The hill station of Manali, located at an altitude of 2000 meters
in the picturesque state of Himachal Pradesh is well known. The month of April, when
we visited Manali, marks the end of the long and snow-dominated winter season.
By this time, the snow has bid adieu to the town of Manali
and is present only on the upper reaches on the way to Rohtang pass. However,
the Rohtang pass still remains inaccessible and can be assessed only from
mid-May onwards. While tourists like us from the furnaces of Mumbai may find
the weather a bit chilly, the locals find it most pleasant and the best time
for exploring the outdoors.Our son had just finished writing his Xth Std exams and this
was the just the break we were longing for, after an extremely stressful year.
The flight from Delhi to the
Bhuntar airstrip at Kullu takes just an hour by Simplifly Deccan. With the Beas rapidly flowing on one side on it’s rocky bed,
the uphill and winding path ito Manali s flanked with apple and pine trees. The Club Mahindra Snow Peaks Resort
looks very ordinary from outside but has rooms providing extremely awesome views of the snow-clad
Himalayan peaks. As we stepped into our room, we were stunned by the view that
accosted us. The man at the reception had said that he was giving us the best
room they had to offer and we had instantly dismissed it as mere marketing
talk. The glistening snow-clad peaks left us stupefied .Cold and aloof, the Himalayas just stood there-stately, lofty, pompous and in regal splendour. It was quite some time before
we regained our composure. Never had we seen the Himalayas
from so near. Our unit had a living room, a balcony and a bedroom with large
windows to provide the most unhindered view of the Himalayas.In the
daytime we explored Manali and it nearby attractions, the evenings were spent
in chilling out in the interiors of our resort and the nights were spent
sleeping snuggled under quilts.
Manali offers a few attractions that are all within a short distance of each other
in and around the Mall. The main attraction at the ancient Vasistha and Ram
temples is the hot sulphur spring nearby.It took us less than a minute to see both these temples and
ten minutes to remove, deposit and wear our shoes. The pagoda shaped ancient Hadimba
and Ghattotkacha temples were next. Here I did away with the shoe ritual, preferring
to offer my salutations from outside the temple precincts. The temple
of Manu rishi, the Manu temple is
another primeval structure. At the Club House run by
the HP govt. we tried our hand at River Crossing.Every eatery at Manali displayed boards exhorting tourists
to try the “Himalayan Trout fish”. We located a smart looking café called Johnson’s
café to try the same. The Johnson’s Café was set up by one of the first British
settlers in Manali called Mr. Johnson. We realized that we had chosen the
perfect place to sample the trout as we discovered that the Johnson café was
the place that started the trend of serving this delicious and fresh local
fish. Today, every menu in every restaurant worth its salt, boasts of the trout
as specialty item. The grilled trout was served whole, in a white herbal sauce
with boiled vegetables and an accompaniment of bread and butter. The café also served an appetising
Chilly chicken served with green capsicum, fried noodles and focaccio strips. The
meal left us satisfied mentally and physically. Normally all meals at outside eating
joints leaves me feeling fully filled instead of fulfilled.
The next day’s tour was the one we were eagerly looking
forward to, as we were to experience, feel and touch snow for the first time in
our lives. Tourist cars normally drive you up towards the Rohtang pass to the
nearest point which has a fairly extensive snow cover. We had to
drive just 20 kms on the Rohtang road to locate snow at a place called Gulaba
Camp. Rohtang was another 31 kms from
here. Once you are through the Rohtang pass, you would have gained entry to the
Lahual-Spiti region. Further down this road you can keep driving another 400
kms to reach the fascinating, remote and uncharted locales of Ladakh and Leh. We had picked up fur coats, gum boots and gloves on the way rented out by enterprising local folks.Thankfully, we
decided against carrying skis, which are also given on hire. Jumping out of the
car we plodded on the snowy slopes, frolicking, sliding and throwing snowballs
at each other. Yaks roamed the hills
inviting tourists to pose on their backs for a price. Small shops served
coffee, tea and snacks. Slipping and falling on the slippery snow were a source
of amusement rather than injury. Thus ended our first tentative tryst with snow
and ice. On this road, a small off-shoot leads to the Solang valley. This is a
verdant green, open and sloping area proving to be an ideal locale for
Paragliding and Zorbing. Less than minute of paragliding sets you back by Rs.
600.The extremely hair-raising take-off and rough landing dissuaded
us from going for the paragliding experience though we enjoyed watching others
do it. The exhilarating feeling while being airborne must be indeed great! Zorbing
was another sport on offer, in which you are seated inside an inflatable
circular balloon and rolled down the slopes while your insides are churned
upside down repeatedly. Quite naturally, there were absolutely no abzorbers.
The last tour was to nearby Naggar, which served as the
capital of Kullu. It drizzled lightly throughout the day today. The Roerich
Memorial and the Naggar Castle
are the only attractions here. The famous Russian painter Nicholas Roerich had
made Naggar his home which remains preserved till this day. A small museum
displaying paintings by Nicholas and his son Stanlislav, and a Himalayan art
museum are also housed in this complex. Devika Rani, the first heart throb of
Hindi cinema had married Stanlislav and spent a large part of her life here
before passing away at Bangalore in 1994.
The Naggar castle is a brick and wood castle built by a
local Raja around 500 years ago. It has been turned into a heritage hotel run
by the government. It looked haunted even at daytime but had a good-looking
restaurant with a great view of the valley and the Beas.
From its spooky interiors, the restaurant cooked up a fairly decent meal and
served it in style.
On our last day at Manali we explored the Mall which was not
a very great experience. The Van Vihar garden is best to be avoided. Most of
the shops at the mall sell woolens which are of no use to us. A HPMC juice shop
sells a large variety of exotic juices.Bengali
tourists, who are always in majority everywhere, should try the Bengali eatery
on the Mall road. Another specialty is the large array of fruit wines available here at affordable prices –
plum, rhodo, strawberry, apple, kiwi and the apple cider. We tried the apple
cider, which tastes very similar to champagne, and the rhodo wine. We also had
a go at the momos from the Tibetan eateries and sampled the local chowmein.It rained very heavily one night accompanied by heavy light
and sound waking us up from our peaceful slumber. The Club
Mahindra Snowpeaks has a fairly well stocked bar, a multi cuisine restaurant, a
gym and a massage centre. In the evenings it arranged DJ nights and also a Himalayan
folk dance to keep their guests entertained.(Photographs uploaded seperately)