“A Dream is only a Dream until you decide to make it real”
~ Harry Styles
How do you contain your excitement, when you are set to tick off a major landmark/ work/ progress/ activity in your lives? Do you feel the butterflies in your stomach? Does it ruffle your sleep the previous night? It surely does for me (although not always). In this case, we were set to visit Rohtang Pass and explore the vicinity of Manali. Especially the former is one place I’ve always wanted to spend some quality time.
Cometh the day, cometh the time and it was 8th of October 2021, on Day 8 of our trip to Himachal Pradesh. If you haven’t read the previous parts, please click here to redirect to the index page of the series.
As you might remember, I was in Moustache Manali, a place that was very okayish in terms of my stay. Nevertheless, on Day 8 of the trip, I wasn’t the first one to wake up, and instead, Arkya was the one to get up. He was lying in the bed and the clock read 6.40 am. I plugged in the mobile in the charger and went to the washroom to freshen up. Arkya followed the same and I called my home to update about our plans for the day.
The thing about Manali is the chillness. We came from Mcleodganj, which was certainly not the coldest place on the planet. Of course winters in Mcleodganj are extremely cold, but it was still nearly 2 months away. Manali was colder and we absolutely enjoyed the weather to the fullest.
The morning sunrise was enthralling and this time, we got a beautiful view of the river flowing ahead of our hotel and a bird’s eye view of Old Manali. We came down to Blue Elephant Café and Restaurant and had our morning cup of tea and biscuits. While around this time, I asked Uncle Ji to help us with Auto to Kunzum Hotel (HPTDC Office). Within seconds, he called one of his acquaintances, an auto driver, who agreed to drop us at this point at around 9.30 am. We didn’t want to walk down with our entire luggage, especially what we experienced the previous day. On a normal day, this would have been possible, but our legs weren’t in the best of shapes yet. It was quite better, yet we didn’t want to pressurize, considering we had a full day’s worth of travel still left and a bus journey at night.
We ordered our breakfast and I had a bowl of Maggie, while Arkya had Bread Toast. The clock read 9.15 am and our Auto came to pick us up. He said he would have a cup of tea and allowed us to finish our last-minute packing and check-out from the hostel.
We finished our formalities and this time, Gaurav wasn’t to be seen around. Instead, some other guy (another manager) was there at the reception. I guess his name was John. He introduced himself and we had a small chat and described the issues we faced. When he saw my ID card and asked me if I was from South India? To which I said yes and said from Tamil Nadu but based in Kolkata. He looked visibly happy and started speaking in Tamil. To our surprise, his native is somewhere very close to mine.
He explained a desire of opening up an authentic South Indian Café around the region soon and hoped starting it soon. It was nice to catch up with yet another South Indian person in the Himalayas.
We checked out and took an auto to New Manali and the clock read 9.35 am. It takes about 10 minutes in all to reach our destination. We arrived outside Kunzum hotel at sharp 9.45 am and straight went to the counter. The officials asked us to wait for a while as the bus we were supposed to hop in was replaced with a bigger bus.
And what was the reason? It was because more tourists are set to travel along with us.
It was sunny at Manali and the roads are clear in Rohtang. There was no way a tourist visiting Manali would actually miss this day. With cold air still persisting, the bright sunshine was like a blessing. This was ideal for photography and we couldn’t be any more excited for the bus to arrive.
Around 10.10 am, an official came and introduced himself as the guide and took us with him to the bus. What we then witnessed at the bus stand, left us with an absolute surprise!
Instead of a 4-Cylinder SML bus, we were allocated the classic TATA 1512 model bus. We hopped in and this was an ultra-luxury Non AC bus!
We had the front row and a glass cabin separated the driver cabin with side seats and the regular seats. We booked the front rows and this proved to be the best decision. The bus had a large baggage space and tourists can keep their bags without any problem. We kept our baggage near our legs and the front row was extra spacious. The pushback was wonderful and the comfort levels were at maximum. There is nothing more literally we could ask for this price!
The bus started once everyone hopped. Barring the last row or so, all the seats were full.
We moved out of the Manali bus stand and crossed the highway to move towards our first point of the day, Kothi.
A sunny view of Manali along with the beautiful Beas flowing was a lovely sight to witness first up. We cruised at a good speed and took a right-hand diversion to branch out from the main highway, which went towards Atal Tunnel.
We ascended sharp towards Kothi and the curvy roads bore testimony of the destination we were going towards. Rohtang Pass was barely 50 km from Manali and the altitude was almost double that of Manali at 13,058 feet above the MSL. The views of Kullu Valley were incredibly beautiful. The roads were broken in patches, while in most of the stretch, it was just fine.
