[manolin]

It was a trip to Manali by bus in this summer. Since it is a done to death place for most of T-bhp, I will just post a few pictures for a short travelogue.



Beas, when it is still a baccha





View from my friend's house


I was in Manali for 8 days. The first 4 days were spent alone at a quaint old wood and stone house that a friend owns just before Manali, and the rest 4 were spent at a hotel which comes after Manali near Nehru kund.

Manali was the capital of Punjab during those days; cars and cars, and jeeps and buses from all over Punjab were in there to escape the heat.

Meadows around Kothi





It was an odd quaint house




I enjoy both crowds and quiet places; and the Mall road in the evening gave me the first and the walks around Manali and Kothi gave me the latter.

The World Cup was on and in chinki land (no offense meant) there were enough guys to give me company during the screening in town everyday. I for one never expected Korea to have such a huge support base up here.

[simply_sunny001]

awesome pics dude, totally mind blowing, which camera were you using?

please post more details and more pics.

cheers

[manolin]

The Road to Rohtang Pass


Rohtang Pass

(and this is before it gets really crowded)



A Snow mobile ride is one of the most fun things I have ever done. Screaming-shouting-adrenalin run!








At 9.30 am we face this jam when we try to come back. We had left for Rohtang at 6 in the morning!



We went paragliding (tandem jumps only:( ) one day in Solang Valley. There is a cable car to the top of the hill from where you jump off, but we took horses. And my only conclusion at the end of it is that I have to learn this art. Being in air is a different world.




Solang Valley is a nice touristy place..though I guess it must be too touristy for a lot of people, especially by mid-day.








Road leading to the being constructed Rohtang Tunnel. Then we will have all weather access through one of the big obstacles to go through to Ladakh.



Coming up is an email I had written to my friends on my way back from Rohtang Pass. Sharing my thoughts about it.

[manolin]

These were my thoughts then.



I went to Rohtang Pass 2 weeks back. At 13,100 feet, it is one of the key routes on all indo-tibetan-ladhaki trading stops and is also the principal road connecting lahaul-spiti valleys and ladakh with the rest of india (other than zojila pass, which is through the kashmir valley). Rohtang in tibetan, literally means mound of corpses, such were the number of travellers who died while trying to cross the pass.

So we (my friends Jagdeep and V.P. Singh joined me here yesterday) got up at 4 am, and started off for it. After knowing such history, little were we prepared for the sight which would greet us..it was a full Indian bazaar up there. You could get maggi to t shirts. There were proper car parks, and they were overflowing. There were studs from the punjab who ripped off their shirts and jackets to pose in front of the snow, and the minute the snap was taken, they would start huddling from the cold.

But we are also veterans of the indian fairs (we call them jatras in Oriya)- I started with trying to learn skiing in ten minutes. We took snowmobile rides- basically all the types of useless expenditures our parents forbade us from in our small town fairs, we went ahead and did it- afterall the money we have earned does seem very illgotten, our hard work does never seem to compare with real hard work.

After posing with 11 foot high snow boulders, and mimicing real explorers by trying to climb every small snow mound (and tripping and falling endlessly while doing so!), we finally had enough and settled down in the comfort of our car.

As the driver pulled downhill through the traffic maze, we would get a glimpse of why Rohtang is Rohtang..caught in the jam of butter chicken tourists, there were couple of mahindras and tatas, packed to gills with hardy people for whom the snow was no celebrity to be awed by, for whom the pass still was the only access to their homes.

For whom for 4 months every year this valley between the the pir panjal range allows through all essentials, their shampoos to their petrol. For 4 months, they become part of india through this pass.

Soon there will be a rohtang tunnel; it will be a 9km long Shelob's lair. The border roads organisation will no longer maintain the roads through the pass. Lahaul- Spiti will gain, and Manali will lose. After all will you get your kid to Manali if he can't go up to Rohtang and be dazzled by the snow?

But there is some majesty to these mountains. So what if u build a tunnel through Rohtang La; there is always the next high mountain pass beyond Baralaccha (about 16050 feet). Kids will come in their Pajeros from Chandigarh, zip through Rohtang Tunnel and probably stream their snowman poses in 3D live to the world then.

I will thrash mine, if he even thinks about doing it.

[manolin]

Originally Posted by simply_sunny001

awesome pics dude, totally mind blowing, which camera were you using?

please post more details and more pics.

cheers

Thanks Sunny. I think I fouled up on the exposure; its too dark. I, very inefficiently, use a Canon 1000D with its kit lens and a sasta Sigma 70-300 lens.

The bus experience - both ways by Volvo buses, so fairly comfortable, though it takes an inordinate 15 hours (6 pm to 9 am) to reach. While going, i booked a ticket from these guys http://www.volvoluxurybuses.com/. (Did not book online, I called and they delivered the ticket to me. The actual buses look very different.) The bus conductor completely refused to bother with any seat numbers written on the ticket. It happens in this sector everytime, even if you have booked your seat carefully on Redbus.in.

