Vacation at Manali

 So I am typing this in a very comfortable bus that is an AC 2by2 Volvo, called FlixBus, outfitted with all the facilities. There is a family occupying the front seats, and a few solo travellers peppering the remaining seats, most of which were empty. The cost of this bus was lower than the HRTC bus by the HP Government. 

The HRTC bus started off from the ISBT Kashmir Gate which is this big bus port with a metro station bang in the middle of it. There are at least eight different state transport buses operating here, all of which have a few bays each, so the buses keep cycling out very quickly. My bus came in on time and left on time, which I was very impressed by, considering the state transport buses of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka, that never stick to their timings, or only do so on certain specific routes. 

In anyway, there was a swap to another bus at Mandi. The driver from Mandi to Manali required a totally different skillset than the driver from Delhi to Mandi, who was neatly threading between containers at high speeds on the highway. I was passing in and out of sleep throughout the rickety ride, where I got to see the real locals, like it just does not get any more local than this. 

Although the bus route operated from Delhi to Manali, most of the passengers occupied the bus between Chandigarh to Mandi. Eventually, there was this small patch just before reaching the government bus stand in Manali where I was the only passenger on the bus. Got a good four hours of beautiful scenery along the Beas because the sun had already risen by the time we reached Mandi. Mandi is a beautiful town with layers of houses, making it look like it has jumped straight out of the pages of a storybook or a cozy city building game. 

Taking the state transport bus is convenient, and saved me a walk of nearly 1.5 km. I then walked all the way up to Krishna Dhabha, which has great rooms for 600 bucks each. Right now the balcony provides a good view of the bustling village life, while the Himalayas loom over all the windows. The back side of the room has a balcony as well, that overlooks the village. There is a nice terrace to catch the Sun, and the stars are visible in all their glory from here as well. 

The kitchen on the ground floor cooks the most homely meals, including a rotating menu of essential North Indian lunch every day, fresh fruit juices, all kinds of teas and coffees, parathas, and delicious poha. My friend was chomping down on Chicken Momos practically all the time we spent there. The food is so good that a lot of locals and long-term residents show up at the place throughout the day. 

Now at the top or the end of the road at Old Manali is Rocky's Cafe, which has a great view. There is no motorable road beyond this point, and this is where the garbage collection van starts off in the morning, blasting some weird local garbage collection anthem. Then on the way down there is Bro's Hostel right opposite the Manu Temple. There are some water fountains here along with a communal area, where the local kids play in the evening. 

Keep walking downhill and you come to Krishna Dhabha, that has the great local food, at affordable rates, and a pair of great clean rooms, plenty of space to hang out on the terrace and in the back. Then there is a small, cozy, warm place called Rama's Dhabha that serves good shakes and thukpa, which is noodles with soup. There is a fork in the road here, go uphill, and you will come across one of the best properties in Old Manali, called the Moonlight Guest House. It is one of the few places in the 1BHK format, with most houses being rooms with attached kitchens. The whole building has a house rule, that bans music, because of which foreigners prefer this place a lot, and it is in high demand throughout the year. 

One place here that has a great vibe, and feels like time-travelling, resembling Manali as it was decades ago is Renaissance. The decor is just great with greenery, dream catchers and a flowing water fountain as well. These guys make great nachos, as well as home-brewn fermented drinks. They also serve beers at times, like during the tourist season, when it is always jam-packed. 

On the way down is the La Voglia Hostel, which is very grammable, and has a great view as well. Further down, there is Drifter's Inn which has great teas, coffees and shakes. Further down there is the Lazy Dog, which is one of the more fancier hangouts. This one place has India, Asian and Continental, so all tastes are covered. The view overlooks the river, and this is one of the fun places to hangout especially because there were a couple of yellow machines clearing out a new road after a landslide washed away portions of the old one. There is Dylan's on the way down just before the bridge, which is a coffee shop. 

