When in Manali, Mcloed Ganj

Whats gets u zoned out.…happiness that u can’t express that gives inner peace…im not talkin of trivial things like alcohol or cigarettes or shopping as it would be for girls(window shopping if u ask my opinion is wat girls actually like)….. For me it’s always been travel….Travelling places, meeting new people, hearing their stories, understanding their religion and beliefs, photographing their emotion, photographing nature and its wonders

I put up my thoughts on our trip to Manali in this post…. Well if u at home and wanna imagine manali try drawing this in ur mind……imagine those snow-clad mountains we used to draw in our drawing class with silver crayons…..fraile bodies covered in there thick cold clothes …… childrens in cute skull caps and wollen clothes…..a bright sun that brings much needed warmth to its people….an unpausing beas flowing down alongside u with sparkling waters as u go a winding uphill road….. Imagine a forest full of towering deodar and pine trees that

A bit of history of Manali to be told it’s named after lord Manu….its protector….. There is a temple also after the same god in the hill tops of old Manali watching over its valley and its people…. History has it pandavas stayed there during their exile and it’s the place where Bhima got his wife Devi Hadimba, hence the hadimba temple.

To get there we started off from Delhi with train to Chandigarh….. and bus to Manali from there…..well when in Delhi and with short time eat out at Ginger, reasonably good food and don’t forget to grab a 100 grms of Petha from any good shop that u come across…… when in Chandigarh eat at Pappaji ka Dhabba, Sector 24…… Hot Millions is highly not recommended. Catch a late night bus to Manali and wake up to site of Beas flowing in ur company and reducing with flow as u go up to Manali.

In Manali get a local cab driver to go around….here’s one that we had, very reliable and reasonable Mr. Hari 09816417627. He was with us for 3 days and Im pleased to say I had a very bump free and confident uphill ride to impress me the most…..

Manali has its two parts in old manali which is with all houses situated along the hill top with lord manus temple and new manali developed more at the foothills and spread around the mall road

We stayed in Drifters Inn at old manali…. An off-beat place but delicious food and spectacular view over the valley….So when in Manali spend a day goin to all Hadimba temple and forest alongside it, Manu temple, Kali temple, Shiva temple, Tibetian Temple..…be treated with hot water shower it Shiv temple…… Eat at Café 1947(truly Luxurious), Johnson’s café, Dylans toasted and roasted, Drink at Khybers (don’t eat anything)…..Shop at Bhuttico for shawls, Mall Road…. Don’t fall for sales people trying to sell u Sparroo and kesar with there unbelieveable offers….

Plan according to Rothang pass open/closed conditions to visit there….ask locals…..best time to visit Rothang is june-october….. its snows at times and if ur lucky u can experience hail storms…..Start early…… On ur way to Rothang get geared with warm clothes they give u on the way, gumboots (its ur not having woodlands!), skull cap, gloves…. Eat at Mandi which is at foothills of rothang pass….der don’t fall for gloves the people sell and their sales pitch “u cannot catch snow without these gloves” rip off 150/-….. Waste time at Beas kund…. Move ahead and trek to the snow area if u r confident enough instead of taking an ATV (leavesa big hole in ur Pocket) or Ponies………..

When on the mountain try skiing if u havnt ever done it….if u have done it u will be disappointed…. If ur friends are skiing remember to topple dem and click doz images….eat maggi and have old monk up in the mountain if ur tired and cold…..den start climbing…aim for a flag post if u cant make it to summit with ur group….coax dem…. pull dem…push dem….carry dem…. reach dt point……

Human emotion of achievement tagged with effort and eventual happiness cant be captured anywhere else like dis….fall in d snow make a butterfly….make snow bombs and fling them at ur friends…. Irritate dem and give them a chance to get back at u….. find a humongous Himalayan vulture or an eagle hovering above and fall in love wit it…. If u picture it do share it…..

On ur way down take paragliding route to mandi…. Head to solang valley….. Best time to be there is February where the mountains snowclad and u can skate urself down the slope or zorb ur way down like Jackie Chan in ‘Armour of God’……

Try local weed if ur fanatic……head to kullu and raft down around 9 km to vaishnao temple…. Dry off and eat out at restaurants der….visit vaishno temple…. Be startled by the detailed wood carvings …see shawl factory…..go try lugdi in some local bar in kullu

Catch a night bus to Dharamshalla….head to McLeod Ganj….. Stay anywhere near the monk monastery….. start early and head to temple and monastery….walk to Bhagsu waterfalls by noon so u can take a dip in natural hot water swimming pool @ the temple……. Be Dissappointed with the famous dal lake….realise its part and parcel…. Shop along the temple road…eat at tibetian restaurant at main Square…….. Learn about Buddha from a book….befriend a monk ….listen to him… ask him questions…. Get to know of the tibetian Freedom struggles….. Try ur luck meet Dalai lama…. Be amazed.... attend monk debate,,,, enjoy it. Eat cakes and Pasteries at Woesar's Bakery feed ur sweet tooth.

All I can quote is “ Be a traveller not a tourist…..for a tourist has a destination….traveller has route to take him there ” . I guess I read it some where…may not be same words or meaning I Follow it anyways…..