The Shimla-Manali trip

Everyone was excited to see the snowfall, snowy mountains, to experience the extreme winter. We headed towards Manali, higher in altitude to Shimla. It was a mountainous bus ride from Shimla to Manali. Chilling cold, sitting in the bus, the feets went numb. We arrived in Manali early morning around 7 am, and were lucky that the hotelier allowed us to take the rooms before the check-in time.
Man!! Getting inside the room was like entering through the gates of heaven, so comfortably warm inside.
We spent 5 full days in Manali, and the stay was awesome.
1st day- exploited the town locally, went to a budhist monastery, Hadimba Temple built in the year 1553 AD, couple of more temples, one had a natural spring of warm water (amazing at such an altitude). Explored the local markets and streets. Concluded that Manali is not a very big town.
2nd day- Went to Rohtang Pass, it is a snow point, at an altitude of 13000 ft. Rented skiing dress, snow boots, and the skiing kit along with the guide. Had fun skiing and rolling over snow. Mom took me by surprise, when I saw her so happy and excited on rolling over and sliding on ice. Everyone was so happy. And the most memorable part was having hot MAGGIE at such an altitude. The hawker was selling a plate of Maggie for Rs35/-. Given the labour and the environment, the cost was quite reasonable. Maggie at such a height will really be the dish of the year.
3rd day- Spent the day again loitering locally on the streets of Manali. Went to a local Gurudwara, walked up and down around 4kms to reach Hadimba temple once again. Walking is infact the best way to explore the local surroundings rather than renting a car or a taxi, and asking for sight seeing.
4th day- Went to Manikaran Gurudwara, and some temples around it. There was a 5000 years old Shiv Mandir, Amazing hot springs of water around the area. The drive to the place was nice, as the scenic beauty, the mountains enticed me on the way.
5th day- Had nothing great to do, and as it was a sunny day, so we came out on the Mall road, again loitered around, did some shopping, and sat in the middle of the street, warming under the sun.
Finally took a bus in the night from Manali to Shimla.
Earlier we had planned a two day stay at Shimla, but Shimla did not attract us as much as Manali did. Thanks to our earlier plannnings that we spent our initial part of the vacation in Manali and shortened our stay at Shimla.
Infact we just spent a day in Shimla, went to The Mall Road, Shimla, some camera clicks, and back to Delhi by bus, cancelling all our train tickets.

All in all, this had been one of my best family outings over several months.