Venue: Manali, Himachal Pradesh

One of the hottest tourist activities in summer is the Manali trip from Delhi.

Yet we had refrained from this tour for long. In fact, we have mostly stayed away from popular hill stations in North India. The overcrowding of such places by tourists, leaving very little scope for us to pursue activities of our linking, in terms of exploration of nature and heritage, has been the reason. We must confess that we changed our stance on doing popular hill stations after we fell in love with Shimla, another popular hill station in Himachal, now ill-famed for tourist congestion. After visiting Shimla and loving it, we decided to visit such hill stations from Delhi and explore these our way. The next hill station on our list was Manali.

Delhi to Manali trip by bus

We had been avoiding the trip to Manali from Delhi for many reasons, the traffic jams were undoubtedly one of the biggest deterrents. We had seen scary pictures of people being stuck on the Manali highway and also the black filthy snow shots at Rohtang Pass. So much so, we went to Tirthan Valley last year which is almost at Manali but skipped Manali. But recently we took the plunge and went to Manali. We did a mix of a few obvious and offbeat things to do in Manali. We have no regrets at all. In fact, the agenda for writing this blog is to clear the air about Manali.

First things first, we could see why is Manali famous and so popular with tourists. It is the unparalleled beauty of this hill station coupled with a host of touristy activities that are unmatched. The huge canvas here, with green and white snow-clad mountains, rivers, and deodar trees, look straight out of a dream. We have been to so many hill stations in Himachal Pradesh – Chail, Chindi, Khajjiar, and Dalhousie, all very beautiful in their own way, but then there is a larger-than-life character to Manali. No doubt there is no such beauty within 12-14 hours of driving time from Delhi.

We planned the trip to Manali by bus this time because of our assignment to review the Goldseat app. This is an offline entertainment app that works in outbound buses from Delhi. The Manali route from Delhi took about 13-14 hours and we did not have to face too many traffic jams. Beginner’s luck we would say. Our good friend Sachin Jain accompanied this time. The journey happened mostly in the night and we couldn’t see much from the bus window. But when we woke up at around 5 in the morning and looked outside, we were already very close to Manali. Looking outside at the Beas River flowing along the highway was an experience we will remember for long. We knew we are in for a great time.

All said and done 12 to 14 hours on road in a bus is tiresome. We were exhausted by the time we reached Manali. One can book Manali hotels online or physically after reaching there. There is no dearth of budget hotels in Manali as well. However, we were pre-booked at Hotel Gezellig Inn, a little far from where the bus dropped us. We checked in, had some tea, and slept for a while. When we woke up, we were fresh.

The view from our hotel balcony was breathtakingly beautiful. We decided not to do anything intensive today because we were still a little weary. We spoke to the hotel manager and some locals and they told us that the route for Rohtang Pass just opened a day before. If we wanted to go there, we would have to wake up at 3 in the night and it was going to cost us between 6000 to 8000 rupees. We were not very keen on spending this much, and on top, there was absolutely no point in getting up at 3 o’clock just to watch snow. We had already experienced magnificent snowfall at Fagu.  We were also warned about the massive traffic jam that we might have to face if we are going to Rohtang Pass. We decided to shelve the idea of going to Rohtang Pass and go to Solang Valley instead. Manali things to do in summer are what we wanted to explore.

Traffic Jam in Manali

We hired an Activa from a local bike rental service and got ready for sightseeing that day. We witnessed some of the most gorgeous visuals on our way to Solang Valley. Since we were on a bike, it was easier for us to stop whenever we wanted and to click whatever we fancied. This was a great decision we took. But whatever you resist, persists, they say. On our way to Solang Valley, we got stuck in a major traffic jam. Apparently, this is the same route that goes to Rohtang Pass. It looked like the whole world was going to Rohtang Pass that day. We were thanking our lucky stars that we were not stuck in a four-wheeler, as maneuvering a bike was much easier than a car. But after a point the jam got so bad that even our two-wheeler couldn’t find any space to move. It was sunny and sweaty and we were cursing ourselves for doing Solang on a day when we were already tired.

