Day 2, Chandigarh-Manali
I had survived a deluge of SMS's from the well meaning Jojo, 6-8 months of easy living and Beers making me feel so drowsy that I finally got up only at 7.00 {with barely 3 hours of sleep}, packing up and lugging down all the stuff took another 30 minutes or so, and then I was finally headed out of Chandigarh towards Manali and the heavenly Himalayas. Of course, I forget to say this, I probably had my last bath in a long while here, a nice leisurely affair, thanks to the great room service.
The way out to Manali was pretty simple, I just followed Jojo's instructions from the last night and soon I was out of Chandigarh, stopping 60 kms out for a leisurely breakfast of Punjabi Samosas and somewhere there itself I bought around a Kilo of garlic, getting ready for the climb up to Manali.
This is an awesome stretch indeed, the Chandigarh Manali road, soon I was in the Shivaliks, marvelling at the densely wooded hills all around, the greenery, the light and the dappled patterns on the road giving me the usual highs. I stopped by somewhere near the Nangal project to drink in the beauty of waters that were very evidently from snow-melt, aquamarine in a shade that the camera has failed to capture. And as I have always done, I also paused to strike a conversation with a road-side lemon-soda pop waala, popping two cloves of garlic into me while he prepared a Lassi glass size concoction of the fizzy brew.
Back on the road, with little traffic to contend with, I am intent on belting up the ghats and then the back wheel starts wobbling. I am too tired to stop and re-arrange the luggage or anything like that, so I ride along, cutting down the speed whenever the back-wheel indicates its got a mind of its own and of course stopping all along the way to try my hand at capturing watercolours that I will never attempt to paint.
Soon I am mid-way to Manali and suddenly the road ascends up with a vengeanance and I am like, man-oh-man where was I riding all this while, when there are roads like this in my own country? The best part about riding on the Chandigarh Manali road is not just the road with its lovely curves, but of course the greenery and the spectacular streams, brooks, rivers and waterfalls all around. It really took all my discipline for me to continue on, I just wanted to stop by and sit and start meditating at any number of places along the way.
I stopped for lunch at a small wayside hotel, specifically asking for Rotis, Daal and Sabji. As usual on the road, it was a lovely lunch, the food tasting awesome and everybody smiling at me and asking a thousand questions and of course warning me that there will be landslides after Manali.
Hereafter, I lost all track of time, it was already 3.00 or so when I left the hotel, I should have ridden non-stop to cover the last 100 kms, but then the vistas were out of this world, especially when the road ahead was straight, the clouds playing hide and seek with some lofty peak while I tried my best at doing some high-quality lensing.
And then I was in the Kullu Valley, a fact announced by the roadside Apple "laagers" where headscarved {and apple-cheeked} women, bonny children and pale-faced men would smile at me when I slow down and wave, and there was the gurgling Beas on the right. And of course, this being the age of that is , there were any number of Hoardings, Glowsigns and whatnot devoted to advertising "Rohtang Mineral Water", all reminding me that I was reaching a place famous for its proximity to snow.
I had to stop again because the back wheel was wobbling, I suspect a puncture, stop and get the air checked, wait for 5 mins and it doesn't deflate, reckon it will last anyway till Manali and finally ride the last 30 odd kms through pitch dark, splashing through a couple of water puddles for added fun.
I had smsd Jojo for help regarding acco and he was precise with his directions about the hotel, so I did not have to ride out to Old Manali after all, managing to get a nice room bang at the very entrance to Manali itself. So finally, at arond 7.30 in the evening on Day Two, I was in Manali, just 40 odd kms from Rohtang, and what's more there had been no rain the whole day. Isn't life just beautiful?
The way out to Manali was pretty simple, I just followed Jojo's instructions from the last night and soon I was out of Chandigarh, stopping 60 kms out for a leisurely breakfast of Punjabi Samosas and somewhere there itself I bought around a Kilo of garlic, getting ready for the climb up to Manali.
This is an awesome stretch indeed, the Chandigarh Manali road, soon I was in the Shivaliks, marvelling at the densely wooded hills all around, the greenery, the light and the dappled patterns on the road giving me the usual highs. I stopped by somewhere near the Nangal project to drink in the beauty of waters that were very evidently from snow-melt, aquamarine in a shade that the camera has failed to capture. And as I have always done, I also paused to strike a conversation with a road-side lemon-soda pop waala, popping two cloves of garlic into me while he prepared a Lassi glass size concoction of the fizzy brew.
Back on the road, with little traffic to contend with, I am intent on belting up the ghats and then the back wheel starts wobbling. I am too tired to stop and re-arrange the luggage or anything like that, so I ride along, cutting down the speed whenever the back-wheel indicates its got a mind of its own and of course stopping all along the way to try my hand at capturing watercolours that I will never attempt to paint.
Soon I am mid-way to Manali and suddenly the road ascends up with a vengeanance and I am like, man-oh-man where was I riding all this while, when there are roads like this in my own country? The best part about riding on the Chandigarh Manali road is not just the road with its lovely curves, but of course the greenery and the spectacular streams, brooks, rivers and waterfalls all around. It really took all my discipline for me to continue on, I just wanted to stop by and sit and start meditating at any number of places along the way.
I stopped for lunch at a small wayside hotel, specifically asking for Rotis, Daal and Sabji. As usual on the road, it was a lovely lunch, the food tasting awesome and everybody smiling at me and asking a thousand questions and of course warning me that there will be landslides after Manali.
Hereafter, I lost all track of time, it was already 3.00 or so when I left the hotel, I should have ridden non-stop to cover the last 100 kms, but then the vistas were out of this world, especially when the road ahead was straight, the clouds playing hide and seek with some lofty peak while I tried my best at doing some high-quality lensing.
And then I was in the Kullu Valley, a fact announced by the roadside Apple "laagers" where headscarved {and apple-cheeked} women, bonny children and pale-faced men would smile at me when I slow down and wave, and there was the gurgling Beas on the right. And of course, this being the age of that is , there were any number of Hoardings, Glowsigns and whatnot devoted to advertising "Rohtang Mineral Water", all reminding me that I was reaching a place famous for its proximity to snow.
I had to stop again because the back wheel was wobbling, I suspect a puncture, stop and get the air checked, wait for 5 mins and it doesn't deflate, reckon it will last anyway till Manali and finally ride the last 30 odd kms through pitch dark, splashing through a couple of water puddles for added fun.
I had smsd Jojo for help regarding acco and he was precise with his directions about the hotel, so I did not have to ride out to Old Manali after all, managing to get a nice room bang at the very entrance to Manali itself. So finally, at arond 7.30 in the evening on Day Two, I was in Manali, just 40 odd kms from Rohtang, and what's more there had been no rain the whole day. Isn't life just beautiful?
posted by Anand Vishwanadha at 1:00 AM
1 Comments:
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
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