Manali ... Whenever I hear the word flashes of snow capped mountains .. natures beauty and serenity flash before my mind in fact it is the valley of gods.. I had been on a tour of Himachal pradesh starting from shimla - kullu-manali- dharamsala - dalhousie and moving on to vaishnodevi -amritsar but throughout the entire journey what has remained in my mind are three things 1. Manali 2. Vaishnodevi 3. golden temple..
I had been to manali earlier in november but I could not find any snow but this time I visited during may and witnessed the majestic beauty of the mystifing mountains .. the best time to travel to manali is during the summer time which is also the peak time so book your hotel etc. in advance .Manali has many good hotels ranging from economy to five star . We had our accomaodation at hotel ankit palace which is on naggar road a little off side from the main mall but it was worth it .. one could see breath-taking views of the mountains on all sides and even thought the hotel was in the budget category the comforts were excellent. We had our halt at manali for three days on the first day it was local sight seeing like hidimba temple, manu temple and some shopping. Day two we went on to Manikaran to visit the holy shrine of sikhs for reaching manikaran one has to go by road from manali via kulu. Manikaran is the holy pilgrimage of sikhs one can see hot water springs and cold water river flowing at the same place. The hot water is so boiling hot that you can cook you rice and dal in it.
On the third day we left for rohtang pass , one word of advice leave early in the morning or else you might get caught in a huge traffic jam as we were caught. The roads are narrow and risky . We had to leave our vehicle half way and continue on foot to reach the snow point thouhg we hired a pony but there was a traffic of ponies too so finally we continued on foot, but the pains taken were not wasted as we got ample of snow. There were sledges and Snow scooters which one can hire and enjoy.
All around manali one finds honeymoon couples and why not it is a romantic place ... some places of interest in and around manali are :1. Rohtang pass (don’t miss this) 2. Hidimba temple 3. Manu temple (one of its kind in Asia) 4. Mall 5. Manikaran 6. Kulu shawl factories one can travel to manali from ambala , chandigarh and delhi via road ample of taxis and buses are available do not forget to carry warm clothing as you will freeze to the bones .. Once in a lifetime everyone should visit this place its a heaven on the earth