Manali has recently become the most loved tourist destination especially when it comes to group trips. I was accompanied by my five friends, 3 girls and 2 boys. We had booked our bus tickets by redbus.in. It was the month of December so the journey had to be a super cold one and the red bus people provided us with blankets and a bottle of water.
We took our bus from Kashmere Gate, Delhi at around 5:00 pm. But our bus broke down at some place in the middle of the night, after which we were transferred to some local bus which wasn’t that comfortable. So, my tip here will be always prefer state transport buses and not private ones. We reached Manali at around 11 am in the morning and the view was great enough to take away all our harassments.
Day 1: Goofing Around
From the bus stop we took autos to reach to our hotel. We had also pre-booked our hotel via Goibibo. The name of the hotel was Hotel Trishul, located in New Manali. The deal which we got from Goibibo was amazing, and also the hotel was pretty cool, atleast way better than our bus experience. We had booked 3 deluxe rooms, but when we reached they had 1 family suite and a deluxe room vacant. Family suite was amazing with two bedrooms so we agreed on taking it for the girls and a deluxe room for boys. In no time we all were ready for the sightseeing, for which we had no bookings.
The hotel owner suggested us to head to the mall road where one can get a hell lot of travel agents and taxi drivers for sightseeing bookings. We obliged, took a cab and reached mall road. 1st we had lunch and then started our hunt for taxi drivers. There is a huge taxi stand at mall road with many options. Here you need to have amazing bargaining skills to get yourself a great deal with taxi drivers. We wanted the taxi for our three-day tour, and we had a well-researched list as to what place we wanted to see. By the time we booked our taxi it was already evening and so we enjoyed a bit in the mall road and then headed back to our hotel as we all were very tired.
Day 2: Some Local Visits
Our trip started with a visit to the peaceful Hadimba Temple. As the name suggests the temple belongs to Hadimba, the wife of Bhima, one among the pandavas. The temple being surrounded by pine trees and Dhungri forest offers an amazing view. The opening time for this temple is 8 A.M to 6 P.M.
Our next stop was Museum of Himachal culture and folk art which was again an amazing place with lots of information about the place. We also went to Van Vihar which is filled with sky touching deodar trees, an amazing place to take awesome photos. We further went to Manu temple which is dedicated to an old sage. Old Manali is a must visit place for youngsters especially if you want to get high.
Day 3: Journey to Solang Valley
Our next stop was Solang valley, an amazing side valley at the top of the Kullu valley. The route from Manali to Solang valley is covered with some amazing scenic beauty.
One can also find various adventure sports at this place. You can go for zorbing, paragliding and various other snow-based activities. Don't forget to add these three things in your checklist if you are in Solang. First having some delicious maggie, second some tea and third is the corn. There are other places like Hampta pass, Nehru Kund, Arjun Gufa etc.
Other places that you can visit when you are in Solang are Hampta pass, Nehru Kund, Arjun Gufa etc. And if you are looking for some real peaceful taste of Manali then do visit the Himalayan Nyingmapa Buddhist Temple.
Our last stop of the day was Vashisht hot water spring but unfortunately it was closed as we were very late, so we went for a bit of street shopping outside the temple.
Day 4: And Here the Journey Ends
Our last day in Manali, as we had our bus in the evening. So, we decided to get up early, freshen up and go for a stroll. It is always good to observe the place on foot as this gives you a real taste of the place. We went to the mall road as it was in the walking distance from our place. That day we tried some of the local cuisine and it was delicious. As usual, for vegetarians like me the options were limited.
When you are in the mall road don’t forget to buy the local fruit wine from the place. Also this place has a lot of flavored petha shops, do try them. Then lastly we did shopping for our dear ones. And yes, that was the end of one of the memorable trip.
No doubt, our first friends’ trip was a big hit. We still have the living memories of all those beautiful moments that we created. One of the most beautiful thing that happened on the trip was, we came more close to each other.
Always remember Get Set Go... #Mountainsarecalling!!
About the Writer
An entrepreneur and a professor by profession. But these do not hinder my love for travelling.