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We had a fortuitous trip to Club Mahindra Snowpeaks, Manali earlier this month. Earlier in March, we tried booking one of their Himalayan resorts (Dharamshala, Manali, and Shimla) and, as usual, came up short. They were already taken. But we put in a request for them to get back in case anything fell vacant. At the end of March, they did get back and we had two blocks of contiguous dates to choose from. Talk of luck! We opted for both [1BR for three (08-11.MAY) nights and 2BR for four (11-15.MAY) nights, though it cleaned out our entire holiday balance of 10 days. This is the biggest gripe that CM members have against Club Mahindra: not being able to get acco at their resorts after having paid top-dollar, but, to cut Club Mahindra some slack, either book very upfront (like my pal Ram did for his Goa trip in December: book on July 1!) or put in that small but significant feedback to the call center in case something falls vacant and be ready to turn on a dime wrt booking those travel tickets. That feedback bit worked for us last year on Dharamshala as well, though we never made that trip. Saturday, May 7, 2011
Photoset: To Manali
We felt that it was better to fly to Chandigarh (IXC) and then take an 8-hour ride by the Swagatam Holidays Volvo bus from Chandigarh to Manali (very good rating on redBus). JetLite has a convenient connecting flight (S2-238), which starts at 12:50 PM from BLR and reaches IXC at 4:50 PM, with a halt at Delhi (more than 30 minutes). At the stopover at Delhi, met PMagaji in front of our seats. He had an HTC Android (one of the few that looks better than an SGS) and we exchanged notes, including WhatsApp. The sunset at Chandigarh was truly marvelous and we loved the place.
Had emailed Hotel KLG earlier (as it was close to the Chandigarh bus stand in Sector 43) and they offered us a reduced rate (INR 2,000 + taxes) till midnight (rack rate was INR 2,488).
It was good to have a base to freshen up (the hotel served us a great dinner) and also to explore the place with Marty. After quite some walking, found that the Swagatam Holidays Volvo Semi-Sleeper starts from opposite the Chandigarh Bus Stand (not from within). One thing i noticed during that walkabout was the free movement of people (including ladies), even at a late hour. Quite a change from bad old Delhi. When we came back to the hotel, got a solid shock due to a snafu. My Samsung Galaxy Tab that i enjoyed all the while on the flight ran out of juice and, when i tried to charge it, noticed that i had packed two SGS chargers and not that of the SGT. Shoot! The SGT was as good as a brick the rest of the trip. Thankfully, the SGS was good enough for the email, though not for the browsing. S*t happens. Anyway, the walkabout helped us to get to the bus stand in a jiffy; Gaurav of KLG was nice and rustled up a couple of autos (more like phat-phatis: "అది auto కాదురా, ఫట్-ఫటీ అంటారు"!), which cost us just INR 100 for both. The Swagatam Holidays Volvo took its time reaching us and by the time we started it was well past midnight. Had to wonder what the first double-8 (D8C8) of the year had in store, what with traveling in an unknown place :-) Sunday, May 8, 2011
Photoset: To Manali
Travel by bus gets more difficult with age. Wish there was a cap on travel mirroring that quote by Hitchcock:
The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.