So this is the layout I figured over two days. Most of the time I spent in Krishna Dhabha, and on long walks through the Nature Park. There are a bunch of overlapping trails that go upwards or downwards. There are huge trees in the park, a bunch of rock formations that looks like they could have been a hideout for either bandits or a wolfpack. There is a large pack of dogs that live in the park, who are quire friendly and playful. 

On the other side of the nature park is Manali, where I really liked the Idli and Dosa at the Madras Cafe. Not only is the chutney gatti, they actually top up, just like a real place from South India. I med a few people, a scriptwriter who is moving out and going to the south, a cybersecurity engineer who was about to quit his job the next day, a Japanese who talks and looks like the locals and who has his own Shilajit business, and another fellow who was almost being trapped in a cybercrime, and who was saved because of a natural aversion to UPI. Apart from that read a book on death by the Dallai Llama, which is another one of his communications distilling the wisdom of the bhikus in a conversation with someone. This one went a bit deep into the buddhist rabbit hole of how the body works. 

So now Im typing as we are approaching Duwara. The semiurban landscape of lights peppering the mountains is drifting by. Despite the new suspension, it is getting difficult to type, so I am going to stop and maybe drift off to sleep. 

I got a lock from Mr DIY and really liked it

The best lock ever! 

I needed to get a lock, and the lame locks available at the local hardware store, or through Instamart were just not cutting it. The thing is I live in a barsatiya, this is a hacky, jugadoo added-on house on top of a building, that is exposed to the elements and often features leaky roofs. I have a skylight, and my door is exposed to the elements after the hacky jugadoo trapdoor blew off in a storm. That thing could have taken out someone's head, or killed a child or a senior citizen, so it was extremely unsafe to think that a fibreglass cover could be held down by a metal frame, the whole thing became a kite during the storm, leaving my front door exposed. 

Now, if it rains, the lock rusts. The keys rust. I wanted something rust-proof, and I found just the right lock at Mr DIY. The first time I encountered this great store that has most of the things that you require in the house at the Mall of Delhi in Noida. It is close enough to drop in during my lunch break during work. I went there once just to pick up a keychain that I liked to add as bling to my bag, it is a spaceman that says 'I love you' when you press a button. It was here that I saw the nice locks with proper rating. I picked up another one at Pacific Mall, which is on the way back home from work. The internet does not work there so you need to take cash, and it is in the basement. 

All the previous rusty ruined locks

Anyway, so I got two great solid locks. What I like about these locks is that the keyhole is on the bottom of the lock, which is away from the direction of the rain! There is no way that water accumulates in the keyhole and rusts the insides. The rest of the locks are made up of rust-resistant metal as well, with the packaging containing clear grading on the properties and strengths, so you know what you are getting. In terms of pricing, the locks are at least three times the cost of regular locks, but totally worth it. The rusty locks were getting difficult to operate, getting stuck, challenging to open and close. I kept buying and getting rid of old rusty locks, and the cost was building up. 

The problems with the regular locks are many. The auto locking mechanism means that you can lock the door and leave the key behind, locking yourself out. The bar of the locks are also too big to fit in the door. The new locks solve both problems, because they can never be in an unlocked state unless the key is inside. To remove the key, you necessarily have to lock the lock. This is a great feature that gives you peace of mind because if you are outdoors and have the house keys, you can be very sure that the house is locked! Anyway, I am really happy with this lock by Dr DIY. 

⛭⛣⚴⛭☿⚴☿.⚴⛣∇⚴⛒

Missed out a whole bunch of about todays. Last weekend, met a friend, his mom was getting an award. Drove down to Murthal, and ate Medhu Vada at Resham Dhabha, it was surprisingly good. Then we went to Karnal and spent the night. They have a very calm dog called Poochie, who follows instructions and does not want attention all the time. Great fur too, that does not shed easily. 

I took a state transport bus back. Want to explore more of the cities surrounding Delhi using state transport buses while Im here. Been here for four years now, and have not really gone anywhere. Will start with a list and start making plans, try and visit at least 1-2 places every month on the weekends. Will get back to journaling more frequently, do not want to miss on memories. 

