[nimbleguru]

It all started BIG. The initial plan was a lovely trip overseas with my wife - Switzerland in particular!


We did quite an extensive research on Switzerland. After all the calculations and stuff, we came to a sad realization - could not make it due to budget constraints; even with both our salaries combined. A huge bummer.
Besides, the decision to buy a new flat also stopped us from spending big.

But..But , we were determined to take a break from the hectic, monotonous office lives. So we sought out a relatively cheaper substitute for Switzerland here in our own country - Manali.
We decided to go the most usual way - fly to Delhi and board a bus to Manali.

Once the place was finalized, then started the never ending travel plans, bookings and all. I believe that there is a sense of achievement and joy when you do all the planning for your trip. So I did !

Here are some statistics :


And some teasers :






Next up, is the trip details and some more snaps.

[aktarcar]

Even I experienced the snow this time.Had been part of my college tour to North India.And the chills and thrills are worth every penny spent looking forward to your travel report.Had stayed in Conifer there, near hadimba temple.
OT: And the best part was spotting a gypsy with Team Bhp sticker, which instantaneously put a big smile on my face.

[gajadonga]

Good start nimbleguru and nice pictures.
Never mind your Swiss trip even I was there last week in Manali and the snow and enjoyment was great.
Manali is worth the enjoyment in the snow.

[thedreamcatcher]

Good trip and Manali is one of the best places in the world to be in, and would certainly never think of it as a cheap substitute to a place like Switzerland

No doubt, the Swiss alps and the rest of the works do have a certain beauty and is no doubt beautiful a place to visit, Manali, Rohtang, Sikkim and so on also offer splendid nirvana. Nice trip, looking for more details on the heavenly abodes in our very own country

[nimbleguru]

Day - 1: Bangalore to Delhi

We ( Me and wife ) got up at 6:00 AM all excited and got ready. Wife had neatly packed the cloths, water and medicines the previous day.
Normal cloths in one bag and a separate bag for warm cloths.
(this was going to be a very good idea later on).
I am always against the idea of traveling heavy, but this time,wife insisted..hard.

Indigo flight no 6E 275 was supposedly scheduled to depart from Bangalore to Delhi at 10:50 AM IST. We were all ready at around 7:00 AM, And then the thing we feared happened. We got a message from Indigo airlines that the flight has been delayed by an hour or so. We decided to go to the airport and wait, just to be on a safer side.
So we finally left home !!

Here's my Murphy’s law of air travel :
For connecting flights/trains/buses, if you have a very small amount of buffer/layover time between them ; then the first flight will invariable be too late for the next connecting commute.
On the other side of the spectrum, if you have too much buffer/layover time, then your first flight will be on time..heck it even reach the destination early, thereby painfully increasing your buffer/layover time.

Last time we were traveling from Bangalore to Surat ( Bangalore to Mumbai by Goair and then take a train from Mumbai to Surat) , we had 3 to 4 hours buffer time between the flight and train. Go air was late by 5 hours and messed up all our plans !!

This time it happened the other way round..which i'll explain later.

Continuing the travelogue..we finally boarded the Indigo flight at 12:00 PM IST.It was quite an uneventful journey to Delhi.

Too much writing...I'm sure very few would have the patience to read thru my boring travelogue



So, here's some more snaps :


BIAL :

[Turboholic]

nimbleguru you just gave an idea for my next quick 4 day trip. I just cant wait for this story to unfold. Keep it coming.

Originally Posted by nimbleguru

Day - 1: Bangalore to Delhi

We ( Me and wife ) got up at 6:00 AM all excited and got ready. Wife had neatly packed the cloths, water and medicines the previous day.
Normal cloths in one bag and a separate bag for warm cloths.
(this was going to be a very good idea later on).
I am always against the idea of traveling heavy, but this time,wife insisted..hard.

Indigo flight no 6E 275 was supposedly scheduled to depart from Bangalore to Delhi at 10:50 AM IST. We were all ready at around 7:00 AM, And then the thing we feared happened. We got a message from Indigo airlines that the flight has been delayed by an hour or so. We decided to go to the airport and wait, just to be on a safer side.
So we finally left home !!

Here's my Murphy’s law of air travel :
For connecting flights/trains/buses, if you have a very small amount of buffer/layover time between them ; then the first flight will invariable be too late for the next connecting commute.
On the other side of the spectrum, if you have too much buffer/layover time, then your first flight will be on time..heck it even reach the destination early, thereby painfully increasing your buffer/layover time.

