Roadtrip Day 37: Mandi to Manali [Apr 14 2021]

One of the painful ride days with good amount of heat & dust

I was staying at Guru Gobind Singh Gurudwara at Mandi. It was fairly crowded & I did not have a great feeling when I checked in. I usually take bath & wash my clothes of the day in the night, but I decided to skip the routine. I was fairly tired with a bit ‘strenuous’ paragliding in Bir the previous day & decided to sleep fairly early. I was up at around 7 & my feelings had a changed a bit. I ended up having bath at the common shower area inspite of a different feeling the previous night. I also figured that Gurudwara langar serves breakfast & tea, which I had. It was ok. I was ready to leave by 9 AM & that is when I realized that the petrol lock keys of my bike is missing. This definitely lowered my moral & I tried searching for it in vain. After figuring that I lost my smartwatch the previous night, I was feeling that maybe, the place is not really lucky for me :).

It took me some time to find the workaround that my ignition key could open the petrol lock as well & I decided to be content with it. I had driven around 2k kms from the time engine work was done & decided to see a mechanic. After some asking around, I was at a mechanic shop in Mangwayin . The guy inspected the oil & said it is good for another 1-1.5k kms. I also requested him to adjust my rear brakes as they were a bit too tight & gladly did that. I was a bit low on moral & guess did not decide to click pics or ask name of the guy.

Google map shows route from Mandi to Manali via Kamand Bajura but then I figured that there is a Reliance Petrol pump south of Bajura. When I put that as a stop, the route now shown is from is the prominent road from Aut Tunnel. It turned out, this was a mistake but guess, everyone is an expert in hindsight :).

The road was pretty wide but bad to start with. There was construction work going on & vehicles were stopped just outside Mandi. It cleared quickly & I started the ride. It was 11 AM & the heat was pretty prominent. I felt my energy level to be low & figured that I had pretty less food at Langar in Gurudwara for breakfast. So I started looking for a shop to stopby & eat. I saw Chawala’s but passed it thinking it to be expensive. I started at some restaurant named Beas View as they had prominent board of Dosa. But the food turned out to be pretty average & I would not recommend the place. I had a paratha & lassi and continued my ride. I felt better after eating.

The roads continued to stay bad. It was the first time during the trip that I saw boulders arching above the road. I remember that I had seen this kind of roads in pictures of various folks who ride to Ladakh/Spiti.

At some point, I saw a fairly steep uphill road & it looked pretty hard to climb on that. I took a pic for memory. While I came closer to the point where I am suppose to climb the road, I figured it is a detour that I am not suppose to take. I took a sigh of relief & continued on the main road :).

I reached Aut Tunnel at around 2:30. Somehow, I felt that the tunnel is still work under progress & continued on the road that goes right. After going ahead, when I checked map, I realized I had to go through the tunnel. So I tracked my way back. I took a quick pic of the tunnel as I was not sure if I am allowed to (due to security reason, I crossed one dam earlier & saw notice boards which barred visitors from taking picture of it). Inside the tunnel, the experience was unique. There was water on the surface but there is a good amount of dust (still) in the air. The dust cleared after like 500m. The tunnel was of 3km in stretch. Although it said speed limit to be 30 kmph, none of the vehicles seem to be honoring that.

Back in 2015, when I alongside my wife & 2 friends did Leh bike ride, I remember meeting a friend in Mandi & we talked about the real bad roads of the stretch & if something could be done. The friend said that tunnels are a viable option but it seems proposals dont get floated because it would mean loss of work for contractors who are hired every season to repair these bad roads. It was a pleasant experience to see some conversation we had 5 years back, materialized now. I also remember seeing tunnel work in Sonmarg during my Kashmir trip to bypass Zozila pass. I am also looking forward to see Atal Tunnel in Manali for the same reason.

