My trip to Manali and Rohtang Pass
After a 2 day conference at Shimla, I headed to Kullu Manali region in Himachal Pradesh. For so many years after my trips to Switzerland, I have been waiting to visit the hilly places and I rarely got the chance due to too less number of Leaves available in software industry. Now, that I became an entrepreneur and managed to have free time, I decided to travel as much India as possible after this Summer 2009.
During the Conference at Shimla, I came across a Vehicle/Car operator (not a travel agent), who offered a good deal for 4 days trip to Manali region and Rohtang Pass. He asked for Rs.4500/- for the 4 day trip in a Tata Sumo starting from Shimla to Kullu-Manali, Rohtang Pass and then back to Shimla. The total distance was about 650 to 700 kilometers. He also promised to get me a good Hotel at Manali for Rs.450-500/-. Earlier this guy had offered the same package to couple of my friends before the conference and they were quite happy with his attitude and service.
The plan was to start from Shimla at early morning of 18th August09 and reach Manali same day evening. The next day on 19th Aug, we head to Rohtang Pass, which is 52 km from Manali (towards Ladakh). On 20th Aug, it is all about local sight seeing at Manali and have a bit of relaxation and then we start back to Shimla on 21st August.
Well, a 4-day trip to Manali region and Rohtang Pass from Shimla costing about Rs.6000/- (excluding food) seemed pretty good for me. Of course, I was traveling alone. If I had a couple of friends, then the costs would have come down to about Rs.1500 per person.
On Day 1, started pretty late at 10:30am from Shimla and had lunch on the way. The total distance from Shimla to Manali is about 250 km, out of which about 200 km is hilly road in ghats. So, the average speed is about 35 to 40 km per hour and I also need breaks for lunch and taking pictures etc. We reached Manali at about 7:00pm in the evening. I took a lot of pictures with my Cannon EOS Digital SLR. The Hotel was pretty good and it was very close to the river. It had wooden interior and had some 6 windows through, which I can see the Beas river. In the Hotel, I can hear the noise of the river. The bathroom has hot water Geyser and it is also very clean. This hotel would have cost me Rs.2500/- per day, had I come in the Skiing season. However, for me the season August is not bad at at all. The sky is clear most often and the temperature is between 10 to 20 degrees. I know, there will be a lot of water in Water falls in this season.
On day 2 (19th Aug), we started at 8:00 for Rohtang Pass. I decided to get some warm clothing on rent at Manali as I had not bought any except my sweater. The guy was asking me to take the ski gear and take ski lessons. I ignored them. If I have to ski, then its better I come in Ski season in future. I had a couple of ski classes at Oberstdorf, in Germany couple of years back and I certainly did not master the skills well. There is no point in taking on Skiing in Summer in some place where there may not even be some snow.
The journey to Rohtang pass was really awesome. The water falls on the way were awesome and some of them were huge. Manali is at an height of about 8000 meters from sea level, where as Rohtang Pass is at a height of 13,500 feet. That means, we have to climb an additional height of 5500 feet in about 50km. So, in each kilometer, we will be climbing about 110 feet on an average. I had my lunch at a place called Marhi on the hills. Rohtang Pass and huge sections of this road remains closed every year from November to May due to heavy snow fall. I could see that the Border Road Organisation (BRO) is working the widen this road to make it a two lane road till Sarchu. This also meant that some section of this road is muddy and is in bad shape due to the construction work.
I could see quite some Army and supply convoys heading to Ladakh in this road. The road after Rohtang Pass heads to Keylong, Sarchu and finally to Ladakh. If one is interested in traveling to Leh (in Ladakh), then one has to hire a vehicle at Manali from one way drop at Leh. I found in the Manali Mall Market that many travel operators offer one way drop at Leh on sharing basis. It takes more than 18 hours to reach Leh by Road. So, they break the journey into two days with a night halt at Keylong or Sarchu in tent accommodation. The cost comes to around Rs.1300/- for one way drop to Leh and the tent accommodation (with food) at Keylong and Sarchu can be about Rs.500/- to Rs.1200/- based on how you negotiate the deal.