We couldn’t help admiring the bikers, who took this road in the past (way before Atal Tunnel) to Ladakh. Not just the distance, the bikers climbed up 13,000 feet, before descending down to Keylong at somewhere 10,000 feet and again ascending up to higher altitudes. The feat sounded remarkable and a big thumbs up to these adventurers.
We reached Kothi. It was a small hamlet on the road towards Rohtang. We got down there for a brief period and clicked some snaps. Others were clicking snaps and having boiled corns, which were sold near the viewpoint.
Our bus started to our next point, Gulaba. This is a checkpoint for all vehicles going towards Rohtang Pass and any vehicles except the government ones are subject to checking of permits and all. Since we booked under HPTDC, we didn’t halt and moved towards a waterfall, somewhere ahead.
This was a small waterfall in HP standards and it’s just off the Leh-Manali Highway. Nothing much to talk about the place, but we had to halt since many were off the bus to click some shots.
We waited outside the bus and enjoyed the perfect weather to travel in the Himalayas. It was bright and sunny with cold air flowing consistently as we climbed upwards. Once everybody got in, our Guide told us about the next stop at Marhi, a small Dhaba halt en-route Rohtang Pass.
The curvy roads and beautiful views of the valley were mesmerizing and there was no tinge of boredom hitting any of us. Around this time, one of our co-passengers from Kerala fell sick. He was experiencing headaches and going by the looks, he was struck by AMS already. The curvy roads weren’t any respite and only added to his woes while others including us were enjoying every single moment of the journey.
We reached Marhi at 12 pm in the afternoon and got the first real feel of ascending a desert-like high mountain road. This has a view of Rohtang Pass, which was still about 17 km away from our point. The real ascendance begins once we cross Marhi and this would eventually summit over Rohtang Pass.
Marhi is filled with Dhabas and eateries. Apart from this, there is Buddhist Temple and adventure seekers can avail Paragliding activities. There is no dearth of such activities in Kullu, Manali, and even at Solang Valley, but personally, I liked Marhi more as a location for such activities. The feel of jumping over cliffs above you and landing in desert-like plains looked more convincing and adventurous. Although, neither did I nor did Arkya indulge in such activities, but on a personal scale, I would seriously recommend Paragliding at Marhi, if you ever plan crossing this place.
We had a cup of coffee and some biscuits and had a reasonable amount of water. As we are set to climb more, there is a chance of experiencing AMS. Drinking sufficient water would help evade such issues.
The clock read 12.35 pm and everyone hopped on the bus. We started for the next halt, the highlight of this guided tour, Rohtang Pass.
The roads were in top-notch condition and with the opening of the Atal Tunnel, there has been a drastic reduction in vehicles crossing this mountain pass. The reason is obvious since the tunnel saves both fuel, distance, and of course drastic saving of time. Prior to the tunnel, it took nearly 5-7 hours in the worst case with heavy traffic to cross Rohtang Pass and reach Keylong from Manali. Nowadays, it barely takes 2 hours at most to reach Keylong.
While this has proved a blessing to the natives staying in Lahaul and Spiti regions, for others, the traffic to Rohtang Pass nowadays, only comprises tourist vehicles.
The scorching heat began to shine more than ever and we started feeling the intensity of the sunshine. More the altitude we gained, the more was the heat intensity.
We crossed the paragliding point, where adventurers jump down to Marhi, which by now was downhill. It looked scary and the height seemed way more than from the top.
There was no shortage of travelers and tourists. Since this was around the fag-end of the season-closing of Rohtang Pass, there was a good surge of visitors coming traveling.
We saw the summit point from a distance and I was very excited to close in the top point of this beautiful Mountain Pass.
The clock read 13.15 pm and finally! We’ve reached Rohtang Pass!
I got off the bus and saw an enormous crowd of tourists gathering around the vicinity. With some buying different kinds of stuff, while some having different food sold at the top of the hill.
The view of Snow-Capped Hills towards Spiti Valley looked incredibly beautiful. We were lost in words and just saw around us, and we were only surrounded by higher mountains. While on our range, we were at the topmost point.
A trip to Rohtang Pass is not complete without a picture near the board, installed by BRO, saying,
Border Roads Organization
70 RCC
Welcomes You At
ROHTANG PASS
13058 Feet
We let the feeling sink in for a while and I already rated this, as the best decision to stick with Manali. While we were at Mcleodganj, many recommended us on visiting Bir Billing and they insisted on their levels. Although no offense to their thoughts and ideas, I already pictured myself to feature ahead of this board, a long time back. When the time came, I couldn’t let go of this by any means….
