Delhi-Manali Tour of 2021 with Pradeepa

 Delhi-Manali Tour of 2021 with Pradeepa & family

(23rd Dec 2021 - 1st Jan 2022)

This was one trip that we always wanted to do, more so for Pooja and Ruchir, who had not seen Delhi / North India in general. To see the mighty Himalayas and play in the Snow.

We waited this long so that both Pooja and Ruchir come of age so that they can remember these experiences for a long period of time.

Pradeepa too was interested in doing a similar trip of Delhi and Manali and both our families got together and finalised the full trip by the first week of November. 

With the onset of Omicron Virus by late November, we were still unsure if the plan would ever sustain, with new outbreaks reporting across the country, unfolding speculations every other day. After detailed assessments that went till the last day, we finally gave this plan a green signal, taking every precaution that we could think of and try being alert and cautious, while keeping our expectations on the lower side, if in the event we had to retract at any point of time.

23rd Dec, 2021 - Thursday - [Bangalore to Delhi to Manali]

Departed Bangalore to Delhi on an Indigo flight at 9:30 AM and reached Delhi T2 by 12:30 PM. Pradeepa and family joined us at Delhi T3 and hour later. We had a quick synch-up near our Pick-up taxis which he had arranged and drove to Pandaara Market, a place where good Vegetarian hotels were lined up.

After a sumptuous lunch @ Gulatis followed by Kulfis at Kulfi da India, we hurried back to our respective bus stations to catch our onward journey to Manali. We drove to 'Majnu ka Tila' pick-up point, and Pradeepa and family left to the HPTDC central pick in-front of Mandi House.

Our Volvo Semi Sleeper left Delhi by 6:00 PM and stopped briefly at 9:30 PM at 'Taste of India' hotel (Sirsala, Haryana) where we had good 'Kullad tea'. The wintry chill was definitely catching up. The bus ride was quite comfortable and the roads were good too.

24th Dec, 2021- Friday - [Manali Local Sight Seeing]

We reached Manali at 7:30 AM in the morning. Disappointed that there was no snow as we touched down. Ruchir was in tears as he was expecting to see snow on arrival. We took a local Taxi to reach our hotel '1965 - The Hotel', close to the Gurdwara near Mall Road. Since the check-in time was at 11, the owner said we had to wait, but after enough discussions that we had booked 3 rooms and he could give us atleast one for us to use the restroom, he obliged. 

We got refreshed and then walked a couple of minutes to find a decent Vegetarian hotel - Vaishno Pangi Dhaba. He dished out lip-smacking Aloo, Pyaz and Paneer Parothas that were out of the world! After 2 more cups of tea, we walked back to our hotel to find Pradeepa's family arriving. They too refreshed themselves and we hit the Dhaba yet again with them. 

We got our 3 rooms by 11 AM and did a quick refresh. Pradeepa got an Innova Christa arranged for the 3 days at Manali. We first visited the Manu Temple post which we visited the Hadimba temple. Huge crowds everywhere! Manali was infested with people everywhere. 

Kids did Ziplines, Yak Rides at the foot of Hadimba temple. We had hot and tasty Veg Maggi, Bread Pakodas, and Hot tea. We returned back to the Mall Road by 6 PM and allowed the ladies to Shop around. In the night we tried Jamoon, Rabdi and Jilebis! Mouthwatering stuff. Dinner back at Vaishno Pangi Dhaba hoping for Parothas, but got to know they were served only in the morning. We settled with some Poha, Chawal Rajma, Dal and North Indian meals.

We returned to our hotel quite tired and relaxed there itself to be ready for the longer day ahead.

25th Dec, 2021 - Saturday [Atal Tunnel, Adventure Sports, Solang Valley]

We left Manali early in rental taxi, visited 'Vasishta Maharshi' temple, where we saw the bubbling hot-water springs. We also visited the near-by Ram temple post which we had breakfast at a road-side dhaba (Jogini Dhaba). The food was delicious. We also rented the Skiing dresses, Rubber Boots and warm Socks, as part of a package at a near by shop. Dressed in Army fatigues, we climbed the mountains, with our heads locked towards the white snow-tops, all the time. The traffic was building up every second. The traffic jams started even before we reached outskirts of Manali.

