The novices first Himalayan Trek

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Nearing the end of my 4 month Holiday....I decided to rough it out in the Himalayas in Ladakh....I made an itenary of a jeep safari cum trek to discover the barren beauty of Ladakh....alas i found the 21 day period was not enough to see it all in this paradise created my man and god together....

We (a group of people who met in Delhi) set out from Delhi to Manali in a bus driven by an enthusiastic Sardarji.... man now was this guy the Schumacher of Volvo buses. Thankfully I slept most of the way in the overnight journey….but whenever my eyes were open the man was nearly on another vehicle…like this poor Innova, who must’ve had a sleepless night on a near death experience. Amidst lots of Punjabi numbers we reached Manali at 9 next morning.

Manali a small hill station in Himachal, had a lil monastery, a Hadimba temple and a Ghatothkach temple where wishes come true…so they say. The visit to the hot spring in Vashisht was not too great…but the walk up there was great, mountains on both sides and a river flowing in between. Nothing compared to Ladakh’s landscape though…but for a hardcore city girl…it was lovely walking on the hills and there was a road too….which I will miss greatly in the days to come.

We got our first taste of walking uphill on the way to Hadimba temple where we took a shortcut to get there faster...and boy didnt we pant. I seriously wondered if I could do a Himalayan trek at all....

In Manali all Vendors sold stuff to Guru (one of the trekking partners I met in Delhi)...we had awesome aalu parathas and roadside noodles near Hadimba. The day ended with Mojitos and salad at a lovely restaurant near our hotel

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