Yesterday I took it pretty easy. Slept in. Hung out at Purnima but in the late afternoon I decided it was time to get the heart pumping so I went to explore Old Manali. I walked for about an hour and a half and wasn’t disappointed with the views. It first started with stores and guest houses and then there was the Himachal Pradesh Club House, basically a mini amusement park with swings, slides, a blow up bouncy castle and a very small go-kart track...don’t worry, these weren’t the views I was talking about.
The road curved up a small hill heading north and then ran parallel to the river. I kept walking for another couple of kilometres and was rewarded with a lovely vista of Rohtang Pass with the snow shining in the late afternoon sun. It is a high mountain pass, with a peak of 3978 meters and a crazy curvy road snaking up and down to connect the Kullu Valley and the Lahaul and Spiti Valleys to the north.
The lovely view from outside my room:
Seeing more of Manali Peak:
Today I decided to get the lay of the land around Manali and perhaps check out a few temples. I crossed the tributary that separates Old Manali with Manali and started up a steep road. Along the way I passed many fancy looking hotels with restaurants. Many people from Delhi come up here to vacation. Arriving at the top, I could see the bright colours of a temple on the other side of a locked fence at the far end of a large, fancy hotel’s parking lot. I asked the security guard and he said it opened at 4:30pm, three hours away...okay, move on.
Looking back at Old Manali, Purnima, where I'm staying is above and a bit to the right of the big white building in the centre:
The lobby of the fancy hotel near the closed temple:
I descended half way down the hill and then took a small road towards the Hadimba Temple. A relatively small, square temple with a triangular sloped roof in the middle of a cedar and pine forest, built in 1553. There were many fine, but weathered carvings on the outside beams and around the door. There was a small line up in from of the only door and I decided I might as well queue up and see what’s inside. The line moved along slowly but steadily.
Sad little fender bender I witnessed, and tried to help but they wouldn't listen to me. The white car's driver was pretty bad at driving and should have moved a bit forward but he couldn't without first backing up (didn't use his e-brake) so he ended up with a scratch and a slightly busted tail light:
The Hadimba Temple:
The entrance was quite short and not terribly wide. Only one person could either enter or exit at any given time. Once I popped through the diminutive doorway I gazed around the square room with white clay walls and massive, dark brown stained cedar beams. There were a few basic tables with bowls and other kitchen utensils strewn about. Two men were sitting on the slightly uneven rock floor. Some canvas bags, probably containing rice and flour, were flopped over along with other miscellaneous items lying on the floor. It kinda looked like someone’s unkempt house!
The temple entrance:
I now saw why the line up moved at a consistent but crawling pace. Just inside, four stairs curved to the left to a part of the rock floor was overhanging. It was like a small cave and all I could see were the feet of an old woman sitting cross legged underneath the rock and a small shrine beside her, candles and incense lit and a pile of money, mostly small bills on the far side. I watched the three or four people in front of me and the ritual seemed to be to kneel under the overhang, put down your donation, touch each of the stone feet in the center of the shrine, put your hands in prayer and say “Namaste” to the old lady. Some even touched the woman’s feet but I opted to omit this part. Interesting and slightly strange experience.
After the temple I continued in the same direction on a main path through the cedar forest. There was a flat clearing amongst the trees with many types of temporary vendor stalls, small, manually driven kids’ rides like a mini Ferris wheel. Some women were holding big, white and very fluffy rabbits while men held the reins of dressed up yaks with impeccably combed fur. I assume the deal was that it cost for a photo with either.
I followed a sign down a path for another temple but never found it (1 for 3...templin’ may just not be my thing). The path wound up and down the hillside with houses dotting the way. Eventually it hit a rivulet and followed it down towards the Beas River. I figured this would wind up in Manali and it did. Along the way I walked past some kids playing on one of the most extreme cricket pitches I’ve seen. It was a slightly inclined dead end of a road that had a steep slope on one side sporting thick bushes and thistles and on the other side was a big drop off. Currently they were trying to locate the ball in the bushes. I joked with them that it was the toughest pitch I had seen and they all had a giggle.
Quaint houses along the pathway:
The path along the small stream:
One of the most difficult cricket pitches in the world:
A temple in Manali:
I wandered through town and then stopped at a nature interpretation centre, which cost 5 rupees to get in and it had next to nothing inside. I then figured out that really it gave you entrance to the lovely pine forest as a more pleasant alternate way to get back to Old Manali instead of walking on the side of the road.
Shops and house in Manali:
The main pedestrian thoroughfare:
In the forest:
I think I walked about 6-7 kilometres and feel like I got the lay of the land...a good day!
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