While coming back I came back by Kesineni Travels (the biggest operator there). These buses had the under-thigh support which is even more comfortable. But their drivers yap away on the phone through the trip, and it is very scary on the mountain roads, when you need two hands for all the twisties.

I will recommend Johnsons' Cafe for dinners in Manali. Excellent trout, and actually excellent everything

I had a great time, lots of walking and thinking alone, and then later with friends. This concludes my travelogue.

[ampere]

Did you not go to Manikaran? On the way you see a power plant on the Parvati river. I remember there is a Dhaba on the route which I think had one of the sitting view points of lunch/tea!

[Judemayne]

Dear Mano,
I must pat you on the back for some excellent pics-Manali jumps out at you through them. Great travelogue-"Jatras"-are you from Orissa? or Odisha as I am told its new name?? How much did the hotel across cost??
Regards,
Col J H Mayne

[chethan.ram]

Nice write up and amazing pictures.

[ExtremeTorque]

Mano, excellent pics, especially the ones with low shutter speed (river and fire performance). Your travelogue has come exactly when i started planning for a manali/shimla trip for this december. Please expects some PM's, later in the day.

[lordofgondor]

Man, this is an interesting log of your thoughts. As rightly mentioned, the pics are underexposed. So did you stroll through the lanes of old Manali for those world cup screenings?

Originally Posted by manolin

Kids will come in their Pajeros from Chandigarh, zip through Rohtang Tunnel and will probably stream their snowman poses in 3D live to the world then.

I will thrash mine, if he even thinks about doing it.

This is exactly what I am scared of! Of what will happen to the (still a lot) virgin beauty of the Manali-Leh highway. I really hope that they only allow access through the tunnel to the defense forces and locals. I'd hate to see plastic/polyethylene bags lying around Baralach La, as they're so abundant around Rohtang Jot.

[sami316]

Hi Mano,

Really nice write up and the pics were awesome as well. Looking forward for more from you. Cheers!!

[manolin]

Originally Posted by ampere

Did you not go to Manikaran? On the way you see a power plant on the Parvati river. I remember there is a Dhaba on the route which I think had one of the sitting view points of lunch/tea!

I did not know of Manikaran. googling it up now.

Originally Posted by Judemayne

Dear Mano,
I must pat you on the back for some excellent pics-Manali jumps out at you through them. Great travelogue-"Jatras"-are you from Orissa? or Odisha as I am told its new name?? How much did the hotel across cost??
Regards,
Col J H Mayne

Yup, Sir. I am from Orissa The hotel had costed us around Rs. 2200 (with extra bed). But it was peak season with weekday holidays.

Originally Posted by chethan.ram

Nice write up and amazing pictures.

Originally Posted by ExtremeTorque

Mano, excellent pics, especially the ones with low shutter speed (river and fire performance). Your travelogue has come exactly when i started planning for a manali/shimla trip for this december. Please expects some PM's, later in the day.

thanks.

Originally Posted by lordofgondor

Man, this is an interesting log of your thoughts. As rightly mentioned, the pics are underexposed. So did you stroll through the lanes of old Manali for those world cup screenings?



This is exactly what I am scared of! Of what will happen to the (still a lot) virgin beauty of the Manali-Leh highway. I really hope that they only allow access through the tunnel to the defense forces and locals. I'd hate to see plastic/polyethylene bags lying around Baralach La, as they're so abundant around Rohtang Jot.

Lord of Gondor, Elendil!

Yes I would just walk up from my friend's house before the bus stand, through the Mall, upto to old manali. Change the restaurant everyday, and watch the matches everyday. Sitting now in a cubicle, the memories of those days do come across very fondly.

I will be contacting you in a few days about tirthan valley. Really interested in seeing it.

Originally Posted by sami316

Hi Mano,

Really nice write up and the pics were awesome as well. Looking forward for more from you. Cheers!!

Thanks!

[lordofgondor]

Originally Posted by manolin

Lord of Gondor, Elendil!

Yes I would just walk up from my friend's house before the bus stand, through the Mall, upto to old manali. Change the restaurant everyday, and watch the matches everyday. Sitting now in a cubicle, the memories of those days do come across very fondly.

I will be contacting you in a few days about tirthan valley. Really interested in seeing it.

Hey mate, now you're making me feel nostalgic. *sigh* The rustic (and slightly shady) charm of old Manali is something to be experienced; makes one feel being in some other time/place. Been too long since I went there, too darn long.

Whenever you feel like talking about Tirthan, just shoot. Planning to go there myself during monsoons and check out (and pluck) the apples in there.

EDIT: Just reread your thoughts on the upcoming tunnel and loved it when you compared it to Shelob's lair. Maybe she'll be waiting for anyone who enters the tunnel with thoughts to pollute what's beyond.