Hi Friends, hope this blog finds you in good health and place. I am usually a solo traveller but sometimes you go through some experiences in life that demands sharing and caring for others. Today, i am going to share one of my experiences with you, if you read it carefully, trust me your Manali trip is going to be awesome. I would narrate it as a story and it has 3 parts(3 days).
“Please pardon my layman English, i am not a professional writer, hope you will understand.”
One of my friends recently(Feb-2022) planned a trip to Manali-Himachal Pradesh- India. We were total 5 people, i am going to name them with their initials so that it protects their privacy and interest, in addition we can enjoy the story easily. So the names are Vik, Sun, Van, Arv, and Swe.
I(Vik) live in Delhi, My friend (Arv) lives in Shamli, Uttar Pradesh, India. Me and my friend (Sun) left Delhi on Saturday at 5:30 AM in my Car and we first reached Shamli at around 8:45 PM. From their we all started our journey to Manali at around 9:30 AM in our car Ertiga(13Rs/km+Night charges(500)+Tolls). At around 2 PM we stopped for a quick lunch at some roadside dhaba(you will find plenty during the journey). We had some home made Parathas, pickle and alo gobhi, we ordered some curd, a bowl of Kadhai Paneer, tea. Lunch went good, except Kadhai Paneer. So, i would recommend to always carry home made lunch and enjoy that at some place quite and green, instead of expecting a roadside dhaba to enhance your lunch experience. Worst Kadhai paneer ever had in 200 rs.
Anyways, moving forward we made a few more stops for tea and snacks. We had booked hotel through MMT. We reached to our hotel at around 10:30 PM and the hotel offered us a nice dinner(we informed the hotel that we are running late).
After that we reached to our rooms and got freshen up and had a nice sleep. Hotel didn’t provide room heaters and asked for extra charge of INR 400 per room per night. It’s a pillar heater of around 2.5 ft in height.
We had a nice sleep after the long journey.
Next day we woke up at around 7:30 AM, got ready and had a nice breakfast. Food was really good at the hotel. After that we asked our driver to take us to Solang valley(13 KM from hotel), to that he denied and we had to take a different cab(INR 1000) to solang valley.
Now the real game starts, the cab driver stopped the cab at around 7-8 KMs and showed us a shop to buy snow dress and shoes and said last shop on the way after that there is no shop(commission system), we knew the reality but still we went to the shop and rented the dress + activities package(INR 5000). Package included Yak ride, Snow truck ride, Skeeing and Tyre ride downhill + snow dress and shoes for 4 people.
After that cab driver showed us a shortcut due to slow moving traffic (i wish i wouldn’t have taken that shortcut haha). Anyways, we reached the valley and started with our first activity Snow truck, it was in the package that the truck would cover 1100 meters for each individual but you know these package guys are players and don’t care much about the commitments, and as expected the game began, he gave us a tide of around 500 meters and that too two people on a truck, we felt ripped off but didn’t want to end the fun factor by making a scene, hence we moved on to second activity Tyre ride downhill, the also two people at once, the track was of around 50 meters. Third activity was Yak Ride, track length was again 50 meters to and fro, hence total around 100 meters, Yak ride was nice as compared to rest of the activities.
After that we moved on to a nice and quite spot to do camping, there we made snowman(OLAF) and Maggi. We hired a photographer and a local dresser for photos. Both were seemed to be in hurry and impolite. After that we went to our last activity Skeeing, it was normal and we enjoyed it for 30-45 minutes. Post that we showed our dissatisfaction with the guide, but you know they do this everyday and don’t really care about anything except money.
I would recommend to never hire any guide at such places even if they give the package for free. Just go to the valley, chose activities yourself and enjoy them without anyone standing on your head. Shoes and dresses are also available at every corner of solang valley. Hence, don’t worry about anything.
The shop details are Shop number 227, on the way to Solang Valley, Corner shop. Avoid this shop.
Moving on we reached the hotel, took some rest, enjoyed evening tea amd snacks. Our 5th member “Sun” got a call and he had to leave for Delhi the same evening.
After that we had dinner and had a good night sleep.
That’s all for Day 1, see you tomorrow. Thankyou for reading.
