GoBackpacking

Manali

Like the ride to Lake Rewalsar, the Manali drive was astonishing! There were endless hills filled with exotic plants. Once we got closer to Manali I noticed that the most prevalent plant was in fact cannabis. Weed was literally growing everywhere! It took a while to find the hotel and when we did the desk guy did the usual I need to see your passport before I let you go into the hotel room scheme. For some reason (Terrorism? /Taxes?) this is standard practice in all Indian hotels. Also as usual the hotel room was only half-clean despite it being relatively expensive by Indian standards. That night we went in the touristy part across the bridge and had some international food. Despite having a population less than 7,000, Manali had the feel of a mid-sized international city.

The next morning our driver took us up to Rohtang Pass, the second highest motor pass in the world which is only open from June to September. Along the lower part of the road we must have passed at least 50 clothing rental shops, renting out winter clothes for the extreme weather conditions on top of the pass. The road up looked dangerous as it was only one lane, and enveloped in thick fog. Our driver didn’t seem to think so…going as fast as he possibly could. On the way up, I spotted several magnificent vultures circling around. Unlike in western culture…in Tibetan culture, vultures are considered a good omen. I also saw an unfortunate cow that fell down a cliff, along with a jeep on its back that had probably also took a tumble down a cliff. After about an hour of driving we reached the summit point, which was crowded with Indian tourists. The summit was 3,200 meters in height. My uncle told me that it was considered the end of the world in ancient times, past the summit was Tibet. The view was amazing but fog prevented a fully clear picture. At the base of the summit there was still snow despite it not being overly cold. The tourists, most of them from parts on India where it does not snow at all, were delighted. There was a tire sled ride and I spotted a few yaks. The yaks in Manali were famous since yaks are very rare outside of Tibet. I paid the keeper a couple of hundred rupees and he let me ride the yak for about 10 minutes. The beast stayed very calm and was a lot more humble than the horses I have ridden before.

On our way down we stopped at a café located directly on the river. It was the first time I had seen a café with tables actually situated on the river! The water flowing was ice cold but it didn’t matter…the experience was amazing. Near the café I spotted a paraglide shop. For only 450 rupees ($10) I could paraglide down the mountain. I really wanted to do it, but knew it would be a bad idea to paraglide in shorts and sandals, so sadly I declined. After talking to my family I came to the consensus that I would not be traveling to Ladahk, since it was a two day bus ride with extreme weather conditions. I heard from many travelers that the buses sometimes break down on the route leaving travelers stranded for days. It was a hard decision to not go, since I might not ever have the opportunity again.

We ended up leaving Manali the next morning. I wish I would have stayed in Manali a little longer and had packed better gear for trekking/rafting. The area was ripe with outdoor adventures waiting to happen. I felt like I only got a preview of what it had to offer, and was hungry for more.

___________________________

This series on India was written and submitted by guest author Stefan K. See more of his photos from India.

Please share your feedback, or interest in contributing, by leaving a comment.

Share This

Dare Me to do something fun, weird, or challenging on the road!