We decided to relish more and have some street food available. Arkya chose Momos, while I had a piece of Chola Kulcha.
The taste of having such food, wrapped in a paper with piping hot Chola over Kulcha felt very warm. The taste was superb and it felt like the Cherry on the Top of a well-prepared Cake.
Our legs for some reason felt relieved and it felt God has blessed us with full fitness and enthusiasm to visit Rohtang Pass…
It was bright and sunny, but backing all was the wind blast. It was significantly windier than any time the whole day. We had a cup of tea and had a brief chat with our guide and driver. Two of the most humble beings, we met on the trip. Full respect to these people for making the tour memorable and keeping a hospitable approach with all guests.
Around 2 pm in the noon, we got inside the bus with a mind, full of great feelings…. Post this; we really didn’t care anymore about this trip. It was such a perfectly planned trip on a beautiful day in the Himalayas.
Arkya went to the front cabin and sat on the adjacent seat with the guide. I was engaged in looking the other end of Rohtang from my regular seat.
The roads of Lahaul and Spiti and the landscape bore the testimony of these mountainous and high altitude regions of Himachal Pradesh. We could see Koksar town, from a far distance, and this is located on the road towards Keylong.
The countless hairpins while going downhill was amazing. Around this time, a gang of bikers (probably off to Ladakh), waved at our bus, while moving ahead of us. We maintained a decent speed getting downhill and the guide pointed us towards a river, which was River Chandra. This was coming from its source at Spiti, from the famous Chandratal Lake.
We closed in around Gramphoo, which is the diversion towards Spiti Valley from Lahaul Valley. I looked dearly at the boards, and wished on taking the roads towards Spiti and Chandratal! Who knows? A trip to Spiti in the near future might be lined up xD
We followed the river till we reached Koksar, a small hamlet on the way towards Keylong. We didn’t get down here as there is nothing special apart from the river flowing. It was just a passerby village.
We saw signboards marking the distance of Keylong, Jispa, and all. This felt Ladakh is at a touching distance. The bus took a right turn and crossed a bridge to reach the North Portal of Atal Tunnel.
As we prior to the trip, read all the news and stories of people clicking pictures near this popular tunnel, we saw a large crowd of people clicking pictures outside the tunnel portal. Our bus parked at a specified parking zone, where other cars were parked.
Once we got out of the bus, this was incredibly cool. Despite the sun being out in full glory, the area was bone-chilling cold at around 3 pm in the afternoon. We clicked a few pictures of the vicinity and I liked this spot for some reason. It was daunting to witness something, which is at 10k something feet above MSL and helps bypass a mountain pass at 13k feet in a matter of minutes. The opening of this tunnel has helped cut down the journey time to reach Keylong from Manali by nearly 3 hours. Plus, this is an all-weather tunnel, meaning it would be open even during the harshest of winters.
With such high-altitude challenges and complexities of the geology in the area, all credits to the engineers to pioneer such a project.
We started back after spending some 10-15 minutes. It took only a few minutes to cross the mighty tunnel and exit via South Portal, facing Manali. What took more than an hour to climb the Mountain Pass, has now taken less than 12 minutes to cross.
We halted once again at the South Portal, where our driver wasn’t ready in the first place to stopover. Still, since it was mentioned in the list of spots, some demanded to halt and get some clicks in the time. After a short while, we started our journey back to Solang Valley.
It took around 20-25 minutes to reach Solang Valley from the South Portal and here our bus was set to halt for about 30 minutes.
Solang Valley is a supposed winter activity paradise around Manali. This is popular for all sorts of adventure activities, including rafting, paragliding, ATV Ride, and Ropeway. During winters and under heavy snow, the area is a popular skiing gateway for tourists. With a typical tourism setup and food stalls all over, the place was way over-commercialized.
I mean, after all the spots we covered earlier, Solang Valley was completely uninteresting, and especially without Snow cover, the area looked bland. We had some Aloo Tikki Chats and a cup of tea and waited for the bus to start.
We had a word with our bus driver and guide and enquired about different spots around this region that are not covered. They were very hospitable and were excited to see Arkya’s vlogging pursuits. They explained about some local spots and spoke about HPTDC’s Volvo operation from Delhi to Manali. We were joined by some others from our bus, who enquired about different traveling questions to the guide.
Not just us, but quite a few tourists from our bus had the same opinion of the place. Although a few of them have visited this place in winters, and they claim it’s way better. For now, Solang Valley minus snowfall was boring if I am being grateful.
The bus started back when the clock read 4.50 pm. Thus it stood over 45 minutes instead of 30 minutes. The reason? A couple of guys from our bus were yet to finish their ropeway ride.
