A trip to heaven of India- Manali!

Current lockdown has brought a lot of memories back. It made us think and relive the best moments of our life. 'It is the moments on which you live.' We are living on that moments Remembering one such important moment of my life, I wrote this article down.

Last year in the month of May, I was in train heading to tick off the first wish from my wishlist. Almost like every other youngster today, I have also developed an urge to travel the world. Not to fit in the trend or hashtags of #wanderer, but to feel free, and feel empowered me, Travelers say every trip gives a different experience. And like others, I also wanted to have this experience. And my story began.

Manali it is!

On a spontaneous decision, impulsive thinking, I decided to take a trip to the heaven of India, dream of every wanderer to visit and almost a place which is on everyone's checklist- Manali.

It was my first ever long travel experience. Before this I have never been outside Maharashtra. And moreover was always accompanied by family. So like every other middle class family in India my family was also not supportive enough for this decision. Why to go so far? How will you manage? Who all are going with you? All these questions started coming my way. I somehow convinced (not convinced almost laid my decision on) them and sugarcoated it with a little lie of me going with a bunch of friend, but infact only two of us-Me and my friend who almost like me has zero experience of travelling headed for this journey. We both got our tickets and all done, made a checklist of places to visit, food to eat, poses to click, quotes and all. Our trip was planned for 3 days and 2 nights and 2 days train journey, so it was a week escape.

Mumbai-Chandigarh train and Chandigarh to Manali

The day came, we sat in our train and headed to Manali. The happiness of going alone so far was at peak and also the awareness of two girls travelling alone was constantly on top of our mind. Our route was, Mumbai-Chandigarh train and Chandigarh to Manali overnight bus.

We had our own stock of movies, series, song list for our train journey. But to our surprise not even 30% of our stock was utilized. The passengers we got were so much fun, that we didn't need it. The train journey takes 28 hrs to reach Chandigarh and our compartment was filled and filled with Punjabi passengers. That day, I believed why people say Punjabi's are fun. Then like it happens in trips, within no time we started sharing our foods, playing cards, mobile games, sharing each others life experiences and bid adieu with heart filled with memories and a big smile on our face. They got down before us.

Then came our destination Chandigarh where we had a halt of 6 hrs. Like 6 hrs to see Chandigarh and enjoy Punjabi food, which we utilized to core. We found an auto driver and made a deal with him to show us all the places and give a taste of best food he can. So while exploring Chandigarh we saw Sukhna lake, ate Punjabi food- Rajma Chawal, tried momos there which we didn't like, they have wheat momos there (not recommended, healthy people if want can try it.) We had a bus at 11pm from Chandigarh.

Have you ever imagined sleeping in your house, but waking up in another beautiful place?

I felt it that morning. The morning view of flowing crystal clear river, turquoise blue water and soothing sound of it had my heart immediately. My soul just couldn't fill with view of Beas river, so pure, so beautiful and so so so refreshing. No doubt, person will forget everything in the beauty of that river. Following the river, on the steepy mountainous road, surrounded by alpine trees our bus finally reached our destination- Manali. We finally stepped in Manali.

The very first view after getting down from bus was of snowclad mountain. Like a small child in me woke up to the calling of snow, I started taking pictures of that view. We reached our hotel, changed and started exploring Manali. Slowly checking out locations, exploring new ones on the suggestions of locals, tasting their food, click lot of fake candids and selfie our time passed by and we didn't even know how.

Religion, Adventure, Food and Shopping!

We saw Hadimaba Temple, Manu temple and yes got our pictures clicked there in Kashmiri outfit, took a ride on back of Yak(I was scared with this) and visited Mall road. Aloo tikki is one of the must have junk food in Mall road. It is the best in Manali's Mall road. The day ended with their proper Thali.

Next day we were picked up by different driver, a very hot, good looking, Fair, light eyed "The Pahadi guy". And we had our further two days tour with him. Along with good looks, he also had a good sense of humor and lot of experiences to share. We visited Solang valley and Gulaba where we played in snow, did Ice skating activity. Here it was a bit of trekking and after trekking we had a hot plate of Maggie in cold mountains of Manali complimented by hot cup of coffee. That evening we did river crossing too. It was breathtaking experience, you going upside down on the rope and water beneath you.

On the way to Kullu

Next we had our visit planned for Kullu. We were heading to Manikaran Gurudwara in Manali. The road journey to kullu was very interesting. The steep, round ascending roads, one side filled with the houses almost top on each other constructed in unusual manner but beautiful. Like they say in Bollywood, 'Safar khubsurat hai manzil se bhi.'I felt it. The journey to Kullu was very hearthrobing.

River Parvati- The names says it all

Then we reached Manikaran Gurudwara. As soon as I saw Manikaran, I was left with no words to describe it. The gurudwara is settled on the banks of river Parvati. River Parvati again justifies the name, the serenity, the calmness, the energy will bring the purest form of you too. And that's the magic of water, it will make you also to dissolve and absorb the moment.

Hotwater shower in Manikaran!

Manikaran is very well known for its hot water shower. Now what I imagined was people just dipping their feet and hands in hot water,washing their face or max sink into the water and then change outfits after coming out. But no the scenario was different. Just to keep it clear, ladies and gents had different places for hot water shower. People who came here, keeping their shyness aside, were taking naked bath in front of unknown people. I was shocked and also blank, but then it depends on everyone's thinking. It could be awkward for some, it could not be awkward as you are probably not even going to see these people ever in your life, then what is there to hide from strangers, enjoy your moment and move on. However all these thoughts stuck late in my mind, during that time we had hugged our awkwardness, we just dipped our legs in the water, sat there for a while and left.

Enroute Mumbai!

Kullu was our last destination. On our way back we visited monastery and the evening of that day was kept for shopping and then our journey Enroute Mumbai began with soul filled with beauty of nature, snow, river, trees, food and ofcourse very helpful people and never forgetting experiences.

I understood, why travelling makes you feel free, why it liberates you? During that 5 days, I was all by myself, making my own decision, planning, choosing, fighting, overcoming, doing all by myself and for myself. Now I know, how travelling empowers you and want to have that feeling again and again!