44: In the foothills of Himalayas - Manali in March - Part 1 of 3

Day 1: Gurgaon - Karnal - Ambala - Chandigarh - Ropad - Swarghat - Bilaspur (350km, 8 hours)
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Manali is perhaps the most discussed and described destination in North India, as it caters to all sorts of tourists - families enjoying their school vacations in May-June; bike riders trying to scale Ladakh and the valley of Lahaul-Spiti during July-August; adventure junkies trying their hands and feet on various things that drive adrenalin - like mountain biking, snow trekking, paragliding etc. esp in Nov-Dec; and foreign tourists - mainly Russians and Israelis all round the year trying to find a home away from home in the limited dollars they have managed to put together .

Manali also offers different things to different people. For some, it is an alternative which is safer than Kashmir - although not as serene - with the snow-clad mountain peaks all around. It is also an alternative easier than Leh - for those who want to get the Tibetan feel. It is a place to meet interesting people. It is a place to shop for warm clothes.

To me, of all things, it is the most accessible gateway to the Himalayas, and for that I am glad. However, when I say 'most accessible', I also think that it would have been nicer if the distance from home to Manali could have been covered faster. That way, we would have done more Delhi-Manali that we currently do.

It must be noted, however, that the roads en route have become much better - at least halfway through. We were able to cover a distance of 250km from Gurgaon to Chandigarh in flat four hours - including the traffic at Azadpur in Delhi, the three nice flyovers of Panipat, the never-ending spread-out town of Karnal, the occassional stoppages in Kurukshetra, and the roundabout in Ambala which leads to a slighly less-wide but well-made road to Chandigarh - and although e had started just after noon from hom, we were on the outskirts of the so-called planned city way before tea-time.

We stopped to have something to pick up and take away. But all restaurants were closed till 4:00pm due to the festival of Holi. We finally found a Subway outlet and stuffed ourselves with some sad excuses of subs to last us till dinner.

I always think that it is a shame that one has to pass through the crowded city of Chandigarh, with its confusing roundabouts and lack of directions - which even on a good day takes an entire hour to cross. There is no by-pass here, at least none that I know of.

Anyway, after Chandigarh, the road till Ropad (Roopnagar) - about 35km - is almost flat and well-maintained. The excellent surface of the road and the three wide lanes keep challenging the health of your machine. We were able to cruise at 120 to 140 for long stretches, with the evening sun slowly gliding towards the horizon behind us.

At Ropad, around 5:30pm, one takes a strangely-built flyover at Kiratpur to the right, where you can see the Anandpur Sahib on the left at a distance (which had some mela - a 'fair' -  going on for the day), and then you come down from the fly-over and cross a canal - one of the many from the huge Bhakra Nangal Dam project that provides water to the states of Punjab and Haryana mostly. If you are lucky, you will not get stranded in the sea of people moving towards the Gurudwara during festivals.

From here, there is small climb of Swarghat (about 25km). Swarghat has a small HPTC-run motel called 'Hilltop' - which is a good location, on the hill with a good view, but utterly ruined due to dust and traffic all day. This entire area has a lot of movement of heavy vehicles, and the road is broken for almost 20-30 km.

The worst patch (and it is perhaps wrong to call it a 'patch' - while you are crossing it, it seems like an endless planetary surface full of lunar craters stretched till the horizon) - is from Swarghat till you reach Bilaspur. In some cases, there is no road left, and you do need a lunar rover or the willpower of a galactic warlord to maneuver your machine through these chasms of doom.

By this time, the valley has fallen into darkness and despair (for us) - till the time we saw the lights of Bilaspur at a distance. We had no inclination of going any further in dark, and so we started looking for a place to crash. Finally, after much searching, we found that one has to cross Bilaspur and go about 10-15 km further to get to a place called 'Panchawati'. Clean rooms, big beds, functional toilets. They even have wifi connection.

The food department is marginal though, and you will be best served by sticking to simple daal-roti and some subzi. Do not expect fireworks here. People are nice and friendly though, and we also got a small house gift while leaving the next morning - a night lamp that changes colors.

Anyway, we were too tired to discuss the culinery delights of the evening, and just happy to find a place with clean shower, plain sheets, and a nice bed, which was quickly put to use.

Day 2 Follows ....

Regards,

Shreekant