Day 3- Manali to Kaza

Spiti Trip, Day 1- Delhi to Manali

Spiti Trip, Day 2- At Manali
Practical Information about Home Stay Trek in Spiti
Pictures from Spiti
A Note on Acclimatization

So, at Manali I set the alarm clock to 3.45 and soon fell asleep. It felt as if the alarm went almost the next moment. I got up first, gulped Avomine (anti-nausea medicine for motion sickness on hill roads) and let the others sleep while I captured the wash room. Soon, it was the turn of the others to gulp Avomine and get ready.

The lazy bones made it 4.30 by the time we left. We walked to the bus stand and located the Kaza bus and found ourself three seats. We were given the start time of 5.00 am but the bus moved at 5.30, though at that hour 5 or 5.30 hardly makes any difference.I wake up like a dead fish in the mornings.

We Stopped for Tea at Rohtang Pass, near Manali

I was wide awake till we stopped for tea at Rohtang Pass around 7.30 in the morning. At that hour the place was empty but otherwise it is known for attracting huge crowds. Had a nice cup of tea in the chilly weather and soon the driver gave his customary honk to let us know that he was about to start again. By now the Avomine was taking its effect and I was getting zonked. Yet I remember opening my eyes at Gramphu and I was stuck by its beauty. But I was too sleepy to take out the camera and take a picture on the moving bus.

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Batal- Our Lunch Point

The only time I properly opened my eyes on this was to eat food at Batal. The rice and rajma
tasted heavenly and the tea after it was just what I needed. However, once again the bus started moving and I became aware of myself at Losar, another beautiful village and another stop for tea, some hours later.

I also remember Kunzun-La vaguely and I took a hazy picture too. I became quite awake at Rangrik, and that is quite close to Kaza. Sesha told us that at some point a well built (probably intoxicated too) man boarded the bus and refused to pay his fare and made quite a ruckus. He says, after looking at the man's built the conductor and the driver let the ticket issue pass. Well, I slept through all this.

Finally, around 4.00 in the evening nearly 11 hours after we boarded the bus, we were at Kaza. We saw two hotels quote close to the bus stand and checked in at the first one (Delley Hotel) and it was quite OK. We always promise ourselves that we will explore a lot of hotels before we check in. But the reality that almost always we check into the first acceptable option because we have no energy left.

Later, we went for a cup of coffee and soon had food and once again called it a day.


Other related posts-

Spiti Trip, Day 1- Delhi to Manali

Spiti Trip, Day 2- At Manali

Practical Information about Home Stay Trek in Spiti
Pictures from Spiti
A Note on Acclimatization

Spiti Trip, Day 2- At Manali

Spiti Trip, Day 1- Delhi to Manali
Practical Information about Home Stay Trek in Spiti
Pictures from Spiti

So, we finally reached Manali after 20 long hours of starting from Delhi (that account is available from the first link above) once again on a private bus.

The first thing we needed to find was a hotel. We wanted to try our luck at Sunshine Guest House in Manali as it was recommended at Indiamike. Sesha offered that we take an auto (that means he was too tired, otherwise it is always on foot) to the place. However, on reaching there we found it was completely booked.

Sesha once again asked us to guard the rucksacks while he would find us a room. So, off he went and quite quickly returned and walked us to D'Chatel (picture below). When he started paying for our room (he just loves lousy hotel rooms) I was quite surprised that he took out multiple 500 rupees notes to pay. The room was large, had an extra bed for Dilip (my nephew) and I guess it was Sesha's way of saying he was sorry he dragged us through 20 hour Delhi-Manali ordeal.

D'Chatel at Manali

The room was just fine at Rs 1500 and the next thing to hunt for was food. The hotel had a restaurant called Mom's Kitchen and we wanted to grab something quickly. With hindsight I can say we were lucky that the restaurant was not serving lunch at 4.00 in the evening. The people at the hotel pointed out the Shanti Dhaba and we had an excellent late lunch there, of course followed by tea.

The Shanti Dhaba

After lunch, it was time to book tickets for Kaza. We were not sure if the buses had started plying on Manali-Kaza route but our first stop for inquiry was the government bus stand. We were in good luck and buses were running and we bought three tickets for the next day 5.30 am bus.

Cars at Rohtang Pass- Manali

After the booking the bus ticket we were free to roam around but we are not very fond of Manali. It is just way too crowded in the season. And anyway we were too tired to do much. So, we came back to the hotel. Dilip and I had another tea session. Then for dinner Dilip and Sesha decided to have dinner at Mom's kitchen ignoring my advice against it. Well, the food was very ordinary and quite overpriced. The patron too was acting quite pricey and we did not enjoy the meal at all.

