The journey from Leh to Manali takes at least 12 hours over bumpy and unpaved mountain roads and passes. We were told in no uncertain terms by our new friends that a night bus was not the way to go. We took the the night bus. It was a mistake.
We thought it would be okay seeing as it was an 15 seat mini-van, surely the suspension wouldn't be THAT bad. The suspension wasn't even the main issue (although it was terrible). We had less space than on a budget airline, the seats could barely recline without crushing the person behind you, and the driver had a small selection on songs he liked to listen to loudly, on repeat, while shouting over them to the person sitting next to him... all night. So very little sleep was had.
We were delayed on top of a pass for an hour due to a truck getting stuck in the stream that happens also to be part of the road. Then hours and hours later when Manali was finally in view, it took us 3 hours to drive the final 40 mins of the trip. All the traffic was being rerouted back down the mountain due to an avalanche that had taken out part of the route we'd just travelled.
The trip to Manali was stressful but Manali itself is anything but. Known as the Goa of the north it serves during the monsoon season as a hippy hangout then after the snow arrives as a ski resort. We opted to stay in Old Manali, about 2 km away from the main town. The long winding and very steep main street is filled with Cafe's, guesthouses and shops selling alternative clothing, hemp bags and a surprising amount of dream catchers. There's friendly packs of dogs roaming the streets, looking for hand-outs and cuddles.
Life in Old Manali is slow, where ever you go to eat the wait is at least 30 minutes whether you've ordered toast or full meal. All the Cafes cater to a wide range of cuisines (Italian, Indian, Israeli) seeing as half the population of Manali is from tourism i guess that's to be expected. On a few of the rainier days Ben and I spent our time cafe hopping, chilling out, reading and listening to music while enjoying the good food on offer.
On our first whole day we decided to visit the temples, so we crossed over the Manalsu river and into the part of the town called Dungri. It's more of an idyllic village than the rest of it, with small cottages built amid the trees and rising mountains. This is where (after the obligatory getting lost happened) we found the Hidimba Devi Temple, a Hindu Temple built in 1553 by Maharaja Bahadur Singh around a cave of religious importance.
The temple is surrounded by giant Deodar trees and has paths through the woods for you to walk. On theses paths are old women with fluffy flop-eared albino rabbits who shove them into your arms and then demand 50 Rs for a photo, there is also a man with a Yak trying to charge you to sit on it and one women, who must of decided the rabbit trick was getting old had a pure white baby lamb instead. I of course, ended up with a bad picture of me holding a very unhappy looking rabbit.
The rest of the smaller temples in the area aren't quite so impressive but it was a lovely walk, wondering up dirt paths that meander through the residential area and stopping at a small shack for tea that only cost us 20 Rs. We also took ourselves into the main market square of New Manali to look at the stalls and get some Julabi, a deep fried batter that is dunked into syrup.
That night we ended up in Tyson Mini Bar, a small place near to where we staying that had a rather good live musician who played a 3 hour set for a handful of people who there. It was a very relaxing way to spend the evening even if he did have a very strange promotional poster....
We Visited a local Hindu temple set in the hill above Old Manali, The Manu Temple. Where strangely, a rather scruffy looking dog with a missing ear, who we met on our first walk (about 1 km away) and who we named Vincent appeared....and demanded attention.
We spent a morning wandering through the trees of the nature preserve near Old Manali. An area of forest that's sectioned off with paths flowing through it. We ignored the paved paths and opted to wander along the dirt tracks, where we clambered up boulders and I then got stuck at the top and had to slide down (leaving me with an embarrassing looking stain on my backside). It was peaceful wandering amid the ancient trees and climbing through bushes to look for a way to the river - which we never found. There was even a small Avery, with peacocks, a baby eagle, various strange birds...and what looked like on the sign to be a chicken with a fancy name given to it.
We also decided it would be a good idea to walk the 5 km to the neighbouring village of Vashist to visit Jogini Waterfall. The walk from Old Manali to Vashist wasn't overly peaceful or pleasant, it takes you down the busy main road, where cars zoom by puffing clouds of smoggy emissions seemingly straight into your face. The walk up through the village into the mountains was a lot nicer but also a lot more hard work the path being very steep. I convinced Ben to take a break half way through for some fresh apple juice at a little cafe with views over the valley. Past the village we wandered through a wooded area then up a path to stream. This is where we chose the wrong way and ended up meandering though a field, where a woman tending her cows gave us a bemused look and we met a very helpful man who was sitting on a boulder over the river, who told us the right way to go.
The waterfall itself was beautiful, with a shallow pool beneath where you could paddle through the sparkling gold and silver sand. From the pool there was a stunning view where you could see down the falls and over the valley below. The only problem was the amount of people there, it was packed. As a popular sight in the area there was a steady stream of people coming and going. It wasn't quite as peaceful as we'd hoped so we found a place lower down the falls, where we sat on a boulder over the river and had a little relax before starting the long walk back.
Although we enjoyed the chilled vibe and the many street dogs to befriend, after 6 days of Manali we decided to move on, so we booked a night bus to our next stop Dharamshala where we'll have the next part of our adventure.
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