Day 2

July 18, 2012 WEDNESDAY

Finally reached Chandigarh at 0830 Hrs. It was too hot during the whole journey. As I said earlier, it would have been better to travel by train. Chandigarh is a beautiful well planned city. Everything is well organized. We both took shower at the public toilet cum bathroom complex that you will find outside almost every bus or railway station. The best breakfast for me during the whole journey was milk and fruits. It gives you energy and also prevents from dehydration. Make sure you have done all of your shopping in your hometown because in Chandigarh its difficult to find retail stores. Booked an ordinary bus for Manali as the weather becomes good after one hour journey; as soon as the bus enters Himachal Pradesh. There are AC buses too but I think that there is no use of booking an AC bus. You wont find sleeper bus on this route because the whole way is between the mountains and its risky to drive high roof buses there. Its better to take lunch at the bus stand only. The lunch costed us 115 Rs for both of us. The bus to Manali was at 1230 Hrs and the bus fare was 335 Rs per person. The route to Manali is very good. You will drive between the mountains and will be in a different world. The towns are on the hills only. It was so disappointing to see that the sanitary system of all cities is not good and polythene and other waste products were spoiling the beauty of the place. Seems like people don't know about the value of the place where they are living. A request to the travelers not to spoil the place with polythene. You wont find dustbins everywhere. Instead of cursing the government, please carry the waste with you till you find a dustbin. Finally reached Manali at 2130 Hrs and some drivers asked us about travel to Leh. Actually they were taxi drivers who operate in the night but we were planning something else. Search for some good hotel. Manali remains open till 2300 Hrs and with good bargain you can find very cost effective hotel. We found a room to stay in 250 Rs with hot water. Manali is divided into two parts. Old and New Manali. Old Manali is occupied mainly with foreigners and new Manali with Indians. There are many hotels so you can do as much bargain as you want. Probably you wont find any problem in searching a hotel.

The suggestions for today are:

1. Take lunch at Chandigarh Bus Stand only.
2. Book an ordinary bus to Manali from Chandigarh as the weather becomes good in one hour as you depart Chandigarh.
3. It is difficult to search for retail stores in Chandigarh so make sure you have done all of your shopping.
4. Do as much bargain as you can in Manali. There are many hotels and most of the hotel owners will come down to your pricing as they know that this is the night time and their rooms will stay unoccupied if they don't rent it to you.
5. Carry some dry fruits with you. Its rare that restaurants will be closed at 2130 Hrs. You will find good dinner. The dinner costed us 90 Rs for both.
6. If you take alcohol then make sure either you purchase it from Chandigarh because the wine shop owners charge more then the MRP in Himachal Pradesh.
7. Avoid reaching Manali on Saturday, Sunday or public holidays as many tourist visit there during this time and the hotel charges may shoot up. Best if you reach on Wednesday.
8. People will quote you the price which would be 25 to 50% more then the real price. That was surprising to me. So PLEASE DO AS MUCH BARGAINING AS YOU CAN.

GALLERY
(Please click on the image to enlarge it)

Bus from Chandigarh to Manali

A religious march

Weather becomes good from here. After the mountains 

Mountain covered with clouds

Pleasant way

House and hotels on the hills

Roads

Bridge over a river

Slope roofs to protect house from heavy rains

Scattered houses

Market in the way

Hills covered with clouds

Scenery in the way

Town over the hill and garbage on the bank of the river 

Bridge

Manali city in night

The journey continues..........