We had multiple stoppages of more than 15 minutes, stuck in non-moving traffic, and witnessing the rule breakers pass right by us, on the wrong lane and speeding ahead. However, destiny caught up as those rule breakers, when they were taken to task by the police. But that said, the double-laning still continued.

Even after 2.5 hours of travelling (for covering 35 +Kms), we still were not even close to reaching the Atal Tunnel. Many cars, returned midway and went back home, exiting the jam. Even our driver didn't give much confidence. But Pradeepa and Souji were steadfast to continue even if it had to take a day extra. As they say, even the heavens line up if there is enough will, the roads eased up a bit and in about 45 minutes, we reached the Atal Tunnel. The feeling was fantastic to have reached this point.

We passed through the 9 Km tunnel in as many minutes. Coincidentally, it was Atal Behari Vajpayee's Birthday. So a double tick for us!. We exited Atal Tunnel right into Lofty Mountain peaks, fully covered in a thick blanket of snow! A fantastic welcome as we went crazy! 

We drove a kilometre further to the Sissu valley, where we stopped at a very scenic place. All of us played in Snow, did the snow balls fights and took loads of photographs and soaked in the beauty of the snow capped Himalayas to our heart's content.

The Border Roads Organization (BRO) had issued restrictions on not staying there for a long time, so we returned and exited through the Atal Tunnel. 

Exiting Atal Tunnel, was a valley where we spent the next 3 hours doing all the adventure sports. This place was still higher than Solang Valley. We took the ATV ride from the main road, deeper into the Valley from the main road. That drive was really jumpy and scary, and as it was supposed to be!.  The driver kept us hanging onto everything we could hold onto, on the sleet, snow, rocks and muddy terrain. IT WAS EXHILERATING!

We also did the Tube Ride - A huge inflated tube where one sits in the middle and slides across the slope. The kids had great fun doing this.

Prathyusha, Pooja and Ruchir finally got a chance to wear the Skis and did many rounds with the trainer helping them. Skiing downwards on the slope was way easier than climbing-up. The fun was in the falling down and then trying to regain the balance - with the skis on! The kids had a ball of a time! And a major milestone of having done this activity, that we all are proud of achieving.

We got back to the traffic jams, now on the return trip and that took as a couple of hours more, which should have been less than 45 minutes. 

We reached Manali at 8:30 PM where we had dinner at 'Vishnu Bhojanalaya' another Vegetarian hotel on one of the by-lanes of Mall Road. Food was good, but expensive compared to the previous hotels we had been. After another round of deserts - Jilebis, Jamoons and Rabdis at the Mall Road eateries, we headed back to our hotel and slept like logs of wood.

26th Dec, 2021 - Sunday - [Kullu, Manikaran, Depart to Delhi]

Breakfast again at Vaishno Pangi Dhaba. We checked out of our hotel (The 1965 Hotel) at 8:30 AM, with luggage tied over the top of the luggage carrier. We exited Manali towards Kullu along the Beas river, where we saw folks enjoying River Rafting, Para Gliding. On the way, we stopped for buying Manali Apples, Pickles, Dry fruits from the HP Tourism Markets. 

We reached Kullu in 45 minutes and visited the 'Trishala Shawl' manufacturing unit. It was exactly the same shop we visited 15 years back when Souji and I were here with Naveen and Madhuri [from BMS group]. 

The offers and collections at this place was quite unique and worth buying a few good ones. We bought a few shawls here for the near and dear ones. 

After a few packs of pop-corns in hand, we left towards Manikaran. The scenic route of high mountains, valleys and the 'eye-popping-ly' green and beautiful 'Parvati' river, which flowed right alongside us made it a beautiful drive. On the way we saw droves of people (youth) who had camped in Kasol. However, I didn't see any great reason for this place attracting so many people as there was no, extra-ordinary things around this place. Later on enquiry I got to know from our driver, that this place was (is) once a famous camping site for Israelis and now continues till today where youth come over to do some camping and other shady stuff. 

