Manali Adventures

Manali Adventures

I finished my last day at Schlumberger after 13 years of service. Before starting up on my new job, I have a month’s break. My husband Santosh was planning on a trek with his friends so we had only a small window before he went on his trek to the Himalayas to plan on a holiday. We decided on the same destination doing non-trek activities considering a pregnant lady and six year old child. This was to make use of the small window of time we had. My blog below will be travelogue from our trip.

 Day 1 – Flying to Chandigarh

Manali is fairly north of the Himalayas so getting to it is not that very easy. There are no direct flights to Manali from Bangalore. We had to fly to either Chandigarh or Delhi to then make our way to Chandigarh. The initial plan was to fly to Chandigarh and then drive to Manali. However this plan was vetoed by my gynecologist because of 10 hour car ride. So the plan was modified to fly to the kullu airport at Bhuntar. With this plan in mind, we flew off from Bangalore after my last day at Schlumberger. The flight was three hours long and was quite fun managing an excited six-year-old who kept asking if we reached the destination every five minutes! We landed at the beautiful city of Chandigarh with its French style of planned roads with roundabouts that reminded me of Paris. We had a one night stay at Chandigarh at Hotel Radisson. We reached our hotel a little hungry and so gobbled up the sandwiches we ordered along with tea and milk. 

After that we kicked off the holiday with a swim at the hotel pool and then decided exercise would justify evening plans. Since we had only one night, we went into the city for dinner. Uber to the rescue meant getting around to a recommended restaurant was child’s play. Our friend Neha had suggested an authentic Indian Punjabi restaurant for dinner and so we pigged out at Swagat. I really would recommend their Kurkure bhindi and exotic Naans like cheese, Jalapeno and olive etc.

How could one not celebrate the departure from my company without a glass of wine? This was paired with Robert Mondavi white wine which suited the food.

All that was left after the meal was the ride to hotel to our inviting bed.

 Day 2- Arriving in Kullu

We had a 9:40 AM flight from Chandigarh to Bhuntar. This 40 minute flight was on a small Air india plane. Having flown low cost for so long, I had forgotten red leather seats and smell of new plane. Obviously route was not well used and we were very happy for the comfortable seats on our expensive ride to Bhuntar. The flight is far more expensive than a plane ride from Bangalore to Chandigarh! Once we took off the money justified the views we witnessed. Our landing was between two mountains into the valley with rapids on one side where we could see people rafting. Once we landed to quaint little beautiful airport one was reminded of how it might have been in the 1940s. We walked off the plane and walked to the small cute airport building which was lined with lovely rose pots and had a cute garden. It almost felt like someone’s house. The only negative of the journey was I left behind a book that I was looking forward to reading in the holidays. It was a book of short storied by Ruskin Bond. We got out of the airport and took a prepaid taxi to Manali. 

The quaint Bhuntar airport.

The ride was an hour and the rapid urbanization of the hills was very sad. Unlike other hill stations since there was no British influence, I could spot no colonial buildings. We reached our hotel at around lunch and checked in to our spacious rooms. The view from the window was that of the Hanuman tibba which was snow capped. Wow I was really looking forward to my one week at the Himalayas. After having a heavy lunch we snoozed for about 20 minutes and then set off on a walk to the Mall road at Manali. Having walked only halfway we could do no more because of the garbage on the streets and the cars that whizzed past us. It was simply not awe inspiring. We jumped into the auto rickshaw and pleaded with him to drop us off at the Mall road. When we got out at the Mall road we were thankful that it was paved and pedestrian friendly and hence was bereft of cars and autos. I was suddenly overcome with sadness. “Oh no am I going to be in an urban jungle after travelling so far” my mind wandered. Just when I had such thought, a ray of light and literally I could see a compound wall that seemed to hold a promise of a green space. I plodded my husband to snap out of the negativity and we rushed towards that compound with son in tow. Yes we found our green space at last, it was Van vihar nature park. Once I entered the spot, it was exactly what I imagined. Nice big fir trees and a massive expanse of trails with great views of the mountain and the Beas river. We had a great 2.5 kilometre walk without many people. Sadly the tourists were busy shopping in the mall road or eating at the restaurants. Of course one great advantage of that meant our trail was exclusively for us. We spotted many small birds like sparrows which we hardly see in Bangalore or Madras and this was in the backdrop of stunning snow capped peaks and a light breeze with gave us a little chill as we walked. This was truly god’s gift to Himachal and it was sad to see what the humans were turning this into. With fresh lungs in our lungs and renewed vigour we marched back to the hotel and our travel desk and planned our itinerary which was to see snow near the Rohtag pass. The travel guide gave us one tip that we need to start at 6 AM if we wanted to escape the tourists. So we gladly took the advice and retired early to make the 6 AM start. After a grand meal at the lovely Sterling resorts, we raced to our beds to get a good night sleep before our next day’s adventure.