It took about 3 hours to Reach Rohtang Pass. Well, in this season, there is nothing much to see at Rohtang, except a small patch (5mters by 8 meters) of snow mixed with mud. Of course, for many first timers that itself can be quite exciting. One may have to hire a Horse to reach to this place called "snow point". This can add an additional cost of Rs.250 to Rs.400. If the sky is clear, you can actually walk up to the place from the parking space at Rohtang Pass. In June, there should be more snow at Rohtang. It started drizzling and then it started raining in Rohtang as soon as I reached back to Parking area. I had a sip of coffee at the nearby shop as it rained for about an hour. As we returned, the sky again became clear. One interesting thing is that Airtel mobiles work almost within a km of two from Rohtang Pass. On our way back, I spent sometime at Solang Valley, which is the ski resort next to Manali (12km from Manali). I could see that Construction of a rope way is in progress there. I would be happy if Govt created a big ski resorts there.
I spent sometime at Manali market after returning from Rohtang and had a nice sleep at Hotel after the rough 6 hours ride in the moutain road. Today (on 20th Aug), I went to a hot mineral spring at Manali in an area called Vashisht and had bath in those "very hot" waters in the pool. There is a temple dedicated to sage Vashisht nearby. I spent sometime sitting next to Beas river near a park near Manali market. Then, I went to a wooden temple dedicated to Bhima's wife Hidimbi (mother of Ghatotskatch) in epic Mahabharata. May be Bhima's first wife belonged to this hilly area!!
Then, I went around the Manali market (called the Mall) and explored the tour packages and other travel information from the travel operators out of curiosity. In the meanwhile, I also booked my ticket in the Toy train from Shimla to Kalka (starting at 10:30am) in AC Chair Car and the train from Kalka to Chandigarh. I will take Satabdi to Delhi on 23rd August Morning and take the flight back to Bangalore in evening.
Then, I will be back to same to same old Bangalore!!
During the Conference at Shimla, I came across a Vehicle/Car operator (not a travel agent), who offered a good deal for 4 days trip to Manali region and Rohtang Pass. He asked for Rs.4500/- for the 4 day trip in a Tata Sumo starting from Shimla to Kullu-Manali, Rohtang Pass and then back to Shimla. The total distance was about 650 to 700 kilometers. He also promised to get me a good Hotel at Manali for Rs.450-500/-. Earlier this guy had offered the same package to couple of my friends before the conference and they were quite happy with his attitude and service.
The plan was to start from Shimla at early morning of 18th August09 and reach Manali same day evening. The next day on 19th Aug, we head to Rohtang Pass, which is 52 km from Manali (towards Ladakh). On 20th Aug, it is all about local sight seeing at Manali and have a bit of relaxation and then we start back to Shimla on 21st August.
Well, a 4-day trip to Manali region and Rohtang Pass from Shimla costing about Rs.6000/- (excluding food) seemed pretty good for me. Of course, I was traveling alone. If I had a couple of friends, then the costs would have come down to about Rs.1500 per person.
On Day 1, started pretty late at 10:30am from Shimla and had lunch on the way. The total distance from Shimla to Manali is about 250 km, out of which about 200 km is hilly road in ghats. So, the average speed is about 35 to 40 km per hour and I also need breaks for lunch and taking pictures etc. We reached Manali at about 7:00pm in the evening. I took a lot of pictures with my Cannon EOS Digital SLR. The Hotel was pretty good and it was very close to the river. It had wooden interior and had some 6 windows through, which I can see the Beas river. In the Hotel, I can hear the noise of the river. The bathroom has hot water Geyser and it is also very clean. This hotel would have cost me Rs.2500/- per day, had I come in the Skiing season. However, for me the season August is not bad at at all. The sky is clear most often and the temperature is between 10 to 20 degrees. I know, there will be a lot of water in Water falls in this season.
