Manali Trip

I’m just back from vacationing in Manali with my husband Jayanth, and friends Sandya and Karthik.

To say the least, Manali was:

M-Marvelous
A-Awesome
N-Nascent
A-Amazing
L-Lovely
I-Incredible

Even after a tedious 16-hour road journey from Delhi to Manali in a rickety Volvo, the fresh air, and picturesque scenes captivated us instantly and left us with an exhilarated feeling. Manali was freezing cold at 1 and 2 degrees centigrade, and at any given point, we all had a minimum of 3 layers of clothing.

We stayed at an adventure resort between Kullu and Manali on the banks of the Beas river. This place is nestled between snow capped mountains and apple orchards.

Day 1:

After settling-in at the resort, we decided to get the local feel by taking the public transport into the Manali town. We piled into a bus full of pretty/handsome faces (the pahadi people are truly a good-looking lot ;)) Pink babies were wrapped in bright woolens, pahadi tribals looked exotic with interesting jewellery and few really aged folks looked cute with their numerous wrinkles and curious eyes.

On reaching the town, our eyes first caught rows of fresh looking vegetables (must be something to do with them being grown on the hills and the fresh air). After a quick ‘chai’ at a hotel called ‘Hotel Yak’, we booked a cab and started our touristy sightseeing.

One of the first places we visited was the 16th century Hadimba Devi temple restored by Maharaja Bahadur Singh after the earlier temple was burnt down in a forest fire. The temple is also famous for being featured in the movie Roja. It’s a beautiful wooden temple with intricate engravings, surrounded by huge deodar trees.

Outside the temple, we got to hold the Angora Rabbit and sit on a Yak. Additionally, we got to wear the local pahadi dress, which is a colourful shawl like cloth that is draped over regular clothes and adorned with a headgear and jewellery for women, and a cap for the men. Karthik, who initially seemed a little embarrassed to get into these clothes and pose for the shutterbug, finally gave in to our incessant nags and obliged! And what a pretty picture Sandya and Karthik made!

It was lunchtime soon and a tired foursome gobbled delicious food at a dhaba and resumed our sightseeing.

Our next stop was at the Manu temple, built for the sage Manu. The paths leading to this temple are narrow and cobbled, flanked by rustic wooden houses on pillars. Old world charm intact!

After this, we drove back to the resort and spent a quiet chilly evening by the bonfire.

Day 2 :

Visit to Solang valley.

This was the day we were eagerly waiting for, as we would get to see, feel and play in the snow! The slopes here are used for national level skiing championships. They looked white against the blue sky and pretty surreal. Almost like a scenic picture from a calendar or a book.

At Solang, we trekked up a quiet slope and really let our hair down. We freaked out sliding down steep slopes yelling ‘Yahoo’ (reminiscent of Shammi Kapoor in Junglee!) numerous times. While Sandya was busy ‘lazing’ around in the snow, yes thats right, she was actually lying about in the snow like it was a water bed or something, Jayanth was busy trying to find higher ledges to climb up and slide from. And Karthik, (nicknamed as MK – short for Mobile Karthik, as the mobile phone refused to leave his ears) was actually busy focusing his camera lens on the mountains!

We ended this fulfilled tiring day around the bonfire with the local Himachal apple and rhododendron wine.

Day 3:

Trek to Shird Mountains

The Shird mountains are opposite the resort. The mountains are basically apple and plum orchards. We climbed up the steep mountain path, huffing and puffin a little as oxygen levels dropped with altitude. Still, it was an awesome experience. The apple trees were bare (because of the winter). Our trek guide, a local boy called Binu, showed me how to differentiate an apple tree from a plum tree. :D

From the top of this mountain, we got breathtaking views of the valley and the Beas river.

Like the previous day, in the evening, we sat around the bonfire rolling local wine on our tongues.

Day 4:

Downstream trek by the Beas

The Beas flowed by the side of the resort. With Binu (the local guide) in tow, we decided to explore the banks downstream. What started as a simple trek down the river bank, turned out to be superb river crossing experience. In some parts along the river stretch, there was no riverbank as the water was up to the brim, but not deep. At these spots, Jayanth and I (Sandya and Karthik preferred not to get into the water and stayed on the banks and clicked our pictures) waded through knee-deep water to dry parts of the riverbed.

The water was ice cold, and it was almost as if we were walking through massive ice cubes. We slipped many times on moss-ridden rocks, (Jayanth also dropped his camera and shoes, but the camera was saved because of the cover) and dodged deep spots by hopping on dry rocks. By the time we got out of the water, our legs were numb and paining because of the cold. I guess we were really chilled to the bone! In spite of this, it was a fabulous experience.

After this, we got back to the resort and feasted on makki–ki–roti and sarson-ka-saag.

In the evening, we boarded the Volvo to return to Delhi.

Despite the biting cold, Manali is a beautiful little place to relax and unwind. The cold itself is a different experience for us Southerners. We have come back with memories to last a lifetime and a few extra kilos from the delicious rich pahadi food.