Manali 3.0

To say that Manali has a special place in my heart will be an under(ground)statement. Not because of the utterly ordinary and drab little town on the banks of Beas, or the absolutely mesmerizing beauty surrounding it. It’s because I spent my honeymoon there. When you have had a love marriage, the honeymoon is not a vacation riddled with forced informalities or confused romance after six-months-in-between-engagement-and-marriage phone calls. It’s just easy. Easy and beautiful. And, of course, romantic. The fact that the location was Manali, makes it a permanent resident in the soft corners of my heart.

My second trip to Manali was a result of another marriage in a nearby town. It was a quick trip. And it was in a Maruti 800. Without air conditioner. In June. That time I got to visit Rohtang. It’s still the most beautiful place I’ve ever visited – at least for another year until I go to the Land of High Passes.

Manali three-point-oh was different. Partly because it was most unplanned (it was only the day before, when we saw in the news that it had snowed there, when the trip was finalized), partly because Sunil, colleague cum driver, is constantly in formula one mode, and partly because of the anticipation that if it’s late spring in Delhi, Manali would be snow-clad.

Day 1

The drive started from the office in Noida. After paranthas in Murthal and KFC burger in Karnal, we were at the outskirts of Chandigarh. Two hundred and thirty four rupees (a full tank of CNG) is all it took to reach there – cheap. Terror started at two in the morning when we reached at the foothills. Sunil has driven all along till now, but he has never driven on mountains. Amit didn’t know how to drive at all. I have driven on mountains many times but never at night.

Day 2

Nervous as a turkey on Thanksgiving, I gulped, put on Kishore da on the stereo to calm myself, took the wheel, and started driving. After half an hour, I got the hang of it but was too tense to relax.

Seven hours later, we reached Manali, got a room in Vashisht, and crashed. After refreshing ourselves, we went for the customary tour of the Mall, the Club, and then the hot springs in Vashisht. That was all I could manage after thirty hours of zero sleep. It was raining, not heavily but constantly. Weather was cold. Road to Rohtang was closed. Food at the hotel was pathetic. Sleep was sound.

Day 3

Next morning, we decided to go as far as we can go on the road to Rohtang. It was still drizzling. Fresh snow was visible on the distant mountains. Road was wet and slippery – looking more hazardous with Sunil’s driving. But the scenery was pure bliss. The road was open only up till Gulaba. Hundreds of vehicles were parked there. Taxis from the other side and quad-bikes were taking tourists upto Marhi.

Marhi was completely differently from the last time I was here. The endless green was replaced by white snow. Hundreds of tourists were snow-sliding, snow-mobiling, snow-balling or just wondering what to do with all the snow.

We stayed there for a couple of hours until our feet were freezing inside the gumboots. Back in Manali, paid a visit to the Hadimba temple.

This night I was not tired enough not to notice Sunil’s and Amit’s dolby-surround-sound snores. Sleep came late.

Day 4

The day to return back. The day I always hate whenever I’m in mountains. We started early in the morning. Drove straight past Bilaspur to stop for brunch. Sunil’s driving mode changed from formula one to need for speed. After a terrifying, holding-the-edge-of-the-seat, shouting-obscenities-at-Sunil, seven hours’ drive in the hills, we reached the plains. Now I knew how pteromerhanophobics feel when the aircraft lands. But the feeling of relief lasted only for minutes. Now Sunil was in his own den. NH1 has never seen such driving from a non-jaat, non-gurjar and non-sardar maniac.

We reached Delhi in record time, and alive. I thanked all the Gods after switching on the air conditioner and, involuntarily checking for seat belts, safely tucking myself in the bed. 

P.S.: Pteromerhanophobia - fear of flying.