Two Tickets to Paradise…MANALI !

Right in front of me on a plate was a large momo shaped dish that has managed to tangle my taste buds. This was called SIDDU. The delicacy was filled with a stuffing made from boiled peas, cashew, walnuts, roasted peanuts, garlic and green chillies and was served with coriander chutney. This delicacy is a Himachali dish which we had during our trip to Manali and Kullu. My partner was really into street food and we had stumbled across this dish while visiting the medieval Naggar Castle.

This amazing trip was undertaken by me and my partner during March 2018. I took a flight from Jorhat (Assam) to Delhi and caught up with my husband who used to stay in Delhi during those days. From there we took a bus at around 4pm in the afternoon from Inter State Bus Terminus, Kashmere Gate. We chose to travel in a government bus and we did not regret our decision once we crossed Delhi’s borders. The 16-hour bus journey gave us so many feels! Even though the seat was a tad uncomfortable yet we did not feel it as the thought of going closer to the fresh mountain air enticed us. We reached Manali the next day at around 8am. We had already made our bookings at Antartica Guest House. This quaint little guest house was located in one of the lanes of Old Manali and this was perfect considering the fact that most of the popular sightseeing spots were at a walking distance from the place. The guest house was managed by two guys and they were one of the friendliest people I have ever met. They made our stay extremely comfortable. Although I am tempted to describe my experience (with regards to the guest house) but I will keep it for a different blog.  

We freshened up within an hour and started our tour with a scrumptious breakfast at the guest house itself. Our first spot was a very old temple locally known by the name of Manu Temple. Legend has it that sage Manu (who is believed in Hinduism to be the progenitor of Mankind) meditated at the very spot where the temple was built. This is the only temple which is dedicated to him. The temple was around 1 km uphill from our place of stay. Although the place was not very extravagant in its outlook, the place exudes a sense of peace and tranquility. After spending some time we walked down towards our next destination, Hadimba Devi temple.

Amidst a very beautiful deodar forest lays an ancient 16^th century temple dedicated to Goddess Hadimba. This temple is around 1.5km from our guest house. We decided to walk and let the cool mountain air flow through us.

The smell of the pine trees took our minds of the exhaustion that we faced a little due to the little amount of sleep we got the previous night. A beautiful wooden structure comes into sight once we reached a clearing in the forest. The temple has intricately carved doors and has four square roofs. The fourth roof was made of brass and the others were made of timber tiles. The temple was adorned with sacrificial remains of various animals like goats, lambs etc. Even though the temple remains open throughout the year, a perfect time to visit would be from September to March if one wishes to escape the crowd. The temple courtyard was filled with hawkers trying to sell all sorts of commodities ranging from milk products, local food items to handicrafts and woolen clothes. There was no entry fee and the temple complex was well kept.

Splurging on food in lavish restaurants during our tour was never our idea of getting our taste buds to work. We chose to go for an open air street side small place which offered to serve the best mutton in town. This was in the market area of Old Manali. Our lunch comprised of an amazing traditional spicy mutton curry accompanied by hot steamed rice. Post lunch we went for some outdoor activities in Old manali like zip lining across the Manaslu river. We ended our day by doing a little shopping in the lanes of Old Manali. We took our dinner at Café Meraki which is an in-house restaurant of our guest house. We were served an amazing hot dinner and that helped us in getting our much needed sleep.

We woke up the next day to a well-deserved hot breakfast of omelet toast and coffee. Soon we left to explore the hills. We walked till Mall road where we were greeted by many cab owners offering to show us around. We zeroed in on a cab by striking a decent deal.

We booked a Tata Indigo car and started off our second day with an attempt to do something which we never did. PARAGLIDING!! Our guest house managers were more than happy to share an acquaintance’s number who gave us a great deal on this particular adventure sport. We were taken 8kms uphill in a separate car. Once at the top we were made to fill out a form and then our gear was brought to us. There was this huge canopy of the paraglide along with the long harness. We were assigned a pilot each and the gear was fitted onto us. We were made to run approximately 15m off a cliff and whoosh! We were flying at a highest altitude of 2000m.The scene of the river meandering all the way, the plains; the mountains took our breaths away. The experience was so thrilling. The pilot made all the maneuvers and decided where to land. We were in the air for about 15 minutes. We were also holding action cameras to capture our bravery! Once we landed, we collected our photographs and videos and then our car driver came to pick us up for our further journey.

Next on our list was a visit to a popular Buddhist monastery called Gadhan Thekchhokling Gompa. This monastery was built by Tibetan refugees in 1960. The place was filled with numerous Buddhist monks from different age groups. A big statue of Lord Buddha dominates the interior of the monastery.