Was wondering when the bus driver would stop (along with a bit of nama-smarana) when he suddenly stopped. Well, that worked. Beat the rest of the traffic before they got going; helps to be a Gemini ;-) On the way up (the loos were like some twenty steps down), ran into an all-ladies group speaking Telugu. That's one good thing of AP being a rajasic state; you got to talk about all the great places that you've been to, n'est-ce pas? It gets light pretty early in the mountains. So, even at 6 AM, could get this shot:
PMagaji, the Android dude that i met in the flight, was also on the same bus and he showed me his solar charger for the HTC Android:
I had a lot of issues with the power draining on the SGS within a day; as it is, the SGT was already kaput. Could have certainly done with one of these. Looks like the Lenmar PPUS20 PowerPort Solar Charger. One thing i liked about the ride was the Swagatam Holidays bus driver:
Cool chap, taking the many twists and turns easily; once in a while, even talking on his mobile. Very interesting voice, maintaining an easy camaraderie with his cleaner. I thought i heard him use the words "Sound Barrier" in the middle of the night! Soon had my first view of the snow-clad mountains:
This is one thing you don't see in the beautiful Western Ghats. We got dropped off at Club Mahindra Snowpeaks, Manali by an eager beaver of a driver called Sandeep in his Alto and saw this in the reception:
At 9 AM, we were way ahead of the check-in time of 2 PM, but the folks let us freshen up and have a nice buffet of a breakfast. We went out for a walk while the room was getting ready. It was then that i saw This (రాజాధి రాజ - rAjAdhi rAja) for the first time, which i later came to know as Hamta Pass:
Its strong resemblance to my shot of Arunachala from Sri Ramana Maharshi Old Age Home kept me in thrall whenever i saw it the rest of the trip. The only thing extra is that snowy crown. When M saw the Himalayas for the first time, he burst into tears. He later reported this to the Master, who remarked in his usual homely way:
When you bite into a chilli, knowingly or unknowingly, your tongue will burn.
~~~*-*~@~
After a while, we were in the 1BR. Sadly, i didn't click a pic of the same, but it's a nice square room with a kitchenette on the left, a balcony in the middle, and a long loo on the right. The square room, where the kids crashed on the sofa-bed, adjoined the master bedroom, which also had a door to the nicely designed loo. Unlike the one in Coorg, you can access it from both the living room and the bedroom. It's in such situations that you understand the funda of XOR, the exclusive OR. Both the doors should be open for access from anywhere, or both should be closed, when it's in use. All of us crashed out, skipping lunch. This is the view from our room (#205).
They have 33 rooms, not sure about the mix of 1BR and studio, and one 2BR. Initially there were 46 at Timber Trail, but after Club Mahindra took over the property, they renamed it as Snowpeaks and cobbled together a few rooms to convert them into 1BR; this reduced the room count to 33. The number of rooms in Club Mahindra, Dharamshala is much lower; just 22. Also it's an affiliate property. The general feeling is that it's quite hot there (in Dharamshala) at this time of the year and it's better to visit it in October. In the evening, we went for a walk. WiFi persuaded this local to pose for a photo; she reminded me of Mrs. Anthony Quinn.
We saw Holiday Inn on the way from Prini, where CM Snowpeaks is located, to Manali. In the gloaming, got this photo of a devdar:
All the while we were thinking that devdar was the same as pine, but Wikipedia clarified it as Himalayan Cedar. Check out whether you can differentiate between a cedar and a pine. White-water Rafting and Manikarn
I am the Himalaya, the measure of what endures. —The Bhagavad-Gita
Woke up relaxed and enjoyed the scenery from the balcony. The Old Man-ali was putting on a show:
The many moods of Snowy Arunachala! Looks like a very benevolent king. There was some construction going on:
The chap at Kullu Gaon [;-) to Gopa] gave us some alternatives: (pp = per person)
- INR 500 pp for 5 km
- INR 800 pp for 7 km
- INR 1,000 pp for 9 km.
