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Thursday, April 16, 2009

1000 KMs - Gurgaon - Delhi - Chandigarh - Kullu - manali ...and back

A long drive happens everytime we screw up some other plan. same happened again...the plan got messed up and we ended up with another long drive.
This time it was much longer.


we had a delayed start and were heading out of delhi by noon. Getting out of Delhi took around 2 hrs itself considering the huge amount of traffic on highway borders. A more than smooth cruise was required after that to have any chance of reaching manali the same day. Well...easy guess..it didnt happen :)


We reached chandigarh at around 5 and managed to head out of mohali by 5.30-6, but chandigarh is just half way through. So, it was already 6hrs till chandigarh and we were in for another 6 hrs, at least that what our calculation suggested.


Now, the event of the day, a 25 km off-course drive. We actually went straight were we needed to turn right, thanks to absence of proper signs. Well..an hour wasted.


Now after that turn, we realized something, its not just 5hrs remaining, its gonnna be much more than that, reason being "me driving on proper hilly highways for the first time..that also in night". Well..it took 10 hrs on the hills itself and our time of arrival in kullu was 2 AM of next day!!

A 16 hr drive, not what we expected but anyways it was a memorable experience when we fianlly saw the ice caps shining bright in full moon. The guidance from the guy from the resort in kullu was extremely valuable.



The resort's most amazing part was the view from it. It was facing the river beas and icecapped mountains.

Next three days included whitewater rafting in river beas, visit to the snow point in manali, a bit of shopping in kullu, a bit of local delicacies (siddu rocks!!), visit to a local art meuseum, a roll in the zorb ball, and a visit to the hadimba temple in manali. Rohtang pass was closed, which was a bit disappointing.

Return journey, well this time it was done in 13 hrs :) no wonder i can still feel the steering wheel in my hands!!

Anybody in urgent need of some adventure sport, try driving to kullu in one go and start from delhi around 11AM :)


Pics to follow soon!!

2 comments:

Eva said...

pics uploaded on Picassa..
heres the link
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/effervescent.eva/KulluManali?authkey=Gv1sRgCLzG-qqTmIa_iQE&feat=directlink

Unknown said...

chAAA GAYE