From the monastery we headed straight to Nicholas Roerich Art Gallery located in Naggar. Nicholas Roerich was a Russian painter who came to India in the year 1917 and stayed there until his death in 1947. His residence was converted to an art gallery by his son Svyetoslav Roerich in 1962. The family’s private rooms have been preserved in the upper stories of the museum whereas the ground floor houses the paintings made by the artist. We came down from the castle and that’s where we had the famous Siddu. And of course one full plate of Maggi!!! Oh Come on! Mountains without Maggi is incomplete !!

Naggar castle, once home to the Raja of kullu, was our next destination. Situated at a distance of about 20km from manali town, this medieval castle was made of stone and wood. This castle boasts of an amalgamation of Himalayan and European architecture. As the Beas River flows by, this castle gives off an aura of royalty and charm. The castle has been turned into a hotel and visitors can also plan their stay to feel the royalty of kullu.

We went back to manali town where the cab left us at the entrance to the Mall road market place. We went strolling down the street looking at various stalls. We also enjoyed freshly made rabdi, piping hot samosas, sweet and tangy chaat. The mere look at the market surrounded by mountains from all sides can make anyone feel so cool. We winded up our Day 2 by a hot dinner at Café Meraki.

The last leg of our journey began quite early at around 6.30am next morning. We were served hot coffee by our hosts and we soon checked out of the guest house with very positive vibes and a truthful promise of returning. We took the same cab from the day before and headed off to Solang Valley. The journey from manali town to Solang was a breathtaking one, to say the least. The winding roads taking us uphill with the powerful Beas River pounding its way down through the mountains was a view to relish on. The drive was very romantic as we had traditional pahadi songs being played over the radio. It took us around 40 minutes to reach Solang valley. On the way we stopped at a rental shop to pick up our skiing costume. We also hired a guy who would take us to the spot for skiing. We left the cab at the parking spot and started walking towards the place. We also had the option of travelling on a Quad Bike but we gave it a pass as our guy assured us that walking will give us the necessary adrenaline rush. And the trek proved to be so thrilling. The river in that part of the valley was partly frozen so we could literally walk on top of it!

It took us 20 minutes to reach our skiing spot. We were quite early and therefore there were no other tourist except for the three of us! Our guide brought the skiing equipment with him and we quickly tried it on. And then the fun began! It was hilarious looking at the way we tried balancing on top of those skis. The guide was very helpful and he made us learn the tricks within a few minutes. At the end we put up a fairly decent show. Those 2 hours will remain forever etched in my mind as my white winter paradise where we had too much fun sliding and slipping over the white snow. We returned to our parked car and with a heavy heart started our return journey to manali.

We bid adieu to the car driver and went to have our lunch in a Punjabi dhaba at Mall Road. Post lunch we walked to the Bus stand which was around 400m from Mall Road. Our bus was at 3pm. We booked two seats in a Volvo Semi sleeper bus. The bus journey was not very comfortable and it was kind of boring. We did not get to taste the fresh air outside as we did while travelling in the Government bus. This may be surprising for some who likes to travel with extra comfort. But me and my husband always prefer to travel in such a way that we get to taste the place through its air and scenic views. We have always kept thrill and excitement above comfort. We travelled through the night and reached Delhi the next morning at 5am thereby winding up a perfect 3 days 2 nights adventurous trip.

Sneak peek into some of our expenses (It might help fellow travellers):

Hotel Antartica: Rs 1300 for 2 nights (Includes Complimentary breakfast)

Paragliding charge: Rs 2500 per couple

Car Rental for Day 2 sightseeing to Paragliding spot, Naggar Castle, Nicholas Roerich Art Gallery, Buddhist monastery : Rs 2000

Car Rental for day 3 trip to solang valley and back: Rs 800

Ski costumes and gear rent: 400 per couple

Bus fare (Delhi to Manali) Non A/C: Rs 690 per person

Bus fare (Manali to Delhi) A/C Semi sleeper: Rs 1100 per person

Zip lining across River Manaslu: Rs 500 per couple (We got a decent deal on this one)

Tips:

1. If you do not wish to empty your pockets on some regular food then fancy high end restaurants should be avoided. The real taste of Himachal comes from street side stalls. This is so because these stalls are run by pahadi people who have kept the recipes closest to the original ones. AND they are clean!
2. Travelling in an AC Volvo bus can be a tiresome and unpleasant journey considering that fact that the bus driver only stops at a place which will have just one eating spot and the prices would be extravagant. You would have two options: Burn a hole in your pocket and eat some lousy food or else stay hungry! Therefore it would be advised to pack some eatables for the night if you are planning to travel in a Volvo.

This is all for this time, Folks. With a promise to return very soon, sayonara !