We felt frustrated and the respite came soon when the bus started towards Nehru Kund, which was supposedly the last spot of the tour. The small stream of Himalayan water is ultra-refreshing and can send a great sense of refreshment instantly.
After halting for about 10 minutes, we started our journey back to Manali. The driver and guide reminded us what the officials earlier from HPTDC told us in the morning. Since the parking of this bus was near the Private bus stand, our driver and guide were more than happy to drop us directly at the stand. Usually, the trip actually ends near the Mall Road bus stand and people would be taking their local commute to reach their hotels. For us, we felt kind of privileged and happy at the same time. We arrived at the private bus stand by 5.45 pm in the evening and bid goodbye to a very humble and kind staff of HPTDC. For the service overall, I would give them full marks in all aspects.
We got down and were welcomed by a flurry of Volvo/ Mercedes/ Scania buses all around the parking lot. This is the dedicated luxury bus stand and all the Volvo buses bound to Delhi, Chandigarh, and other destinations start here.
We were flattered to see some of the bi-axle and multi-axle beauties of different operators. Our bus was Reo India Travel’s Volvo B11R 14.5m bus.
I was told by Akshath and Vinod Ram about this specific model being the longest one operating in the route. The other B11R operating are smaller in size and this one is the longest at 14.5m.
Excited to look for our bus, we saw a flurry of departures around this time and a few other empty buses entering the stand. In all, it’s a bus fan paradise.
With buses from operators like Reo, Laxmi, Zingbus, Northern, and many more stacked up for departures, we were in absolute awe.
We saw our bus and this was an absolute beauty. True to the testimony of Akshath and Vinod, the bus was extremely long. One could almost sense the length of the bus. The bus is a brand new model and the interiors were spic and span.
Once again a big thanks to Raju Bhai from Reo travels for allotting us the front rows. A big thanks to Akshath as well, for it was he who helped me contact Raju Bhai in the first place and find myself a seat in the front row.
Reo India Travels is among those premium buses to have accredited Primo status in Redbus. With the quality of bus and the cleanliness in the first place, there is all reason why it’s rated so high.
We got our tickets checked and stacked our rucksacks in the baggage section of the bus. The staff told us that our bags are in front, ensuring easy unloading since we would be getting down at Ambala.
Meanwhile, a beauty from Northern Travels, a multi-axle from Scania was easily the Show-Stopper!
As it got darker, the full beam light, backed with super clean windows of the bus and the town of Manali in the background was a spectacular frame. This sums up Northern’s Scania and we literally were overwhelmed by the sight.
The Scania left first at around 6.55 pm towards Delhi, while our bus was set to leave at 7.20 pm.
With all passengers on board and a few seats to be filled en route, our bus left towards Delhi at 19.23 pm. Our coach captain was the lone driver, who would pilot the bus all the way to Delhi. Akshath told me about the driver being a veteran and is one of the popular ones driving in this route.
The leg rest was a big respite, which meant we could lay with utmost comfort. The ultra-cozy seats felt like a blessing.
We started off well and doing at a good speed. Both Arkya and I were extremely curious about how the captain would maneuver the tight corners in the mountains. To answer our query, the captain handled everything like an absolute pro.
We crossed Kullu and closed in Bhuntar. People boarded at both these stops and we saw other Volvos lined up as well.
We were told about the dinner halt at around 22.30 pm, before Mandi.
The road felt more treacherous at night. With large JCB and Road rollers at different spots working for road expansion and other engineering works, we assumed to witness heavy delays.
The driver was confident and told us to expect the arrival at around 5-5.30 am. We wondered how on earth is it going to be possible.
We crossed the Pandoh Dam and it was close to 22.20 pm at night. The baggage staff told on approaching a Dhaba soon. We reached Silver Oak Basta Hotel and this was our dinner halt. The bus would halt for more than 30 minutes. We saw the Northern’s Scania halted ahead of us. This is a common halt for quite a few private buses.
We entered the Dhaba and were knocked out on seeing the prices of food. We were told about the Dhabas in Delhi Manali route being among the costliest ones. We got a firsthand experience of how costly the prices were.
Nothing was less than 100 bucks it seemed. The cheapest item on the menu that would suffice our hunger for the night was Aloo Paratha. This was 110 Rupees apiece.
The toilets at the Dhaba were super clean and full marks for maintaining to this extent.
We saw Northern Scania departing after a while. In the meantime, we had our food and came out of the Dhaba. It was 11.10 pm the night when we started our journey towards Ambala. This was the end of a long Day 8 of our trip.
Stay tuned for the final two days coming up soon.
The Track Walk 