Manali - Leh road trip

Yeh haseen wadiyaan

Yeh khula aasmaan

The charm of the majestic Himalayas spread across Northern India is enchanting. 

Be it the green mountains stepped at villages glowing green and yellow

Be it the lush green valleys with rivers and tributaries meandering in the valley in lower Himalayas in Uttarakhand 

Be it the higher altitudes with gigantic alpines trees towering over winding roads in Himachal Pradesh

Be it the roads curving along the edges of the mountains rising up to cross over the hill or going down till the valley to cross over a stream

Be it the deep gorges that chills your spine when the vehicle caresses the edge of the narrow road to give way to the incoming truck

Be it the rocky terrain jutting out of the face of the mountain as you drive around the curve under the huge rock

Be it the numerable paths of stones and soil sliding down the hill causing avalanche and landslides threatening to wash you away

Each part of Himalayas tells a story, captures your imagination, invites you to be there and reminds you to return for the next vacation.

Wandering around the Himalayas was our favorite hobby when we were at IIT Delhi. Most of the semester breaks were spent exploring the towns and villages and the natural wonders as a backpacker, hopping onto public transport (buses or jeeps) or walking miles before we sleep.

Back then, in the winter of 2004, on a trip to Manali, the dream road trip in the Himalayas - Manali to Leh - got onto my mind. If the drive through lower himalayas is so fascinating, what beauty behold in the upper Himalayas which are virgin due to harsh winters.

Year after year, the plan to undertake this dream road trip would come out of hibernation in hopes of seeing light. Yet it took 18 years for it to finally come true. Thats right. 7-7-2022 it became a reality. A bitter sweet reality.

Lot had changed in 18 years - Family, kids, not-so-well-maintained physique, job with limited vacation time, moving out of Delhi (in fact becoming an NRI).

On the occasion of "Big Four-O", my wife reminded that it is going to be now or never. She encouraged for my first outing without family and the planning set in motion. Of course anybody I would want to join me on this trip would be in the same "Special 40" boat. So same pretext was presented to best buddies - my school friend Amritanshu and my college friend Anoop.

Consensus was reached almost immediately.

Plan

As each of us were based in different parts of the world, we agreed to meet up at Chandigarh. Since none of us were bikers, the ultimate road trip on Royal Enfield was off the charts. Renting out a 4WD and driving ourself was an option but that would mean we have to drive Chandigarh to Leh and back which gives us very less time to explore Ladakh. And our family doesnt really trust our driving skills and patience on some of the world's most dangerous roads. Hence comes the safest choice - hire a taxi. To save the hassle of all the planning and booking, the easy option of engaging a tour operator was chosen.

Eh! That sounds contradicting. Thrilling adventurous road trip with safe easy options

Never mind. The fun is in the journey!

So all set. Meet up at Chandigarh, Two night stops between Chandigarh to Leh, Acclamatizing at Leh (very very important.. more on this later), Leh to Nubra Valley, Nubra to Pangong Lake (3 Idiots movie fame), Pangong to Leh, Flight from Leh to Delhi, Disperse to our own destinations

Squad

We decided to upsize our squad to 4 and began the search for the 4th member. Challenge is to find the right person who can gel with us. After many messages in our own friend circles, Anoop successfully found Gins interested in joining us. An excellent decision to upsize the squad.. we would find out on D-7 (a week before start date).. I knew Gins from our rendevous at IIT Bombay in 2004 when we envied Gins's hostel, newest addition at IITB, that he showed us proudly. An ex-Sainik school student and fittest in the squad. Anoop would often comment on Gin's daily morning runs to portray us as couch potatoes.. Not really.. we were office-desk potatoes.. LOL...

D-7

A week before the start date, as I was about to board my flight from Penang, Malaysia to Kerala, Amritanshu gives us a shock. He is withdrawing from the trip. Who would have guessed that the one with government job would have problem with getting leaves approved? That shows the wielding power of his signature.. Without him files wont move, purchases wont happen, projects would be delayed, ministry would be involved, questions raised!!! Poof.... 

Squad becomes three musketeers.. Well we looked almost like that.. with goggles and hats to protect us from the sun..

D-day

I took the early morning flight from Coimbatore to Chandigarh with a layover in Bangalore. Anoop and Gins were on the same flight with me from Bangalore. Anoop was his usual self, cheerful in his colorful tees. Gins looked like Top Gun Maverick in his Rayban and 6-pack. Oops.. no offense.. even if it is not a six-pack, he definitely had the flattest tummy. My image of Gins was a person like me, at least that's how he was when I met him 18 years ago. This time around, he is a motivation for me to transform myself. 