We chose the INR 800 pp to start with. Unfortunately, we had to stow the cameras in waterproof bags so there aren't any photos for the duration of the rafting. The Beas river is a choppy one; it reminded me of the Narmada river, which has been called Reva (The Leaping One). The waters are frequently washing back and you get caught up in all sorts of eddies, hammering the inflatable raft in unpredictable ways. If you, i.e., the raft, are in phase with the backwash, you ride over the wave, otherwise it cleans you up and out. I was port-side and Niki starboard on the bow, while Bibek, the boatman, did the critical rowing at the stern. Behind me was Bibek's sidekick, with WiFi next to him, and Marty behind Niki. Whenever a wave washed over us, WiFi would laugh uproariously and it added to the fun! In between, the Beas and the Parvati rivers merged as well. After the exhilaration of the first seven kilometers and the promise of some more solid rapids in the next two, we bit the bullet and upgraded to the INR 1,000 pp ride. Some of the best fun we had on the trip. Niki is now a confirmed WW rafter. Soon we got back our cameras and had some hot chai:
One of the best cups we have had, very strong at just INR 10 per cup. Those guys know how to brew. Here's a view of how it went in the placid waters:
We got back to Kullu Gaon along with Bibek and the others; WiFi was commenting how they were like so many guys on a heist, the speed at which they worked. Our next stop was Manikarn:
A great place with a Gurudwara and a Shiva Parvati temple, built on some hot-water springs and the Parvati roiling away nearby. Mysterious. Nearby, saw this:
DN would have liked it. He used to say: "If you are not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space"! Here's a closer view of the hot-water springs:
When we went past the entrance, saw this hot-water area on the right:
You could have a nice bath here, as well as wash your clothes, which is what quite a lot of folks did. The idols in the Shiva-Parvati temple were nice:
but the mural on the outside was startling:
There was a bigger Shiva temple:
with a Nandi guarding it:
WiFi checked out a cave with hot air circulating:
Due to the hot air, you got to get out before you pass out. There's in fact a sign to that effect! Had to struggle a bit to find the Gurudwara. Like a klutz, i walked in without the mandatory head-gear (if you don't have it, it's normally just outside the door).
On the way back, at Kasol, saw this sign in one of the Jewish scripts:
Lots of Israelis in Kasol, i believe. Rana said that they finish their mandatory years in the army, come here and take it easy. Note: If you can understand what the sign says, please let me know the script as well as what it reads. Stopped off for some chai at Sanja Choola; the translucent roses were wonderful, but the chai wasn't. As if signalling a day well spent, we saw this Ganesha riding His Rat:
jANA Falls
Photoset: Tuesday at Manali
Starting this morning, did the morning routine in front of the Hamta Pass "massif". Can't imagine that the Old Man-ali pulled me all the way from Bangalore, gave me such a room that when i step out onto its balcony, i see Him in all His pristine glory. All one has to do is to give Him a chance/opportunity to reveal Himself, i guess. Thanks to the Kindle, read The Power of Arunachala by Michael James, in front of It daily. Had a late start after the exertions of the earlier day. Had a new driver called Lucky, who turned out to be younger and edgier. His Hindi was too fast for me to follow, but fortunately WiFi's pretty good at it. Our first stop was this Gayatri temple, built by the Pandava!
There was a homa going on, and the deity for procession was on the side, similar to the ones we saw last evening.
The forests of devdar were enchanting, but this is a common sight:
We were soon at jANA Falls. The guy providing the Himachal food in the eatery there had a few teens to accompany us up the mountain. We stopped off at some falls on the way: (hear their roar)
Niki got onto ledges to get better shots:
Finally we were there at the falls:
The water was quite cold and we could dip our feet only for a while. A lasting image is of the kids:
Soon it was time to head back for some Himachal food. The chap had some natural cooling!
It was a nice spread: (Makki ki Roti, Rajma, Red Rice, Siddhu, Jaggery, Ghee, and Kadi)
WiFi got one snapped with the cook:
On the way back, stopped at the Naggar Castle:
but never went in. As the visit to jANA water falls was a bit trying, gave the castle and the nearby Roerich Art Gallery a miss. Turned out to be a wrong call, after discussions with a Rajesh Malhotra later on Friday morning. He was raving about both of them. There was some tarring work being done on the road (the roads weren't that good across), so we couldn't get back to the main road. So Lucky, our driver, took the narrow road right of the castle and went down one of the steepest roads i have ever seen (it's a wonder if any vehicle can go up that). Sadly, WiFi couldn't digest the fare that we had at lunch and had a massive indigestion problem in the night.
Shift to 2BR
Photoset: Wednesday at Manali
…to be updated… Skiing at Beas Nala
Photoset: Thursday at Manali
…to be updated… Chopper Ride and Ropeway
Photoset: Friday the 13th
…to be updated… Hadimba Temple
Photoset: Saturday at Manali
…to be updated… Back to Bangalore
Photoset: Back to Bangalore
…to be updated…
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