But there is always a silver lining. After a point the road bifurcated and we were on the road to Solang Valley, leaving the traffic that was going towards Rohtang Pass. All of a sudden, the scenery changed. The road was all ours to ride and to enjoy the beautiful blue sky and amazing mountains on all sides. Since it was peak summer, the weather was clear and we could see the snow-clad mountains very clearly. This may not be possible during winters or monsoons due to fog.

Touristy Things To Do In Manali

Solang – the Adventure Valley

 

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After riding for another 20 minutes we reached Solang, the Adventure Valley. We parked the bike and from the parking area we could see parachutes landing in a huge field. Apparently, this is the place for adventure activities such as paragliding and skiing. Paragliding here costs around Rs 3200 per person and if you just want to go up to the hill, to the paragliding point through a ropeway, it costs around Rs 600 per person. We went up using the ropeway and this was a lot of fun but we felt that it was very expensive for a very short distance. Paragliding starts from the top of a hill and there was no dearth of takers. One by one colorful parachutes took off from the hill and we heard a lot of “wohooos” at the takeoff. The whole paragliding experience lasts for just about 3-4 minutes max and then you land at the bottom, in the open field.

The other touristy things to do here is getting clicked with the yaks, having ice cream, cotton candy and bhelpoori at the stalls on one side of the field. Some locals follow you around to sell the aphrodisiac herb Shilajit from the mountains. But this was not an uncommon sight. We had a similar experience during our trekking to Guru Shikhar in Mount Abu.

After spending some time here and clicking to our hearts’ content, we returned to the main Manali area. Fortunately, the traffic jam on our way down was not half as bad as it was on our way up.

Hidimba Devi Temple

Hidimba Temple is one of the most visited tourist spots in Manali. It’s a cave temple dedicated to Hidimba, a demoness and wife of Bhima from Mahabharat. The cave temple is surrounded by an intricately carved wooden structure with a pointed dome on the top. The main shrine has a rock jutting out of the ground and is worshipped by locals and tourists alike. The temple is designed in a typical Naggar style of architecture and has gods, animals, and nature carved in wood and stone. The queue to enter the temple was long but fast-moving. The temple is surrounded by deodar forest and is extremely picturesque and scenic. The Hidimba Devi Temple adds divinity to serene surroundings.

We had tea at a stall outside Hidimba Devi Temple and left for our hotel. Once at the hotel, we rested for a while and then went out for dinner to Mall Road. We had heard of this vegetarian restaurant at Mall Road in Manali – Hotel Natraj and had a thali platter which was good and anybody with a North Indian palette would love it.

After dinner, we strolled on the Mall Road for some time. It was full of tourists; the weather was nice and we loved spending time here. We went back to the hotel, crashed on our beds, and called it a day.

Offbeat Things To Do In Manali

Naggar Castle

We felt rested and much better the next morning. We had breakfast at the hotel and right after that started for Naggar. Naggar is in Kullu, approximately 30 km from Manali. We took Manali Kullu Highway and as yesterday, we saw the most scenic beauty enroute our destination. It took us approximately 45 minutes to reach Naggar.

Naggar Castle, a 16th-century castle, used to be Kullu’s king’s abode. This palace is now Himachal Pradesh Tourism Department Corporation (HPTDC) property. The two doors of the castle have been made with single tree trunks and one can imagine the massiveness of the trees that were used. Similarly, the wooden beams used in the walls have been made from whole trees.

The castle was sold to an English Major who refurbished the northern wing of the castle to suit European way of living. A staircase, fireplace and chimneys were created that gave this wing British mansions feel. This contrast and the generally beautiful architecture and amazing view of the valley till date remain claims to fame of Naggar Castle. The entry to the castle is ticketed.

