DEV BHOOMI HIMACHAL

April May june is the time when everyone wants to run away from the scroching heat of the plains.Lots of places in Himachal Pradesh can give u a cool relief in these months and my destination was Kullu Manali.
By raod from delhi is the best way to get there. It takes some 10 to 12 hrs so its always better to leave early morning. The drive is amazing and as u reach closer to Kullu Manali the snow peaks, blossoming white flowers in the apple orchards take u away from all the tension of fast passed metro life. Watch the sunrise on the banks of beas river. Just sit and look at the tall mountains and the plush green woods. Soak the fresh air in. Go for a long walk. That’s how I started my first day.
Manali is a tourist destination, so this time of the year u will find a lot of Hustle bustle on the main street - the mall road. It’s full of just married couples, young groups seeking adventure, school trips and sumo's and safari’s loaded with families. I am a shopoholic and Manali has a lot to offer. The Tibetan market, stores selling Himachali shawls, carft and juices and jams, kashmiri stores and lot of silver shops that u can spot every where. Silver jewellery in Manali is a good mix of Kashmiri, Himachali and trendy stuff, so one has a lot of choice. And whatever u buy, bargain, bargain and bargain because that’s your right.
Its lunch time and u have a lot of choice from Punjabi khana in the restaurants on mall road to German bakeries and Chinese stall. But I choose Jhon Benon resorts. Here though u can order anything from the menu, they have day’s special written on a board. Very English I must say. So since I was in Manali and am a non vegi I choose to eat roasted trout fish, it is fresh water fish which is very popular in this season, with baked potatoes and salad. The mantra is to keep your self light so that u can enjoy your holiday. But John’s place I would say is a bit costly, guess it’s specially made for foreign tourist.
After a nice lunch I walked my way to the Hdimba temple. Clicked some photos, chilled on the bench in the temple courtyard and called it a day. I love walking in Manali, though there are auto’s that can take u around the place or if u are biker types there are all kinds of bullets for u to hire.
Next morning, breakfast was on the Banks of river Beas in old manali’s Café Manalsu. This place has lovely pan cakes, porridge and amazing omelet’s. After placing my order I went for a stroll. There are shops on the entire street in old Manali as one goes uphill. Old Manali is where u will find most of the foreign tourist, especially the budget travelers. The shops here sell lovely silver jewellery, junk jewellery, arti-facts, t – shirts and hippy clothes. I bought some silver earrings and t- shirts and went for my breakfast to Manalsu. With my stomach full of healthy breakfast it was time for some adventure. So I took a cab and was on the Solang valley road. A skiing slope in winters was now used for Paragliding, scooter rides and several other adventure sports. So it was time to fly high, In 600 bucks the pilot takes u for a nice flight. Walk your way up to the take off point which is a good exercise and wait for your turn. I was nicely tucked with belts all around, the key here is don’t panic, the pilot will do every thing u just have to enjoy. We ran a bit before the Para glider went up and we were flying over the trees with the snow peaks giving a lovely backdrop. I felt nothing less then a super woman on a mission in some bond flick. Before I could even look at the whole place around me it was time to land. I made a perfect landing with my feet firm on the ground not stumbling even a bit. My pilot complimented me for this as everyone else around was falling while landing. There are cameramen who are filming every flight so in case u want yours for a record they will deliver a CD to your Hotel for 200rs.
Now it was time to go back to Manali. There is lot of adventure sports like rappelling, rock climbing, river crossing etc. happening in Manali at this time of the year. In kullu u can also do river rafting but my small Holiday was getting over. So I headed for a nice Italian pizza at Ellfarno on hidimba road. The place is run by an Italian woman who is settled in Manali. A lovely wood and slate cottage has fresh pizza and cheese smell every where. I sat outside, watching a fantastic view while enjoying my lunch. One thing u should not miss in Ellfarno is the chocolate cake. I still had some time in hand so I took an Auto and headed for Manu temple which is in old manali enjoyed the peace and chatted with village people and moved towards vashisht where u will find hot sulphur water pools in the temple. I washed my hands and feet with that water, it’s supposed to detoxify u. Now it was time to head back to my Hut. The HPTDC Log Huts was my home for two days. They are nice cozy huts, with individual lawns and the food is lovely. My last night in Manali Log Huts was with a delicious Himachali Dinner and bonfire in the lawn.