confirmed that Rohtang was open on a Tuesday we were quite happy.  So I don’t know when the rule of Tuesday closure applies for Rohtang. Maybe when the rains start fully then the rules are enforced for the safety of the tourists. So it would be better to confirm with your tour operator about the days before you begin your journey for Rohtang.

We soon began the much anticipated journey. The roads were empty; Manali was fast asleep as we drove through its deserted alleyways. As we reached the main road, we saw many more cars driving towards Rohtang. Vijay stopped at a gas station for refill. This was unexpected. Vijay knew very well that we were going to Rohtang today and he had the entire last night at his disposal to re-fuel so that we didn't lose on precious time in the morning waiting for a refill. The other cars zoomed past us. The more the number of cars in front of you would mean the higher sequence number for us. As heard the Rohtang check post let 400 cars at a time. If we couldn’t make it in the first 400 then we would surely face the infamous traffic snarl of Rohtang. I was a bit angry with Vijay about this but preferred not to start a tiff at the very beginning of the day least he would refuse to take us to Rohtang.

The refill was done quickly as no other cars were there in the queue. Vijay accelerated to make up for the lost time. Soon he stopped again. This time it was for the snow gear. Snow gear rental shops are strewn all over the Manali Rohtang way. Make sure you do your homework about the standard rental cost before you rent the gears. We knew the standard price was 200 for the suit and galoshes per person and were ready to bargain if they didn't quote the right price. Thankfully they did quote the right price. They would give you suits according to your size and choice of color (if available). A lady who came in with us was stuck on renting a pink suit which the shop didn't have. It’s advisable to check out the suit for working zips, any tear and comfort level rather than the color. One more point for the ladies, avoid saree when planning for a Rohtang trip as then no way you would be able to get into a snow suit which is absolutely essential if you have plans of frolicking in the snow. Also more than a salwar kameez a shirt and trouser would be better choice while putting on the suit. Try out the galoshes too for the proper fit else you can face trouble while walking on the snow if the galoshes are a loose fit. The shop also offered us ‘special’ coarse woolen socks claiming that they would be good for the snow. These were not a part of the rental gear so we bought a pair each for Rs. 150. They suited us up and we went inside the car wearing the full gear.

Rohtang Pass (or Rohtang La, Tibetan word for pass) on the eastern PirPanjal range of the Himalayas is located at a distance of 51 Kms from Manali.  The pass connects the Kullu Valley with the Lahaul, Spiti and Leh sectors. The pass is open to traffic during approx. May/Jun to Oct/Nov every year, beyond which thick layers of ice render the roads impassable. The route is: Manali – 12 kms – Palchn – 5 kms – Kothi – 20 kms – Marhi – 10 kms – Rohtang Top.


Our car tore through the silence of the early morning. We could see a line of red tail lights gleaming in the darkness ahead of us. There were barely any street lamps on the road, but we could feel the serpentine and narrow nature of the road.  The dawn was slowly creeping up the horizon and slowly violet colored dark mountains were visible in the backdrop. Inside the car I was feeling hot inside the snow suit, A looked comfortable though.  For quite some time we didn't see any houses; but soon we entered a place which had signs of some township. Vijay told us it was Kothi, which offered the last commercial stay options on the route to Rohtang. Beyond this place the only stay options available were PWD or Forest guest houses. The proximity to the mountains makes Kothi a picturesque place. Tourists can also make Kothi their base camp instead of Manali and roam around.  The faint outlines of the mountain range seemed much closer by now. The Beas river flowed through a very deep and narrow George beyond Kothi.

Google Map Images - Position & Landscape of Rohtang Pass

Google Map Images - Position & Landscape of Rohtang Pass

As we left Kothi behind the proper mountain road started. Narrow mountain roads with no lights, the headlight and tail lights were the only source of light through the entire stretch.  With every bend we saw more and more cars in front of us. It almost seemed like a red line of fire billowing up the mountain in a serpentine trail. At times I was wondering whether we would be fortunate enough to be among the first 400 going by the number of cars in front. Then at times we came across big trucks which were moving at a snail’s pace due to the heavy weight. The roads were very narrow hence overtaking them was out of question. So we had to follow them till the time we got enough clearing to overtake.

Soon we reached a place where we saw many cars pulled up along the side of the road. We didn’t know the reason but were happy that at least we can go before all these cars. But soon Vijay remembered something and pulled over. He said that he had completely forgotten that he had to stop at the check-post and pay for the permit. We understood that’s what those cars were doing back there. Vijay parked the car and walked down all the way as we waited. Current orders do not permit non-Himachal registered vehicles (any vehicle, hired or personal, whose number plate does not start with ‘HP’) across the check post.. In order to be allowed to pass, you need to have permission from SDM, Manali. This is a mandatory requisite for non-HP vehicles, which must be completed at Manali, prior to commencement of journey to Rohtang.


Darkness was slowly fading and the landscape slowly turned grayish from black. We could hear the birds chirping from the nearby trees. We got down from the car and walked on the road. It was really awkward to walk in these snow gears especially due to the over sized galoshes my feet felt heavy like concrete. There were other people also walking on the road who were waiting like us as their driver’s arranged for the passes. The air was a bit cold over here.

Soon Vijay was back and we resumed our journey. We traveled for a long time. Slowly and steadily the snow peaks were getting closer to us. Then the sun peeped shyly over the far distant mountains and the adjacent peaks shimmered in golden. It was a pretty dramatic moment for us. I could feel the drum rolls of YJHD movie thudding inside me similar to when the protagonists in the movie were scaling a snow mountain. Quite a few times we were shrouded by a big misty cloud and as we came out of it we were treated to a new and exhilarating view of the beauteous mountains.

Beas Nullah

Soon we reached Marhi, the last village before Rohtang. Just as Vijay parked the car he pointed towards a patch of snow on the opposite rock wall and said it was the snow point. We looked at the sorry looking patch of snow and exclaimed this cannot be Rohtang snow point! Vijay nonchalantly said, it wasn't the Rohtang snow point but it was the Beas kund snow point and tourists usually meant this when they said snow point.

Marhi Village

We said we want to see the Rohtang snow point and not this joke of a snow point. He said then we need to take a local car from the union and proceed further up. His car didn’t have the permit. We argued with him that what kind of permit did he avail at the check post then. He said it was till Marhi only.

A wave of emotions muddled our brains – extreme anger, frustration, helplessness, anticipation of going to actual Rohtang and deceit. The sense of deceit overpowered all. Reason being, Vijay had talked us into paying him Rs. 1000 more for taking us till “Rohtang”, which we agreed because he had convinced us that we need not hire any extra car  separately and that he would only take us. And now it became clear the kind of game he had played on us. A tried to argue with Vijay but I knew there was no point. We had only one option left – to hire a local cab.


I told A to end the fruitless talks and talk with the locals to know how we go further from here. But just as we walked down the main road of Marhi, local drivers flocked around us and started quoting prices. We knew we had to talk with the shopkeepers to know the correct price before we committed to one. But they kept on escorting us and pestering us. We kept dilly-dallying and finally they left us for some new prey. We entered one shop and inquired about washrooms. Marhi has a couple of shops selling biscuits, Maggi and other refreshments. They also have washrooms at the backside of these shops. So ladies travelling to Rohtang need not worry about washroom provisions. We found them pretty neat also. The biggest challenge was getting out of the snow jumpsuits and galoshes and then again getting into it.

We were not really feeling hungry as it was just 5.45 AM yet. Moreover it’s better to traverse mountain roads on a relatively empty stomach to avoid motion sickness. While at the shop I bought some biscuits and inquired about the jeep charges for Rohtang. The shopkeepers said we need to bargain and it would be around 3K. After Vijay’s 1K the thought of spending another 3K really bothered us and we felt a renewed angst towards Vijay. I knew A was specially looking forward to the Rohtang trip as he wanted to experience snow for the first time. We discussed for some time and finally I told him let’s spend this much because this was going to once in a lifetime trip anyway.


We went out and talked with a few drivers. If you share a jeep then the price would be less. But the problem would be the dependency on others. If we wanted to come down we would have to wait for the others as well. For non-sharing option they drivers were quoting 5K. We told then 3 K would be the final amount we would pay. One of the drivers agreed at the price and we sat down in his jeep. Later however we realized that we shouldn't have paid more than 2K, but both of us were too bad at bargaining.


As soon as we left Marhi, we entered into a more beautiful land with almost non-existent road. It’s best to take a 4x4 jeep on this road which has better grip and braking than the normal cars. With each passing bend the panorama became more and more pretty and we clicked away to our heart’s delight. The driver played a selection of Bollywood songs and instrumentals which suited the ambiance perfectly and even added to the charm of the travel. I have always noticed these mountain drivers usually have very beautiful collection of songs playing which make the journey even more memorable. We remembered the famous song “Yeh Ishq Hai” from Jab we Met movie which was shot in these roads only. Travelling in India and Bollywood always went together.