Shooting of “Ye Isque Hai” song from the movie“Jab We Met” here is a common knowledge and looks like since then it’s a hot spot for shooting in this area. Incidentally when we visited, a part of Naggar Castle was also taken up by a film unit who were shooting a sequence when we went. It was fun watching the film shooting for some time but the retakes bored us soon. We went to the other parts of the castle and saw a beautiful quaint temple in one part and, a small museum in the basement of the castle. The Naggar Castle Museum could have been stocked up and kept better.

German Bakery

There are many a café on the Manali Mall Road but these looked very regular. Not bad but not interesting. What caught our fancy is a German bakery just 10 steps away from Naggar Castle. This looked interesting and we thought of taking a break for some fueling up.

When we entered, we realised it is typically a beautifully done-up cafe in the hills. The seating arrangement is cosy and the decor is understated and very artistic. We ordered a slice of lemon cake, a chocolate ball, and an oatmeal cookie. These went very well with our coffee. They also serve some herbal teas and rhododendron juices. Everything we had here was very pocket-friendly and top-notch in quality as well as taste. You won’t get anything similar even in the so-called mountain cafes in Delhi NCR. This bakery can be a sole reason for a food lover to visit this area. We would highly recommend this German bakery for its food along with laid back and relaxed vibes. We got some cakes and cookies packed for our way back. We wish we had more time to sit here and relax but we had our bus already booked for the evening. We started for our next to-do in this area.

Tripura Sundari Temple

Just 10 minutes of bike ride from a German bakery and we reached our next destination – Tripura Sundari Temple. This is an 11th-century old temple in Manali which has not been written much about or heard much from the tourists. For some reason, this temple does not feature in the itinerary of a regular tourist to Manali. The temple is built on a slope in typical wooden architecture of those times. Thick wooden beams and intricate carvings on wood make this temple look like straight out of the pages of a history book. The Tripura Sundari idol is breathtakingly beautiful and the expressions on the face of the Goddess are peaceful and divine. We saw a few locals coming here for their prayers but not a single tourist here. This is definitely one of the most offbeat things to do in Manali.

Nicholas Roerich Art Gallery – Himalayan folk and tribal art museum

On the same road, 5 minutes drive and we were at Roerich’s Himalayan folk and tribal art museum. Painter Nicholas Roerich came to India from Russia to study spirituality and stayed on. Some of his artwork and other pieces of Russian and Himalayan folk art are housed here. Sadly, it was lunch time and the staff had gone for their lunch. They do not allow entry to tourists during lunch hours. We were asked to wait for 1 hour but as we said earlier, we were pressed for time. We had to make do with whatever displays were lying out in the lawn and it gave us a glimpse of what all could be there, inside the museum. We really regret not visiting the museum and make it a point to visit this museum on our next visit to Kullu Manali.

Creating Art in Hills

Out in the lawn they have a permanent stage which apparently is used for theatre. When we went, there was an art workshop going on with kids here. This was an art workshop cum exhibition – Oneness by Mahsu Art organisation in collaboration with state museum Shimla. A bunch of kids were making paintings under the guidance of a few professionals here. This was so heartwarming to see children creating art, amidst such beautiful surroundings. A great initiative we must say. Our finale to this trip couldn’t be more creative.

We were so satiated with our experience today that we did not regret not doing Rohtang Pass during Manali trip one bit. We started on our way back to the hotel as it was time for us to pack our bags and leave for Delhi. We took a different route this time. Instead of the Kullu Manali Highway, we took Manali Naggar Road which actually took us to Manali through some villages and narrow roads. Since we ditched the highway this time, we could see locals engaged in farming and related activities. We also captured beautiful water bodies and untouched natural scenery through our camera lens on the way.

Delhi beckons

We took an evening bus from Manali and reached Delhi the next morning with eyes full of visuals that we are going to cherish for a long.

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. And the beauty of Manali surpasses many hill stations around Delhi. Add to that cool Manali weather throughout the year coupled with easy Manali to Delhi transport and excellent Manali trip packages from Delhi, it is clear to us as to why people dig this hill station. All it needs is a more conscious and sustainable approach to tourism. We are fans and intend to explore Manali things to do in winter and write about that again.