I am from Gujarat. And every year for the last five years have been going to Kullu-Manali. I travel by car to Manali each summer. And if you ask me the drive is long but it is worth it. As you leave the hot plains and go into the hills, it feels like you are moving towards heaven. The breathtaking scenes, the cool air and the hair raising drive among those curvy roads is just too thrilling to describe. The cool air begins to set in as soon as you start to climb the Swarghat. But the real hills start to show up just around and after Mandi. Manali is a place which has something for all tastes. Some prefer quite valley side to just laze around, some love strolling the mall and shopping, some love to ski on the slopes above, some go for trekking, Manali and Kullu valley offer some beautiful treks. For someone who is going to Manali for the first time, some of the places to see are The Hadimbadevi Temple situated in the old Manali town, which is dedicated to the wife of Bhim, the temple is believed to have been built around 1533 AD. And is built in pagoda style over a cave and nearby is also the small temple dedicated to Gathotacch [ Hadimba & Bhim’s son ] The temple surrounded by wooden forest of deodar, which is a beautiful place to stroll around and for picnic. You can also get your photographs taken with rabbits, sitting on Yaks and wearing local dresses. In old Manali there is a Manu temple dedicated to Manu who is considered to be the father of human race. Then one can visit the beautiful Tibetian Monasteries. The monasteries are very colourful with beautiful idols of Buddhist Gods, and of course the statue of Lord Buddha. One can buy tibetian handicraft from and around these monastries. Then there are hot springs at Vashist and a temple located on the outskirts of Manali on Manali-Rohtang road at Vashist village. On the same road there is a natural spring of clear water named after Late Jawaharlal Nehru, the water is very cold, the water is believed to coming from the Brigu Lake above in the mountains. Well to just move around the main market and go around the many shopping complexes both at upper level and underground is very much fun. There are many restaurants, thalla-wallas, fruit-wendors in the market who cater all kinds of customer needs. You can get south-indian food, Punjabi, gujarati food, variety of ice-creams, Indian fast-food, like kachories, pani-puri, etc, there are also some bakeries which cater very tasty cakes, pastries. If you get tired of walking in the market and having food even though it is fun, there is a government protected wooded park near the bus station towards Kullu road. It is a beautiful place to rest and stroll around. It also has a small water spot for boating. Then there is Rotang Pass which is about 50 kms from Manali on the Manali-Leh highway. On the way to Rotang Pass on pass through Kothi which has some very beautiful scenes of Mountains overlooking beautiful valley. Then there is Rahalla falls on the road towards Rothang pass above Kothi. The views of the majestic Himalayas on reaching Rothang itself is simply breathtaking, Majestic mountain peaks covered with snow all around, here people can play in snow with their hearts content, they can also do some sking, ride a snowmobile, etc. It will generally take a whole day but still we cannot seem to get enough of the snow clad place. On the way to Rothang we can get snow clothings, gloves, coats, shoes, skies, etc for around Rs 400 to 1000 on hire. Other Places to which definitely need to be seen are, very old temples of Lord Shiva and Sandhya Gayatri at Jagatshukh which is around 15 kms on the road to Naggar. Nagar itself is very beautiful village and my favorite place. It was the capital of Kullu State for a very long time and there is the Naggar castle right as you entre Naggar which gives testimony to its glorious past. The castle itself is around 1400 years old, made up of wood and stone. It has now been turned into a Heritage Hotel run by Himachal Pradesh Tourism Deartment. If you want to buy woolens buy them as Shawl Factory’s in Kullu, Rison which is where they are made and not in Manali. If you are going to visit Manali around Diwali, try not to miss the world famous Dassehra Festival of Kullu.