We drove through mud, slush, rivulets, rocks and craters and ponds and everything imaginable (except a good road). The more we scaled the mountains the poorer the road conditions became. There were many precarious points were we saw huge chunks of solid ice in the middle of the road which had broken off from the adjacent mountain due to melting. There was a lot of slush due to the melting snow and we had to drive bordering the outside of the mountain road. An inch of miscalculation would have been the end of us. Our heart was already in our mouths when we drove around the chunk of ice. Such condition of the road challenged even the best of drivers but fortunately for us the driver was very much adept to these mountain roads and deftly maneuvered each dangerous stretch.


As we were nearing the snow point, we saw more and more ice on the rocks. Though these were very old ice from the month of January and had by then tuned into sleet, yet it made us excited. At some places the snow had become quite dirty and grayish that we often mistook it for some rock rather than snow. But as we went further up we got to see cleaner snow. The snow covered mountain slopes were refreshingly alluring at one moment and scarily ominous at another.

The dangerous roads

The sun was almost up by the time we reached the actual snow point of Rohtang at 6.30 AM. We see a long line of jeeps and cars parked on either side of the road. Our driver parks the jeep and tells us to meet him at the very same point. As we got out of the Jeep the cold and harsh wind greeted us for the first time. It was super chilling. We quickly put on our woolen caps.  However the woolen gloves were rendered inadequate in the cold air. And A was not even wearing any gloves. There was an array of shops selling Maggi, omelets, chips etc. We found one selling gloves. It was like god sent opportunity. We bought a nice waterproof pair each at Rs. 100. After securing ourselves from the cold we finally got a chance to look around properly.



The so called “snow point” was buzzing with activity. A lot of “snow sports” were going on which seemed a joke in the name of snow sports. The skiing was nothing but standing on the ski and posing. The snow bikes were offering a 2 minute ride only. There were hand pulled snow sledges being drawn up one of the face of the snow slopes and from there they were let loose so that the sledges could come down with speed. Similar activity was also happening sitting on the tires. We already knew that the locals charged almost 2K for all these stupid sports. But we were here to feel the snow which had became very dirty and unimpressive in the area where all the action was going on. We felt a little disappointed at this. So we started walking to that part of the mountain slope which appeared relatively secluded. There were just a few people here and there taking pictures.

Towards the secluded slope

The area below buzzing with activity

Towards peace and tranquility

The sun was streaming down from between two mountain peaks. We decided to climb the slope. But it was easier said than done. As I have already mentioned that these snow had turned into hard sleet. And the early morning rays were melting the surface ice and made things very slippery. It was absolutely difficult to balance on the slippery and hard ice. And on top of that the heavy Nikon D90 with the 200mm lens made me even wobbly. I was more worried about hurting the camera instead of myself. Both of us fell down on the ice a couple of times. But still we kept going on. Soon I found a way to walking easily. I dug the heel of my galosh first and then the toes with every step.  Thus gained a better balance.  But I was getting completely breathless with little climbing. A was not having that much problem. I thought maybe due to the camera I was feeling tired quickly but later realised that the air had become thin and icy with height and the oxygen was less over here. Fortunately I didn’t feel nausea which is usually the case with many at such heights.

Moving farther away from the crowd

Frothy snow

Sea of snow

We decided to go little distances and stop for a few minutes before continuing to avoid discomfort due to breathlessness. Our legs had also started to pain because the snow was offering us very little resistance and we had to force our feel into the snow ever time to maintain balance. But the more and more up we went the more beautiful the vistas became. I had never seen the sky that was so blue, the mountains that were so white and the sun that was so bright. The heart was already thudding inside out of breathlessness and the stunning vistas unfolding at each step was again creating a drum roll inside me. The sun rays sharply reflected off the pristine snow and it was a good thing we had our glares on.

Climbing the slope

At one time when we had come far away from the crowds below we were surrounded by complete silence. The only sound was that of the passing icy winds. There was not a soul apart from us to be seen anywhere. We smiled meaningfully at each other. This was where we wanted to be – far away from the civilisation, just nature and us. There was no end to this sea of snow. We saw some new mountain peaks at a distance and decided to have a look at them closely. Now we were enjoying rolling in snow and fell down a couple of times deliberately. We also had a mock snow fight.  It felt like we were back in our childhood days. We captured the moment in our camera.

The stark contrast

Blue sky white snow

As we reached the edge of the mountain slop we felt a zen around us. The lofty snow peaks all around were so mighty looking. Nature made us feel so inconsequential for a moment. We humans destroy the nature at our will thinking we were the god. But the nature is so much more powerful than us and it just waits till it becomes inevitable to intervene. We were born out of the nature and we shall go back into it one day, but the massacre that we are doing to Mother Nature is unforgivable. We sat there absorbing the impressions of the amazing creation of nature in front of us. For those few moments every tension of the life had blurred into oblivion, we felt inner peace.

Miles before I sleep

Beautiful Snow Peak

Maggi sellers

Snow Sports

We came down with a treasure trove of memories.  The sun was shining brightly by now. Though we felt a bit hungry we avoided having food for the very same reason – avoiding mountain sickness. By the time we went to the car we found the road more crowded. We also saw snow mobiles on the road. We spent some anxious moment when our jeep would not budge from the slush , then some other local drivers pushed from behind and finally we started our backward journey. We were almost there for a little more than an hour. On our way back we saw a shepherd crossing the road with his herd of sheep. The sheep were walking though the precariously placed rocks on the mountain slope but they didn’t seem to panic. They even posed for a picture. The sun was fully out and the panorama looked different form the early morning.




From top only we could see long queue of cars around Marhi. We got down at Marhi and went to our car. We saw people enjoying the snow at the sad looking snow patch and understood that they like us were also conned into believing that it was the only snow point. It was almost 8 AM and there were already such a terrible traffic snarl on the Marhi-Manali road that we understood why it was advisable to visit Rohtang in the morning.   These people and the people coming later in the day would be in no position to go back in less than 10-12 hours going by the long line we saw.  The sun was very strong by then and we removed all our snow gears and even then we felt hot. We were stuck for a long time near the Beas Nullah. I was really feeling hungry by then and got down from the car to buy some roasted bhutta (corn on the cob).  I had a long chit chat with the bhutta seller as he roasted the corn on the charcoal. I got two bhuttas at Rs. 180, pretty steep but that was how it was in any tourist spot. We were stuck for like 45 mins after which we got clearing and our car zoomed past the oncoming cars. Now in full daylight we saw the stunning waterfalls, rock formations and green patches in the valley which we missed in the darkness.



We now drove towards Solang Valley. Solang (means: nearby village) is located 14kms from Manali. It is famous for horse riding, paragliding and Zorbing. The ride till Solang was pretty beautiful in itself. We crossed over multiple clear water brooks and bridges. Solang had hotels but much less populated than Manali. As we closed in to the main point of Solang we could see para gliders in the sky.

Solang Valley, locally known as Solang Nullah and derives its name from a village called Solang.  It is 8500 feet above mean sea level. Solang is not just about adventure activities. Its lush greenery, apple orchards, snowcapped peaks and lakes are also a crowd puller.

Vijay dropped us off at the main point and went to park the car. Himachal has been a favourite with Bollywood directors. Many famous movies including Krrish was shot here.

The area was buzzing with activities. I noticed a state –of-art cable car along the slope of the mountain carrying people to the top. It resembled the one I had seen in Gatlinburg, Atlanta. I was pretty excited seeing. Also the Para-gliders sweeping the landscape made me think if we can do that as well. Zorbing was another thing that is quite popular here. Zorbing is the recreation or sport of rolling downhill in a transparent orb. We roamed around for a while taking pictures. But then we realised that tiredness was slowly setting in and we didn’t have much energy left for all these activities. I was also feeling a bit sleepy. We decided to leave and gave a call to Vijay to bring the car.

We passed some colorful refreshment stands before getting into the car. On way back we stopped at the bridge where the climax sequence of the movie Tango Charlie was shot. It was a pretty bridge and in its backdrop we could see the beautiful snow capped mountains. There was a small path by the side of the river. We walked down it and found a waterfall and a mandir. Everything was blissful around there. We spent a few moments clicking snaps and then we were on our way.

The Bridge

Picture perfect landscape

Soon we reached Manali. It was almost 11.30 AM. We told Vijay that we had no plans for the afternoon but we will go to the Mall road at night so he needs to pick us up and drop back to the hotel. Just as he heard that he started throwing tantrums. We had already overheard him talking to some of his fellow drivers who were in Manali that day that they were planning to have a get together. We didn’t have a problem with that but now Vijay began giving excuses that he needed to wash the car and only if he is free by that time he can take us to the mall road. We were tired and weren’t in the mood to argue hence we thought we will think about it in the evening.  We went into the hotel, had bath and then came down for lunch. We had already spotted a few restaurant of our liking while coming up, very near to the hotel and decided to eat there.

