Mountains and Manali

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When we got into the bus station we got a tuk tuk with a couple from Durham that were on the bus with us to a small guest house in Old Manali, a quieter part of town. Our guest house ended up being up a winding dirt track set behind a small row of shops. But for 200 rupees (Less than 3 pounds) a night we weren't going to complain! After a sleep to recover from our hellish journey we ventured into town. We went into a tourist Adventure company but sadly due to it being out of season here most of the mountain passes were closed due to snow. We booked instead onto a day trip to the Rohtang Pass and to Solang Valley for the following day. That evening I tried the special trout caught locally and fried in a kind of batter...the nearest to good old fish and chips I was going to get! Steph had a massive portion of Chicken Noodles as she was still playing it safe with the tummy!!

The following day we headed off early to the Rohtang Pass. We passed lots of Indian tourists clutching skis and wearing snow suits, we were unsure as to why though as there didn't seem to be much snow and they appeared to be content sliding down a small slope in a rubber ring...each to their own! The road snaked its way up the side of the moutain offering stunning views of the surrounding area. The road itself was terrifying with few barriers between us and the extremely long drop. Near the top of the pass we got dropped off at a hamlet of shacks which was being battered by a really strong wind. It was difficult to stand up against the gale! We quickly took refuge in a cafe. It didn't look as if anyone was in until a man opened the door and ushered us inside! He pulled the door shut behind us and as our eyes adjusted to the light we saw a bustling hive of activity inside. The workers were constantly boiling water on small gas stoves, orders were being taken and people milled about inside sheltering from the cold. We placed an order for an omelette and two hot chocolates. The omelette turned out to be very spicy and bizarrely had two slices of bread inbedded in the middle. How strange! While we were inside it was quite surreal as the wind was threatening to tear off the corrugated iron roof- in the style of twister, we were half tempted to lash ourselves to the table!

We braved the wind to get the views on camera. It was breathtaking (quite literally with the wind) and a boy there helped take photos so we could both be in some. Sadly, as we've found with several Indian photographers he was fascinated with the zoom and after several close ups of us we specified we wanted a picture with the scenery!!

After the Rohtang Pass we went onto a small place called Solang, the extreme sports capital of Himachal Pradesh. To our amusement the Paragliding consisted of them jumping off a small hill, gliding for around 20 seconds before landing about 10 metres from where they started. What a thrill!! The zorbing was similar but started from lower down than the paragliding did. We did however take up the offer of a pony (horse, at Steph's request...apparently horse sounds better but it WAS a pony!) ride up to the Shiva Temple. This exciting sounding temple turned out to be a pile of snow. A holy sign of Mother Nature, a holy heep of the white stuff. We took a customery photo and swiftly mounted our steads for the return journey. To Steph's amusement on both the way up and down the saddle seemed to want to hang on either the left side or the right but definitely not in the middle which meant that I was forever leaning to one side to prevent myself from falling off in a rumpled heap! The views on the ride were again beautiful and it was well worth doing as we both really enjoyed it. Probably more than the ponies who were gasping for breath after the up hill straight!!

We went that night to a restaurant called the Peace Cafe but got distracted by the scene in the street of a vendor selling fried chicken. KFC would have been shut down had they employed a similar practice of grabbing a slightly warm (it had been in the open a while) piece of raw meat, weighing the amount the customer requested being cleavering it to pieces bone and all and chucking it in a great vat of oil. At least he wiped his hands...on a dirty rag! The dogs seemed to like it though as they kept approaching and had to be beaten away by the aforementioned man with a very large stick!

Although only a brief stay in Manali we really enjoyed the laid back attitude of the town and the stunning views of the mountains surrounding it. Onwards to Shimla and hopefully a glimpse of the Kinnaur Valley.

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Comments

[Eric]

I enjoyed your India post. I have always wanted to go there. My blog is looking for travel photos. If you have the time, email us some at [e-mail] or check us out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com Continued fun on your travels, Eric