Destination 2 Manali: A Chilled Land with Warm Heart

The last article ended with a travel of 16 hours but this one begins with one. The term sleeping like a baby became quite literal. The first few hours were looking out trying to enjoy the difference in the view of south India and the north but soon even that became a common sight. We then tried playing various games but by the end of the six-hour mark, we were done with almost all the things to do or enjoy. Then we did the most logical and best idea to do during a long road trip sleep. But it was not an easy task as the drivers were relentless about playing Punjabi music to the loudest volume possible and my friend majid at one point and recreated the entire playlist by downloading the songs as he was hearing them repeat.

And this continued till hour 12. But everything changed once we were in the hilly area almost near Manali or at least the beginning of reaching Manali. The view changed from the fields and plain areas on either side to the trees and which are densely covered with fog that made it hard to see for some time (during the evening). It felt as if the forest was trying to hide or to be more exact the entire road was trying to hide something from us, something valuable. And we did not need to wait much time to know what it was especially when the light and the fog went away from the atmosphere. We could see the entire city brightly lit by electricity like gold glittering. And to be honest that was not the best view yet. It was what we saw after reaching our rooms. We reached our hotel at roughly 2 A.M hungry and drained of every bit of energy. And hence the only thing we could see was the cosy bed that awaited us in the hotel. It was on the next day we saw the massive beauty that lay before us. Our room was facing the mountains with a small stream running down like a child who has got permission to go out and play.

Beauty is a thing for the viewer and we can say that any eye can see this view will certify it as a thing of beauty. But the entire destination was just the beginning of such things of beauty. We started the trip to the Hidimba temple which was covered on all sides with trees that give it a find-yourself vibe. But what captivated me more than anything was the Buddhist monastery that we had going at the time I am sure that most of the people were present there at that time. We even found our batchmates who had their trip to the same place too. And it was one of the nosiest places in all of Manali we even visited the local market there to shop and it was still comparatively silent, ironic for a monestry isn’t it? But what was captivating was the Buddhists who were present there were deep in the chats and their rituals and their concentration were out of this world. I don’t think I will ever have half the concentration they will ever have no matter how. And finally, we decided to go to the local market after a small stroll in the park of giant trees. While almost all of them were busy shopping (honestly I don’t know why) I was eating as much of the food as I can, not going to lie the food was awesome my friend had to literally drag me to other places. Try the boiled egg with Manali masala it’s worth it.

But the day was not over with giving us joy and keeping the best for the last. You see it was also the day of the finals of ISL and Kerala Blasters were also in the finals against Hydrabad FC. The class along with our trip coordinators were at the dining hall. We were not able to get the channel on the tv room hence we needed to rely on our phones. Even though we lost the game but we still enjoyed it the most. With that, the second destination came to an end.