Last time we were traveling from Bangalore to Surat ( Bangalore to Mumbai by Goair and then take a train from Mumbai to Surat) , we had 3 to 4 hours buffer time between the flight and train. Go air was late by 5 hours and messed up all our plans !!

This time it happened the other way round..which i'll explain later.

Continuing the travelogue..we finally boarded the Indigo flight at 12:00 PM IST.It was quite an uneventful journey to Delhi.

Too much writing...I'm sure very few would have the patience to read thru my boring travelogue



So, here's some more snaps :


BIAL :

[nimbleguru]

@thedreamcatcher: Sorry, I didn't mean that. I meant Manali will be cheaper than Switzerland in terms of budget. Right?

@Turboholic: If you need any info, do PM me. I’d be glad to help what I can.

Day - 1: Delhi to Manali

We reached Delhi at 2:30 PM. We did not intend to stay at Delhi. Our overnight HRTC Volvo bus to Manali was at 8:30 PM from ISBT Kashmere gate, so we had plenty of time to kill. We took the Delhi police pre paid taxi from Delhi airport to Kashmere gate. We had decided to wait at ISBT instead of Airport - A BAD IDEA!

I'm really sorry to say this but ISBT kashmere gate was a complete mess. There were constructions going on every where. Not even a single decent place to sit!! We were wandering with two huge dead weight luggage bags. It would have been way better if we stayed at the airport. Finding the HRTC Volvo bus terminal was another thing.

Also we were hungry. The food at the small stalls at ISBT did not seem so hygienic.Besides we did not want to take any chances at the very beginning of our trip.
Luckily for us, this one gentleman directed us to the McDonald behind ISBT (next to the metro station gate 7). We thanked the gentleman and hurriedly left for McDonald. Had a nice satisfying veg meal at McD.

By the time we finished our meal it was around 3:30 PM. Now what???
We could not "sight see" with those big luggage’s on us. We had to kill another 5 hour or so. We had no other choice but to wait. We made ourselves comfortable on the stone bench thingy opposite the metro station gate 7 with our luggage. Surprisingly, there were other people too who where waiting there for their buses !!
It was getting horribly chilly as time passed. All the warm cloths were already out at ISBT . Only relief was the tasty hot tea at ISBT.

Finally after what seemed like eternal waiting, we spotted our bus and boarded it.The HRTC Volvo was - to say fine. Considering the weather and all , strangely enough they did not provide any blankets !!

I'm not sure where we stopped later on in the night, but there was a buffet dinner for Rs 130/-.The bus kept on stopping at regular intervals during our journey. I was half asleep and did not notice anything.

Finally reached Manali at 10:30 AM the next day.

Some snaps :








Our HRTC Bus






Kulu bus stand






Kid selling boiled chickpea



Our conductor for the day



Colorful Himachal buses

[thedreamcatcher]

Hmmm. The pic with the snow clad peak sticking out brings back so many memories and a heartfelt longing for more

There are days when you see this place, and you want to chuck everything and go stay there by the peaks.I am also planning yet another trip to manali

[nimbleguru]

Day - 3: Manali

Since it had snowed heavily the previous day, it was subzero temperature in Manali. The Volvo stopped a kilometer before the Manali Mall road (somewhere at a pertol pump).We had to hire a car to take us that one kilometer. Rs 100/- for 1 kilometer ride !!!

I had researched on many hotels in Manali.
We are easily pleased. So, No frills or fancy hotels.All we needed was a decent and clean place to lay our heads at night.After lot of searches and reviews, we decided to go for Hotel New Adarsh at mall road.

Why Hotel Adarsh??
1. Had a very good review on trip-advisor and other sites.
2. Rooms looked clean and tidy.
3. Room rates were very nominal Rs/- 660 per day (off season).
4. Right on the mall road, hence easy access to any thing in Manali

Only negative point was the entrance to the Hotel. It was behind the mall road. One needs to cross a dodgy alley to reach the main hotel lobby.
I don’t know why people make a big deal out of the "view" from the hotel room. We didn't intend to stay at our hotel room the whole day.
Just get out of the hotel and bang ....there's your view...outside ..everywhere!
Anyways, we could still get the view from the corridor of the hotel.

We also met the hotel owner Mr.Vineet and his brother Mr.Vikas. Both very charming and courteous gentlemen.They suggested us some good places to visit in and around Manali.

Later on, we met a couple who stayed at some hotel away from mall road (I don’t remember which one), but they said commuting between
mall road and hotel was becoming a nuisance as it was up the hill or something and taxi/auto were asking double/triple amount because of the
slippery roads.