I forgot the name of the restaurant; it was some like Green chilli. It was a small joint which is in a covered veranda with lots of homemade artwork on the walls, colorful lamps hanging over tables with checked tablecloths. There was a group of bikers on one table and another foreigner lady in another table in the restaurant. We ordered buttered rice, fried trout fish and some chicken gravy. The restaurant took a long time to bring the food and when the food came we found it pretty tasteless. Nothing tasted good enough. Somehow we stuffed it and went back. The meal cost us Rs. 530. It was a bright and beautiful day and we could have roamed around had we got enough energy. We hit the sack and didn’t put any alarm for a change.

Finally we got up at 7 PM. We felt revitalized and got ready quickly. When we gave a call to Vijay he curtly refused to come and pick us up from hotel. He said that go to the mall by yourself and I will at max drop you back to hotel. We were furious at this point. After the morning conning this was too much. After all we were paying his company for his services and here Mr. Vijay had his own tantrums. We immediately called up his boss in the company and told him about everything and the continuous attitude problem. The boss was a big sissy himself and just mumbled something to talking to Vijay and calling us back.

We didn't wait for Vijay and decided to venture out on our own. The quaint old Manali was glittering and abuzz with activities. The cozy little shacks by the roadside looked even prettier dressed in strings of small lights. We enjoyed the nip in the air while walking down the winding road. The roads were pretty much empty and ideal for a leisurely stroll. We stopped by a few shops and looked around.

The miracle is not to walk on water. Miracle is to walk on the green earth dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive – Thich Nhat Hanh

The sharp alarm tones of the two mobiles shook us out from our deep slumber.  Both of us wiggled out of the comfort of the quilt with half open eyes rummaging for the damned phones which woke us up. We were still half dead to be woken up so rudely.  By the time we successfully muted our respective mobiles slowly the realization seeped in that we were not in our home but on a holiday and currently in Manali and of course we had lot of sightseeing to do today.

Gradually the world around us unfolded in a Bollywoodish slow motion. We could feel the sunlight filtering through the peach colored curtains of the room which had given an amber hue to the entire room.  We heard the jolly voices of the kids and their parents from down somewhere and passing footsteps right in front of our room.  It seemed like we were asleep for ages while the whole world was already wide awake.  Our bodies still ached from fatigue and sleeplessness and we had half a mind to go back to sleep. But I convinced A that we must rise and shine if we wanted to make enough of what remained of the day.

Our room was on the second floor and the car parking was right in front of us. I peeped through the door curtains to check whether Vijay was around. He was right there wiping his car clean. A called him and informed that we will be going out by 11:30 AM. We quickly bathed and changed. The warm water helped ease the fatigue to some extent. At least we were awake enough to venture out.  It was already past breakfast time so we had decided that we will first go to the mall road, grab some brunch and then start for our sightseeing. While we came down the stairs of the hotel I noticed it was a quaint little property. Not too gaudy but perfect for some leisurely time away from the city din. It had nice little surrounding terrace and sitting areas surrounding the rooms on each floor. We could see snow-capped peaks from one of the terraces. We met Nishant on the way out. We informed him that we will do the check-in procedures once we are back from the sightseeing.

As we got into the car we told Vijay about our brunch plans to which he as usual didn't agree and opined that we should first complete the sightseeing and then eat. Which almost sounded like “let me finish my duty of the day quickly then you can as well go to hell for all I care”. So we stuck to our plan of having brunch before we go for any sightseeing.  He was pissed off once again without any doubt.

A red bridge over the Manalsu River leads one to another world known as the Old Manali. As we drove through the narrow lanes with shops lined on either side it almost reminded me of any European countryside.Though the street is lined with cafes with sophisticated names such as German Bakery, Dylan Toasted and Roasted, Riverside Cafe etc. Foreigners in colorful casual attire outnumbered Indians; in fact there were hardly any Indians around apart from us. The foreigners were haggling with the shopkeepers for nick-knacks. Everyone seemed to own this place; not any lesser than the locals.Some of the Iranian cafes around the beds of the road played rock music. Few men sat idly by the roadside smoking a pipe. Delicious aroma of freshly baked breads wafted across the lanes which made us all the more hungry. Old Manali would immediately teleport you into a 70’s laid back world you would see in any old Hollywood movie.

As we approached New Manali the scene changed drastically. It was almost like steeping out of a time warp into the present. New Manali was just like any other popular hill station of India. Tourists thronging each and every inch of the roads, glitzy shops, crammed boarding and lodgings – the town center is always bustling with activity. But apart from the tourist crowd, we faced traffic snarls due to too many tourist cars trying to pass through the narrow roads of Manali. It’s hence advisable to leave early for sightseeing to avoid getting stuck in long traffic near the Mall area. It took us a lot of time just to cover the distance of 2.5 KM from hotel to Mall road. Finally Vijay dropped us before the Van Vihar entrance and told us to meet at the very point once we were done.

This was a smaller Mall area compared to Darjelling or Gangtok. The place is a busy commercial street with several hotels that were overflowing with tourists. If you are a shopaholic this is the place to be. The entire Mall stretch is crammed with souvenir shops selling souvenirs from Himachal, Tibet and Ladakh, travel agencies, shops selling the signature Kullu and Kinnauri shawls, rugs, caps and footwear, imported goods, besides a range of Tibetan handicraft items.

People come to hill stations to enjoy the cool and pleasant weather.  But Manali was anything but cool. It was a bright sunny day and the temperature was anything beyond the 40 degree centigrade mark. We were sweating as we walked down the Mall road.  Vijay had told us that there is a Buddhist Monastery at the Mall road. We wandered around the place but all we could see was a temple by the side of the S.T Bus stand. It was a beautiful Shikhara style temple. We didn’t go inside because it was crowded and we were really feeling hungry by then.

Before leaving for the Himachal trip I had scraped and gathered as much information as possible from the internet about Manali. As we searched for a place to eat a wholesome meal I tried to stir my memory to match any restaurant name that had a familiar ring to it. There are a couple of Bengali joints over there but A refused to eat at any of them. The mood was set for some Momos.  I remembered the name “Chopsticks”; all the reviews had spoken highly of it. We asked someone about the joint and he told us the way. It was bang opposite to the S. T Stand where actually we were standing then, but due to the crammed array of shops we couldn’t locate it earlier. It was one of the oldest restaurants of Manali.

Chopsticks:
We walked in through the bright red and maroon interiors playing retro music. The lady at the counter greeted us and the attendant gave us a table. It was empty when we came in; mainly because the breakfast time was already over and the lunch time was eat to start. The interiors presented a typical Chinese theme with dragons, paper lanterns, decorated hand fans and wind chimes. The place was neat , well kept and had an intimate feel to it. We leafed through the beautiful embossed Menu which was quite elaborate. There was all sorts of Tibetian-Japanese-Chinese-Korean and Continental food mentioned in the menu half of which we never heard of before. Hence we decided to stick with the known items on the menu. I had heard a lot about the Mutton Momos of this place and was eager to try them. We ordered two plates of steamed Mutton momos for Rs, 120/plate and one plate of Chicken hakka noodles for Rs. 170/plate. At first the prices would seem a bit steep, but once the food arrives you will feel it’s reasonable enough due to the quantity of food served. The joint also serves gyoza – the Japanese counterpart of momo. As we waited for our food to arrive a couple of Indian tourists came in. After a while a foreigner man came and ordered at the counter itself without looking at the menu. He seemed a frequent visitor to this joint from the way he was conversing with the lady. From their conversation we could gather that this place was frequented by the foreign travelers as their daily food joint.

The food arrived and we were taken aback by the amount of food before us. There were 8 big momos on each plate and a big bowlful of noodles. It was sufficient for 3 adults. Before this I had never tried mutton momos. I love mutton preparations hence the idea of mutton momos had intrigued me. As I took the first bite I realized that the strong smell of mutton somehow felt out of place in the usually subtle tasting momos I am used to having. Momos usually have very mild seasoning which is the beauty of it. We had tasted veg momos with a hint of lemon grass while on the way to Gangtok and it was the best ever momo I had tasted. But even an avid mutton lover like me felt a little repulsed by the strong stench of mutton. I looked at A to understand whether he was as repulsed as me. He said chicken momos would have been a better idea but ate his part. While for me it seemed impossible to finish them. Somehow I managed to polish off 5, and after that I felt I would choke.  It’s not that mutton momo was bad but it certainly didn’t appeal to my taste buds.
The noodles looked less alien and tasted good. But we were so full that we could not have more than 2-3 spoonfuls of the noodles. We asked the lady to pack the remaining in a to-go bag. We paid our tab and were on our way.

Vashisht Temple & Hot Springs :
Vijay picked us from the entrance of Van Vihar where he had dropped us earlier. The first stop was Vasisht Muni’s temple.  Vashisht Muni was Lord Rama’s guru. The Vashist temple is also famous for its hot sulphur springs. The beautiful gurgling Beas came to view shortly after leaving the Mall road which looked sparkling in the bright morning sun. Vashist, a small village located on the left bank of river Beas towards Rohtang pass at an altitude of 6503 feet just above the Manali-Keylong road.