 Day 3 (Manali)- Snow at Marhi and hike to a real village in the Himalayas

The family in the hills

Scenes from our climb.

We woke up at 5 AM without an alarm because of the excitement of seeing something outside Manali and showing Keshav snow. Our driver for the day called us at 5:45 to say he was ready and available. We got ready and were down by 6:10 AM. The streets were very empty and we could see the hotels thinning out as we started to drive along the river Beas. Raju the driver told us that a massive landslide had wiped out some illegal hotels a few months back. Perhaps it was a way for nature to show her fury. As we started our ascend toward Marhi, Raju warned us that we should get snow suits and boots to protect our clothes and stopped at his friend’s shop. We bought the snow gear thinking anyway we are doing our bit for the local economy. As we started climbing hanuman tibba, the Himalayan beauty was becoming apparent to us. Here far from human civilization, the beauty of God’s creation was showing us itself in all it’s beauty and power. We reached Marhi by 8 AM and marvelled at the narrow roads built by the BRO at this height that allowed us to enjoy this splendour. 

Views from our ride

As we started walking toward the snow the excitement built up in the pits of our stomach. Santosh and me had gone skiing in Switzerland and we could not believe that such magnificence was available in our own land. Keshav who has been wanting to touch snow ever since we saw it in Norway was thrilled to bits. He went berserk running towards the snow and sliding on it. Our snow gear really helped us get down and dirty. The insulation was amazing too. Secretly I thanked Raju our driver for pushing us towards it. In the Himalayan chill, the insulation made us all the more grateful. At first we had to have the customary snow ball fight and Keshav showed us his 22 teeth as he grinned from ear to ear. 

Santosh and Keshav went tube sliding and their shrieks of excitement made me jealous about not enjoying the same. Being pregnant, one had to be vigilant of dangers of slipping. Anyway while they were busy skidding down the hill slopes, I made my way to the river to examine the start of Beas from Rohtag pass. I also looked up the heavy snow clad slopes to discover tiny roads which were the way to the Rohtag pass and Leh. Sadly this was closed to public because of the heavy snowfall that made it dangerous to travel there. At least one could image their beauty from afar.

Snow fight.

One happy child

Looking like a mountaineer.

Keshav got off the tubes and immediately wanted to start on the next mission, which was to build a snow man. Father and son got together to build the snow man amidst a light rain. The scene was so magical that I wish I could bottle it up and relive it forever.

We headed back to our hotel and stopped on our way for some gobi parathas for a grand total of one hundred and sixty rupees. The taste could beat any food I have eaten at ritz carlton.

Once we reached our hotel, we caught a few winks before deciding on another trek to the nearby village but before that we had to replenish our stomachs. It’s incredible how hungry you feel in the hills. There could be two factors that one could attribute to this. One is we were on holiday so psychologically, one is in holiday mood and feels like eating every hour. Secondly unlike our sedentary lifestyle in Bangalore, we were walking so much that perhaps we were burning more calories and hence feeling hungry.

We started on a random walk from the hotel on the opposite direction as we did not want to repeat the mall road mistake. As we were walking down the road, we spotted a path to HP hydro electric power project. That sounded tempting and also something our driver Raju had mentioned that one could use that path and as long as people did not litter the path, no one would mind tourists walking. We used the path to walk and eventually brought us to the other side of the hill and I spotted what looked like some stairs on one side of the hill. We all got excited and started walking that up. On our way we met two locals who were surprised to see “walking tourists” and were happy to show us path to the local temple. They promised us that the views from there would be spectacular. My husband Santosh got really chatty with them and they were happy to learn about India’s famous city Bangalore from us and we about the beautiful town of Manali. As we walked up, I could not help but notice how different the whole scenery was from what we had seen before. The villages were clean and the locals kept not only their houses but streets clean as well. One could spot wild roses, apple orchards, wheat growing on the sides of the paths, many cattle that people owned and happy faces of himachali children. If I could summarize all we saw in one word it would be bliss! The piece de resistance was the lovely temple we saw on the way up. It was a wooden carved temple that I remember from the movie Roja but nothing like what I have seen in my life. We went in to the temple for a moment of medititation and thanked God for all the opportunities I have had in my life. We came down and took in the blue vistas and payed respects to mother nature again. If this is the Himalayan life, I want to live it everyday!

Roses on our way to the village

Himachali temple at Manali

Wheat fields in the mountains

Random good samaritan who showed us the way

The view of valley 

Day 4- Visiting Jana Falls and Nagar Castle

We were a little tired after the previous day adventures and literally had to tear ourselves out of bed for a day’s adventure. We looked at the tourist map after breakfast and then visited the travel desk to book a cab to Jana falls. After arranging this we assembled at 10:30 AM to kick off the day’s adventure. Our driver took us to Jana falls which is around 18 KM from Prini. The road was super bumpy and I worried about my maternal health. Anyway since nothing could be done, I pleaded with the driver to go slow and reached Jana falls feeling nauseous but thankful we made it in one piece. Keshav usually has travel sickness when we go up mountains but emset did work it’s charm and we did not have the usual problems.

