Blogs from Manali, Himachal Pradesh, India, Asia - page 3

The excitement started off with me getting a call from the HP tourism office saying that my bus had been preponed by one hour. I finished my work as fast as I could and rushed to the booking office in Central Delhi. The bus left at 6:30 in the evening. After a rather uneventful 14 hours, I reached Manali. It has just rained and the weather was gloomy. I checked into my hotel and called up the paragliding company. I was disappointed when they told me that it was still raining at Solang valley and there was thick fog too; making paragliding not possible. Nonetheless, I decided to venture out. I had my breakfast and boarded a local bus that took me to Solang valley, 13 kilometres from Manali. With nothing much to do, I stood ... read more

Manali is such a sleepy little mountain village, but it's not always obvious. Recently it has become a popular destination for people all over India to take respice from the monsoons and heat in the rest of the country. We met a couple from Delhi who said that it is 45 degrees c there right now. I don't know the exact conversion, but it's well over 100 F, so it's no wonder they want to climb into the mountains and shelter themselves among the surrounding snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas. The main roads and town centers are full, as is most of India, of taxis, motorcycles, rickshaws, and delivery trucks- all honking and driving around each other in a loud fury to gain even the slightest distance towards their destinations. It's not completely odd here to ... read more

The journey of human race is the saga of their strong survival against the most difficult situations & living environments. Their inherent strength in conquering odds of the nature lies in their in the spirit of life in extreme adverse geographical & climatic conditions around the coldest heights of mountain surrounded with the deepest forest where lives & livings are exceptional. To face the challenges, some daring males & females from urban will abandon the comforts of home to test their ability to survive in some of the most physically and mentally demanding environments in the world. They will have to protect themselves from the adverse weather conditions, arranging & procuring their food & feeding directly from the available natural stuff without disturbing the nature, zest & zeal to establish themselves the fittest to survive in ... read more

C'est toujours comme ca, quand on arrive a une place tot le matin (comme 3, 4 ou 5h) la place semble lugubre mais le lendemain on l'apprivoise et on commence a l'aimer. Manali est au nord de Dharamsala. On est arives hier matin a 5 h apres "seulement" 8 h de route. On est , encore, dans un guest house PURNIMA (pleine lune) avec vue impregnable sur les montagnes. Dans le Old Manali nous sommes tombes en amour avec les vieilles maisons typiques de la region. Le temple Hadimba est dans une foret de cedres incroyables. Ils y font encore des sacrifices d'animaux pour les grandes fetes. Aujourd'hui nous sommes alles a Naggar, petite ville de montagnes. Premiere aventure dans les bus locaux: musique indienne, incence a cote du chauffeur, la route en epingle, les motos ... read more

Some snaps of my visit to Manali in 2011... read more