I reached Reliance Petrol Pump & it seemed like the only Reliance Petrol pump on the Mandi Manali road. There is a good amount of dust floating in air, not only at that place but in the entire stretch from Mandi till now. I had to check air pressure & the guy managing the place told me steps to do it myself. I was surprised, a bit amused but decided to try my hands. Unfortunately, I made things worse by leaking air from tyre rather filling. I am not sure if it was my inability or the issue with the machine as the air stopped filling beyond 24 mark in the rear tyre inspite of I keeping the nozzle tightly held for good 1 min. Finally, I decided to give up & seek help elsewhere. I saw a puncture shop next to the petrol pump & went there. There was nobody at the shop & I called the guy (his number was written on the wall). While I waited for him, an Innvoa stopped by & I figured they are also looking to get some puncture/air work done. It had Mr Monish in it & we started having conversation while we waited for the guy to come. Monish ji asked a lot of questions around how had I managed to do it & we talked specifically around how such roadtrips are doable in the west vs in India. I realized that Amritsar folks are very well informed about roadtrips as Amritsar has Wagah border from which a lot of westerners happen to enter India from Pakistan. Hence Amritsar folks have a lot of insights into these things.

My conversation with Monish ji got me thinking. It looks like, it is easy to do a budget constraint roadtrip in India but might not be possible to do a comfortable one. While we asked for tea at a nearby shop, when the tea came, Monish ji said, this is not the kind of tea he would drink. He also pointed that nearby, there are hardly any shops that would serve good tea. I told him about how I passed Chawala’s on my way thinking it to be expensive, but then I thought about how many such places I would have crossed from then on. I think he was right. It is hard to do a comfortable roadtrip in India even if you are willing to spend decent money. Specially if you intend to cover states that are not that rich (the rich ones are Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Southern states etc). That was some learning & realization for me. We clicked pic & I started on my way while Monish ji waited for puncture of their innova to be fixed.

Monish ji & I. Monish ji runs an event management company (if I remember it right) & was on his way to Manali for a business related trip. I did joke with him that he is the first person I met in my life who is heading to Manali for work :-D

I reached Bhuntar & from here on, the roads were pretty nice. I crossed Bhuntar’s market & it looked like a decent one but I did not feel like stopping. I reached Kullu & crossed some open grounds where I took a few pics.

It was 4:30 PM & I was hungry. So I quickly googled for ‘restaurants in Kullu’ & came across a restaurant called Maiya ji (or something similar which I do not remember now). Someone in the review has mentioned a dish ‘Siddhu’ & it got me interested. I figured the place is closeby (like 1-2 km from where I was & I decided to ride to it). Unfortunately the place was under renovation but one of the guys there guided me to Sapna Sweets in Akhara. I found it on Google map & rode to the place. Apparently, there were 2 Sapna Sweets (tier 2 cities dont take trademark issues seriously it seems) next to each other. I went to the other place & asked for Siddhu & the shopkeeper there guided me to the right shop. The place was cosy & locals were there so it looked like a popular place. Siddhu came fairly quickly but I was not really impressed by the dish. It tasted like thick bread with some masala stuffed inside it. It did taste fresh though. But nothing very great. I also ordered a lassi & it was decent.

It was 6 PM by the time I left the place. The road from Kullu to Manali is absolutely fantastic (there is a toll as well so it does look like well maintained).

I saw some clouds & it got me worrying a bit but nonetheless I clicked this pic of the view. There is a snowclad pic at the center & rain clouds around it.

It started to drizzle but I kept riding. I happen to passby a temple & there was some local ritual getting performed there as locals have gathered around. There was a guy in white dress in center & some people held an idol on doli behind him. I was not sure what the ritual was but I did stop by, saw it for sometime & then left the place when I felt the drizzle is getting stronger.

