Day 7 - Himachals in Winter - Manali - Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snowww..

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As the name of this post suggests, this was the day of snowfall. Since when we woke up around 6.30 am we could see the snow flakes coming down from the sky and covering the ambience with a white carpet. We went outside the cottage and saw that the lawn, the trees and the cottage itself was being snowed under. That was an amazing feeling. My wife saw her first live snowfall so undoubtedly she felt like a childlike exuberance and excitement.

We had a plan to visit the Solang Valley and a couple of other places also at our leisurely place. Now we were thinking if we could make it to the Solang Valley. By 9.30 in the morning it was still snowing and we could not decide what to do. Finally we decided to go out, giving a damn to the weather anyway.

We changed quickly and went outside. The lawn already went into a thick layer of snow and so were the roads and the backyard. It was just like watching a Hollywood movie and we felt like we were in a place which must be out of this world.

We had Puri-Bhaji as breakfast from the HPTDC canteen and called for our car. The car arrived within 30 mins and we started our adventure towards Solang Valley at around 11 am.

The road towards Solang was a pretty challenging climb for the Indica, and since both of sides were blocked with heaps of snow, the road became very slippery. Everywhere we looked, it was white. The sky was cloudy so the ice could not melt and it was receiving inches of snowfall by every passing minute.

The trees were without leaves, but their branches looked like some slim and tall men standing with outstretched arms, not to mention, under a thick white shirt. The Beas was running besides the road throughout with its narrow force, the rocky surfaces of rivulet covered their baldness under the snow. We saw a group of tourists didn’t bother to travel as far as Solang Valley and already got down and were throwing snow to each other.

We halted at a place where we had to hire special snowproof attires, looking at them it felt like we were Eskimos. The snowfall became heavier than earlier and it became really challenging to drive on. We came to very small village after which the local villagers informed us that the car could not go beyond this point. So we parked our car and got down.

The place was like a hairpin bend where some shops were put up by the local villagers. There was a small signboard which pointed out towards a direction – which you need reach after crossing a wooden bridge – where there is a Border Roads Organization checkpost. The Beas River flowed below the wooden bridge providing a heavenly view of the atmosphere.

We crossed the wooden bridge and traversed through the white narrow paths and came across a road which was forked like a Y. Local villagers were providing service for the enthusiastic skiers. Everywhere where we looked around, it was totally under the white blanket. The snowfall was so heavy that it was blurring the vision of everyone of us including the camera. I was busy anyway shooting the videos. We could see places like where the snow was around waist deep, knee-deep snow was so common like a ray of sunlight in summer. We did the right thing to wear those clothes, other the clothes could have got wet and wearing clothes soaked in water in that cold was really not a great idea.

We played with the snow to satisfy ourselves to the fullest of our quench. When we left the place it was already 2.30 pm and there was no interruption in snowfall yet. While coming back we went to ‘Vashishth Temple’ where there was a natural hot water spring. Bu sincerely speaking nothing could be compared with the scenery we beheld.

We were hungry like anything so coming towards the Mall – where it was not snowing, rather it was raining as the snowfakes melted before reaching the earth and converted themselves into tiny water droplets – and found the ‘Sher-E-Punjab’ restaurant. We almost sprang on the food when they were served in front of us.
The rest of day we spent in shopping. So you can wisely guess how it went for me. But anyway, my wife planned to reward me by cooking at the cottage in the night. So we bought some rations from a nearby grocery and came back when it started to become dark at around 5 pm.

The HPTDC Log huts provide all cooking equipments including utensils, stoves and gas cylinders. We had some Tea in the canteen and then came back to our cottage. It was almost 5.45 pm and the light already started to fade away.

We spent the rest of the evening watching television and cooking egg noodles which turned out to be amazing (hope my wife reads it).

Our stomachs were pretty full by 10 and enough to experience some sweet dreams.

Next - Day 8 Around Manali
Pictures

Trees getting covered in snow

Is this the same place where we came?

The cute little village where we had to stop

The bridge

I love this one

Towards eternity

See what the word 'Snow white' means?

Thank you Manali for providing such an experience

Incredible!!

Beas streaming through all obstacles

Picturesque

Vashishth Temple

Somwhere in a Park besides the Mall

A rare glipmse of the Peaks