The Journey:
It was an almost sleepless night with dogs barking outside the inhabitable room. Dot 5 O’clock I was at the bus stop with few strays staring at me. I wanted to run from there, it reminded me of the scene from “Waltz with Bashir”, only here the canines were not in a mood to move. Soon a taxi guy offered me a seat for Rs. 900, little bargaining and he was ready for 500:D. But then the bus arrived and it was cheaper by Rs. 200. Taang to the taxi guy and I boarded the bus and window seat again. I was into sleep mode soon and woke up after a dream of full-length football match. It was PWD Shour, which marked the end of Pangi Valley.
That place was awesome, but unfortunately the camera was still sleeping inside the back till then. If there was one thing that I missed in this trip then it was the beauty of Pangi, thanks to the excitement of Sach Pass. Of what little I saw of Pangi, it was much beautiful than Raavi or Baes Valley and more forests than the Lahaul valley.
At Udaipur, the bus had two flat tires. Both the rear inner tires were the victim of the Pangi roads. There was an option of shifting to another bus to keylong which was already full. I took one hour for the tire to be fixed and ready to roll. In the mean time the taxi guy passed me with a troll-face. Lahaul valley ride till Keylong was smooth and a visual treat for this first time visitor to Himachal. There were these nullahs hidden behind the mountains which would be visible only for a moment which were delightful to watch.
The ride to Keylong was amazing. There is a problem now; my bus wouldn’t go to Manali as there were hardly 4-5 people on board and we were asked to move to another bus which was packed. With no other choice, I had to travel standing. By now I had mastered the art of occupying the window seat and I was just waiting for someone to get up. Three men, two rows behind where I was standing stood up to get down at Sissu. I threw my small bag and yay! Window seat was mine. Luckily no one was hurt. Then came the Rohtang moment, which can be aptly described as a dud compared to Sach. It was nothing but a bad climb with a worse descend. Had the sickest coffee in Marhi, the only coffee I had in the entire trip. Being a Tambrahm and heavily addicted to strong filter coffee, I don’t have coffee outside. The Keylong Manali bus was half filled with Tibetans’/Napalms. They were very much annoying and it was a ride to forget. It was not only me but many passengers had a poker face due to their behavior. Two guys almost got into a physical tussle with a bunch of Tibs, as they were passing some unnecessary comments. There was a point when a kid sitting ahead of me yelled “Oye salon, chup karo”; only to be slapped by his mother, but the entire bus broke into laughter.
Now, there was some problem with the front suspension. Here I met Doc Vikram, from Mandi, who was going home from a week long assignment in Leh. Soon the suspension problem was sorted out and we set sailing to Manali. We met again at the bus stand. Doc’s friend, who stays at Manali, was out of town and if asked him if he would like to share room to cut costs, he agreed and we settled for Mahadev GH bang opposite to the bus stand for Rs. 200.
The Lahauli Wedding:
After dumping our bags we went for a stroll and banged into a lahauli wedding baraat. Surprise Surprise, It was doc’s senior’s weeding. Lahauli’s have a dress code and a badge to distinguish the guests from the uninvited ones. The invited guests sport a cap with three badges and a badge in the heart. We soon got the badge, and man I felt proud. Unlike other baraats I have seen, the lahauli baarat had only dhols and flutes. The Baraat entered the wedding hall and we made a quick exit to the hotel room were party was full-on with beer bottles rolling. I was invited for a stay with them, but had to decline because I was hungry and the beer taps were still flowing. Doc and I walked to our room, he picked up his bags and joined the gang and I left for dinner and then bed.
Et cetera:
Woke up late and vacated the room by 1 PM. It was time for some shopping for my sisters back home to be accepted into the family again. Then the usual touristy places like the Gompa, Hidimba temple were done by foot. After lunch, met up with the Maruti factory team for Raid on their SX-4. A quick chat and wished them luck as they filled fuel. Picked my bags from the GH and left for the world famous Kullu ki Dusshera.
nice trip log
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