Right after Kasol, the roads turned single lane and the traffic jammed big time. Just about 3 kms to Manikaran, the traffic got chaotic and there was no lane separation between the incoming and the outgoing traffic and caused even more confusion. Our car stopped for 30 minutes in the jam, not moving an inch and it was already 2:30 PM. Considering we had to reach Kullu back in time by 5 PM to board our return bus to Delhi, and the enduring traffic jams, we pulled back visiting Manikaran and turned back to Kullu. Very disappointing that we came so close, but still couldn't make it. But in the larger interest of the rest of the itinerary, we had to make this decision.

We reached Kullu by 4 PM and had a good lunch at 'Highway Dhaba'. We refreshed here before heading to the Mata Vaishno Devi Temple at Kullu, and did the darshan there. It was a multi-level temple complex, covering all gods and goddesses. 

We boarded the HPTDC bus to Delhi which arrived at 7 PM, right in front of the temple. For the fist time both families were on the same transport :-). We briefly stopped at Mandi for dinner, but we were already full, so got out only to look around. It was already late night and the next we remember is opening our eyes for another bio-pitstop at Kurukshetra at 5 AM.

27th Dec, 2021 - Monday - [Delhi Local Sight seeing]

We reached Delhi's Mandi house by 7:30 AM, and took separate cabs to reach our AirBNB home stay at East Patel Nagar. A decent accommodation, but at a very convenient place, which had access to Metro, Taxis, Autos, eateries and everything we planned for.

We had 2 rooms, one in first floor where Pradeep and Usha stayed and a larger accommodation on the top floor, where we had a Triple bed room, a hall with a double bed, A  bath room and kitchen that had a separate entrance. Pratyusha and Pooja occupied the hall, Ruchir, Souji and myself stayed in the room. Overall house was decent, but had old infrastructure.

Breakfast of Avalakki, that Usha had brought from home, Chapathis that Souji had made and fruits that we carried from Manali. Our plan for the day, was to complete the Delhi Local sight seeing.

We started with Jantar Mantar, where we hired a guide to explain the details of the architecture and workings of that astronomical wonder. We then hired separate Autorickshaws to cover other places. 

We visited 'Ugrasen Ki Baoli' (Agrasen Ki Baoli), a step well built by the Mughals. This was the place I personally wanted to visit, and none of us had visited earlier. (This also came up in Amir Khan's movie 'PK' where Anushka finally realises PK is an alien and meets him there).

We then visited Raj Ghat (Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi), post which we drove around India Gate, Parliament Building, North Block, South Block, Janpath Road etc. Due to the upcoming Republic day, the India Gate and Janpath Road was fully sealed for public.

We visited the Laxmi Narayan - Birla Temple in the evening and later asked the Auto drivers to lead us to a place where we could get some lunch, closer to our homestay. We then had street-side dhaba lunch at Rajendra Nagar.

Most shops around the area boasted billboards on Tuition, UPSC, MBA and other careers. That is when I recalled that I had seen a Web Series on Youtube, 'The Aspirants - from 'Unacademy', where they showcased how UPSC aspirants come down from various parts of India to Rajendra Nagar for the dream of cracking the Civil Services exam.

We drove back to our homestay and we ended our outing for the day at 6 PM and relaxed for the rest of the day.

On the flip side, my pain in the back got intense and needed some rest. Had a bout of fever in the night, because of the shooting pain. We had to postpone our Agra Mathura trip to the day after to get some interim relief for the next day. 

28th Dec, 2021 - Tuesday [Qutub Minar, National Rail Museum, Akshardham]

We let Pooja go along with Pradeepa and family, while Souji and Ruchir stayed back to be with me. I was feeling very sorry for Ruchir as he too wanted to be with the others, but we couldn't let him be there because, he cant stay away from his mom :-) Sweet kid.

