Unforgettable HimalayanGlory : Seeking Nature's Beauty in the mesmerizing Himalayan hills and snow of Kufri/Manali, with my Family

Shimla / Kufri / Manali / Delhi, the places of exceptional scenic beauty only reminds me of some memorable days that I had spent earlier (way back in 2004) with my friends when I was working in Mohali for Quark Systems. 
This trip was very well planned with lots of googling and research(including where to eat, where to visit, where and what to shop for... :) ) and equally well executed by us and in fact it turned out to be even more exciting than I had thought while planning. Since it was our first such a long trip and far away from home Bangalore, we enjoyed the trip till we reached back home

Day 1 :: 10-Feb-2017 :: Travel from Bangalore to Delhi Airport

Journey....Finally after plenty of wait, the Journey day came...
Both the kids reached back home post lunch so that we get enough time to prepare them for the evening journey. previous day we had a booking from MeruCab to reach the Airport, unfortunately, Merucab driver didn't turned up and cancelled our advance booking, then we finally went back to Ola and got a cab to reach Bangalore International Airport, where we took Spicejet Aircraft SG-198 to reach Delhi. Enroute to Airport, I could sense and feel the excitement on my kids face for the trip and specially Air travel, as this was their first Air Travel. After reaching Airport, Kids started looking here and there in surprisingly by looking at huge AIrbus planes to small chartered planes, which they never had earlier seen. Finally we reached Delhi, We had crossed our first Milestone and excitement.

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Day 2 :: 11-Feb-2017 :: Travel from Delhi to Kufri

En route Shimla/Kufri, we had our first break for our so called dinner at 2.00 AM at Jhilmil Dhabha, a prominent food joint in Murthal, to feed our never ending hunger and the food was really amazing. First time family felt the Chillness of the weather as soon as we all de-boarded from Innova cab which we booked from ShimlaTaxi Travel Agent.

Post our Late night Dinner rather early morning dinner, everyone went on to sleep, while Innova was briskly cruising  towards Shimla. Took Second break in the early morning to have Tea almost near to Shimla. We could notice weather getting colder as we were approaching our destination. We reached our First destination Shimla, popularly known as Queen of Hills and beautiful hill station which is also a Capital City for the state of Himachal Pradesh.

Our first cold, lovely and misty morning in Shimla. our First Visit to Indian Institute of Advance Studies or Viceregal Lodge 
The building of Viceregal Lodge or presently as it is known as Indian Institute of Advanced Study is the most prominent building in Shimla. Still the largest in size and marvellous in beauty, this Scottish structure was built under the viceroyalty of Lord Dufferin between 1884 and 1888. Before the Indian partition many important conferences and meetings took place in this building, Simla Conference in 1945 and Simla Cabinet Mission in 1946 were the landmark meetings in this house. 
From IIAS we reached Mall Road via the 2 tier Lift where we first had breakfast at Nalini Restaurant at the entrance of Mall Road. When you walk down on the Mall Road, the view of multi layered Himalayan valley will astonish you with its pristine beauty. Thought of to visit the famous Hanuman temple, but due to lack of energy and continuous travel we ditched and went ahead to reach our first Destination in the afternoon to Sterling Holidays Hotel Kufri-The White Ridge. After everyone freshup we went to Adventure tour in the evening which turned out be a real flop show. Came back to hotel, had a dinner and went to early sleep.

Day 2 :: 12-Feb-2017 :: Visit Snow Point in Fagu

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The hotel service was up-to-the-mark and our room windows opened up to marvelous SunRise in between exhilarating landscapes partially covered in sheets of snow. We booked ourselves a corner room so that all of us could enjoy the nature, After some chatting, relaxing, sunrise picture clicking we set off to snow point located at Fagu.
Everyone was so excited to start early in the morning as still none of us had touched the white beauty (SNOW) despite of spending 2 days in our trip. Finally got it....We reached Kufri-Snow point in the morning around 9.00 AM, based on our driver's advice we took the snow dresses, shoes and Horse Riding package from one single person for the cost of 4500 for all 5 of us. My Elder son and wife were so scared and started screaming while riding on the horse uphill to Fagu. Somehow reached the destination after 20 minutes and both of them took relaxed breath. there comes our beauty for which we were waiting.. snow mountains...... had a wonderful photo session in snow and also had a chance to wear the Himachal dress for photo session.
Evening, we decided to stay at the Hotel itself. 

Day 3 :: 13-Feb-2017 :: Travel from Kufri to Manali.
Enroute to Manali, The only thing which you will cherish is the greenery and the beauty of the Hills, truly speaking, No better feeling than surrounded by marvellous mountains. we had stopped first at a small restaurant where we picked up some Haldiram snacks and then stopped at Lunch at Hotel Chirag, We had a chance to see Sundernagar Lake and Pandoh Dam. After crossing Kullu, we took a break at Sriram Shawl Factory outlet,where we bought Jackets, Sweaters and caps for all of us and for my parents back at home. Then finally around 7.30 PM we reached Manali Sterling Holidays hotel. Had a dinner and went asleep due to journey tiredness.

Day 4 :: 14-Feb-2017 :: Visit to Solang Valley, Vashishit and Hadimba Temple. A gift to my most special and wonderful friend my wife on a Valentine Day.
Our next agenda was Solang Valley. After having a delicious free breakfast at the hotel itself, we packed and prepared ourselves up for it. Couple of places we had encountered the slippery roads due to which it took some time to reach the valley, still we could reach well in time before the mad human rush enters the valley.

