We boarded our train from howrah station to Ambala Cant. It was a 27 hour journey via train but being an avid supporter of train journey , we decided to embark on the same. (Later we decided to give it a second thought next time while travelling) 😜😜.
We reached the ambala cantt station at around 3.30 a.m and started our journey towards Manali. The heater was switched on in our cab and we enjoyed the pleasant weather. At around 8.30 am we stopped at one of the restaurants in Chandigarh to have our breakfast. As soon as we stepped out of the car, a bone chilling cold wave brushed our faces. Here at this point we realised not to underestimate the winters of Himachal..we had our breakfast in virsa restaurant located on the Chandigarh Manali highway.. The breakfast and the price both were fairly good.
After breakfast we started again for our journey to Manali.
The travel time is approximately 8 to 9 hours from Ambala to Manali given the weather is clear which is a very rare sight during winters. Since we started in the morning, we encountered heavy fog in the morning which in turn increased the travel time.
At around 1- 1.30 pm we stopped in some local dhaba to quickly have our lunch. The food was okay. We were extremely tired and wanted to reach our hotel in Manali as soon as possible. Our driver suggested we could do some adventurous activities like parachute, bungee jumping en route to Manali as the experience would be better compared to the ones in the town itself. Since we were tired like hell we straight away denied it.
At around 3.30- 4 pm we reached our hotel 'Manali view resort' in Manali. The location was really good and surrounded with apple orchards. Himalayan peaks were visible from our room. The view and the charm of the mountains took away our tiredness. We freshened up and were all set for our mandatory walk nearby. We took a short walk enjoying the views, gasping the beauty of Manali and creating innumerable memories which were going to last forever. After 1- 1.5 hours we returned back hoping for the live snowfall as the entire trip was planned keeping this point as primary. Our driver as well as hotel owners were quite sure that we will surely witness the live snow in a day or two. We had our dinner in the hotel itself and went to sleep.
Tips..
1. Keep a jacket or warmer handy as you would need them as you move upward.
2. Always include breakfast and dinner in your hotel bookings especially when you are travelling in mountains. Still if you want to choose one, go for dinner as winter evenings can really be harsh on mountains.
3. If you want to experience adventure activities, do research beforehand. Don't just go by what your driver suggests . You would end up spending a hefty amount which can disbalance your budget.
We woke up expecting snowfall as the weather was snowfall ready as quoted by locals. This day was reserved for local sightseeing in Manali. After having aloo Parathas in nashta we were all set to explore Manali. Firstly we visited hadimba devi temple. The view was breathtakingly beautiful and mesmerizing. The entire temple was covered with tall pine trees. The lush greenery and the freshness left us awestruck. This temple is dedicated to hadimba devi who is the wife of Bhim (one of the Pandavas).
We tried dressing up in their local attire and clicked some jolly pictures.
It was our 3rd day in Manali and there was no sign of snowfall. It was the 2nd week of January and the chances of snowfall are the highest during this time. But our luck wasn't supporting us. Today we had to visit solang valley but our driver suggested we visit hampta pass instead of solang valley and the place was serene and magical. Read my entire hampta pass experience here :
https://tripoto.page.link/cK9rHncN2eYcXGH76
After hampta we returned back to our hotel and spent some time in the apple orchards. We were a bit disappointed as our dream of living a live snowfall was going in vain but still the serenity of this place was unmatched.
Today after breakfast we headed towards shimla. It took us around 7 hours to reach shimla from Manali.
Tip..
The roads leading to shimla has lot of turns and curves as compared to Manali. So it's advisable to carry medicines to combat mountain sickness.
After reaching shimla we settled in our room which was kind of okay. The room which was allotted to us in hotel satyam paradise had windows but no open balcony. According to them there are a lot of monkeys in that area and hence they don't provide open balconies . Anyways we were tired and slipped into our blankets. Suddenly I saw my phone ringing and it was my driver. I received his call and he was asking us to come down as it has started to snow. We rushed out and went down. There were 2-3 drops of snow and then it stopped. Localites were very sure that it will snow tonight and it gave us some hope. With the ray of hope we had our dinner and went back to sleep only after taking a promise from our driver to call us at any time during night if it snows.
We Woke up only to find no calls from our driver. This was the last day of our 5 day trip and I almost gave up on snowfall. We got ready as it was a day of sightseeing in shimla. After breakfast we headed out for kufri. After 1 hour we reached kufri. In kufri there are 2 options to explore, one is via horse and the other is via Jeep. We chose the latter. We visited fagu farms which included a Trek of around 30 mins. The beauty was splendid and worth the trek. Firstly there is an upward trek to reach the temple . Since it snowed last night in kufri there was snow on the roads aside as it was looking like a fairy tale. After reaching temple there is a downward trek to reach fagu farms
After reaching fagu farms we called our driver and he came there to pick us up. After that we visited the church and the famous jakhu temple in shimla. To reach jakhu temple you can either take a ropeway or shared jeeps which are very pocket friendly. We chose the latter and reached the temple. The atmosphere was filled with positivity and divinity. Then we returned back to our hotel had dinner and was done for the day.
It was time to bid farewell to this beautiful town. After breakfast we checked out from our hotel and reached Ambala station to board our trains.
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