By noon, I felt much better and we decided to start the journey again. Ruchir, Souji and I hired an Autorickshaw to Qutub Minar and spend a good time there. We took the services of a guide, who gave us a good tour of the history behind this amazing structure, including the Un-rusted - Iron Pillar.

We then visited the National Rail Museum and had had a wonderful time here. The toy trains rides were fantastic and the way these rails, coaches have been maintained is really fantastic. The indoor museum also been renovated and was top-class.

It was already 5 PM and by then Pradeepa and family had completed Lotus temple, Qutub Minar, Rail Museum and lunch and were headed towards Akshardham. So we took a Taxi to Akshardham by 6 PM, both our families reunited at the entrance.

We spend the next 2.5 hours immersed into the sheer grandeur of Akshardham and left spell bound during the Laser and Fountain show. An amazing visit. We walked into the Haldiram's below the Metro station and finished our Dinner there. We took the metro back to our homestay and ended the day here on a high.

29th Dec, 2021 - Wednesday - [Agra, Mathura, Brindavan trip]

We left our homestay at 7AM, on a full day rented Innova and had breakfast at Springo's after Noida. We reached Agra around 11 and bought tickets online. The crowd was bearable and spent great time at magnificent Taj. What a majestic structure! Breathtaking and truly a wonder of the world. We spent a lot of time taking photos, some bit of shopping on the street sides as well. 

We reached Mathura by 5 PM and visited the Keshav and Krishna temples there. Blood boils to see the towering 'Gumbaz' that Aurangzeb constructed cutting into the Krishna Janma Bhoomi temple. We also visited the Birla Temple which is putting its best foot forward to keep the Temple running and protecting the Hindu temple of worship.

We drove to Brindavan and stopped short of a kilometre before the temple due to the crowds and the gullies. We took the electric cycle rickshaw through the narrow gullies to reach closer and then walked another half a kilometer in a chaotic narrow roads, elbow to elbow among thousands. There was no order, no care of Corona, social distancing, and police was nowhere to be seen. Since we had travelled this far, we continued to visit the 'Ban Ki Behari Maharaj ' Krishna. The temple seemed big but the crowd was was way too overflowing to really see the god here. We were pushed in by the crowd and ejected by them automatically. All we could do was breathe. Rest of the movements were crowd controlled. Pathetic experience.

We came out of the temple, counted our body parts and felt happy we came back in 1 piece. Somehow managed to get back to the rickshaw who took us to the town square where we got into our rental Innova. 

It was already 8 PM and we took the Faridabad route to Delhi. We stopped for dinner at a decent restaurant and later reached Delhi by 11:30 PM. The day was quite hectic, but we still made it through.

30th Dec, 2021 - Thursday - [Redfort, Chandini Chowk Shopping]

We woke up late in the morning. Lazily stretched ourselves covered in thick Razaais, enduring the Dehli cold. Souji and Usha prepared served steaming hot Coffee and Maggi for breakfast. The tasty green apples from Manali sweetened up the wonderful breakfast.

We got ready by 11 and took the metro from Patel Nagar to Rajiv Chowk from where we walked about 20 minutes around all the VVIP roads of Delhi. We reached 'Andhra Bhavan' by 12 where we had full meals Andhra Style Lunch. The craving for South Indian food had already taken over our minds (atleast for the parents). After a good full course Andhra Style lunch of Rice, Poppu, Gun Powder and Pickles, we took a rickshaw to the iconic Redfort. 

The Tirangaa at the Redfort made us proud and kids were given the symbolic reference of what it means to the country and also about the PM giving the Independence Day speech from there.

The moment we entered inside the Redfort, the eyes of our ladies fell on the shawls displayed on the very first shop. And thats it! We spent the next 1.5 hours shopping Shawls, Stoles, Jackets and I think the shop owner had nothing in his shop by the time we left.