We were in for a banter at the baggage collection area at Chandigarh airport. The pretty females (what a decent way of mis-representing our own words) reminded us of PVR Priya in Delhi, our usual hangout joint to check out the most stylish DU (Delhi University) girls. As the bags rolled out, our focus shifted to the fun with our own luggage. Me and Gins had suitcases and nobody would guess even in their wildest dreams that we were going on a road trip. If our taxi guy was waiting outside at the arrival hall, he would be looking past us. But of course we had our dear Mr Anoop. He was the best prepared guy in the squad. All the things he had stuffed in his brand new backpack were also brand new. Quite simple strategy. Google "what to buy for a road trip" and order all items on Amazon!! Next time anybody wants to plan a solo trip, check with him for the list.. hihi...

So with Anoop's outfit and baggage, we ensured that our driver, Mr Sanjay found us. And our journey begins.. Rather than wasting effort and inadequately describing the scenery, I would let you have a feel for it from the pictures

Important stop-over point was lunch at Haveli on the Chandigarh-Manali highway. For those who had multiple breakfast in the day, late lunch but perfect place to gobble the punjabi specials is acceptable. But my tummy had started grumbling as we navigated through the Mohali traffic lights. And our Google-Amazon guy has the answer! Protein bars zipped out from one of the umpteen pouches in his backpack.. A double chocolate ...... I dont remember what bar, but it tasted good and gave me some respite till Haveli. 

Haveli is a famous highway restaurant which might have been a really popular dhaba.. the guy made so much money from his dhaba that he reconstructed it as a palace.. thy name.. Awesome ambience.. Full of loud crowd.. you guessed it right.. punjabis talking above the sound of YoYo Honey Singh's tunes... And what a delicious first meal of the trip.. Amritsari kulche with chole and lassi.. Oh boy... I missed this so much... Oh man.. I cant eat more than one kulche now!! Reminders of Big Four-O all over this trip later.. Anyways if it was not for the protein bar, and if it was a better time of the day, this place was worth visiting again to gourge many items from their menu.

Yet another IIT

The first night stop of 3 IITians is.. Bingo.. Yet another IIT. The government wants to capitalize on the brand and public wants to get quality education nearer to home. That brings IIT to many states in India - the newer ones under the tutelage of the prestigious (read old) IITs. Himachal Pradesh gets IIT at Mandi which is a great stop over point for us at 9 hour journey from Chandigarh. Our friendly host soon-to-be-Prof Hitesh had booked rooms at the guest house. Oh ya, an IIT guest house - "memories bring back, memories bring back you". Fret not.. it doesnt bring back a person.. For the gastronomous bunch, it brings back memories of good food.. It was an appetizing north Indian meal - roti dal chaval sabji salad papad and halwa -  made out of fresh vegetables that grow by the small stream that adds a village charm to the picturesque IIT Mandi. The post-dinner stroll through the campus was filled with discussions on the history of the place and how we should take a week away from our regular work and stay on this campus, making it a base-camp for day trips to intersting trails and tourist places. Hitesh narrated stories of his friends from industry who took advantage of work-from-home, or rather work-from-anywhere era and chose to reside in the campus for weeks, simply enjoying the peaceful aura. July is the hottest month with temperatures around mid-20 degrees giving you an air-conditioned day. Brand new campus, abundance of electricity (Himachal is a power-surplus state), good internet connectivity and ever-ready host Hitesh does appeal to us on the possibility of a summer vacation with family.

Mandi-Jispa

The next day's drive was kept shorter to help acclamatize with the gain in altitude and motion sickness for me through numerous hair-pin bends. Mandi to Jispa can be covered in 5 hours. Bidding good-bye to Hitesh, we started off around 9AM. Today we had an important task at hand. Buy oxygen cylinder, which we couldnt bring as it is not allowed on flight. Oxygen cylinder is a backup plan for altitude sickness. Will we get it? We hoped not. But plan B is always good.. Plan A was the daily dose of Diamox that helps the body get adjusted to reduced oxygen as we climb (not on foot though) to higher heights. 

On the way from Mandi to Manali I had excitement seeing apples and pears dangling at plucking height, tempting me to get them fresh. Our driver obliged after constant pestering from me and stopped a few times so that I could get selfies and some juicy baby apples and pear. 

By lunchtime we reached Mall road in Manali.. If you havent guessed it yet, this trip is mainly drive, eat and take photos.. If I described it all, each day would just be a Ctrl+C Ctrl+V with different photo-op points. But no complaints as thats what we wanted.. Enjoy the views, enjoy the drive and capture some of the memories on camera.

The rest in next post. Stay tuned!!