Biking Through Manali

            So, from a long list of the places to mark our footprints on, the " Fellow Traveler" and I finally pinned down Manali in February 2016 to explore together. Though we both had individually been there before... But I guess we wanted to revisit the place through "Our" eyes.

Day 1:
       With full excitement and a McDonald's in our gut, we hopped onto a comfortable Volvo from ISBT Delhi at 9:00 pm. After about an hour and a half the driver stopped at the world famous  Dhaba at Murthal ;-) for a yummilicious dinner. I must admit that the journey was pretty much comfortable, though I was a little apprehensive about travelling through bus. Each time the driver took a 10-15 min break, we hopped off to get a sting of fresh breath.

On Our Way To Manali

We couldn't contain our eagerness as we approached the snow capped mountains. Finally after few naps we were greeted to a pleasant cold morning at the Manali bus station 9:00 am. The guy from our prebooked Hotel Silmog, was there at the stand to drop us at our lovely stay. It was around 1 km away, just walking distance from the mall road.

Silmog Hotel's Reception area

     Our stay was very comfortable, with a good courteous staff. The room had a small and a cozy sitting area along with a balcony  and the splendid view of ice capped mountains was like cherry on the cake. The snowfall had just happened a day before and was unfortunately expected to happen a day after we planned to leave. But still our hopes were high, as one never knows the plan of mother nature.
     After a heavy breakfast of paranthas and sandwiches we just went by to take a stroll and plan our day. Just a walk away our eyes laid on a shop and immediately I could sense a spark in our souls...It was Bike On Rent shop...I have never experienced riding on a  bike on mountains, though the "Fellow Traveler" is an avid biker. So, It was like a dream come true for me. We immediately struck a good deal and the beast was ours now for next two days :-)

    After freshening up, we decided our itinerary..So, the first day we limited ourselves to Naggar palace and old manali and basically just enjoying the cool breeze on our faces from 360 degrees while riding the bike which is not experienced in 4 wheelers. The second day we decided to ride till Solang valley and trek for few kms till Anjani Mahadev Shivling Point. Since Rohtang pass was closed because of the snow fall, so that stood cancelled. We could only extend our visit to Solang Valley and Gulaba. Third day we decided again to trek the magnificent path leading us to Jogini temple and falls.
     So, here we started our ride to Naggar palace, with my leather jacket on to get the complete biker look :-p and a road map in my hand to guide the " Fellow Traveler".As he has a habit of riding the older version bullet where the gears are placed opposite in comparison to the newer versions, I had to constantly remind him that. Manali being a valley, one gets to observe beautiful and serene mountains all around.

To Naggar Palace

I couldn't stop myself to make lots of videos on our way to the palace, with lots of apple orchards coming our way, patiently waiting for the spring to flower. The path mesmerized me completely, with our bike riding uphill and downhill to reach the palace. The Naggar palace was a little disappointing, since there wasn't much to see or do in there. The palace seemed to be a little unkept.

Dummies Huddled in one of the rooms in the palace

 We sat at the rooftop of the palace just to enjoy the place and its scenic beauty around with a hot cup of tea and 2 minutes instant noodles, which is a dish by default in such places :-).

Rooftop View From The Palace

After half an hour or so, we left the place dissatisfied yet excited to continue our bike ride. By the time we rode back to manali mall road it was 5 in the evening with the weather getting more chilly and me missing my warm koroshiya knitted muffler.

Somewhere Over The Mountains

      We rode our way to old manali from the mall road in search of good cafes as shown by mr. google. But Alas! the old manali remains closed in this season, which mr. google forgot to inform. :-( So, we settled with a much heard about place in the mall road by the name of Jhonson's Lodge, which is a must go in manali. Their cafe was a perfect place to be, to wind up our day and get a little tipsy. ;-) We had an  amazing  pasta and a lil spirit to raise our spirits and talked and laughed our heart out.

       We retired for the day a little early than usual after a yummy light dinner at our stay, to get back in action next day early morning.

Day2:

        Next day early morning our eyes opened to a fresh pleasant weather, making us all the more excited to start with our day.

        After the routine daily chores we headed for our favorite paranthas and sandwiches accompanied with a big mug of hand beaten authentic coffee. We were suggested by the hotel owner to lead towards the Solang Valley and trek further to the enchanting Anjani Mahadev Shivling and also we decided to touch Gulaba which lies on the way to rohtang pass. The road was closed after gulaba.The hotel owner was kind enough to lend me his rubber snow boots and I was lucky to fit into them...

Way to Solang Valley

           Packed in 3 layers with the rubber boots on and our heightened excitement, we rode our way to through the windy Solang Valley. One gets the privilege to witness the picture perfect sceneries on the way. With the air so fresh as if it has passed through several filters; for once I wished that like camels can store water for days to come,  we had lungs to store this air till our next call from the mountains.

Enjoying The Picturesque View Around

           After about a 12 kms smooth and an enchanting ride to solang valley, we decided to trek our way to the Anjani Mahadev Shivling which was about 3 kms. Though lot of other options were available, like going through horses or mountain bikes or bolero...but it would have been a sin reaching there without walking on the snow, balancing yourself, clicking lots of pictures and gasping for air a little. Besides I feel bad for the nature and the snow when I see SUV 's brooming their way up and turning the ice black. After say about 2 kms of walking uphill, there was a maggi and a tea point, where we treated ourselves with a hot cup of tea. Rejuvenated, one can very well see the shivling which was about 12 feet high, naturally made of snow.