Coming to Jana falls, it was amazing Himalayan forest with falls at every little nook and crany. One could walk up a few hundred meters of ascend and you could spot a beautiful waterfall. So we climbed up to one spot and then relaxed by the falls. The entire place is managed by some enthusiastic locals who act as trek guides and also get a promise that you will visit their stall for some authentic himachali food. I finished up on my blog by the sides of the waterfall after climbing up between the hills. At the hills I was greeted by another friendly hawker who was trying to see her wares. She was such a sweet talker that i got tricked into renting a Himachali costume to pose for a photograph. Since it was not too expensive, remembering my Dad's famous words "Helping local economy is good", decided to indulge and do it. She also sold me some cute socks for my unborn child and blessed me. She also reassured me that taking a bumpy ride in the himalayas would only ensure I had a safe and normal delivery. I was not very impressed by Nagar castle as there was not much to see. However the Roerich memorial trust and art gallery was very beautiful. The art was not spectacular but the ambience of the place made up for it. It's probably a good place to visit after a nice trek but otherwise i would not recommend it much.

Roerich house

Day 5- Rest day at resort

One day of break was needed to also enjoy resort amenities. It was a designated spa day for me and table tennis day for Keshav and Santosh. We also managed to play air hockey and fussball. The weather played ball and rained throughout the day and so one did not feel guilty to be indoors on a glorious day.

The day ended with us watching Iron Man 2 for the hundredth time on television.

Day 6 – Bijli Mahadev Trek

We started off at 9:30 AM with a packed lunch to Bijli Mahadev. Trip advisor did mention that the 3 km trek one way was easy, but I was wondering if my pregnant self could climb up that ascend. The drive was through Kullu and our wonderful Innova gave us a smooth ride and there was some road laying work being done so all the potholed roads a few days back had vanished to show off bright new sparkly roads. The deodar trees on the right and the wide Beas river on the right was our scenery for the day. We then took a turn off at Nagar town to start ascending towards Bijli Mahadev. The mountain gets its name because there is a tall staff that attracts lightning and break the stone shiv ling into many pieces. The lightning rod is not being removed for religious reasons or at least local could attach it to a copper wire that goes into the ground to provide grounding. But religion and reasoning never go together. Therefore, every time the lightning strikes the shiv lingam gets broken into many pieces and the locals bind it together with butter. This is the main deity.

Promise of these views at the top is what kept us going

Coming back to the trek it was a good one and half hour trek. We did have some steps build through the steep climb to help people climb up. That was very good but it did not take away from the steepness. I almost felt like giving up a couple of times but an enthusiastic six-year-old climbing up the hills and a husband who is a serial backpacker would not allow me to.  The views as we climbed up were breathtaking and the beautiful deodar trees which we don’t see in tropical south India was a sight to behold. Finally after huffing and puffing, I reached the top. This was definitely worth it as it spilled out onto green meadows with cattle, horses and billy goats chewing on the juicy green grass. I found a patch of green grass and just slumped down to rest my aching feet and back. This was pure bliss because I could see bright blue skies and also the blue mountains, the mighty Himalayas. Down below one could see the Kullu valley and also the Parvathi valley. The kullu valley also had a view of the Bhuntar airport we landed a few days back. I had never had an aerial view of a runway and that was simply awe inspiring. The runway between two hills with the rapids on the sides has to be experienced and cannot be described in words. We then payed respects to the local hindu god and saw the lightning rod.

Champion six-year-old running up the hill

Huffing and puffing to the top

Relaxing at the top

Bhuntar airstrip from Bijli Mahadev

We were a little annoyed by a bunch of noisy tourists who almost desecrated the place with their bad behavior. Sometimes one wonders if schools should include etiquette lessons to wild kids. Since we did not want to be the ones doing the teaching, we ignored them and tried to filter the noise and bad behavior.

After about two hours there, we started descending and that was definitely much easier on the heart. However, one could not say the same about the calf muscles. I could keep pace with the boys and we made it back to the car in an hour.  Just before stepping into the car, I had to have local tea and enjoy the mountain scenery. That was a pure bliss moment.

We boarded the car to make our way back to the hotel. ON the way we stopped to buy some local Kullu shawls and stooped at our favourite German Bakery for Cappuccino and carrot cake. 

Coffee and cake time

We reached the hotel at around 8 PM tired but happy to have experienced a slice of nature. We hope we could redo this in the future as a family of four. Hoping for more Himalayan holidays in the future.