We walked past the huge corridors of Redfort and walked through the gardens in and around 'Diwan-e-aam', 'Diwan-e-khaas', and other residential areas. The heavily decorated marble seating pedestal on which the Throne was placed, was quite magnificent.

Later in the evening, we crossed over the main road facing the Redfort and landed right into the Chandni Chowk Shopping area. Very crowded, very busy, dirty and still very inviting at the same time for the shoppers. 

The ladies left no shop unvisited, leaving Ruchir, Pradeepa and myself looking after the luggage and waiting outside, seated on a Beetlenut-Pan stained steel desks. We had street side snacks of Hot Sweet Potato Chaats, 'Dualat-ke-Chaat' (A sweet pastry made only in winters, which tastes like the cream on a pastry cake'), Samosas, Kachoris, and Jilebis.

With every finger on both hands, carrying a shopping bag like a hanger, we got into the Metro back to home by 9 PM.

I had avoided having snacks at Chandni Chowk, as I wanted something filling than just snacks. So as we reached Patel Nagar, Pradeep and I walked a kilometer towards the Patel Nagar Market area and dined at the famed 'Mitra-Di-Dhaba'. A pure vegetarian Dhaba. The Rice and Kadi was mouth watering. Pradeepa tried Butter Roti and Subzees which were a super hit too!. 

After that satisfying meal, can't remember how we walked back home and ended the day.

31st Dec, 2021 - Friday - [Rashtrapati Bhavan Musuem, Sarojini Nagar Shopping]

The last day of the year! Pradeepa managed and got us confirmed appointments for us to visit the Rashtrapati Bhavan's Museum. This was a Super Surprise for all of us as nobody knew this was arranged. We took Taxis from our homestay directly to the Gate 30. 

Our car driver took a wrong exit somewhere and because of that, we stopped dead at the center of the North of South blocks, before getting our directions right and headed to the intended entrance of the Museum

Really excited to visit the highest offices of the Indian Government and Presidentship!

There was a guided tour inside the Museum who explained every artefact of the museum with the highest detail and clarity. At one point, the lady guide showed us a section of the GPO where we could print Valid Postage Stamps with our Photos on them!. And that it, we spent the next 2 hours getting the postage stamps done for all of us with the Mysore Palace as the background theme. The lady Postal Officer deputed from GPO, was amazed to see us print only Mysore Palace Stamps, while she had 100 templates of many other cities, only realising later that there is no other city we would like to be part of other than Mysore! 

We hurriedly saw all other curios, gifts in a hurry and took some photos wherever we could. Overall, spent a lot of time seeing the rich heritage, administration, and management at these high offices. I was particularly fascinated looking at the 'Bharat Ratna', 'Padma Bhushan', 'Padma Vibhushan' and 'Param Vir Chakra' Medallions that get conferred upon the highest Civilian and Gallantry Award winners. 

Rashtrapati Bhavan's Museum was a real surprise, as not everybody gets such a chance to visit this place.

We then drove to what the girls had been waiting for, the Sarojini Nagar Market Shopping area. Our girls put the shopping place on fire moving swiftly from one shop to another as if there was no tomorrow. Their eyes lit up like light bulbs with jaws wide open, trying and testing every other Lehenga, Chudidhar,  Crop-top, Crap-top, this-top, that-top, over-the-top, bags, Shoes, Chappals, Sandals, and what not, that the shops had to offer. We had to buy new Suitcase and bags just to bring back the new luggage home.

It was about 8:30 PM when we got out of Lajpat Nagar and caught the metro back to our homestay. With all the luggage, crowd and mayhem, Usha's phone got pickpocketed from Pradeepa's jacket. He and Usha got down the metro and returned back to the station to lodge a compliant with Police and also block the sim and sensitive data, to prevent any further fraud. 

In the meantime, the rest of us reached home and dumped all the luggage. Prathyusha, Pooja and myself walked to Mitra-Di-Dhaba and ordered varieties of dishes - Butter Rotis, Alu-Gobi Subzee, Rajma Chawal, Kadi Chawals and Veg Biryanis. There was a huge crowd ahead of us and police arrived to enforce lockdown. The owner initially declined to help, but after insistence and explaining that we were visitors and had nowhere else to go, he obliged and allowed ours as the last order of the night, before closing the shutters. 