After the meal, it was time to read our books (all three of us were reading different books) and set the alarm in my mobile for 3.45 am.


Other posts related to Spiti

Spiti Trip, Day 1- Delhi to Manali
Practical Information about Home Stay Trek in Spiti
Pictures from Spiti

Spiti Trip, Day 1- Delhi to Manali

The Lousy Private Bus that we Took from Delhi to Manali

After delaying for sometime, I have finally started writing my Spiti trip account. This time, I thought I will record it one day at a time. There are two reasons for this, first, if done at one go, the post becomes too long. And two, there are no travel plans for a long time now, as July is the more heavy semester for me, so I have to make do with my past travels for a long time.

I still very clear remember my excitement that Friday when we were about to head to Kaza. I had taken care of all the office work by Thursday and I was really restless on that Friday, it felt like 3.00 pm will never come. Even indulging in my favorite sport of teasing my colleagues who were not taking a vacation brought little respite.

We hired a taxi to ISBT and left home by 4.30, hoping to reach Manali early in the morning. Dilip (my nephew) asked the cab driver to put a 'Deep Purple' cassette on the player and that is what I listened all the way to ISBT. I keep asking him why he likes to listen to Ghara Bagnee (that is Deep Purple in Hindi) and he acts irritated and makes cute faces.

After reaching ISBT we had two options, to take an ordinary bus leaving immediately (5.30 pm) and reach Manali by 9.30 in the morning or to take a deluxe bus that started at 8.30 at the night. Dilip and Sesha dumped their rucksacks and said they will go and get the 8.30 bus tickets. I sat down with my novel guarding the rucksacks and waiting for their return.

When these two returned after 15 minutes they had a completely new plan! They wanted to take a private bus at 6.00 pm that would reach Manali at 6.00 in the morning. I was not at all keen but I was outvoted by two to one.

We walked with the private agent to the bus. It was a sleeper bus but we had normal push back seats. The bus did not move at all by six. I had started grumbling but then I did not want to spoil everybody's mood by doing so excessively. The bus started moving at 6.45 and just kept on going from here to there to pick up more passengers within Delhi. At 8.30 in the night it came back to same place from where we had started! By this time we all had realized that we were in for a very long trip to Manali.

By 9.30 at night we were still at the outskirts of Delhi. The bus would stop every 5 minutes and wait for passengers as they still had a few vacant seats. Many people inside were really getting desperate and vocal by now. Some shouted that they were given the starting time of 4.30 pm and yet at 10 in night we were still barely outside Delhi.

Anyway, around 10 at night, the bus finally started moving and by 11.30 we were at Karnal and stopped for dinner. After that, I feel asleep, hoping that we would wake up in Manali.

At around 3.30 at night the bus had a flat tire. We got out and thankfully the weather was pleasant, with lot of lightening. Meanwhile, they were trying to change the tire and after 25 minutes of struggling, they decided they have to move the bus a little ahead as it was standing on a slope and that was causing problems. We were somewhere in Punjab and still very far away from Manali. When we started off sometime later we were just not sure of anything anymore. The bus made a few more unscheduled stops for reasons best understood to the driver and the conductor only.

We finally reached Manali at 2.00 in the afternoon, completely exhausted and 20 hours after we had boarded the bus for a journey that takes 15 hours at the most. Sesha tried to make it up to us by finding a big lavish room in a comparatively expensive hotel without any such demands from our side.



Account of some of our other Bus/Road Journeys-

Mandi to Delhi on a Private Vovlo that we had to ditch mid-way

Delhi to the Tunnel at Aut in a Government Volvo Bus

Manali to Leh Road Journey

Manali (Himanchal Pradesh): Beautiful but Crowd and Litter Everywhere!

Manali

Manali is a picturesque small town in the Kullu Valley, in the Indian state of Himanchal Pradesh. It attracts a lot of Indian and foreign tourists, particularly in the summer months. I visited Manali in June 2005 because it is on the way to Ladakh. When rest of the India is buckling under heat wave, Manali is cool and pleasant and therein lays its charm.

There is a rail link from Delhi to a place called Jogindernagar and after that, one has to travel 92 km by bus to reach Manali. We tried this in the year 2002, while trying to reach Bhunter. The train runs on narrow gage. But in summer months, they are horribly crowded and move only by divine intervention. I remember we abandoned the train at Kangra and continued by bus.

By bus, Manali is 16 hours from Delhi. Both government and private operators offer bus services. Government buses are cheap but slightly uncomfortable. Private buses (2X2) are more costly and the seats recline but many of them are in bad shape. Only the Volvo Goldline AC buses look in proper shape but they cost twice the amount of the non AC 2X2 private buses.

