"Manali (Hindi: मनाली) at an altitude of 2,050 m (6,726 ft) in the Beas River Valley is a beautiful hill station nestled in the mountains of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh near the northern end of the Kullu Valley[1]. It is located about 270 km (168 mi) north of the state capital, Shimla.
Manali with a population of approx. 30,000 is administratively a part of the Kullu district. The small town is the beginning of an ancient trade route to Ladakh and from there over the Karakoram Pass on to Yarkand and Khotan in the Tarim Basin.
Manali and the surrounding area is of great significance to Indian culture and heritage as it is said to be the home of the Saptarishi, or Seven Sages."
Colourful Shoes.
Feeling happy and refreshed.
The road collapsed into the river on the side.
It was too dark to see the extend of the damage the previous night. It was quite scary.
Locals working to re-construct the power pole.
Based on our original itinerary, we were supposed to start our 2D1N overland journey to Leh. However, due to the landslide before Changla Pass, the road was blocked and we had to stay in Manali for another day. And if the weather condition did not improve, the road would remain closed. We could only hope that weather would be fine tomorrow.
A boy performing acrobatic stunts on the street.
I was not impressed but sadden by his performance. A boy like him should be studying, not earning money on the street.
Manali street view
As Manali is a tourist town, inevitably, there are a lot of beggars. Two young girls approached me for money, but I offered to buy them cakes instead. To my surprise, they took the cakes to their family and share it among the big family sitting on the side of the road. I was happy, but sad to see a whole family sharing 2 pieces of cake.
A sweet desert.
In the late afternoon, we took a auto-rickshaw to visit a small town called Vahisht (A backpacker hangout place). It was a quiet town set in a hill, with nice restaurants, Hindu temple, shops and hotspring.
Our luck was really down, even the auto-rickshaw broke down on the slope towards Vashisht. PZ was lamenting that things were not going our way, and she was taking it as a sign that we were not supposed to continue our journey.
Nice roof.
View from Peace Cafe in Vashisht.
We had a long discussion on the plan forward. All the signs were negative. It was still drizzling in the evening, the weather forecast was thunder storm for the next few days, and there was a report of landslides and people getting killed in the other northern region of India.
I realized that weather is such an important part of life in this part of the world. A bad weather could just ruin the whole trip. We came with many alternative plans that do not make sense (like travel overland to Srinagar), flying back to Delhi (not sure if there is flight), going to Varanasi instead.... and XF was quite serious when he said that he would buy a ticket back to Singapore.
At this point, our trip had came to a halt. It all depends on the next day's weather.
Despite the uncertainties, we had fun squeezing 6 of us into a small taxi back to the Manali town.
=)
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