While on my way, a curious person peeked from a 4 wheeler when it crossed me & asked something to me in Kannda. I dont remember exactly but my modus operandi now is to stop by on the side & have a proper conversation. I gestured to him to stop on the side & I stopped as well. It was gang of folks from Bangalore with family. They were Promod, Anirudh & Sukrut. I guess Promod spoke to me for longest & he was genuinely happy to see someone from Karnataka riding so far. He also thanked me for stopping by & having the conversation, which reflected his happiness too. I felt worthy/praised. They were staying in Manali & were doing trips in/around Manali. Their driver actually told me the way to Spiti will go via Jibhi & I do not have to go all the way to Shimla again. They also suggested me to go to Khoksar after crossing Atal Tunnel & experience snow there. I thanked them for their suggestions & we moved on.

Pramod is the guy on the right. The two in center are Anirudh & Sukrut. The guy on the left is their driver. I forgot to ask his name. Sorry guys for an average pic. It was become dark at that moment & this is all I could capture.

I reached a checkpost where police folks had been stopping vehicles for something called ‘Green Tax’. I am aware of such entry fees enforced on vehicles & I saw one while entering Dalhousie too but they did not charge anything from 2 wheelers. But here, the 2 wheelers were not spared & I was asked to pay Rs 100, which after some questioning, I did. I did see someone making a ruckus but then I just decided to pay & proceed. I got a receipt for it as well so it did feel like a genuine thing.

While at Sapna Sweets, I had explored places to stay at Manali. Manali is dotted with hostels so I knew finding a place would not be problem. I saw Madpackers Manali & I remember someone telling me that Madpackers Delhi is rated as best hostel in Asia once. So I thought of staying at Madpackers Manali. I got their number from Google listing & called them. I could see that the hostel location is in old Manali & I knew that vehicles are not allowed inside old Manali. I asked him about parking & he said that there is a ground where I can park the bike. I realized it would be a long walk from the ground to the hostel. On asking for tarrif, the guy quoted 300 while I could see some 240 odd value on Hostelworld. On telling him that, he bluntly asked me to book it on hostelworld. I did not have a good vibe, thanked him & cut the call. Closer to Manali, I started to look for hostels that are NOT in old Manali, on Google Maps. I found one but could not locate it physically. I called one hostel & the person told me about Moustache hostel as it is located right in front of the bridge to old Manali. I checked in at Moustache. The bed cost at Moustache was Rs 274 for one day.

Moustache was populated with young folks who were mostly doing work from home. Moustache had a large parking. The internet was also pretty good. One thing that I did not like (something I have seen at other hostels too), is people smoking in common room. But apart from that, it was all good. They have 2 local dogs, one of them is Kaza, who prefers sleeping in common room during the day :).

I totally recommend the cafe attached to Moustache called Blue Elephant. The food is pretty tasty & prices are decent (you will be able to find cheaper alternatives but I decide to use the time to do other things). The owner is from Nepal & is a very friendly person. Someone recommended Shanti Dhaba to me, but its food was not as great as Blue Elephant’s.

The inside of Blue Elephant

I had decided to go to Atal Tunnel the next day. I made friends with folks who were in the same room as I was stationed. Neeraj is from Uttarakhand is doing WFH. He procured a bottle of Old Monk for me when I requested him to :).

There is Rudra who is from Rajasthan & is doing WFH. Rudra is an avid traveller & I am glad to see a 22 year old who travel because he feels that it is time to head out. & not because there is a long weekend nearby & he should head out :). I told him that how I am doing this travel to be able to figure these kind of inner callings clearly. Something which Rudra has figured when he is 22 :). Rudra is a foodie but he is fasting for Navratri while travelling. I liked his resolution.

I also met Anushree Pathak who is from Chattisgarh. She seemed fairly mesmerized when I told her about my journey & was fairly curious. She also quickly signed up for my blog :). Thanks Anushree.

Folks at Moustache also talked about visiting Atal Tunnel which I will be doing tomorrow. After chilling with folks in common room in the night & having a peg of old monk & food from Blue Elephant (I took a veg thali which was tasty & healthy), I called it a day.