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We took an overnight bus from Delhi to Manali up in the Himalaya's. It was beautiful......stunning mountains with rivers, streams and waterfalls. We stepped out of the coach and noticed the lovely temperature for the first time. It was 15-20 degrees in the day, and about 0-5 degrees at night. Perfect. We even had to buy a jumper, hat and gloves.
The town of 'New' Manali isn't anything special. It's a big pedestrianised street, with lots of shops, restaurants and hawkers. We headed for 'Old' Manali - a travellers settlement up in the hills, with lots of tastefully built restaurants and guesthouses. The hill was steep and narrow, so there were no cars. At last a rest from the constant and unnecessary horn beeping of Indian drivers!!
We spent a few days in Old Manali, staying in a lovely guesthouse, with fantastic Indian food.
We decided to go on a 4 day trek up into the Himalaya's. We found a great tour company, and met them to discuss price. For 4 days, they recommended 1 Guide, 1 Cook and 2 Porters (to carry everything!). We decided that we could lower the price by not having a Cook, and
Dave could take over the cooking duties, which after 2 1/2 months of not cooking, he was looking forward to.
The next day we met our Guide, 'The Colonel' as he's fondly known, to shop for the trek. He was the 1998 Indian Champion Slalom Skiier. He's spent the past 11 years trekking and mountaineering through the Himalaya's. A lovely guy! Our shopping list was given to us, and included 5kg rice, 4kg potatoes, 3kg sugar, 36 fresh eggs and a huge sack of fresh vegetables. 4 days, 5 people.....it was a lot of food.
The following day we headed up into the Himalaya's. We carried our rucksacks, and I had the dangerous duty of carrying the box of eggs on my back. The Porters were fantastic, carrying the food, tents, sleeping bags and cooking equipment. Yet they were far faster than us! The first day's walk was good and not too difficult. The scenery was becoming more and more beautiful with each step. We arrived at our camp, in a big valley, with a river flowing through. We set up our tents, and Dave started to cook his first dish....a vegetable curry. The Colonel joined in and
made dal, rice and chapati's.
There was no luxury, and it was very 'outdoors'. We washed in the freezing cold glacier streams, and had to go to the toilet outside!! It took a while to get used to that concept!!
The next day we got woken up at 5.45am!! We ate breakfast and headed off up the valley to the bottom of Beas Kund (our 3rd day trek). The walk was very steep, and with the altitude (climbing to 3,500 metres) it was tiring!! But the scenery made up for it all....it was stunning.....breathtaking!!!
Our second night camp was in a huge valley, with towering Himalayan snowcapped mountains all around. With the height and the tiring long hikes, Dave relinquished his cooking duties! ;-) The Colonel and the 2 Porters took over, and knocked up amazing Indian food every night, and Porridge for breakfast.
The third day's hike was by far the most amazing. It was difficult as it was really steep. We headed across the snow, and up a huge mountain side, over loose rocks and stones. We then climbed over moraine (big rocks and stones on the side of the mountain left by glaciers).
It was a real challenge, but such a sense of achievement. We walked for about 3 hours, into an amazing valley. We headed across the snow to the end of the valley, where a waterfall flowed into a lake (Beas Kund). We sat down, and had a picnic next to the lake. It was fantastic. After, as we walked back through the valley, a Golden Eagle flew over our heads - wow!!
The trek back was equally beautiful, but slightly scarier, as most was downhill, with loose stones under foot. A truly amazing day!!
The next day was all downhill....finally!!
We stayed in Manali for another couple of days....heading out on a motorbike for a lovely day of exploring on our anniversary (23rd June). Up into the mountainside, through pine forests, and alongside rice fields and waterfalls.
We didn't want to leave the mountains, but needed to catch our flight. We made our way back to Delhi - a shock to the system at 46 degrees! We stayed for only 1 day, before catching our flight to Bangkok on 26th June.
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margaret
non-member comment
Looks great
Wow what an amazing time you must have had exploring the Himalayas. You must be having a great time finding new places every day. Keep up the postcards, I have to fill my fridge up and I have a very large fridge! love Mum