Kullu and Manali are not the same as they used to be 15 years ago. It was great pain to see the number of bungalows and hotels that have covered the green hill spaces and spoilt the beauty what it used to be 15 years ago. I have decided never to go to these places again as they do not offer pleasing sights now. For those who have yet not visited Manali, do not have high hopes about the place.
HOW TO REACH.
There are direct buses from New Delhi, Chandigarh and Shimla. The details can be had from the HP tourism website https://hptdc.in and Himachal Road Transport Corporation website http://www.hrtc.gov.in
From Shimla there are many buses that start at 8 am, but there is only one bus that starts at 8:20 pm that is run by HRTC. From Delhi and Chandigarh there are many frequent deluxe and semi deluxe buses, including Volvo buses.
WHERE TO STAY IN MANALI
Manali has two divisions. Old Manali and New Manali. Old Manali still retails the hill station charm while New Manali is commercial and noisy. Hotels are cheap in old manali, and you can easily get rooms for as low as Rs 300 per day for double bed room without even advance booking in peak season. For Rs 500 you can even get a big room with attached bath and TV. Rickshaw charges Rs 50 from bus stand to Old Manali for 3 Km drive. Drifter’s Inn(Rs 800), Tourist Nest(Rs 500), Nanda Devi(Rs 400), Mountain Dew(Rs 400), Purnima(Rs 400) and Dragon(Rs 600) are some of the good hotels I Old Manali.
There are many hotels in New Manali dotted around bus stand for Rs 700 onwards. Hotel Greenland(Rs. 700) and Hotel Beas(Rs 800) are good hotels.
I suggest that you stay in old manali if you are not in a hurry and shopping is not your focus.
WHERE TO EAT
There are many vegetarian restaurants like Annapurna(near Monastery), Ashiana(mall Road) and many more. Annapurna offers homely food and has good thali. There are many other hotels for non veg and fast food. Food however is not so good and tasty in Manali as compared to restaurants in Mumbai.
Green Forest Café(Dhaba) near Hidemba temple offers best momos(Rs 40 steamed and Rs 50 fried) and best Thukpa(Rs 30 for half an Rs 40 for full).
WHAT TO SEE IN MANALI
Hidemba temple: You can walk to this place from Old Manali as well as New Manali or take auto for Rs 50. There is long queue generally. I did not consider it worth seeing from inside. You can take photographs of the structure.
Tibetan Monastery: It is walkable distance from mall road. It has many shops near it where good prices can be bargained.
Club House: It is a commercial place where you will find many high priced shops and food joints. River crossing can be tried for Rs 100 here. Good cherries are sold here for Rs 15 a handful. Do not try the food items here…they are awful.
WHAT TO SEE AROUND MANALI
Rohtang: This opens in end of June. But you can go upto Mani just before Rohtang. It has lot of snow to play around. People will advise you to go early by 4 am. But I will advise to go by 9 am as there is heavy traffic jam in mornings and there will be hardly any place to walk as its is too crowded in mornings. Second lot is allowed after 2 pm and then the morning crowd returns back leaving the place more enjoyable and the scenery also becomes more beautiful in the evening. If you leave by 9 am you will reach by 2:30 after few hours in queue of parked vehicles. Share taxis charge Rs 250 per passenger. Do nor fall into trap of hiring snow clothing and boots at exhorbitant prices. Your normal shoes and sweater is enough to brave the snow. Take a muffler to cover your ears. You can enjoy maggie for Rs 40 and Chai for Rs 10 on the snow. Take enough drinking water with you as water bottles are sold for Rs 30 to Rs 50 at Mani and Rohtang.
Solang: Its as become a messy place highly commercial. Can be avoided. If you wish to go, you can take state transport bus for Rs 15 that starts at 10 am. 12 noon, and 2 pm. Last return bus is at 5 pm from Solang. Cable car charges Rs 400 to take you to one Km above for better views, but if you plan to go to Mani or Rohtang you can miss this. Paragliding charges are Rs 500, 700 and 1500 for about 2-3 minute ride.
Manikaran: Best sulphur hot springs are found here. You can hire private bathrooms for Rs 20 per hour at Sharma Guest House and Kumar Guest house, which are neat and clean. For shopping, Manikaran is the best place as prices are lower than Shimla and Manali for gift items and dry fruits. Gurudwara offers free food in their Langar. Do not miss the ilaichi tea in Gurudwara. You can also watch food being prepared in pots dipped in steaming water.
Kullu: It is crowded and not worth visiting. It has shawl factories and their outlets if you wish to buy woolens.
Nagar: It is the best place to see unspoilt mountains. The place is not much popular and so retains its charm and beauty. There is Roreich Art gallery(Ticket Rs 50) and Castle(Ticket Rs 15) worth visiting. Accommodation is available for Rs 300 onwards. One can stay and eat in the castle too where double room costs Rs 1800. Reqular buses go to Nagar from Manali bus stand for Rs 40. From Naggar bus stand you can hire taxi for Rs 200 to see the art gallery and castle. This can also be done on foot in one day. There is good and cheap vegetarian restaurant near the Rorich Art Gallery where you can try a 700 ml bottle of Lichi juice for Rs 50. Views from restaurant are good.
WHERE TO WITHDRAW MONEY
On Mall road you will find long queues outside SBI and Punjab and Sindh bank ATMs because people do not know that there is a very good Bank of Baroda ATM on first floor just opposite government bus stand. There are 3-4 other bank ATMs that are in by lanes of Mall road. There is no ATM in Old Manali.
Carry Rs 10 notes in plenty as there is severe shortage of small currency in Manali and around.
SHOPPING
You can have wooden keychain with your name in blocks for Rs 30 each. Leather jackets and woolens are very cheap on mall road shops. Ladies kashmiri salwar kurta starts for Rs 250 and suede handbags for Rs 100 onwards depending on size. Walnuts, cherry, apricots and apples are cheap. Wooden bangles are available for Rs 10 and Rs 20, ear rings Rs 20 onwards. T shirts are high priced.
Buy kashmiri saunf from kirana store on mall. Its Rs 250 a Kg. It is rarely available in other cities. Chinese goods are also cheap here.
Do not fall into the trap of Chingu items sale, which promises refund and return of goods. This is a big fraud done at some underground shopping areas.
BUSES FOR OUTWARD JOURNEY
There are plenty of booking agents all over Manali who will do advance booking for outstation buses. Do not prefer Volvo as the windows do not open and most of the seats are soiled with vomit. Deluxe coaches run by Himachal State Transport Corporation are good option. Avoid private buses as most are in horrible condition and run illegally. They will take back the receipt also, so that you do not remain with proof of travel. Private bus stand is far away while government bus stand is on mall road. Ticket to Chandigarh costs Rs 400 by deluxe coach. From Chandigarh bus stand in sector 43, you can catch a spacious city bus to Chandigarh station for your train journey. Chandigarh station offers AC executive waiting room for Rs 20 an hour that can be booked at inquiry window. One hour is enough to freshen up in clean environment for your onward train journey.