The place is barely 3 Kms from Manali. We heard that the walking path is smaller which would take around half an hour.  Government buses do not ply to the village of Vashist. Vijay stopped his car at the beginning of a steep sloping road. He said the parking was not available up so he would park below and we need to walk up the slope to the temple. We started walking and realized soon the slope was pretty steep. We were getting a bit breathless so we started stopping and looking at the small shops by the side of the road. They had junkie jewelry on sale made out of silver and some oxidized metals. They were also selling chillum, bongs and mixing pouches.  We also saw a bike rental shop there and started discussing that if we plan to come to Manali again we will definitely hire a royal enfield for our local travel.While we were walking some of the shawl store guys were telling us “Come and see Chingoo”. We didn’t understand at all what they were referring to and didn’t stop. Finally we reached the end of the road where the temple was situated. There is also a Ram and shiv temple nearby.

The shoe deposit area was too much crowded with people colliding with each other when they moved. We deposited our shoes at the entrance of the temple and went inside.  There was a small stone and wood temple which opened to a courtyard.  The temple is adorned with elaborate wood carvings. In the backdrop of the temple we could see the green mountains.


 The Natural hot sulphur springs of Vashist are endowed with great healing powers to cure people of skin and joint ailments. There are two separate bathing tanks for gents and ladies are always full of tourists. There are a few modern Turkish style showers fitted baths nearby. Hot water from the nearby spring is provided for bathing. The hot and cold water is separately piped into these baths, maintaining the regular temperature for bathing. Charges for a dip in the paid baths are nominal.

Outside locals women were handing out giant furry rabbits to the tourist. They would thrust upon the giant angora rabbits into your unsuspecting arms before you could understand what was happening or even protest. And once the fluffy bundle is in your arms you cannot but adore them. Usually they would thrust the rabbits into the lady’s arms as they would easily go soft at the view of the angora rabbits. The man would then take a picture of his lady holding the rabbit and the local women would earn a few bucks for lending her rabbit for the snap.

I had never seen rabbits so big; these were almost the size of a baby. I eagerly went ahead and took one of them. They told me how to hold the rabbit and pose. Post the snap A began to pet the rabbit so another local women shoved her rabbit into A’s arms. And before we knew there was a rabbit in his arms and each on both of his shoulders. It was a pretty funny thing actually.

Once the photo session was over immediately the local women began to ask to pay them. What started as Rs.20 thing ended up in Rs. 80 affair due to the presence of 4 rabbits! Anyway we were pretty pleased with the whole experience hence didn’t feel anything. A asked the ladies what they usually fed the rabbits. ‘Carrots’ was the general answer. So A then went to a shop and got 6-7 carrots for Rs.10. I sat down with one of the rabbits to feed it. It nibbled away one whole carrot in a few minutes. One by one everyone gave their rabbits to me. At one time I was continuously feeding two simultaneously. One of the rabbits seemed a bit reluctant to eat, maybe it was already full. I was still holding the carrot before it. Suddenly he bit my hands. I let go of it with a yelp. Not only they had big tooth but sharp too. Thankfully the bite had only scraped through the skin but I was not bleeding otherwise we would had to abandon the rest of the sightseeing plan and look for a doctor. I became careful and handed over the rest of the carrots to the local women. We then left for the car.

On way again the shawl shop guys literally corned us and began explaining why we should see this Chingoo stuff.  We obliged and they showed us the Chingoo package - three or four blankets, a carpet, a shawl and some bedsheets . They claimed that it was the best of the Chingoo blankets available in whole of Manali. The package would cost something around 4000 and we had to pay an advance of Rs.900. After which all the stuff would be couriered to our home free of cost. The blankets looked more like the cheap synthetic stuffs you get in the Lakshmi Road of Pune, and the other stuffs were also no good. They tried their best to convince us but we walked out without becoming a prey to their persistent pestering.

The nest destination was Hadimba Devi Temple. It was near the Mall area. While coming back we had to again cross the stretch where Beas was running side by side. At one point Vijay himself parked the car and told us we could spend some time by the waters. It was like a god sent opportunity for us – the driver had himself obliged without any persuasion or threatening! We quickly made way to the bank of the Beas. There were small and big smooth white boulders strewn all along the banks. The cascading water looked pretty clear. In the distance we could see snow capped peaks whenever the clouds parted. The winds ruffled the leaves of the pine trees standing by the opposite bank. It was a picturesque setup all together. Both me and A didn’t want to open our shoes and wet our feet because we had less time on our hands. We spent some time out there taking pictures and then we decided to move. Vijay was talking with an ice-cream vendor and having an ice-cream. It was the traditional ice-cream cart which we really miss seeing in the metros. We also bought ice-creams for us. It offered us some respite from the heat and humidity of Manali. While we were enjoying the ice-creams, we saw some local kids filling water into their bottles from the spring coming down the mountain slope by the side of the road. We saw many more people doing the same. When we came back into the car we saw Vijay also refilling his bottle from the spring water. We asked him whether it was for drinking purpose. He answered in the affirmative and said that the natural water was cold and tasted well, all the local people usually filled up their bottles from the spring and use it for drinking. He also added that it was perfectly safe to have the spring water directly instead of boiling or sterilizing it. It was quite unimaginable for us city guys but for these people it was pretty normal. I was pretty tempted to taste the water but A strictly forbade me to do so stating it might cause hill diarrhea as I wasn't used to it.


Hidimba Devi Temple:
We reached the Hidimba Temple. The temple is surrounded by pine and cedar forest. At the entrance of the forested area we saw more local women with angora rabbits and cute lambs. The lambs were pretty friendly and posed calmly with the kids for photos. We also saw a yak being led by its owner. Later on we came to know that the yaks were also given to pose for pictures and if the owner sees you taking the yak’s picture he would demand money immediately whether you posed with it or not. There were many shops near the parking area which were setting beautiful home decor.

The densely wooded steep pathway was very beautiful. There was a long line of people in the temple premises waiting for their turn to go inside for darshan. We saw the length of line and decided to skip a visit to the temple. Instead we roamed around the temple.

This is an ancient temple belonging to the period of 1553 built by Raja Bahadur Singh. The temple has a four tiered pagoda roof or "shikhar".  The tower consists of three square roofs covered with timber tiles and a fourth brass cone-shaped roof at the top. The base of the temple is made out of whitewashed, mud-covered stonework. The wooden door frame has ornate carvings of various deities and other designs. Intricate carvings and horns adore the facade of the Hidimba Devi Temple.


Quoting Wiki for the story of this place: The Hidimba Devi temple is built around a cave where Hidimba performed meditation. Hidimba was supposed to be live here with her brother Hidimb. Born in the Rakshas family, Hidimba vowed to marry one who would defeat her brother Hidimb, who was supposed to be very brave and fearless. During the Pandava's exile, when they visited Manali Bhima, one of the five Pandvas, killed Hidimb. Thus, Hidimba married Bhima, and gave birth to their son Ghatotkacha. There is a Ghatotkacha temple also in the premises.

Greenery all around

Back side of the temple

The doggie

The place was full of greenery and seemed like a part of any sanctuary. There were many pathways all around the area. We took many pictures. While taking snaps we met a stray doggie who was sitting there. A whistled to him and petted him once. Immediately he stood up and began wagging his tail. I gave a look to A, this was always the effect whenever he whistled at dogs. And from there on the doggie followed us everywhere around the park. When we stopped for some snaps he patiently waited. We thought maybe he was hungry so we got him some biscuits. But he wasn't interested in eating. He just wanted to follow us. We then gave him some water to keep him engaged for a while so that we could disappear. But he slurped the water quickly and again came running after us. It almost like the famous Phone service provider AD where the pug would follow the guy everywhere. We occasionally petted the doggie and he sat there enjoying the petting. People even started asking us whether it was our dog from the way he was following us around.  There was no other path left where we could walk so as to lose the doggie.  It was also getting late so we finally we chided him and forcefully made him go away.  As he turned back we quickly left for the parking.
It was already past lunch time but we were still so full that we were not in a state to eat the parceled hakka noodles. We decided to keep it somewhere by the side of the parking lot, where there were a lot of stray dogs; at least someone could eat it, though how appealing noodles would seem was definitely a question.