There is a pending post about locks from Mr DIY, will probably do that later today once I am done with filing my quota of copies for the day. 

Prominence Eruptions on Aug 20

 

DND 53

The Kidnapper takes me away with Figwit, in the bag of holding. Figwit was produced in front of the Brother of Renevieve, and took me somewhere, leaving the assassin behind. Creek and 1319 tried looking for me but did not find anything. They saw a bunch of people waiting beneath who started climbing up the hill towards the monastry. Rest of the party goes up. Tsui was constantly getting headaches, pointing towards the centre, really wanted to go to the crypts. They did not find much but, they found among the caskets laid down, found a staff. Found another room on the side with three columns, two of which were <hdhfiosdfosdhf> one of them had a circlet. Creek got the same headache, picked up the circlet, and escaped by flying away. Skua took them to a sort of a bay of sorts, an alcove, with a ledge inside with well-formed evidence of a bonfire. Erryone lights a bonfire and rest. 

They scry on Figwit, and discover 2-3 hours since the kidnapping at the cloister, find a weakened, bloody Figwit tied up in the dark somewhere. Everyone discusses what is to be done, discuss the circlet, something comes over and transforms into a shadow. Thundersteps and grabs the circlet. When that happens, a portal appears right next to Tsui, and another appears right next to 1319. It is open for a very brief amount of time. The circlet starts disappearing because of the shadow that has engulfed it. 1319 and Creek make a grab for the circlet. 

DND One Shot Jungle of Murram

 We played a one shot today, the first session for a kid. 

There was Semafor, a Druid, a Half-Elf Bard called Dastana, a Dragonborn Wizard called Bubo Bubo, and Ghost, a halfling Monk. There was also Vace Entura, a firbolg warlock who never showed up. We meet at a tavern in a town on the outskirts of this magical forest. The guide meets us there. It is raining, there are dark clouds over the forest, and purple lightning in the unnatural, off-season rain. The tavern master tells us that we might meet some forest spirit to help us, and that the dinosaurs are located deep in the forest. 

Ghost takes us to their Nani, who tells us to go try and find the spirit, and equips us with gear. I borrow both an umbrella and a raincoat. We head off into the forest, and here the cries of an animal. On investigation, we encounter a cute baby triceratops. The Druid talks to the animal and figures out that she is looking for her mother. She agrees to follow us, after we promise to look for her mother as well. 

We follow the glowing mushrooms and reach the cabin in the woods of the spirit of the forest, guarding everyone, called the Accountant. The accountant is a stegosaur with books instead of armour plating. She asks us to get rid of a bunch of pesky pterodactyls that have been stealing her breakfast and attacking the chest with the original books. We do that. I almost die in the encounter, but we clear them out. 

We then head deeper into the forest, come across a large mushroom tower, there are many big mushrooms here. We enter the door using a spell, after solving a riddle: 

No water, no sun, we cannot grow
We await the one whose hands will glow
Bring green to life, and let the jungle know

We use dancing lights. The Druid does. Then inside, there is a staircase, and another door with a riddle. 

I hear no song, though once I danced.
My feet are still, my heart entranced.
Let melody stir leaf and stone,
Sing me awake—I am not alone.

The Bard and the Druid sing the song and open the door. Within it is a myconian big dad, with a direwolf familiar. Ghost has a mongoose familiar too. The Triceratops, Angelique attacks the direwolf and is taken down immideately, and the myconid casts a net on me and the Bard. I give myself extra HP with Second Life, and then get out, chromatic orb on the dire wolf and some unseen roaring creature, that happens to be a dilophosaur. The bard and the monk are using knives, the druid a quaterstaff, and we manage to take down all the enemies, free the forest, and dispel the storm. 

There was a ghost trex that got edited out in the interest of time. I had as much fun as the kid lol. 

Hmmmm

 There is a lot going on in my life right now that I cannot blog about. 

Im happy that there is a lot going on because Im overwhelmed and so many things to think about is helping keeping me distracted actually. 

I cannot sleep. 

I cannot focus on any work. 

Just have to go to the next step.