Steep Way to Shivling From the Tea Point

           From the Tea point to the shivling, there's a distance of about 1km, completely steep and snow covered. Looking at the steepness, I got a little petrified, but the "Fellow Traveler" kept my spirits up. Falling, rising and enjoying, we managed to reach the top. It was completely mesmerizing being there. Replicating the one at Amarnath and it stood tall at about 12 feet. The guy at the tea point enlightened us with few facts about it, one being that it's height reaches till about 20 feet high. The story behind this shivling as they say is...As the name suggests, this was the place where mata Anjani prayed to Lord Shiva for a child, and happily shiva gave her a boon of strong, intelligent Lord Hanuman.
          Being in such divine places and appreciating nature's different faces always makes me dumbstruck..I always feel short of words to describe my inner feelings regarding the beauty of mother nature, but happy that i get a chance to be one with her.

Divine Anjani Mahadev Shivling

          To reach back to the tea point, there was no choice except to sit and slide, freezing us downright but fun at the same time. With a feeling of contentment, we walked back to the trek point where our beast lazily rested there. Lot of vendors and guides were loitering around, to make the tourists feel more comfortable.

          Hopping again onto our bike we planned further to go till Gulaba, facing lot of black ice on our way. The bike used to jiggle a bit while running on the black ice, making me super tensed, but without falling from the bike we reached gulaba. We met lot of bikers coming down from south of India to manali on bike. The "Fellow Traveler" exchanged few facts and notes with them about the route and experience. While coming back downhill, as predicted by the "Fellow Traveler" i surely had my first fall on the black ice from the bike just at one of the turns..Oh God! I got super scared thinking that we might slip into the chasm beside..But the Fellow traveler's experience saved us both :-)
           Slowly and steadily feeling the breeze on my face and watering eyes, we reached back to the mall road, hungry for the much heard about Trout Fish. Every second eatery joint had a board exhibiting the Trout. For once we thought of purchasing the raw fish and getting it cooked at The Silmog Hotel, but got to know that the government has officially banned fishing in manali, thus it is not available in the local raw meat/fish market. After a lot of speculation , in order to get an original and authentic flavour, we joyfully ended up again at "The Johnson's Lodge". The waiter served us our Trout after taking good 30 minutes to fry the pre marinated fish on a low flame. It was one of the best fish that my palate has ever experienced with glass of red wine, celebrating the day we got together as soulmates.
           After a hearty early evening snacks, we strolled a little on the mall road, remembering how it has changed over a period of time and returned the beast to it's owner with a heavy heart, knowing that the trip is on it climax. We called our day off with a dinner again at our hotel only, since we were in love with chef's talent.

Day 3:

          The following day, we packed our bags to board the volvo in the evening. The hotel guy was kind enough to let us keep our bags with him till the evening, since we had planned to walk to the Jogini falls in Vashisht village. Till a point, the auto dropped us. We were supposed to walk our ways to the falls beyond that. I am a firm believer of the thought process that "if you look closely, the journey is always more interesting than the destination itself. So the walk till the falls made my belief more strong. Apart from the alluring scenery around us at all the mass tourism places, I always feel that the mountains have much more to offer if we walk and explore the place. Encountering remote villages with uninhabited mountains in between we walked our way up to our destination.

Remote Village 

Manali Helipad Clearly Visible From Vashisht Village

        Though the way to the falls is not well marked with hoardings, but the local people seem to guide u willingly. After a walk for about half an hour we faced a fork end road and a sound of gushing water making us sure that the falls are nearby. The " Fellow Traveler" and i ran into an argument about which way leads us to the fall. The fellow traveler started walking on one path and i followed him cribbing about his decision and WOAH.. to our surprise..we came across to one of the most exquisite waterfalls. It seemed like one of those three leveled waterfalls we usually see in wallpapers or posters.

"Fellow Traveler" at Three Levelled Picturesque Fall

             I secretly thanked God and my fellow traveler for getting us here by serendipity. A localite revealed that these are not Jogini falls and we are on the wrong way. Drinking the beauty of this picture perfect place, we raced towards the Jogini falls. Soon After we reached there to yet another enchanting falls cascading down casting its spell. There was a small temple nearby dedicated to mata Jogini. Seeking blessings, we tried capturing the breathtaking falls and spending some time in tranquility.

Jogini Falls

Himalayan Vulture Hovering Around

            Henceforth we decided to walk our way down till our hotel in order to get the essence of the place well. The walk back was uneventful yet pleasant. There were few shops selling pashminas, blankets, other woollen accessories and a single shop of hiking and trekking accessories. A good walk for about 2 hours made us reach the Beas River, which was not as gushing and strong as it was 20 years back. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed swaying my feet in the river and spending some valuable time there. Though a picture can say 1000 words but no matter how much one clicks, nothing compares to actually being there and capturing the scene through your eyes and storing in your memories.

Beas River

     Lazily, we marched towards the mall road, to hog my favorite chinese food at a well known joint -  Chopsticks. Though the restaurant was buzzing with happy foodie people, but somehow our experience with the food wasn't upto the mark. We felt that it was little stale and felt uncomfortable after that. We bid our wishes  and good byes to the hotel owner and the warm staff after getting freshened up at the hotel itself. They dropped us back to the stand and we boarded the volvo back to Delhi with a heavy heart and an uncomfortable stomach at 6:00 pm. The driver stopped for the dinner at around 11: 00 pm at a deserted place in a restaurant which  had very limited choice of food, making me decide to skip the meal and try to get a good night's sleep to carry on with our jobs the subsequent day. The next morning Delhi welcomed us back to our engaging schedules with a bright sunny day.