Rafting:
Vijay came up and asked us where we wanted to go next.  Adventure sports always thrilled me. I had heard white water rafting was done around Manali and was really interested to do it. I had previous experience of white water rafting in the Chattahoochee river of Georgia and it was a very memorable affair. In India there was very specific places whether rafting is available but rarely do we get chance to visit those places. Now when there was a chance I didn't want to let go. Also A had never experienced white water rafting before and I wanted him to experience the thrilling adventure. I asked Vijay where the rafting was done near Manali and he told it was available in the nearby Kullu. Vijay gave an alternate option to visit Solang Valley for other adventure sports. I don’t know why but he was more insistent regarding Solang valley than rafting. At one time A was convinced of doing Solang instead of Kullu. But I was determined not to do what Vijay suggested. Also Solang could easily be done enroute to Rohtang which was anyway on our itinerary for the next day, I had already read about it so I forced on doing the rafting. Vijay tried his best to deter us for some unknown reason by stating all kinds of reason like its late maybe they will close it as rafting is allowed only till 5 PM. We were still ready to give it a go. Then he reasoned did we have any change of clothes? That was the only concern point for us. But I said no worries we will manage. Finally Vijay was left with no other option than to drive us to Kullu. A was expressing his doubts still about the idea but I quieted him by saying it will be worth the effort.


We traveled through the beautiful valley with apple orchard on side of the road. The apples were yet small. We saw so many apple orchards that we lost count of them. Quaint village houses made of stone and wood dotted the way. We crossed a few beautiful bridges, sometimes travelling on the right of the Beas and sometimes on the left. I was bubbling with anticipation of rafting.

After travelling for about half an hour we started seeing some boards indicating white water rafting. But Vijay didn’t stop so we asked him the reason. We had a lingering fear that maybe he was trying to delay so that by the time he stopped the time gets over for the last batch of rafting. But he reasoned that these were private operators and not the authorized people for rafting, just some locals who brought some rafts and offered rafting. So if some incident occurs while rafting they don’t have enough backup for help.  Finally he stopped at a place which had quite a crowd. We could see a many rating boats being loaded and unloaded. The Beas looked very turbulent at that place. I could already feel the adrenaline rush. There were two different options – 3KM and 7 KM route. We opted for the longer one which cost Rs. 800/head.

We left all our valuables and shoes in the car and walked down to the rafting starting point. At the starting point there were a few cameramen who approached us for taking the video of the rafting ride. We finalized one person who told us the charge would be Rs. 600 for the 7Km video. We needed to pay him after the video CD was handed over to us at the end of the ride.

The magic behind Whitewater River Rafting is the extreme and never-ending thrills in the untamed rivers. The snow-fed rivers in the upper Himalayas are among the best in the world for river rafting sports, with many staircase rapids that challenge the body and spirit of the river runner. The river cuts against the rocky banks, crash into rocks, crevices and breaking into white water rapids, foaming, swirling, and falling in a thunderous din. People who haven’t experienced white water rafting think of this extreme sport as terrifying, risky and unsafe. But if you do rafting with the proper state run operators who provide professional rafters, lifeguards and equipments then there is nothing to fear actually.

Geared up in a beacon-yellow helmet and red life jacket we went and sat in the rafting boat. Another couple also came with us. It was their first time. A professional rafter accompanied us on the rafting boat. He gave us safety instructions and how to sit, where and how to keep the feet. The first time I had done rafting we were also given rafting oars so that we could also row along with the instructor. But here we were told to hold the rope in the raft. The guys sat in the front and ladies behind them.

We started with some simple and fun rapids stage. I could very well feel the difference of nature of the rapids of Beas and Chattahoochee. Beas was definitely more wild and forceful. The waves immediately took us far from the starting point. The instructor was deftly maneuvering the raft through the ruffled waters. Once or twice we felt the low showers of the river as the raft wavered through it. I could very well feel the anticipation building up among everyone in the raft. All the four of us kept talking.

The water was getting choppier by the minute. Suddenly just to my left a wall of water avalanched forward onto us. It was no use of ducking as the maelstrom of churning water came crushing down on us. More than the anxiousness of being swept away the bone chilling water of the river froze us to the core. We had got completely drenched.

The rapids slowly turned into powerful swirling cascades and our boat went dancing along the waves. Perched on the edge of the raft, we were all getting into the groove as we passed one whirlpool after another. I have a brief glimpse of the oncoming roiling foam then we’re in, out and bounding up and down all over again. Toffee-colored water torpedoes up my nose and eyes. I wipe the water from my eyes, shivering. In between we could see the videographer at various vantage points taking our shots. Sometimes we smiled, sometimes we waved at him as the waves tossed us like a salad.

Our hands and feet were numb by the time we reached the 3 KM milestone. The water calmed down a bit after that milestone and we were treated to breathtaking views of the Kullu valley. Soon we were again thrown into roller coaster waters. There were many situations when we were almost vertical. It was the ride of a lifetime. Nothing compared to my previous experience. The Beas was an untamed beast lasing down on us. The entire 7KM stretch was full of funs and thrills.

Finally the raft veered towards the end point. We were completely soaked and freezing but the exhilaration of the ride was just too much. We were all smiles when we came out of the water. The videographer met us and told that he will make the video and give us at the starting point in half an hour.

Now the problem was that we had to go back to the starting point as our car was stationed there. Usually the drivers bring the car at the end point but we had not told Vijay anything, hence he would not know. We asked the instructor who told us that they would anyway have the truck bring back the rafts, so we could go back with them in the truck. We went and sat inside the truck as they started loading the raft on the truck’s roof. 4 men heaved and pulled, only then they could push the raft on top. The truck shook vigorously as they were at it, and we suspected that the truck might roll back into the water due to all this vibrations. Finally when we were all set to leave we saw Vijay bringing our car. We were so relieved to see him.
Vijay told us he was waiting at the starting point for us when one of the authorities told him that he was supposed to go to the end point to pick us up, and then he rushed to get here. We thanked him profusely. Vijay really surprised us throughout the tour with his fluctuating attitude. Sometimes he was over generous, sometimes completely arrogant and sometimes simply indifferent to everything. We were always left guessing how he would react to any particular situation.

We were still wet. I was in a synthetic dress which dried easily than A’s jeans. The evening air was becoming a bit cooler and we were slightly shivering. We got into the car as is and drove off to the starting point. Vijay told us we can spend some time in the Shawl outlet just in front of the starting point. We wanted to use the washroom but none was seen in vicinity (However when we came here for the second time we found out that the changing rooms and washrooms were just by the ticket counter. That’s a separate story). We went inside the shawl shop and told Vijay to inform us when the videographer arrives with the CD.

Kullu Shawls:
The shawls of Kullu and Kashmir are world famous. All the outlets of shawl we saw on our way to Kullu were quite big. This one also had a varied collection. We didn’t have any solid plans of buying shawls but wanted to have a look in case something seemed fitting enough to buy as gifts for our families. A particular sales lady took over who was something in her twenties. But she was such a dexterous saleswomen that she immediately understood what would catch our interest and brought out her collection accordingly. Many a times the sales person would pass such comments that “it’s pretty expensive” and stuffs like that which puts off a customer eve if he is in the mood to splurge and buy it. But this lady never displayed any impatience and brought out the finest from her collection. We saw all types of shawls. We started from the traditional design Kullu shawls which were a bit heavy and had beautiful traditional motifs. Kullu shawl is not just a shawl but it’s an art crafted on handloom. Technically kullu and kinnauri shawls are same but mainly the difference is that of craftsmanship. Usually, the wool is extracted from sheep. But there are also shawls made from the wool of rabbits, goats and llamas. The price and quality of the shawl varies depending on the fineness of the wool and the animal it came from.

Kullu Shawls are available in form of pure wool shawls, angora shawls, pashmina shawls and Handspun shawls. Though Kullu shawls are produced in different colors like china blue, olive green, maroon coffee etc. but beauty of Kullu Shawls stands only in black shades. On most of the Kulluvi shawls there were small diamonds, small dots, small squares, small triangles, plus marks etc. on the body of the shawls. I had instantly fallen in love with the hallmark black ones with bold traditional work.

Next the sales lady showed us Angora Shawls made from the wool of the Angora rabbits. It was softer than the normal woolen ones. We were going crazy with so many options in front and both of us had set aside 3-4 shawls each. Before we finalized the shawls I wanted to have a look at the fabled Pashmina shawls. The sales lady gladly obliged. She brought out the finest range of Pashmina. Pashm is the wool of capra hircus, an Asian species of mountain goat. The fine fleece used to make these shawls is that which grows beneath the rough outer hair. The pashmina shawl usually comes in subtle shades of cream, beige, brown and grey, depending on the natural color of the fleece. I had only heard about the Pashminas of how thin and yet warm they were but what we saw in front was really amazing. The finest of Pashminas ranged above Rs.9000. They were unbelievably fine and soft, so fine that it felt just like a sheet of air in your hands. We asked whether it really goes through the ring test to which the lady said it can pass through something even smaller than a ring. She also added that the Pashmina shawl I was holding would go well in sub-zero temperatures. It was so hard to believe that the fine piece of fabric which almost felt like nothing could be used in such extreme temperatures. Just holding a Pashmina is an experience in itself.

Though we didn’t buy the Pashmina we ended up buying 11 shawls and woolen caps for a whooping total of Rs. 10000. We also fell in love with the awesome silky soft blankets but at Rs.3000 each they were really blowing up our budget.

