Kullu-Manali

From BikeNomads

1 About
- 1.1 Route
2 Places to Stay
3 Places of Interest
4 Links

About

Manali, a hill station located 560km from Delhi is also revered to be the place of Manu, the sage, who is said to have saved the world in the Hindu equivalent of the biblical flood. While that may be myth, Manali is today a premier destination for those who wish to escape the heat of North India, or who wish to undertake the grand voyage to Ladakh.

Route

NH21 is the main route for most travellers. Approaches:

Delhi - Ambala (NH1) - Chandigarh - Kiratpur - Bilaspur - Mandi - Kullu - Manali (NH21). The route is straightforward: Inside delhi take the ring road, till you come to the Karnal bypass. From there, its straight to Ambala, then Chandigarh. In Chandigarh, take the first left where it says manali, and just follow that road till the final T point (past some 7-8 roundabouts). Then left, and straight onwards to Kiratpur. There's a single right turn to be taken in Rupnagar, which is pretty prominent
Pathankot - Mandi - Kullu - Manali (NH21)

The nearest train station is Jogindernagar(135km) and the nearest airport is Bhuntar, some 47km from Manali, and 7km before Kullu.

Places to Stay

In Kullu:

Snow View Guest House- Very highly recommended. 300 bucks a room, with TV, clean linen, nice loo and geyser. The room service is really nice and food is amazing. Its on the circuit house road in Dhalpur, Kullu. Just take a left from the taxi stand, and take the first left again. About 150m ahead, is the snow view guest house on your right.

A good base should you plan to visit Naggar or Bijli Mahadev. There's also a local temple from the time of the Pandavas around.

In Manali:

Hotel Beas: Just off the main trisection, run by the HPTDC, this midrange hotel is preferred for its quiet environs and nearness to the Rohtang road. Summer evenings, traffic can get mad on that road, since the small bridge over the Beas becomes a bottleneck. The beas helps one avoid that traffic.
Hotel Chelsea: Cheap, okay budget hotel with decent food. The only downside was the shabby linen but otherwise the hotel was VFM at 300 bucks a night.
Hotel Solitaire: VFM hotel on the Hadimba temple road, some 250m from the main trisection. Nicely carpeted rooms with excellent loo and good food for about 400-500 bucks.

In Vasisht:

Surbhi guest house: Has parking, on main road, VFM rooms for 250-350 bucks.

For those wishing to ride on to Leh, it is highly recommended to stay at Vasisht (some 1km ahead, take the right diversion and ride up into the hill about another 1.5km) , or Kothi (HPPWD guest house), or Gulaba or Marhi (decent accomodation at dhabas) or at Koksar 36km post Rohtang.

Places of Interest

Starting late Feb, rohtang is open to tourists. Through the winter snowfall it attracts tourists escaping the north indian heat. In summers, while its a getaway, it is also the gateway for tourists heading to Ladakh.

What is recommended:

Vasisht - Quaint village, said to be the place of the sage Vasisht, lord ram's family guru. His temple has a superb hot water spring which has curative properties.