Manali
A wet and miserable start! The bus was supposedly meant to take twelve hours, but with all the stopping and starting, the traffic out of Delhi and the narrow mountain roads it took seventeen hours! The scenery on route was of mountains and streams and was pretty much second to none, even though we were witnessing it whist wincing at the winding roads and sheer drops! The dusty bus park we were dropped at was located a mile or so out from where we wanted to be and as soon as we started walking, the heavens opened! After finding a little restaurant, sorting ourselves and being left with no choice but to brave the weather we continued on to find the room we had booked. After nearly two hours of searching (nobody knows where anything is, or maybe they do but like seeing people suffer) the hilly terrain, we found our back alley accommodation by potluck! Wet, wound up and wanting of warm refreshment we settled in to the budget, backstreet abode (it wasn't expensive but we still got some really good English movie channels!). The next day, unlike the previous rainy day was perfect sunshine (although sunny the climate was at least ten degrees cooler than Delhi, which was welcomed) and with the clear blue skies we got our first proper look at the Himalayas!
The small town of Manali is nestled way up in the mountains and is renowned for being a trekking town which was obvious as every shop either advertised trips or sold equipment! Old Manali Here was one of the first places we visited, heading up to the old town was a nightmare with the roads being suitable for only one car and the sheer volume of two way traffic is a problem in this mountain town!
After battling through the traffic and crossing the the narrow bridge (along the river they have ropes crossing the width of the river and people were harnessed on and being bounced up and down, with their feet dipping in and out of the water, it looked like good fun however the bouncing seemed to go on for ages and peoples smiles dwindled after a while!) we reached Old Manali, all the little souvenir shops, the relaxed atmosphere and cafés reminded us a little of Goa! There were also a lot of tour agencies, tattoo shops (tempting), quirky restaurants, cheap prices along with some amazing viewpoints we decided to stay here instead of remaining at the out of area, alleyway guest house.
Solong Valley
We were debating on weather or not to go paragliding, it wasn't that expensive and obviously would be a good buzz, however we still have a long trip ahead of us! We took a local bus and had to walk up the mountain for a short while until we reached the valley, we were glad we opted out and went against booking paragliding! After walking past the small restaurants we saw dozens and dozens of parachutes in the air, they seemed to be dangerously close to one another, also the landing area was just full of people who didn't want to move out of the way, which resulted in last minute scrambling to avoid a serious punt but with two feet! It was honestly like a bunch of eagles swooping down on hundreds of mice! Even staying clear of the 'Landing zone' we had to keep an eye out, a few times we had to duck down to avoid four feet in the face! The decent of the paragliders looked graceful whilst in flight, however the landings looked hard and we were surprised not to see any injuries or fatalities! It was funny just to stand back and watch the mayhem, also to see the staff just bundle up the parachutes and run back up the hill to go again (not a bad job)! Apart from the action end of the hill it was a tranquil and scenic place to relax (we walked round to the side and up the hill) with snow capped mountains and forests surrounding even if the weather was a little chilly!
With all the hikes out of our price range, we set out on our own little quests and found some little gems! We found another small town similar
to old Manali and at the end of the road was a temple with hot springs! Inside was rammed full of people queuing to ring a bell and have paint placed on their forehead, the springs themselves were pretty empty, Kirsty said in the women's one was only a couple of naked, wrinkly old ladies washing, and in the male Spring was one man dunking! It was tempting to jump in however we didn't have appropriate clothing! Beyond the temple after a short hike was a waterfall, as expected it was heavily occupied and a lively spot with people scattered everywhere, some to carry out their daily chores and others just to sit and admire the beauty of the effortless flowing, calm waterfall!
In addition to those little day trips we also stumbled across a temple in the woods, it was a misty day and the temple, with the tall, somber looking trees in the backdrop reminded me of an ancient monk, martial arts training centre! Again there were a lot of people queuing to ring a holy bell, there were also a lot of Yaks wandering around, they're fascinating to look at (as well as people riding them, they're used for their wool and they also make cheese from their milk!) as we'd never seen one before!
Other than a minor case of me having sickness and diarrhoea we had a relaxing seven nights, it felt good to chill out for a few days, take a breather from the constant moving around and travelling India, for us, it was a perfect place to reflect the trip so far, with the gushing and refreshing looking Beas river and our snow capped mountain view point (the hill up to where we were staying was steep and was a decent work out a few times a day, the landscape was well worth the struggle though!) accommodation!