The Gadhan Thekchoking Gompa

Manali is full of hotels of all size and shape. As soon as the bus stops at Manali, brokers of all kind descend upon the travelers. One can take their help to find a hotel or walk in any that strikes your fancy and ask for a room. The places that we stayed at are nothing to write home about.

There are many things to do at Manali but we have sampled only a few. Here are some of the attractions that we visited.

The Hidimba Temple: Hidimba is a character out of the famous epic Mahabharata and there is a temple devoted to her. One can take a taxi to the place but one can as easily walk up there. The way is through pine forest and as you come near the temple, you will find people trying to sell all kind of things. I remember an opportunity to get photographed with a Yak or wear a python around my neck! I declined both. The temple in itself is a curious wood building adorned with animal horns and is worth a visit. Remember you are required to remove your shoes to visit Hindu temples.

The Gadhan Thekchoking Gompa: Situated right in the middle of the city is this peaceful Buddhist architecture. It has the ‘wheels of life’ all around it and beautiful paintings and statue of Lord Buddha inside. One can voluntarily donate some money (even small amounts as Rupees 5 are welcome) that is used for maintaining the Gompa. I enjoyed this serene and beautiful place.

The Rohtang Pass

The Rohtang Pass (a little more than 50 km from Manali) lies on the way to Leh. When we had started for Leh at 2 am and when we reached there an hour later, the place was bewitching. As far as the eye could see, there was snow and silence. I passed through it again while coming back from Leh. This time it was 11.00 am in the morning and as far as the eye could see there were vehicles parked all over the place and temporary tents selling food have sprung up everywhere.

The Mall Road

The main market in Manali is situated along The Mall Road. It gets crowded in the evenings in the summer months. One can buy shawls, Kullu caps, shirts or other stuff in this area. I found that prices here are lower than Ladakh. There are many eating joints along this road and one can try these places. Many hotels are also on this road. The busiest part of the town where one can take a stroll but it will not be leisurely. It could be more enjoyable in the off-season months.

Paragliding, river rafting, trekking routes and many other things can be tried in Manali but I have no personal experience of it.

What I do not like about Manali: The place is too crowded for words in the summer months and it makes it impossible to do anything leisurely.

The second thing that completely put me off Manali is the amount of litter strewn everywhere. For this I have to blame us only, the Indian tourists. We Indians take a lot of pride in keeping our houses spotlessly clean but when it comes to streets, we litter with glee. How many times you will see people sitting in a swank car eating potato chips. A little while later the empty packet of chips will be thrown in the beautiful surroundings without a thought. Imagine what will happen to a place that attracts throngs of people? It becomes dirty like anything and yet people will keep on throwing things without a thought. This was the biggest put off for me in Manali.

Those who are trying to go on trekking routes from Manali have to visit it. So, do the people who want to go to beautiful Leh or Lahul and Spiti. There is no avoiding Manali for them. And they will have to go in season only as the routes to other places are open only during those months.

On the Way to Rohtang Pass: Traffic Jam

A traffic jam near Rohtang Pass, Manali, India

I passed through the Rohtang pass (a little more than 50 km from Manali) on my way to Leh. We had started at 2 am from Manali and when we reached the Rohtang Pass, an hour or two later, the place was bewitching. As far as the eye could see, there was snow and silence. A narrow road passed through it and I thought I would like to visit it on its own.

I passed through it again while coming back from Leh. This time it was 11.00 am in the morning and I could not recognize the place. As far as the eye could see there were vehicles parked all over the place and temporary tents selling food have sprung up everywhere. The Pass was crowded and as we Indians litter like maniacs, the place was beyond recognition. The views in the distance were still as beautiful but I am not sure that I will enjoy it much.

P.S. I have a new member in my family, a little niece who came on this earth on July 30, 2005. I will be catching up with the internet world as soon as possible.

Manali: The Plastic Heaven

A few days back, I was in a famous hill station in India, Manali. It has got a cool climate, fabulous hills and trees, apart from other attractions. It draws a large number of people for the holiday season. With it comes the malaise of plastic and cans thrown all around and drowning the place. Every touristy road is littered with wrappers of chips and cola cans and much more. So much, so that after a while plastic litter is the dominant thing about the place that one notices. Needless to add that it detracts so much from the charm of the place. I will never think of visiting Manali for a vacation, at least, not in the tourist season (this time I was there because it is on the way to Ladakh).

And one wonders what is the way out? All those who keep their homes spotlessly clean, litter with abandon on the streets! One day, if I have the time and the money, I wish to form a group of volunteers and clean up a small area in some place (or as large as we can) after the tourist season is over.