Leaving Shimla was not easy for us, because it was the most beautiful place and whether we had ever seen till that day. Before leaving I felt that we could have planned extra one day for Shimla.
So at 10 O’clock we left our hotel and walked down to the main road using the paid lift. Sharmaji was waiting for us on the main road. Before getting into the car we took a last look at the beauty of Shimla.
“So Mam, lets bid Goodbye to Shimla,” Sharmaji told to my wife. She smiled.
We were now heading to Manali. Sharmaji promised to have us a good breakfast. Manali is almost 250 km away from Shimla. He told us that it would take 9 to 11 hours to reach Manali. After a two and half hour journey, he stopped near a dhaba named “Sharma Bhojanalaya”. It was situated just above their house and near the road. All the dhabas and hotels near the road are actually two-story buildings, situated on the edge of the hill because after the building there was an open valley. I preferred to take some roti and she took rice with mixed veg. Sharmaji was happy only with a cup of tea. The food was really awesome especially the tea, it was fantastic. Sharmaji started his car, we had to go long way. He also promised us to stop his car whenever we want to take pictures or take rest. It was not that much cold outside then, she was sleeping, I opened the windshield of the car as it was suffocating inside. In our whole journey, Sharmaji played his car radio (all old Punjabi songs) in a very low sound. At 2.30 PM we had our lunch.
Probably half an hour after our lunch we came to the place called Bilaspur, warmer than Shimla. It as not situated on a high altitude. The roads were clean and straight, there was a white marker on both edges of the road. On both sides of the road, there were green vegetable fields and the mountain was on the edge of the field was getting orange with the last rays of the sun. Our car was running at 80 Kmph and we did not feel any kind of jarring on the road.
In the middle of our journey, Sharmaji stopped his car near a point where we could see the Beas River. We were moving along with the Beas River, roads were getting narrower. In one side of the road there was Beas river and in another side high mountain.
After some time we stopped near a temple on the roadside, called Hanogi Mata Ka Mandir. A local wedding ceremony was going on there. After that, a beautiful place came to our site. Before I could tell something Sharmaji asked me, “Sir. Wo lakkad wale pool pe jana hai? Tasvir bohot achha ayega”(“Sir, would you like to go to that wooden pool? You can capture very good photos there”.) Actually, that wooden pool leads to a village that was on the other side of the Beas river. It was a beautiful place, I took many photos there.
It was 4 pm and we were in the Kulu district. Sharmaji told us that he will take us to a Shawl factory so that we can purchase shawls at a low price. The roads of Kulu was not in a good condition, construction was going on. At 6 PM our car stopped in front of the shawl factory.
Shawls and other products were very cheap and of great quality. We purchased shawls and woolen half jackets for our family. Not only we purchased but also the shopkeeper helped us by making a courier the package to Tripura so we did not have to carry them. Sharmaji also helped us by giving cash to purchase the products. We were there for almost half an hours. At 7.30 or 8 PM we started for Manali again. It was very cold outside. The road was more broken and dark. We were then going upward, the whole Kulu district could be seen from that height. It looked like all colored, glittering marbles were scattered in the valley, the hill and the silver lining of the Beas river could be seen as it was a full moon night. After a tiring journey, we entered Manali at 9.30 PM, probably. Shops and restaurants were not closed till then. Sharmaji found out the hotel, after signing in the register he leaves.
The room was well furnished. First of all, I took the receiver to make an order for dinner, but they denied to take the order because as per hotel’s guideline you have to make the order before 9 PM. So we went to the Mall Road immediately to find out any open restaurant. Our hotel was near the Mall road so it was an advantage for us. We entered the first restaurant that came to our site, no customer was there except us. We ordered chow mein and vegetable soup. I opened my mobile to check out the weather report, it was 2-degree Celsius, we were shivering. Finishing our dinner we fast moved to our room. What a cold night it was! We went to sleep at 12.30 AM.
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