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Manali

A place with beautiful landscapes and snow-clad mountains.

[ Travel date : April 2017 ]

Being one of the cliched Indian tourist destinations, it boasts millions of people visiting every year. Manali is a town surrounded by mountains in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India. Manali lies in the North of Kullu Valley and often referred to as the 'Valley of the Gods'.

The famous apple trees of Manali here were introduced by the British.

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My trip to Manali finally happened after too many canceled plans. Plans to visit several places, all ended up canceled like It was destined for me to be in Manali. So when it was final, I decided to go trekking and experience something I had never done before. A trek to Kheerganga. It was quite challenging for me, first of all, a 24 Km trek to and fro, and trust me there were few moments when I was so tired and wanted to quit but the only thing that kept me going was the beauty of Manali.

 

You can visit Manali anytime throughout the year, and this place will never fail to impress you. However, the peak season is during the summer season, when people actually want to be in a cooler place.

 

Reaching Manali is very easy. You can choose any mode to travel: Air (nearest airport around 50 Km from Manali) or Road (the overnight journey from Delhi to Manali).

 

We did the same, traveled from Nagpur to Delhi (via train) & Delhi to Manali (via bus).

Day 1 : Reaching Manali

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After reaching Delhi in the afternoon, we took a bus for Manali in the evening. It was my first time traveling via bus to the north. A journey of around 12-13 hours.

 

As we were crossing the state borders from Delhi to Haryana to Punjab and finally to Himachal, I could completely feel the change in weather and temperature. Due to the excitement I had for traveling to a new place, I couldn't sleep all night and kept thinking about it.

Though at some point, I did fell asleep. At around 6 AM in the morning, as soon as I opened my eyes and saw outside the window, I could see the orange light of sun spreading on the white mountains, and with the mix of little warmth of sun-rays in the chilling air, I felt welcomed.

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Passing through small villages, and able to see the mountains up close always makes my heart happy.

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We stopped at a "Dhaba" for a while, as soon as we stepped out of the bus, I felt really cold. Took out one more jacket and my monkey cap and ran towards the "chai wala" cause "पहाड़ों में चाय पीने का अलग ही मज़ा होता है". Stood by the road-turn, observed the view of mountains while I was sipping tea, soon after around 5-10 min bus conductor called us to board the bus as the engine whirred.

 

As we were reaching toward the bus stop, the roadside view got completely changed. Heavy rainfall with Beas river (known as Vyaas commonly) flowing in the deep chasm that goes along the right side of the road which I could barely see through the window due to the fog. I was a bit scared because of the weather and the way the bus driver was actually driving. I could never imagine myself driving at more than 30 kmph here credits to the sharp turns and narrow road but the bus drivers here seem to have seasoned well and they know all turns like the back of their hands. But it was still scary for me.

 

Finally, after an adventurous ride :P, reached the Manali bus stop. From there we checked-in to our hotel.

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DAY 2 : Around the town

So we started our trip by visiting the nearby places of Manali. At first, we went to "Gulaba".

 

Gulaba

Gulaba fell on our way to Rohtang Pass. It is a small village and can be found covered in snow during this particular season. In winters, one can enjoy many ice skating, skiing, paragliding, trekking, and much more here in Gulaba.

 

Since it was the month of March, for us it has very little amount of snow to offer to our eyes but still an outstanding view to look at.

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One can rent the snow dress and boots here to play freely in the snow.

 

We played for a while and then before heading to Solang Valley, had the mandatory "Eating Maggi in the mountains" moment.