Solang valley was covered with thick white sheet of snow and it was a mesmerising view and this is where we had the best time of the trip. One point we all were stunned and stood like rock while enjoying the nature's beauty which we called as Himalayan Glory. We tried our hands on skiing and had fun making a snow balls throwing at each others and also had a great time fighting with each other with those balls. Fortunately we had a very nice guy who came along with us as Skiing guide, my both kids made complete Paisa vasool at this place. Climbing all the way to the top of the hill and then sliding over the snow is how we all enjoyed snow there. The valley was quiet and could be only approached by road. The drive up to Solang is extremely picturesque. 

After spending our whole our morning in Solang Valley, came back with full tiredness at hotel. Evening we visited Vashisht temple and Hadimba temple. 

Small though crisp detatils about Vashisht Temple:
Vashisht was named after Rishi Vashisht one of the seven sages of Hindu. Legend has it that the saddened Rishi Vashisht after learning that his children were killed by Vishwamitra tried to commit suicide. But the river refused to kill him. The river was therefore named as Vipasha which literally means ‘freedom from bondage’. It was later shortened to Beas River. He began mediating and vowed to start his life anew. The Vashisht temple which exists even today is believed to be more than 4000 years. It’s difficult to imagine how a place so old could remain so small. Perhaps the village is protected by its difficult landscapes. Vashisht temple is built in a traditional style with lots of intricate wood carvings. It is also most popular for hot springs which is believed to have medicinal value. There are separate bathing arrangement for men and women. According to another legend Lakshman who paid a visit realized that the sage had to go for long walks to take bath. He shot an arrow into the ground and hot water began to gush out. There’s another temple ancient stone temple known as Rama Temple adjacent to the Vashisht Temple.Vashisht village is considered an important place by the Hindus in India. The place is often associated with pilgrims.

About Hidimba Temple:
Hidimba Devi Temple is also known as Hadimba Temple. It is located on a deodar covered hill in Manali, some 3kms from the bus stop and few minutes walk from Old Manali. It is an ancient cave temple built in 1553 by Raja Bahadur Singh. Built over a huge rock, the sanctum is covered by three tiered roof of wooden planks. The fourth metal umbrella completes the outermost covering. The ‘Shikhar’ or the wooden tower is 24m tall. The wooden facade and windows of the temple are richly carved. The quadruple wooden door frame is ornamented with carvings of various deities and other designs. The walls of the temple are strangely decorated with horns of animals.The temple is dedicated to Hidimbi Devi, sister of Hidimba and wife of Bhima one of the Pandavas from Mahabharata epic. According to the epic, the Pandavas stayed in Himachal during their exile. Bhima the strongest of the Pandavas fought and killed Hidimba, a powerful Rakshas (demon). Bhima and Hidimbi had a son but when Bhima and the Pandavas returned from exile she stayed back and did tapasya, which involves meditation, prayer and penance. Later she attained the status of goddess.

After such a hectic, but enjoyable and never forgettable Valentine day we relaxed in our hotel room. Later, we went out for Candle light dinner.

After having enjoyed the play in Sown, I felt like my trip complete. Though we were not able to visit Rohtang, but spending such a good time with family in heart of Nature was worth it.

And finally, it was time to say goodbye to the valley, so started packing for our next journey back to Delhi. I would recommend that if you are planning a visit to Manali, then one should check whether Rohtang Pass can be reached or not!! Because Rohtang is one of those few places in Manali that must not be missed.

Day 5 :: 15-Feb-2017 :: Travel from Manali to Delhi
With heavy heart we started our long journey to Delhi from Manali.On our way back, we stopped at several restaurants to not just eat but also to have some perfect pictures that will remind us of this trip always. That was the last day of our trip in the Himalayan Valley as we returned back with lots of memorable,  cherishable and emotional moments, but it was my life changing experience for us. Manali is etched in my memory as this place beckons me to go there and relive those moments again and again. Night around 9.00 PM we reached back to IRCTC Rail Yatri Nivas (Ginger Hotel) in Delhi

Day 6 :: 16-Feb-2017 :: Delhi Local Sight Seeing and Boarding Bangalore Rajdhani Express.
Somehow we woke up to our last day of our trip in Ginger hotel, Delhi. In the whole trip, this is the only day where we were much relaxed. We packed our full luggage to suit the train travel and checked out from hotel to have a great day in Delhi. After so many days of having north Indian food, we could taste south indian food at Saravan Bhavan. 
First we had been to Jantar Mantar which was in real bad shape. Instead of seeing so many tourist in this place, we could see only couples who came to have some nice moments, understandably as Valentine day went few days back only.
Next we went to Famous India Gate we we took many photos and then to Qutub Minar and Lotus Temple and finally around 6.00 PM came back to Nizamuddin Railway Station to start our last journey to home.

Day 7 :: 17-Feb-2017 :: Meeting my Old College friends after a gap of almost 20 Years.
To our surprise, our Indian Railway was on time to reach Nagpur Railway Station where my friend Mr. Chandrasekhar Thote or in short our Chandu was waiting to meet. He brought some delicious Maharashtra Kadi, Batata vada and enough Chiwda for all of us. Then our next stop was at Ballarshah Railway Station where I met my old College friends may be after 20 years. Manoj Rangari, Manoj Mani and Madhu came all the way from Chandrapur to Ballarshah just to meet me for few minutes, that's the true Friendship. While we were all talking I could recollect all the wonderful memories what we had spent during our college days here. somehow without making any noise, our Rajdhani train started moving, with no other choice left with me, I had to board it to reach back home with my family.

Day 8 :: 18-Feb-2017 :: Reaching Back Home....
We woke up around 5.00 in the morning to see that train was on right time, we removed all the locks from our baggage from down and got ready to come out. Took a Ola cab and reached back home with all our memories roaming all our brain ending our first such a long trip. It was much needed break from the hectic City life and to relieve stress. Thank God, without any issues safely we came back from such a long trip covering almost 6000 kilometers in the span of 8 days which includes, Air, Road and Train travel.