North India Tour - Day 2-3 - Manali

Day 2 - 3 was planned to see around Manali .. So we left from Delhi via Bus to reach Manali in morning .. It takes around 16 odd hours or even more to reach there .. Our bus stopped in between for dinner at karnal at a nice little Dhaba .. Oh man it so good to eat the roti and veggies .. Butter roti is one nice tawa roti with huge butter toppings on it .. he he .. Doesn't go well with your dieting .. But who cares .. Not me !!
In Manali you have several hotels to stay at .. We had booked Sterling resorts .. It had beautiful view from all rooms.. We had booked a nice duplex room.. And it is worth every penny .. After a nice little lunch at the hotel we left for sight seeing and some shopping .. With given time we had decided to visit a temple , sulphur hot springs, monasteries and shopping at Mall Road.. Nothing great with any of these places .. But shopping was fun .. Well at Manali you can shop some really nice chudidars with lovely hand woven embroidery .. But bargaining is the trick .. Well I am bad at it .. But my friends were so amazing !! They got the suits for such amazing prices .. I really can't believe .. Lucky me! That I am always surrounded by such good bargainers .. Another thing you can buy is apple jams .. They are really good!! And Dinner as described my friend "WOOOOOOW!!!" lolz.. That was how every bite that went into my friends mouth sounded like .. And it was not in any angle a good way .. If you are wondering where we ate, we ate at Chopsticks .. All web sites said you get really good Chinese.. Either the day was really bad for us or the food there is really that bad!! Not really sure .. One suggestion don't always believe the sites .. I learn't my lesson .. And the funny part was when we asked the locals where we get good food they actually suggested chopsticks .. Hmm ..

Well the next days was planned for Rohtang pass and Solang valley.. The taxi picked us up early morning around 6:30.. Which was a great idea .. I would suggest you to do the same.. As the road is bad and it gets jammed as the day passes by .. The Road were in terrible conditions for a stretch of 16 kms .. Those 16 kms all of us prayedto survive alive out of it!! We could not see the beauty around but our destiny .. The pictures taken made us realize how much of beauty surrounded us .. Once at the top of rohtang pass, you can take clothes(Rent them for 150 per set which includes coat and Boots) for protecting yourself from the cold and take horses (300 per horse). These horses will take you to teh snow point. Trust me it was all just a bucket filled with snow scattered across. We were very disspointed. I have seen snow before but one of my friend had never seen it and he was wondering why all such a big fuss with snow not even white in color.. So we decided on our way back tell everyone who are on their way up how bad its up there ..We wanted to let them know it was not worth paying so much... But the best part of the whole journey was the Hot Tea and maggie .. Yummy!! I know I know .. I am foodie .. always enjoy the food than the place .. Not really true .. But then food is the source of my energy .. Like my friends kept teasing me "Tosss fakta" Meaning Just stuff yourself.. I would all time keep asking them "what abt Breakfast / Lunch / snacks / dinner!! " So they kept feeding me all the way all 5 days just to ensure I don't cribb to them ... Some views on the way to the top were just spellbinding..
Only pictures can speak thousand words ..
On our way down we decided to do a quick touch and go trip to Solang valley.. It is nothing grand, it is more famous for doing some bike rides / going down upside down in a Big ball!! Wondering why people would like to do that.. Coz when they come out all i can see is white faces scared hell and puking up.. Hmm .. weird.. Lucky me I don't neither do my friends belong in that category .. he he .. There are other things to do there like paragliding .. which takes few seconds from top to reach down and costs around 600. We were unfotunate that it was raining and cloudy so we had to skipp it and return back. Oh i forgot .. There is a nice ride to reach the top via the cable carts .. It is again 300 per head .. and it is nice for once in lifetime :)

Now it was time for us to say bye to manali and travel off to Amritsar via a local bus.. Rest to be continued.....
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