Road Trip to Leh (India): July 2009 – Day 1 of 10

Delhi to Leh

We started from Delhi at around 5 AM in our Toyota Innova taxi. We were carrying an unmanageable number of bags for luggage, but the carrier on our taxi’s roof proved to be a life saver. We even stuffed along a bar-be-cue grill – if we’re able to use it on our trip, it’d be a dream come true.

We had breakfast at Karnal and then we headed for Manali via Ropar. It had rained heavily in Delhi a day before, but today the sun was upon us with a vengeance. The heat and humidity were draining.

We reached Kullu in the evening, and on our way from there to Manali we stopped at a fantastic place where some tea stall owners had placed chairs and tables in the stream running along the road. One could sit there with feet ankle to knee deep in the fast flowing cold water, and relish omelettes, Maggi noodles and tea. It was a great respite from the heat and the fatigue of a long day on road.

We arrived in Manali around late evening and went straight to our guesthouse. We relaxed for a bit and went out for dinner at the Mall Road, the main marketplace of Manali. The guest house, owned by the Himachal Pradesh Electricity Board, was a bit distant from the Mall Road; since our driver had already dozed off, we hitched a ride with a friendly chap of the Indian Army who dropped us at the market. The tourist season at Manali was over; I didn’t see any traffic of the kind I’d heard stories about.

I was visiting Manali for the first time, and I’ve to say it was a big let down for me. After all the hype I’d seen build around this hill station over the years, I was expecting a bigger show than Nainital or Shimla. But no. The shops were boring and the food sucked. This was after I ate at one of the more famous Manali restaurants – the Original Sher-e-Punjab. God knows how they’re in business ‘since 1972’, with that food and that service. The popular ‘4-in-1 Softy’ ice cream sold across the road tasted like cough syrup. But then perhaps I’m noticing these things because the tourist season is over; the mass hysteria of peak season in May-June would probably mask these flaws and such rants.

It is now past 1 AM and I’ve to wake early in the morning and head for Sarchu. Hope the weather and food is better tomorrow.