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.
