True hill station. Review on Manali

We reached Manali from Dharamshala at 5 am and since there was fresh snowfall the same night the morning chill was unbearable inspite of fully clothed and wearing sweater on top of it as in Mumbai we had never seen such freezing temperatures.

The cab driver charged Rs.50 from the bustand to the mall chowk and insisted  on doing the hotel booking scaring us that there were no rooms available and the hotels were fully booked.  We had not done the booking in advance as we planned to bargain on the spot but Manali rates are very high compared to other hill stations.

The driver took us to Manali nest which is just 5 mnt from the mall road towards Hadimba Temple.  After lot of haggling we got a package of 7500 for  2 nights package inclusive of sightseeing and breakfast and dinner while the online rate was 10, 000 for the same hotel.  The  manager was very co-operative and he accommodated us in a separate room till a room was vacated at 9 am.  The view from the terrace was breathtaking with the snow clad mountain so nearby.

The rooms are big with clean bathrooms and good furnishing.  The breakfast served to us was more than sufficient for two of us and my 10 year old and was lip smacking. Since we had undertaken a night journey from Dharamshala to Manali we rested the whole afternoon and then at 4 left for Hadimba Temple on foot which is just 2 km.  We had a late lunch and After visiting the temple we loitered around as there are many games for kids and good eateries.

If at all you want to shop please do it at this place as it is much cheaper than the mall road. We came down to the mall road and did window shipping as nothing is worth shopping especially after you hear the rates.   Second day morning we left at 9 for manikaran (40 kms) via Qualis arranged by the hotel alongwith another family.  All the way you are parallel to the beautiful beas river. On the way we stopped at Kullu for river rafting (7 km-750 pp) which was a truly refreshing and enjoying ride.  After crossing a bridge we took another road and this time river parvati was running alongside right up to Manikarn.

There you can visit a ram temple, a shiv temple and a Gurudwara and everywhere you will find hot water springs where they put rice tied in a cloth to handover as Prasad as it gets cooked instantly.  Visit to manikarn can be skipped as you can find hot water springs at Vashist (3 km) enroute rohtang pass (50 km) where you have separate baths for ladies and gents to soak in the sulphur water.  While returning we visited rabbit farm, shawl factory and vaishnodevi temple and entire day passed.

Second day at 4 am we left for rohtang pass by hotel arranged car as we were informed that if we were late we will have to walk 5/6 kms.  Inspite of leaving early we had to walk 1 km till the snow point which was Marhi as rohtang pass had not yet opened due to late snowfall this year.  On the way you can see the apple orchards.  We  stopped in between to take the snow dresses which cost 150 for half coats and 250 for full dress per person.  Please take full dress as otherwise you wont be able to slide on the snow.  We walked the 1 km distance with difficulty as we were wearing gumboots provided with the dress.  Though it had freshly snowed in the night yet the snow at the entry point was black with everybody’s shoe marks.  You had to go a little ahead and higher for clean snow.  We enjoyed ourselves sliding and playing with snow. Paragliding (5000 per peson) and skiing could be done here (Khajjiar in Dalhousie is cheaper for paragliding).  Everything is costly here and do not have bhutta here as they are hard and tasteless. While returning we could see a long queue of vehicle upto 10 kms and people walking or hiring horses to reach till the snow point.  The Rahalla falls was completely frozen on top and water was flowing from beneath the hardened snow.   When we came down the hill it started raining and we realized that it was snowing at the snowpoint and which we missed by an hour.    Evening we took a bus to Shimla which was another night journey.  My suggestion would be if you want to enjoy hillstation just go to manali instead of undertaking hectic journey to Dalhouse/Dharamshala /Shimla as it is actually a hillstation which its cool climate throughout the year. Once you  have been to the snow clad mountain you would not enjoy the scenery at other places where you get to see the mountains from a great distance.