Manali Diaries.......

I gaze down the viewfinder of my camera, and i see you there at the end of it.

I activate myself to work on a piece, and i'm inscribing about you.

I'm not even sure how I got back to myself.

Somehow the time again helped me.
yet i hardly ruminate i have moved ahead....

I believe one day i would see you again.
I believe one day i would see you smile again.
 any place, anytime call me if you ever need anything or simply want to see me.
 I'll be there, pronto. Let me know if you can come out here sometime-anytime.
I can arrange for your trip, if that's a problem.

I always thought college life was tedious but now i am sure all my friends would agree that work life is way too tedious, can be very tedious at times. I don't generally msg my friends but this time i wanted a trip badly, somehow i could convince two of friends easily for this trip and now we have some other in the pipeline( but sure even the best laid plans fail at times) fingers crossed for the future plans.. 

We had planned a trip to Manali and nearby. My friends would reach from Delhi and i would take a bus from Amritsar. The first free advice " Always go for the state travels bus service, they are the best when it comes to following the schedule"

I was already in Manali at around six in the morning and then the came the crowd of people who wanted me to stay at there hotel, we had already booked a hotel in manali and the only issue was to find the hotel. The second free advice "The google maps in a hilly area is not so authentic, so at unknown places my thumb rule is Ask three times, i have discovered it from my past experiences that three responses, even if they all were wrong, gradually vectored you to the place you had planned to go.

 My friends arrived way too late as i would say, Private Bus services are pain..

But anyhow till then i had roamed around the general market clicked a gazillion shots, posting all the shots here would bore everyone to death so

  a few shots have are here to see ... 

the mountains....they always call you

I like clicking old people coz they are origins of some of the amazing stories that you might have heard, and they're incredibly good story tellers..

Two elderly people enjoying the sun, the Himachali topi just suits them like anything.

Dare to wear the foolish bear outfit. I believe he loves making a fool out of himself to make some memories for others, i m sure this kid will remember this bear for a longtime..

We decided to visit a place surrounded by a cedar forest. The Hadimba Devi Temple, it is built on a huge rock just standing tall on the ground, people had thronged to this place in a large number. Even though the place was crowded it had a sense of piousness and calmness. I have heard this place has been a first choice of many of the movie directors and the tree line was amazing putting the tick mark on the choice of the directors.

Architecture is a visual art and this temple speaks for itself... 

i rarely go inside the temple, for me the environment around is more than sufficient to find peace. I would never be greedy to ask him something and then be disappointed.

There are things you can never go wrong with one of them is sunglasses, and they are easy to misplace. so i always buy one in a couple of months...

Outside this place, there is a little market which serves amazing momos and pathetic maggi, i remember a group of travelers had come and a girl asked the shopkeeper "cold coffee bana dijiye bhaiya" he just muttered "ye dilli walo ka sab jagah dilli lagti hai "

  
the endless cedar treeline i was talking about....
Rabindranath Tagore once said " Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven"



While coming back we saw a small activity of rope traversing along the beas river...

Every artist dips his brush in his soul and paints his own creativity.

This guy would paint on a piece of wood and would write beautifully whatever you asked him to...

next up was the mall road in the evening...

 I have the distinct feeling that when I'm old and i look back on my life, my twenties will be one huge blur. There's a lot that gets neglected. I keep prioritizing people who haven't been so kind to me and the important but non-urgent things over the unimportant but urgent things...

 Scroll up again to see the difference 
Sometimes it is better not to focus on things... it makes them look more beautiful...

 

Every dog must have his day, he sure is enjoying the mall road...

If you ever get lost in Manali call the other person to this location. center of manali....

Himachal has brought us this cap, it's one of my favorite caps

We looked out for some local clothing material, my third free advice " Buy a saree or a gift for you mother if she hates your traveling, coz she wants you home early for the vacation. The only bribe which is good "

With time in our pocket and weather on our side, the next day we had booked a cab for Solang valley and Gulaba. my fourth free advice " Never book a cab for the amount he quotes".

If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there....

Manali roads are beautiful, i loved the roads and scenery. But my fifth free advice -" If you are driving like no one can stop you, for these roads will make sure your karma will stop you" Drive safe, Be safe. 

These local women are busy stitching the dangris which is needed at gulaba and rohatang pass..

The next few pics are of gulaba, there were like hundreds of shots...

Even though i stayed in Mussoorie for eight long years, I still get the same thrill out of glimpsing a tiny patch of snow on a mountain and the sense the impulse to feel it.

The first Disney movie i saw i think was 'Snow White'. That was the moment i have fallen in love with snow clad places...

Now i know why it is known as the Scotland of India..

In nature, nothing is ever perfect and everything is perfect. mountains can be at times contorted, broken in places but they're still beautiful..

Way to Solang Valley, the place is enchanting in its own way...

I had read somewhere "How to be a bird! parasailing in the Himalayas"

the blots you see are the chutes for parasailing, it is breathtaking even when you see from down below. costing you 3200/- for a ride, try going early for the people coming for this is huge in numbers.

Any monkey can fly, but to land you need an instructor, he makes sure u land on Bums and safely...

In the evening we down to Kullu to do river rafting, It was a planned activity but we reached a little, some shopping and evening walk was which we were restricted too, i advice, if you have already done rafting at Rishikesh don't even bother to think about it here, you will be disappointed.
Next in was Kasol, Mannikaran, Barsaini and a trek to Kheerganga which has loads of photos as it is, it would have become boring and too long if i include it in this blog-post, will surely post it in a few days.

Just one request... You like it, You Plz share it... 

"If you think traveling is dangerous to health and wealth, try routine; it is lethal." -Paulo Coelho