Day 3 – Visit to Snow Point

Date: 21-Apr-14

Manali Snow Point
Manali Snow Point

Today was the most exciting day of our honeymoon. Yes, today’s plan was to visit the snow point and play in snow. We were bit disappointed in the morning because Giri Singh told us that Rohtang Pass is closed for few days because of heavy snow fall and we would not be going near Rohtang Pass. I had seen the images and videos of Rohtang Pass and eagerly wanted to visit the place. But, we were unfortunate. So, we made up our mind to visit only till snow point. The driver had told us that, the sooner we leave, we get very less traffic and we can avoid walking and go till top of the hill in vehicle itself. So, we decided to leave at 8. At 7.30 AM, we finished our breakfast and started from our cottage exactly at 8.00 AM. The driver told us about the adventure games that we can opt at the snow point. I was bit scared as I am not that interested in these kind of adventures. But, Thilak was too excited. Our normal jackets were not sufficient for that cold weather. We had to buy clothing to play in snow. On the way, there were many shops selling these clothes for rent. We told our driver to take us to a good clothing shop. We assumed that he would take us to a reasonable shop. But, after the visit, we got to know that the driver cheated us.

When we enquired about the rent for clothing in a shop which the driver showed us, he told us 3000 Rs. We were shocked to hear this. The clothing included Jacket, trouser, shoes, gloves and a travel guide who will assist us in skiing and exploring the snow point. We did not agree for 3000 Rs. We asked our driver about the cost. He told us we can give 2500 Rs. Though we felt it bit costly, we believed our driver. We thought the travel guide might take us to many places and help us in adventure games. We paid the money and left from there wearing our snow point suit. I was looking like a joker. The clothing was not at all neat. We were wondering why we paid so much for such an untidy clothing. On the way, we were seeing shops where they were selling these clothes for 50 Rs, 100 Rs etc. We felt cheated big time. Our only hope was the guide. We assumed he would guide us so well that we feel worth spending such a huge amount. But, our assumption was absolutely wrong.

Manali Snow Point
Manali Snow Point

The road to the snow point was awesome. It was too dangerous also like all other roads in Manali. As we were reaching near the Snow point, we could see snow everywhere. We were going on the roads which were shown in many movies. It was extremely beautiful and it was a whole new experience for both of us. We took many photos and videos of the place. It was becoming cooler and cooler as we were reaching the top. I was freezing in spite of such jackets. We reached the snow point at around 9.00 AM. The place was breathtaking. It was completely covered with snow and the snow layer was too thick. There were many people. For first few minutes, I felt very uncomfortable because of the cold weather. On top of that, I was not able to walk fast because of the shoe I was wearing which was very heavy. Thilak was enjoying a lot. Looking at him and looking at my pathetic condition, I felt angry on him. He was all in joyful mood. I upset his mood also.

After few minutes, both of us became alright and started enjoying the nature. There were many activities going on, like skiing, motor driving, riding on the back of Yaak, dressing in Kullu traditional clothes, etc. We explored the place and took some photos. Our so called “guide” did not tell us anything about the place. We explored the place ourselves and then we asked him about skiing. Thilak was highly excited to go for skiing. He was all set with his skis, skiing stick, and skiing shoes. The guide helped him in learning by holding him. It looked very difficult for me. Many people were not able to balance the skis. Thilak is not the person who would give up so soon. He went on for 2-3 rounds and got a hang of it. Next was my turn. I was too damn scared to go. I told “No” to Thilak. But, he did not agree. After few minutes, I was somewhat ready for skiing. The guide and Thilak helped me a lot. The skis were too heavy for me to manage. In the beginning, it was tough for me, but slowly I started enjoying it. I went for two rounds and then we stopped. When we enquired about the other sports, the guide told us that we will have to pay extra for those and it will cost minimum 500 Rs. We felt very bad because we paid so much for the guide and we had to pay extra money for these sports. Both of us got angry on our car driver also. He could have told us if the guide was really necessary and if 2500 is really worth. We realized very late that our driver was like an agent for this costume shop.

Manali Snow Point
Manali Snow Point

Both of us decided not to go for any sport. We roamed and enjoyed playing in slow for some time. The place was becoming more and more crowded. There were women who were dressing people in Kullu traditional clothes. We made a deal with one lady and she agreed to dress us for 100 Rs. She just took 2-3 minutes to dress me. For Thilak, it was only one minuteJ. She did not dress us that neatly. Also, the dressing was made on top of our heavy jackets. So, it was not at all looking good. We took our funny photos in Kullu traditional dress.
After playing in snow for few minutes, Thilak told the guide to take him for few more rounds of skiing. He wanted to make the money we paid for the guide as much worth as possible. He did skiing for some time. At around 11.30 AM, we left from there.

Our next destination was Solang valley. It took us half an hour to reach Solang valley. The place was not that neatly maitained. I was shocked to see that because I had seen the images of Solang Valley which were all beautiful. But when we visited, it was not as per our expectation. People were doing Paragliding. There were also cable cars. Thilak wanted to go for paragliding. But, we saw that the landing spot was very dirty. People were landing in places where lots of mud was there. We did not want to take risk. So, we took few photos and returned from there. On the way, we returned our snow costumes to the shop and returned to our hotel at around 3.00 PM. We finished our lunch at the cottage at around 4.00 PM. We had enough time in the evening and we were not tired also. So, we decided to go to Mall road in the evening on our own. We slept till 5.30 PM and at 6.00 PM, we left to Mall road.

We walked from the cottage till main road and took an auto from there to Mall road. The auto wala took 30 Rs. We went to a South Indian hotel in mall road and had dosa and upma. We roamed in Mall road, did window shopping, enjoyed the weather and the culture. We had a very nice time there. We wanted to buy woolen gloves. After getting cheated in the morning from that snow costume shop, Thilak had become expert in bargaining. I was shocked to see him arguing with the shopkeepers. He was bargaining for the amount which was less than half the price of the material. He succeeded also. He bought gloves for half the amount. We got to know the trick. Bargain, bargain, and bargain. We enjoyed our time there. The place was crowded, but the crowd was decent. People were very creative. They had created many small small business opportunities for themselves like giving ride on Yaaks, taking photos with huge rabbits, dressing in traditional clothes, etc. Women in shops were making woolen shawls, hats, socks, dresses, etc by themselves along with running the shops. We left from there at around 7.30 PM, took an auto and reached the cottage at around 8.00 PM.
Visit to snow point, the roads, the shopping area in mall road, everything was awesome. We enjoyed a lot. Only sad part was the money we spent on the guide and we lost our good impression on our car driver. But, good thing is that we got to know how to deal with the people.

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1 Response

  1. Beautifully written post. But why not share larger photos ? 🙂

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