For 660/- bucks, the room was not bad at all.
It was more than enough for two of us. Room/Bathroom was clean.
I'll put some snaps of the hotel. You be the judge.
We also rented a room heater. Rs 150/- per day.
You need to literally sit on the heater to get some "heat" out of it

Today was resting day. We had a good breakfast and took some rest.
Later in the evening we enquired about the possible places to visit and the taxi rates.The hotel manager of Adarsh, offered us to get a shared taxi to Manikaran next day.We obliged and he got us a recipt of Rs 600/- (2 persons sharing) for the taxi to Manikaran for next day.
Some more snaps :

Room pics :







The heater :















Big foot ?















Next up, Visit to MAnikaran - Hot water spring.

[Ride_4_Fortune]

Beautiful pictures nimbleguru. Himachal is in the list of my travel destinations. I hope to see it some day.
Looking forward for your travelogue and more pictures.

[MCR]

Excellent TL nimbleguru. Your TL will be my Manali trip guide. The room heater is so small. How did you manage to stay warm? Also, Isn't metro connection available from Airport to ISBT?

[sami316]

WOW! Good start to the TL nimbleguru and nice pictures. Really liked the pics of the snow clad trees and peaks. Looking forward for more pics. Whats the camera you used.

[addyhemmige]

Nice pictures nimbleguru. The picture of the HRTC Volvo shows that they are maintaining them well. How was the journey from Delhi to Manali? Was it very strenous? Btw, the print of the shoe on the snow is very detailed, good catch

[nimbleguru]

@ Ride_4_Fortune: Thank You. Hope to see your Himachal travelogue soon.

@MCR: Thanks. PM me for any details. I’ll be gald to help.

Room heater are not enough for such subzero climate. Heck, even 2 such heaters won’t make a difference.
If you stay very close (I mean dangerously close) to the heater, then you might get a bit warm.

We had - as they say "Layered up" with cloths:
1. Inners or thermals
2. Tshirt/full shirt/thick jeans
3. A good full arm sweater
4. A wind cheater or a water proof jacket.
5. Woolen gloves
6. And to top it a muffler/monkey cap

Even after layering up we were shivering. So I suggest get more warm cloths.
(Of course the scenario might be different in summer which I’m not sure of)
Our conventional shoes don’t hold good in snow. One could hire those "gum boots" for rent.

Regarding the metro: Since the route from airport to ISBT was relatively new, we did not take any chances. We hired a cab.It came to around 300/- something. It would be cheaper if you hire a auto.

@sami316: Thanks. It's Canon EOS 1000D DSLR with stock lens. And a little bit of photo editing.

@addyhemmige: Thank you. The snap is deceiving you . I wouldn't say the Volvo was excellent. It was OK. Some plastic of the seats were broken and
one section of the window glass was taped.
Journey was not bad - to say. Most of the time were asleep and did notice anything (the cool weather also helped a lot)
If you have any back problems or vomiting problems, I would not suggest such long journeys (nearly 14 hrs from Delhi to Manali).
Just don’t eat heavy oily food while travelling since it’s a curvy ghat roads.

[nimbleguru]

Day - 4: Manikaran

We were supposed to start at 10:00 AM from Manali to Manikaran.
It’s a 3 hour journey - one way.We dragged ourselves out of the beds at 7:00 and finished our morning chores.

Bathing in such cold weather is another fun activity
By the time you finished your bath, it’s like a mini cloud in the bathroom.

We were ready, had our breakfast and reached the cab ( A Qualis ) sharp at 9:45 AM. There were already 2 couples occupying the front two
seats of the cab, so we were shoved in the back seats.
There were supposed to be 4 couples in all, but one of the couples were late (no surprise here: Indian Standard Time).

We waited for another hour or so. Finally the last couple arrived at around 11:00 and we set off hastily.
Later, turns out the last couple was late because they walked all the way to the Mall road from up the hill from their hotel as most of the
cars/auto demanded double/triple money to get them back to Mall road !

First stop was the Shawl factory near Manali.
I purchased the traditional Himachal cap for Rs 60/-
Wife already had a pashmina shawl, hence did not buy anything.

Snap time:

Manali Mall Road ( Next to the circle )







Snow clad mountain



Can you decipher this :









Another shot of the mall road :



A Random Gypsy :



Shawl factory snaps :





Cricket everwhere in India





Rafting boat :





People rafing in such cold weather !!
I could barely take out my gloves to take snaps
It seems rafting was cheap because of off season.
Not sure how much it cost though.





A contraption locals use to cross the river





A weaver in action :



Tea break , on the way :