Our men folk not having time that suited us, we Gobind, Mini and Shabad (three ladies) contacted www.goadventuresports.com for a religious and a leisurely trip to Manali, Kulu and Solang.

We started at 4:30 am and reached Manikaran Sahib Gurudwara at 2 pm. Though the road is still under construction but the view was spellbinding. We wished that if it were to rain then it would be the icing on the cake. The time we paid our obeisance at the Gurudwara Sahib it started to rain, we wondered how close we had got to the God and being human thought that we should have wished for some other worldly thing.

Manikaran Sahib was a nice surprise, we knew that Shivji had meditated there for 16000 years and Guru Nanak Dev ji had stayed there for sometime so it was sacred to both Hindus as well as Sikhs.

We were dumbfound when we saw the water in the tank which was boiling and rice was being cooked in huge cauldrons for the langer(communal food). Small kids had tied bundles of Channas(gram) in cloth and immersed it in to the boiling water to be consumed when ready.

The floor all around was so hot that one could only walk on the wooden planks placed on it.

In a hall people were bathing in the water which was quite warm to the touch. There are caves on the side with low entrances, inside were huge boulders emitting heat and the floor was quite hot.
People were taking free therapeutic treatment by lying prone on them, we to stood against the boulders with our backs pressed against them and it was like getting soothing heat treatment but for free of course. The roaring river in the front was deep and must have been too cold for comfort.

We reached Manali and checked in for the night, the scenery all around was breathtaking.
Then after breakfast we visited the Hadimba temple and explored the market at leisure picking up a few bargains on the way.

We visited the Vashishat Temple in the evening which has hot sulphur springs.
Then we moved to Solang, there are many activites at Solang like Paragliding,Zorbing Ball, horse riding and of course Trekking.

We could see snow on the mountain ranges all around us, we went for a stroll along the river bed and met two young boys and enquired about the village that was on a hillside and about the distance to the snow covered peaks, they assured us that we could reach snow at 15000 feet, but insisted that we should not go there as it was a difficult climb. It was their real concern that stopped us from walking that far.

There were a couple of campsites with tents all around but we preferred staying in the comfortable hut.

The next day on the way back we explored the Kullu market and picked up some of the ethnic stuff available here.
The cab driver kept his distance but was always within calling distance so that we were not cheated by the hawkers and shopkeepers.

It was a wonderfully trip arranged for us by www.goadventuresports.com and managed by Bawa Sidhu.

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