We almost spent more than 90 minutes at the shawl shop and when we came out Vijay informed us that the videographer had yet not showed up. That was strange; it should not have taken him that long. We went to the ticket counter where the authorities were wrapping up for the day as it was already getting dark. We asked a few people there who told us that the videographers operate privately and not a part of the rafting authorities hence they didn’t have the whereabouts of the videographer. We had also committed a mistake of not asking for the name or contact details of the videographer. We were really looking forward to the video cd especially A for whom it was the first time. After another half an hour or so when no one showed up and it started pouring we decided to leave. Seeing our morose faces one of the authorities assured that we can come down any other day during our travel and he will let us do the same route free of cost. We were so dejected that we didn’t think of asking that authority’s name as well. Though we knew very well that promising was one thing and implementing other.

Drifter's Inn:
The rains were getting heavier. The day had gone very well only glitch being left with no documentation of the amazing adventure we had experienced. As we neared Manali we faced the infamous traffic of the Mall road. We were stuck up for quite a long time until the traffic cleared. The wet clothes on us were gradually giving us a headache. We reached Drifters by 8.30 PM. This was the first time I took a proper look at the hotel, last night we were in no condition to notice everything. The dimmed yellow lights outside the diner porch of the hotel coupled with the frilly white curtains on the windows gave off an aura of any European restaurant in countryside. Old Manali definitely had the Colonial charm present in its every single fold.
Nishant had already asked us to do the entry in the register when we are back. We went straight to the reception and entered our details. A gave his driving license for getting a Xerox. Nishant told us he will be sending the DL to our room.

Cafe Entrance

We quickly had a hot bath and changed into dry clothes. Tiredness was gradually setting in our bodies. We had previously thought of going for a walk down the old Manali road and have dinner at any of the roadside joints. But now we didn’t even feel like going out of the hotel, hence decided to have dinner at Drifter’s itself. The restaurant was already buzzing with activity. The IPL was on and everyone was hooked on to the TV cheering for their teams. A waiter welcomed us in with a broad smile. The entire place had a warm amber glow coming from the overhead hanging lamps. Bamboo tables and chairs were placed inside.  Waiters in formal wears but radiating a casual, at home warmth. Nishant was himself at the dinner counter to supervise each and every small thing. Drifter’s Inn had come up during the summer of 2009. The café is run by an ex-corporate executive Nishant Singh, who dared to leave his job and follow his true passion. The café has an Indo-European feel to it to make the foreign travelers at home as well. We noticed that the café organized live acoustic music and karaoke on Tuesdays and Fridays. The café also has a good stock of board games which you can use at any time for time pass, specially good for families travelling with kids. There was a stack of Magazines piled up on one side table. I went and brought an edition of the Traveller while A browsed through the menu.

The Menu

The Drifter’s Inn has a downloadable menu on their website that I had read before coming and it was one of the main differentiators for choosing Drifter’s Inn over the other budget hotels in Manali. The classy touch to every word of the menu from the preamble to the food listing really impressed me. A few lines from the Menu:

When…our Heart hungers for travel and your soul seeks adventure unknown…
When…You pick the road less travelled and unintentionally pave the path…
When…You make time and let a few things slide to see your passion thrive…
When…You travel alone, ‘coz you know you will find a friend around the bend…
When…You travel the night to savor the day…
When…You beat yourself up to climb a mighty mountain only to look around you and feel alive
You are just drifting.

Everything sounded quite interesting but we wanted something which will have rice with it. So we chose Himachal style lamb curry with rice (Rs.300) and Thai red curry chicken with rice (Rs.300). While we waited for our food we also joined the others in watching the cricket match on TV. For every boundary or sixer a joint cheer would emanate from the café’s crowd.


Soon our food arrived. The plating of the food was flawless. It was like being served at a 5 star hotel. The Thai red curry was subtle with after tones of lemongrass and the Himachali lamb curry was succulent dripping with flavors. Though the rice portions were served in accordance to the European palate (quantity will be a small bowlful of rice), still we found it enough at the end. After a wonderful dinner we left the café. We got some water bottles, chips and biscuits from the local grocery store outside Drifters and called it a day. The alarm was set at 2 AM – it was the day for the Rohtang Pass.

Day 2: New Delhi – Manali

Travelling- it leaves you speechless then turns you into a story teller. – Ibnbatuta

I am used to waking up early during train journeys mainly I want to soak up as much of the on-way landscape as possible but mostly because you can easily get vacant and clean washrooms early in the morning. I woke up at 6 AM freshened up and sat looking out of the window.  Early mornings are so peaceful and beautiful, the romanticism at that time is really overpowering. I played along with the tid-bits of ideas for my next storyline. At around 7AM the pantry guys started waking up everyone and doling out the tea and coffee sachets along with the warm water flasks. I knew A would not wake up now. So I had my morning tea enjoying the book.

By breakfast serving time I woke up A. The breakfast was the usual non-veg fare of bread, omlette, finger chips and boiled peas. The train was on time throughout. We crossed Rajasthan by the day and saw a lot of camels on way. The rest of the journey was uneventful and the train chugged into the Nizamuddin station of Delhi around 11:15 AM. We had already contacted our driver for the tour to know his coordinates.

Delhi also felt equally unforgiving like Mumbai in matters of heat and humidity the moment we made our way out of the station. Tagging along the big suitcase was becoming a common problem everywhere.  It was a bee hive of activity outside and we were clueless as to which way we needed to proceed as everywhere we saw parked cars. Some anxious moments were spent in locating the cab. Our driver, Vijay was giving us directions on the phone stating landmarks but we were unable to locate any common landmark which both parties could see. Finally Vijay found us somehow. Thankfully the car was not parked much farther, as the heat and humidity was already killing us. Before getting into the car we saw some luscious looking litchis being sold on hand carts. A is a big lover of litchis so we bought some for Rs. 100. Rather steep price but at least we had something juicy to munch on during the long travel that lay ahead.

We had to travel nearly 600 KM one way. The plan was to reach Manali by 2 AM undertaking a long 14 hour journey.  I had calculated 14 hours considering very stringent stopping times and considerable traffic on the ghats. The travel plan we had made for the Delhi-Manali journey would not be preferred by most tourists but in order to save days that was the best possible option.

We drove from the Nizamuddin station through the ISBT cashmere Gate. We saw an old red brick fort on our left on the way and our gut feeling told that it could be the famous Red fort. We had guessed correctly and it indeed was the backside of the fort. We quickly snapped a couple of pictures on our phones. Initially while making the forward journey plans we had thought that we would stop at any small hotel nearby Nizamuddin or on the outskirts of Delhi to take a bath and freshen up for the long journey. It was a tentative plan which we had let Vijay know in advance and asked him to check out if some hotel room would be available for an hour or so. But after much speculation while we were in  August Kranti, we decided against it mostly because it would eat up our valuable travel time as well as the few hotels I checked were charging full day charges even for an hour long stay. However we didn’t intimate the plan change to Vijay and thought that we will tell him later on when we decide to take the lunch break.

The road was pretty smooth and the a/c buzzed in a comforting way. We were soon out of the city bound and buildings and people became sparse. Almost after an hour of driving Vijay told us that we will be stopping for freshening up and lunch in an hour from then. Its then that we informed him we will be only stopping for lunch. He seemed a little miffed at the news. These drivers actually get commission from any hotel or restaurant they bring in their customers and this was the very reason of our driver’s displeasure. The best part was he didn’t even try to hide his displeasure. That was actually the beginning of his “Big Attitude” problem throughout the tour. This was one private service person who didn’t believe in customer is the god saying. Throughout the tour we had to bear his temper tantrums and moodiness. We were at his highness’s disposal and he was the one who decided whether we should go for sightseeing or not. Will gradually come one by one regarding all the unpleasant situations we faced due to him.

Anyway the moment we told him that we weren’t going to stop for freshening up, his interest in giving us a lunch break ceased to a minimum. He had promised a stop in next one hour but finally we stopped near about 1.5 hours. I was really tired and had dozed off by then waiting for our stopover. I woke up when I felt the car stopping. As I blinked my eyes I saw before me a grand haveli standing in front of me.  It took me a couple of seconds to realize the name of the big architecture was actually Haveli. It was mostly the Haveli at Murthal, Sonipat – you see I am not very good at remembering the name of the places.  When we had started our journey A and I had decided that we wanted to taste the rural flavors of Delhi-Punjab in small Dhabad interspersed at small distances throughout the highways. These small dhabas served the best wholesome meal at dirt cheap prices. But the architecture that stared back at us looked pretty pricy and so it was!