Rishikesh
To get to Rishikesh from Manali, we had to take a nine hour night bus to a place called Chandigarh ( which was in the middle of nowhere ), just on the outskirts of Delhi. When you get off a night bus or any bus for that matter you are bombarded by Tuk Tuk drivers wanting to know where you are going. They actually bang on the bus with their fists and try to open your window! Normally we would have been pleased to see them but at 4 in the morning, having just been rudely awakened, you need your own space for a few seconds to re-adjust! We then had to take a Tuk Tuk to another bus station a couple of miles out to catch a four hour bus, and then, yes, you guessed right, another bus to actually get to the centre of Rishikesh!
Rishikesh is known as the adventure capital of India , so we were eager to get our adrenaline racing! As white water rafting was only £5 we couldn't pass up the opportunity to give it a go. We had done water rafting once before in Slovenia, but the water wasn't at it's peak so it didn't really get our pulses racing! As usual like everything else in India, the rafting was running late. With us, there were six other Indian guys who were lovely but very vocal! They also found EVERYTHING funny! We arrived to the starting point and very ungracefully climbed on to the boat. The instructor was very precise in where he wanted everyone to be and if you wasn't doing something right, he would be sure to tell you! The rafting lasted about two hours and basically took us from the top of the river, all the way back down to where we started. The water was absolutely freezing! The first time we jumped in it definitely woke us up! We jumped in multiple times and loved being dragged down the river At the end there was also a relatively high cliff which if you wanted to, you could jump off of! In typical Indian fashion, there was no line, no orderly fashion, just 100 blokes, pushing and shoving their way to the front! Ricky managed to make it to the front without being pushed into the abyss and had the time of his life jumping off a 7 meter or so cliff !
As everyone knows who goes to Rishikesh, it is partially famous because of the Beatles! The Beatles travelled to Rishikesh, India in 1968 to study transcendental meditation. Transcendental meditation is a technique in which one detaches themselves from anxiety by promoting harmony and self realisation through meditation, repetition of mantra and other yogic practices. They opened the ashram they stayed in to the public two years ago. We had heard about a cafe named ' The Beatles cafe ' so we thought we would give it a visit. We spent our last night here and enjoyed a nice meal in the busy cafe that was filled with 60's memorabilia.
There are two main bridges in Rishikesh, one is Lakhsman Jhula and one is Ram Jhula. Lakhsman Jhula is 87 years old and is surrounded by ashrams, markets and cafes. You could say that this was pretty much the busiest place at all times! There would never be a moment that the bridge would be empty. The bridge itself is a hanging bridge, 70 feet above the River Ganga and 450 feet long! The bridge connects two villages, Tapovan and Jonk. The temples situated around the bridge have made it one of the most visited places in Rishikesh. At any given time there can be hundreds of people on the bridge, locals, tourists, motorcycles, monkeys and cows alike. This meant a cow could cause a traffic jam. A traffic jam on a bridge, I know right.
Rishikesh is a hot spot for yoga enthusiasts so we could NOT leave until we had at least tried it out. Feeling abit apprehensive, Ricky more so, we paid the fee of £2 for the 90 minute class. With only 5 of us attending the 9am class it wasn't too overwhelming. Our instructor, a young guy, around mid twenties, had a relatively bad lisp. which meant every time he said ' Inhale and exhale ', it would sound more like ' Inhale and exkkkshale '. It certainly throws you off your stretching. We would definitely love to do some more yoga! I would love to come back to Rishikesh and do an in depth class for a couple of weeks. We definitely felt spaced out when the class ended.
Nearby there was a waterfall named Neergarh Waterfall! Around a 3km walk away, we set off along the windy, dusty roads of Rishikesh, passing cows, people selling sugarcane juice and befriending countless stray dogs! As per every attraction in India, this one was no different, full to the brim with Indians. They love to shout when they are communicating. Eager to find a quiet spot away from the madness, Ricky hacked his way through a mesh of branches to a quiet little waterfall where we found our own space and some peace and quiet! Trying our hardest not to slip, we washed away the dripping sweat!
Rishikesh was an amazing way to end our time in India and we would definitely love to head back there in the future. We loved the cafes, the Ganges River, the relaxing atmosphere. Despite the crowds, it is a beautiful place and maybe one of our favourite places we visited.