On day 2 (19th Aug), we started at 8:00 for Rohtang Pass. I decided to get some warm clothing on rent at Manali as I had not bought any except my sweater. The guy was asking me to take the ski gear and take ski lessons. I ignored them. If I have to ski, then its better I come in Ski season in future. I had a couple of ski classes at Oberstdorf, in Germany couple of years back and I certainly did not master the skills well. There is no point in taking on Skiing in Summer in some place where there may not even be some snow.
The journey to Rohtang pass was really awesome. The water falls on the way were awesome and some of them were huge. Manali is at an height of about 8000 meters from sea level, where as Rohtang Pass is at a height of 13,500 feet. That means, we have to climb an additional height of 5500 feet in about 50km. So, in each kilometer, we will be climbing about 110 feet on an average. I had my lunch at a place called Marhi on the hills. Rohtang Pass and huge sections of this road remains closed every year from November to May due to heavy snow fall. I could see that the Border Road Organisation (BRO) is working the widen this road to make it a two lane road till Sarchu. This also meant that some section of this road is muddy and is in bad shape due to the construction work.
I could see quite some Army and supply convoys heading to Ladakh in this road. The road after Rohtang Pass heads to Keylong, Sarchu and finally to Ladakh. If one is interested in traveling to Leh (in Ladakh), then one has to hire a vehicle at Manali from one way drop at Leh. I found in the Manali Mall Market that many travel operators offer one way drop at Leh on sharing basis. It takes more than 18 hours to reach Leh by Road. So, they break the journey into two days with a night halt at Keylong or Sarchu in tent accommodation. The cost comes to around Rs.1300/- for one way drop to Leh and the tent accommodation (with food) at Keylong and Sarchu can be about Rs.500/- to Rs.1200/- based on how you negotiate the deal.
It took about 3 hours to Reach Rohtang Pass. Well, in this season, there is nothing much to see at Rohtang, except a small patch (5mters by 8 meters) of snow mixed with mud. Of course, for many first timers that itself can be quite exciting. One may have to hire a Horse to reach to this place called "snow point". This can add an additional cost of Rs.250 to Rs.400. If the sky is clear, you can actually walk up to the place from the parking space at Rohtang Pass. In June, there should be more snow at Rohtang. It started drizzling and then it started raining in Rohtang as soon as I reached back to Parking area. I had a sip of coffee at the nearby shop as it rained for about an hour. As we returned, the sky again became clear. One interesting thing is that Airtel mobiles work almost within a km of two from Rohtang Pass. On our way back, I spent sometime at Solang Valley, which is the ski resort next to Manali (12km from Manali). I could see that Construction of a rope way is in progress there. I would be happy if Govt created a big ski resorts there.
I spent sometime at Manali market after returning from Rohtang and had a nice sleep at Hotel after the rough 6 hours ride in the moutain road. Today (on 20th Aug), I went to a hot mineral spring at Manali in an area called Vashisht and had bath in those "very hot" waters in the pool. There is a temple dedicated to sage Vashisht nearby. I spent sometime sitting next to Beas river near a park near Manali market. Then, I went to a wooden temple dedicated to Bhima's wife Hidimbi (mother of Ghatotskatch) in epic Mahabharata. May be Bhima's first wife belonged to this hilly area!!
Then, I went around the Manali market (called the Mall) and explored the tour packages and other travel information from the travel operators out of curiosity. In the meanwhile, I also booked my ticket in the Toy train from Shimla to Kalka (starting at 10:30am) in AC Chair Car and the train from Kalka to Chandigarh. I will take Satabdi to Delhi on 23rd August Morning and take the flight back to Bangalore in evening.
Then, I will be back to same to same old Bangalore!!
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