We got out of the car and immediately were lashed at by the strong heat wave. It was terrible outside almost like stepping directly into the frying pan from the freezer without thawing out.  We got to know from Vijay that the temperature had been a constant 48-49 degrees from the past few days. We half ran towards the entrance. Vijay locked the car and vanished within minutes telling us to be back at the same location after finishing our meal. It was a big campus area with a few other shops and restaurants. The other restaurants were closed so there was no other option than to go to haveli. An attendant wearing full Punjabi ensemble with pagdi and lathi et all ushered us in. In the few minutes we had spent in the sun we got almost blisters on our skin from burning. The A/C inside was buzzing with tourists most of whom were dressed elaborately showing off latest fashions in Armanis and Pradas. Elaborate upholstery and woodwork dotted every inch of the place. There was a central area with gadda wala sofas as well, but every inch of the place was occupied.  We occupied a corner table and sat down. The square table had 4 heavy wooden chairs. The menu was a delicately designed piece of pankha or fan. We opened the menu and got a double shocker. It was a pure veg restaurant and the prices were unbelievably steep. I gave A dirty looks due to the first reason. Almost an hour ago when we were having the lunch discussions I had told A to tell Vijay to stop at a non-veg joint specifically as I knew that many people in north were pure veg unlike the impression that every tourist has that most of them are non-vegetarians. But A had scoffed at me and told that “don’t worry most of the restaurants are non-vegetarian so he will take us to one”. I had half a mind to tell A the actual scene but refrained knowing he will not believe me unless he gets a taste of his own medicine. And now when the vegetarian menu stared back at us, I took it all out on him. We chose the least priced thali which cost a total of Rs.570 for two.  While we waited for the food I went to the washroom to wash my face which felt sticky due to the heat. The washroom was all the way down to the farthest end of the entire campus.  I am sure my body shade changed two shades due to sun burn just during the sojourn to the washroom.

Photo Courtesy : Web

The food had arrived by the time I came. The thali was huge. It had Daal, some curry, paneer subji, butter roti, rice, papad, pickle and sweet. The sight of the thick knob of butter swimming on the large roti was enough to give you an instant heart attack. We dug into the food immediately like hungry wolves. The taste of everything was nothing worth mentioning. It didn’t have the signature touch of the North Indian cuisine apart from the huge amount of butter. We can even get similar tasting fare back in Pune. Frankly speaking the food we had in Rajdhani the other night was far better than this sub-standard-high-priced fare. However when we finished the meal, we were stuffed till our necks.

The only thing it that would get full marks is the hygiene, ambiance and toilet facilities. There is ample parking space for the cars hence all the Armanis and Pradas with long cars flock this place.  So if you want to go into a glitzy highway restaurant for showing off the latest high fashions and food taste is of least priority then surely go to this place. Else give it a miss for any roadside dhaba, you will get the same amount, better tasting, light on pocket fare.

 We saw Vijay also having his meal inside Haveli only. It was not possible for a driver to dine at this fine dining restaurant unless he was given discounts and commissions for bringing his unassuming guests here. This was Vijay’s way for getting even at us for not stopping at any hotel to freshen up.


We continued our journey again.  After the small nap pre-lunch I was feeling much fresh and didn’t sleep for the entire leg of the remaining journey. Mostly the scene on either side of the road had barren lands, but at places we saw housing complexes standing in the middle of nothing. I wondered where all these people went to do their basic groceries being so far from the city. We saw a few engineering colleges as well on the side of the road. There was this one particular stretch of road which was an avenue and the tress on both sides had bent towards the middle of the road forming a continuous arch. It felt like we were going through a tunnel made of tress. Very pretty indeed.

As we traveled further we saw at many places roadside stalls were set up where hundreds of glasses were lined and a crowd of Sikhs both men, women and children offering those glasses to the passerby. Vijay told us that it was part of the SEVA the Sikhs did at this time of the year. Giving water to the thirsty passerby in this extreme heat was considered as a very noble act. The stalls were known as Chabbil and the drink they were offering was known as Chann. I was very tempted to ask Vijay to stop the car and experience the Chann but was afraid that it might bring on the displeasure of his highness, A felt the same way so we both kept quite. We kept driving for a while after which surprisingly Vijay himself asked us whether we would like to drink the Chann. I agreed at once. As soon as he stopped the car, few teenage boys blocked the car and offered us the glasses of rose milk. The milk was thinned with water to which mild rose syrup was added and topped off with ice. It was the most amazing and refreshing drink I have ever had and it immediately cooled our bodies. The boys kept standing patiently as we finished our drink. I wanted another glass but was not sure whether it would be uncouth to ask for a second helping hence dropped the idea. We thanked them and continued our journey.


We followed the Delhi-Panipat-Karnal-Ambala-Chandigarh route. NH-1 is full of diversions due to the ongoing road work everywhere. One cannot attain much speed because after every Km there is a diversion. The toll taxes were being paid by Vijay(included in package).  Drive from Ambala to Chandigarh was smooth due to the expressway. The hill road starts from Swarghat. As I had mentioned I have an acute problem of motion sickness on ghat roads, I had calculated to take Ondem (anti vomiting medicine) before the ghats began. Note: Ondem is better than Avomine since it doesn’t make you sleep. We asked Vijay to stop for a tea break 15 minutes before the ghat road started. We stopped at a roadside dhaba. There were many people having snacks and tea. I was however not in a mood to eat anything; the food from Haveli was still not digested and it’s always advisable to travel through ghats on partially empty stomach to avoid giddiness. I took the medicine while A bought some chips and cold drinks for the journey.  I also took out the Himachal Tourist Road atlas that I had carried with me from Pune to understand the road better. The evening was setting in slowly.


As soon as we touched the borders of Himachal Pradesh to enter the hills the road condition deteriorated. It got all bumpy and broken with loose gravels.  I had expected green vistas to greet us but instead we were greeted by a convoy of trucks and ghastly white dust. The moment we entered Swarghat Vijay switched off the A/C even without asking or intimating us, it wasn’t a steep climb but he would not let the A/C run. So now we were stuck inside a car with all windows closed, A/C off sweating in the heat. We couldn’t open the windows to get natural air too because it was all smoky outside.  The four cement factories in this stretch of road contributed to the environment pollution of this place. It was a smoky, slow, sweating and frustrating journey through the ghats. The more we proceeded the more trucks we saw lined up before us.


Throughout the trip we gave in to Vijay’s temper tantrums due to only one reason – he was a very good driver, deftly maneuvering his car even in the worst of the roads. He cut his way through the lined up trucks, sometimes going off-road and sometimes overtaking from the wrong side. He knew his roads well so we didn’t say anything. We were going at a decent speed even in the narrow road blocked with trucks. But then at one point we came to an abrupt halt. There were two-three tourist cars already lined up in front of us. First we thought it was the usual stop for giving way to the traffic coming from the other side, but when we were not moving for a while we understood the matter was different. Vijay stepped out of the car and went up to the few people gather at the hairpin bend ahead.  A and I came out of the car to stretch our legs. The scenery had turned a muted shade of dark grayish blue. We took a few snaps of the traffic. Even as the sun came down the temperature was still high and it was extremely humid. Vijay came back and informed us that this was going to be a long haul as a Truck had its wheels caught in the trench that ran parallel to the road and now couldn’t get back on the road. Tow trucks were already trying to pull it up but since the truck was very heavy with the goods it was taking a lot of effort.

The rule on hilly road to avoid traffic congestion is to maintain lane discipline and follow in a single line both ways. Even in this situation some smartass tourists overtook the rest of the cars and made a double line along the oncoming traffic direction. People tried in vain to tell them that it would cause further traffic snag. But they were drunk and blatant not ready to hear anyone. We were almost held up for an hour before the truck could be pulled out. But then due to these rowdy tourists it took some more time for us to be able to move. By then the darkness had already set in. Loosing 1 hour was a very big deal when we had a tight schedule. Vijay told us that if no further accidents are there on the road we would be able to reach Manali on time.  Our expectation soared a bit but luck was not on our side that day. We had crossed the Niana Devi mod at 7 PM, the place where the truck had got stuck. As we moved ahead we saw swarms of trucks and tourist vehicles clogging the road from both sides. It was bumper to bumper traffic and no one was moving. Even when we were moving it was at a snail’s pace. The window was open but there was no air to sooth us and remember Vijay was considerate enough to switch off the A/C already.  Vijay told us he was driving for so many years but hasn’t seen such a bad traffic snag anytime. More and more time passed and we were still in the middle of nowhere. If things were going right we would have reached Bilaspur by 10 PM.

The terrible jam near Naina Devi

At 8PM Nishant of Drifter’s Inn (owner of our hotel at Manali) called me to know our coordinates so he could arrange a boy accordingly to receive us when we reach. When he heard we haven’t even touched Sundarnagar yet he said in a matter-of-fact tone that you guys won’t be able to reach before 5 AM! Things were looking grim to grimmer as more time passed. It’s more difficult for ladies because there is no washroom facility around. You will only get washroom facility in the few dhabas that are there in the ghat section. But then every time we were crossing a dhaba we were in moving traffic. Finally when we stopped by a small temple due to traffic I quickly got down for taking a leak. I couldn’t see any washroom around however it was a dire emergency situation for me. So I did what anyone in emergency would do. Amidst A’s protest I ran to the backside of the temple avoiding the eye of the priest through the precariously placed stone steps opening into a small stretch of clearing by the edge of the mountain. There was not a speck of light thankfully. I said a sorry to the almighty for doing such an uncouth action near his premises and thought that god would eventually understand the emergency and forgive me. I quickly relieved myself and returned with a happy face much to the disbelief of A who was shocked with what I had just done!

