Himachal Pradesh - Abode of snow - Day7
The cab arrived at 9.00 am and one couple was already sitting in the middle seats. We also boarded and sat in middle seats as we wanted to avoid back seats for long journey of 8-10 hours. After few minutes third couple occupied back seats and later one elderly local person took the front seat. After 30 minutes of drive we halted for the breakfast. After an hour’s drive that elderly person alighted and the front seat was empty. Four persons were sitting in the middle seat which was little inconvenient so I asked if I can sit in the front seat so that all four of us can sit comfortably. But the drive was so arrogant and rude he replied “Jaha baithe ho wahi baitho (Sit where you are sitting)” 😏
So after long and uncomfortable drive of about 2 more hours we “passed” Sundarnagar lake. Note that we passed the lake and didn’t stopped there. So I commented to my wife in our language that may be this driver will show us all en-route destination from cab itself 😃 😃. We were shown Mandi bus depot. I was really not expecting to see bus depot when we were told that you will be seeing Mandi on your way 😏. It was around 2.00 pm so we took lunch break. We just had fruits cos we were yet to cover lot of distance and that too through curvy roads. We didn’t wanted to reach Manali with motion sickness.
After you cross Mandi you will meet river Beas. This river will be with you up to Manali. Next came Pandoh Dam. We didn’t stopped at the dam itself but little ahead after the cab climbed a small hill. Finally! We stopped at one place and it was good one. The view of emerald green water was striking. We clicked few photographs and moved ahead. Soon we passed through 2.8 KMs long Aut tunnel and reached Aut village. As we moved ahead we saw few foot over bridges over the river connecting to small villages. The views were photogenic but I knew our driver will not stop and it is not a good practice to stop on national highway which is already quite narrow. We were speeding through the road which had a mountain on the left and dangerously but magnificent river Beas on the right. We did noticed warning boards near river mentioning not to venture in the river.
We passed Bhuntar airport and reached Kullu town. We stopped at one activity center and paid Rs. 20 as entry ticket. Here you can opt for river rafting. We decided not to go for it. We spent 30 minutes here in wandering a little, having omlette and tea and clicking few pics. As we moved ahead towards Manali, we noticed that there are 100s of rafting centers. We then stopped and visited Mini Vaishno Devi temple. It was nice temple with wooden interiors. You have to crawl through a 3 feet tunnel to reach the sanctum. Another 15-20 minutes were spent here. It was around 6.00 pm and started to get dark. Soon we reached Kullu Shawl factory. We were really not interested in shopping shawls after such a long drive. It must 7.00 pm when we reached Manali. When we got down from the cab our drive enquired if we are interested in local Manali sightseeing next day. I didn’t wanted to ruin my day in Manali so I refused politely.
Our hotel New Adarsh was very near to mall road. We checked in our room, got freshen and then got down at 8.00 pm for dinner. We were damn hungry at this point. Got into one random hotel and ordered tried and tasted butter chicken. Got back into the hotel room and slept soon.
The cab arrived at 9.00 am and one couple was already sitting in the middle seats. We also boarded and sat in middle seats as we wanted to avoid back seats for long journey of 8-10 hours. After few minutes third couple occupied back seats and later one elderly local person took the front seat. After 30 minutes of drive we halted for the breakfast. After an hour’s drive that elderly person alighted and the front seat was empty. Four persons were sitting in the middle seat which was little inconvenient so I asked if I can sit in the front seat so that all four of us can sit comfortably. But the drive was so arrogant and rude he replied “Jaha baithe ho wahi baitho (Sit where you are sitting)” 😏
So after long and uncomfortable drive of about 2 more hours we “passed” Sundarnagar lake. Note that we passed the lake and didn’t stopped there. So I commented to my wife in our language that may be this driver will show us all en-route destination from cab itself 😃 😃. We were shown Mandi bus depot. I was really not expecting to see bus depot when we were told that you will be seeing Mandi on your way 😏. It was around 2.00 pm so we took lunch break. We just had fruits cos we were yet to cover lot of distance and that too through curvy roads. We didn’t wanted to reach Manali with motion sickness.
After you cross Mandi you will meet river Beas. This river will be with you up to Manali. Next came Pandoh Dam. We didn’t stopped at the dam itself but little ahead after the cab climbed a small hill. Finally! We stopped at one place and it was good one. The view of emerald green water was striking. We clicked few photographs and moved ahead. Soon we passed through 2.8 KMs long Aut tunnel and reached Aut village. As we moved ahead we saw few foot over bridges over the river connecting to small villages. The views were photogenic but I knew our driver will not stop and it is not a good practice to stop on national highway which is already quite narrow. We were speeding through the road which had a mountain on the left and dangerously but magnificent river Beas on the right. We did noticed warning boards near river mentioning not to venture in the river.
We passed Bhuntar airport and reached Kullu town. We stopped at one activity center and paid Rs. 20 as entry ticket. Here you can opt for river rafting. We decided not to go for it. We spent 30 minutes here in wandering a little, having omlette and tea and clicking few pics. As we moved ahead towards Manali, we noticed that there are 100s of rafting centers. We then stopped and visited Mini Vaishno Devi temple. It was nice temple with wooden interiors. You have to crawl through a 3 feet tunnel to reach the sanctum. Another 15-20 minutes were spent here. It was around 6.00 pm and started to get dark. Soon we reached Kullu Shawl factory. We were really not interested in shopping shawls after such a long drive. It must 7.00 pm when we reached Manali. When we got down from the cab our drive enquired if we are interested in local Manali sightseeing next day. I didn’t wanted to ruin my day in Manali so I refused politely.
Our hotel New Adarsh was very near to mall road. We checked in our room, got freshen and then got down at 8.00 pm for dinner. We were damn hungry at this point. Got into one random hotel and ordered tried and tasted butter chicken. Got back into the hotel room and slept soon.
Day07 - Pandoh Dam
Day07 - Pandoh Dam
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