Wu..huuuu!!! I saw it, n realized The World Is Just Awesome Man!!! I’ve been there this December, and was quite chilly, it was around just few degrees above freezing!! I arrived at night being dissapointed after seeing shimla-overhyped place, n was not much excited about manali..
It was the magical landscape that brainwashed the image, n for now i’m be a big fan of it!! 1st day we saw the gr8 Hadimba Mata mandir, which was a km walk fom the mall road. It’s history dates back 500yrs ago and the unique buddhist style of architecture, drove us crazy!! A eve walk around the town is highly recommened.It’ll just wash off all ur worries!
2nd day- We headed to Rothang Pass. It is 4000m above MSL, and the 51 kms journey is a real challenge for armature drivers. While on road, it was surrounded with huge pine and deodar tress, but suddenly with one U turn, the picture change drammatically!! Only deserted mountainous terrain, covered with snow. Probably, Rothang is in the rain-shadow zone of himalayas.
With lack of Oxygen, freezing cold and near about fingers feeling Numb, We managed to get at the top. We had to trek 2kms coz the road had got slippery due to heavy snowfall.. But we had to keep the Adrenaline Pumping and reached the top. Due to bad weather, we had to cancel our skiing plan and had to leave early, but about all odds, the bad weather coming from Karakoram didn’t stop us. We made a ice cake(Small Cake shape moulded ice) and celebrated my friends birthday at the altitude (that’s Weird Isnt it??)
While returning, due to bad weather, our driver drove at mere speed of 20-30kmph and it took us around 2.5hrs to reach the base! Each turn we stopped, and looked around, the view was just Breath-taking! All I Can Say, the mighty himalayas at It’s best!!