We also got the New Year Cake with a little flag marking the arrival of 2022. Pradeepa and Usha returned back by 10:45 PM and we all gathered in our room on the top floor and had a wonderful tasty dinner.

Right on the stroke of midnight, we cut the New Year Cake bidding adieu to 2021 and welcoming 2022!. Wishing everyone reading this, a Very Happy and Healthy and Safe 2022. For the first time, we really have learnt the value of being Healthy than being Prosperous.  Health is way mightier than wealth.

We wished each other and rest of the world via WhatsApp and hit the bed feeling jolly and happy.

1st Jan, 2022 - Saturday - [Lotus Temple, Gandhi Smriti, Lajpat Nagar Shopping, Depart to Bangalore]

We woke up relaxed, refreshed ourselves, cleaned up our homestay and checked out exactly at 11 AM. We hired a 8 Hour Ola Rental where we loaded our luggage over the top of the carrier and set off to visit the last few places before our flight back home to Bangalore at 8:30 PM. 

We had missed visiting the Lotus Bahai temple, (when I was sick out for half a day), so we separated from Pradeepa's car as they wanted to visit Gandhi Smriti, Indira Gandhi Museum and others before reaching Lajpat Market.

We reached Lotus temple only to find out that they were closed due to the Corona Lockdown. Somehow we could glance through the outer fences of the beautiful structure. We spent less than 30 minutes there and then we too left to the Gandhi Smriti and found Pradeepa and family exiting as we were entering. We took the next hour and half going through the Gandhi Smriti, the place the Mahatma was shot while walking towards his evening prayers.

We saw the room where Gandhiji was staying, with all his belongings still intact. Apparently, the last and an iconic photograph was taken in that room, was that of Gandhi with Sardar Patel in a meeting. Sardar Patel left at 5 PM that day, after that meeting Gandhiji walked from towards the Prayer hall and was shot at 5:14 PM just a minute away from his room. Ruchir was engrossed with all that he was seeing and soaking in all the history he could.

Exiting Gandhi Smriti, we drove directly to Lajpat Nagar Market area where we had a super duper lunch at a nice vegetarian dhaba our driver suggested. By that time, Pradeepa and family had completed their lunch elsewhere and they too joined us at the Lajpat Nagar Market. 

Our ladies showed some mercy this time around (only some, not full), and visited only half the shops in the market. We had only a couple of hours time left before we had to head toward the airport. After an hour and half of shopping, we pushed every other suitcase to fit in the new entrants and needed 2 people to close the zippers.

At 5:30 PM, we finally bade good bye to Delhi and drove towards our airports. Luckily, our both planes were from Terminal 3. So we all completed our Security checks together and spent the free time lazing at the airport. 

We took the Air Aisa at 8;30 PM, while Pradeepa's flew Air India departed at 9:15 PM. We both had pre-booked taxis from Airport to respective homes from Delhi itself, so our taxis were waiting when we landed. 

We reached home by midnight and so did Pradeepa and family. 

What a wonderful week and half of exhilarating fun! A great trip with superb company.  We saw lots, visited iconic places, experienced a lot, learnt immensely and absorbed the flavours, fragrances of those distant places, experienced different languages, cultures, traditions, landscapes and multiple other intangibles that's hard to be documented. Not to forget the Omicron scare, and being cautious at all times and always planning for Plan B.

Thanks to our dearest Pradeepa for his ability remain calm, and composed and being the crisis man all through, the patience and poise of Usha, the ever so charming Prathyusha and Pooja, the ever curious, jolly fellow, Mr. Ruchir, and my loving, very accommodative, beloved partner in crime, Souji for making this trip one of the most memorable ones that we have ever been on!

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Delhi & Manali Tour of 2021 with Pradeepa and family