We continued our journey and at every possible situation Vijay kept telling the driver coming from the other direction that he was at Nanda Devi mod at 7PM and yet stuck in traffic. He was surely relishing the expression of horror from his counterpart on listening to this piece of news.  There was a time when we were not moving for 10 minutes Vijay got out of the car and sat on the road side culvert chatting with a fellow driver. The drive wouldn’t have been so taxing that the weather been a bit cool. A started getting a headache due to the heat and dozed off. Truck drivers who were travelling long distance had started to park their vehicles by the side of the road and go to sleep as they understood it was virtually impossible to move in this traffic. This was causing a snowballing effect and traffic became slower as the parked trucks obstructed the narrow road further.  After a while Vijay’s patience ran out and he began to overtake the long chain of trucks parked at every possible chance. The turns he took to overtake and the speed at which he did had brought my heart to my mouth.  I hung on for my dear life as Vijay made the unbelievable superman stunts in total darkness. I felt jealous of A who was sleeping like a baby oblivious to the fast and furious movie unfolding before me.

I finally breathed normally when we touched Bilaspur. It's 40 KM from Swarghat. We had taken 2 hours to cross just 20 KM which was going to cost us dearly. It was already past 9PM by them and felt hungry. But there was no point in stopping, because that would again make us loose precious time and put us back by a few hundred vehicles. So we kept moving on.  Next we crossed Bilaspur one of the major towns. Now we were almost 120 KM away from our destination. I was dead tired and could doze off to sleep anytime but forcefully kept awake as it could make the driver sleepy if all passengers dozed off during a night drive. So I kept myself awake occasionally indulging in talks with Vijay to keep him awake as well.

As we neared Mandi, the beautiful Beas joined us to follow till Manali. Even in the scanty lights I could make out that it was a rough river interspersed with strong rapids all through. Just a week before we traveled to the Himachal the most unfortunate event of 25 Hyderabad students who had come for a excursion to Himachal and drowned when the dams opened waters without warning had happened. Vijay pointed out at the location of the disaster. I felt really bad for the kids, a little moment of carelessness had cost so many lives.

Pandoh Dam

There are two attractions near Mandi. The first one was the Pandoh Dam – the infamous dam which had released the waters resulting in the death of the students. The dam is situation just by the side of the main road. A also woke up by then. We saw two lock gates open and releasing water.  IT’s a man-made beauty with the milky white frothy waters rolling down the lock gates. It looks magical at night and magnificent by the day. Gallons and gallons of pristine white splashing around. The roar of the gushing waters was creating a dolby digital effect in the silence of the night. The area is surrounded by mountains and pine trees standing like a night sentinel over them. The mercury dropped noticeably while we drove around the Pandoh lake. Finally we felt a nip in the air.


The second attraction of the area is the tunnel called Mandi Dwar or Aut Tunnel – the gateway to Kullu-Manali. It is the longest road tunnel in India with length of about 3 km. It’s a two lane tunnel.  Before entering the tunnel we never noticed its distance. When after travelling for a considerable time the tunnel didn’t end we took notice of things. Its well illuminated but still light shadow areas are there. Moreover the phone signals are totally lost once you enter it. It’s a magnificent piece of human engineering, cutting through the breadth of such a long stretch of mountain.  Finally after travelling for a rough 5 minutes or so we came out of the tunnel. Outside we saw the tunnel length was written as 2800 meters.

Catchment Area of Pandoh Dam

Outside the road became narrower.  After driving for so many hours Vijay started getting cranky by the minute.  He wanted us to stop over at any nearest lodge for the night and then continue the journey in the morning. I didn’t want to stop and unnecessary spend more bucks at some unknown highway lodge compromising on security factors as well. But by that time A’s headache had intensified and he was getting impatient sitting inside the car unable to stretch himself.  So at that point I had two cranky people to take care of and both of them wanted to stop somewhere anywhere right then. Since A was almost in half sleep mode I was not able to talk to him regarding my security concerns over putting up at an unknown place. By the time Vijay suddenly parked his car by a shabby looking restaurant cum lodging and started asking for room. He didn’t even ask our permission whether we wanted to stop over there or any other relatively decent looking hotel. I was quite irritated by his behavior but opted to remain quite – we had 7 more days to spend with him. Thankfully the lodge was full and we had to move. That’s the time I became resolute of not stopping anywhere before we reached our hotel in Manali. I paid no heed to A’s misery or Vijay’s tantrums and instructed him to keep driving. Vijay’s irate comment was “This is not the way you plan your trips. People usually don’t book hotels on the forward journey; they stop at any hotel whenever they feel tired and then continue the journey afterwards”.  To that I mumbled a “hmmm” and nothing else. We kept driving past sleeping towns. Finally Vijay decided to stop at a ‘proper’ dhaba near Aut. Our temperamental driver only gave stops when and where he wanted; what we wanted never mattered anyway.

It was a very run down dhaba by the side of the highway. I was thankful to Vijay for letting me give the opportunity of stretching my legs which were cramping by then. A didn’t feel like eating anything so I went inside the dhaba to check out what was on the menu. The cooking counter was by the side of the open sitting area. It looked greasy and patchy. The manager at the counter gave me a few options; I choose to have Roti and paneer ka subzi. Vijay went to the covered section of the the dhaba and began eating. I tried not to look at the kitchen area fearing that might take away my remaining appetite. The boy at the counter handed me a plate of roti and a bowl of paneer subzi with a obscene amount of butter floating on it. I brought the plate inside the car and started eating. The subzi was tasteless and paneer smelly. I only ate the roti and returned the plate. There were a lot of people eating at the dhaba even at half past 1. While Vijay ate I took a short stroll by the side of the highway. The zooming cars broke the silence of the night occasionally.
Once Vijay was done we resumed our journey. My body was fatigued but mind was enjoying the beautiful Beas accompanying us. The night was sublime. There was no light on the road but it was a full moon night. The soft moon light falling on the water made it look like a river of milk. There was a bright heavenly aura created around the rocky sides of the river.  The sparkling silver waters were very unruly and danced in parallel along the highway with us. It felt like the most romantic thing I had felt in a while. The sound of Beas at the night seemed like lullaby. For once I felt like telling Vijay to stop the car so that we could walk down to the shore and witness the beautiful night and the gushing river. And I eventually dared to tell as well but he simply said we can’t stop here on the highway. I silently wondered why because we were the only souls travelling at such an unearthly hour on that road but preferred not to argue. It’s pretty unfortunate that I couldn’t even take a snap of the beautiful scenery as Vijay was moving very fast.

The town of Manali is spread out a long way outside the actual city limits. The watch showed almost 4 AM. In another hour the entire city would start waking up and we were still on road. I really empathized with Vijay’s state of mind because we were getting tired just by sitting there for such a long time and he was the one who was actually driving and doing the hard work.

As we closed in on Manali town we saw many cars zooming out in the darkness from Manali. Vijay said that those were the cars headed for Rohtang sightseeing.  From what I had heard as suggestions for Rohtang, it was good to start by 2.30 AM so that you are among the first 200 vehicles headed for Rohtang for the day. 4 AM was certainly late by that standard. I mentioned it to Vijay that we would like to leave by 2.30 AM the next day for Rohtang so that he didn’t complain later on. Surprisingly for once he agreed to my suggestion.

Soon we crossed a deserted mall area of Manali and drove through the steep accents to reach Old manali. Narrow serpentine cobbler stone road led us into the charming world of Old Manali. There were stores lined on either side of the road which were closed at that time. I could imagine how beautiful it would look when they were all open. We had some trouble locating Drifters inn as we tried to read every sign board outside the hotels. Finally we found our abode. As decided with Nishant I called him to let him know we had arrived. He told me that his boy would come down to receive us. There is a small parking area right in front of the hotel where one can park their cars. Vijay parked over there for the remaining of the night. We told him that we would go for Manali local sightseeing by 11 AM. We took our luggage out and the boy came down to help us check into our room. The check-in procedure would be done next day by Nishant himself the boy informed.

After entering the room I could only see one thing – the huge bed and wanted to crash on it just then. But I arranged a few things, freshened up a bit and then we both called it a day. The alarm was set at 10.30 AM, we knew it was impossible for us to wake up before that. Everything went into oblivion the moment we hit the sack. We needed a long sleep before we felt any alive.

Image courtesy: Drifter's Inn website

Continued in Himachal Travel Diary - Part 3.