BLIZZARD! - 01/17/2013

A snow covered mountain stream

BEN - The goal for today was to try and find a place we wanted to stay that was cheep, but still decent and clean.  We hopped on the local bus and took it all the way to Manali.  The main street of Manali is called The Mall and is a bustling marketplace that caters to tourists.  Luckily, there weren't many tourists around (it is not the tourist season), so we kind of had the place to ourselves.  We shopped around and each bought some cool stuff for a really good price with some serious bargaining.

Through my research I had found that the majority of the budget accommodations were in Old Manali, a 1 km walk from The Mall.  We headed off, up the gradual slope to Old Manali.  The walk was nice and snow flurries started to fall as we ascended the windy street.  We eventually crossed a bridge and found ourselves in Old Manali, a town known as the backpackers hang out, and a good place to relax and eat.  What we found was a complete ghost town, almost everything was shut down.  I had researched some places to stay here and wanted to find a place called the Tiger Eye Inn due to good reviews.  We followed a street as it climbed steeply to the upper reaches of town, eventually seeing a sign for the Tiger Eye on a dilapidated old building.  Shit, not what I was expecting.  There was an old lady selling small snack foods nearby, so I went and asked her if this was indeed Tiger Eye.  She pointed down a small alley nearby with another Tiger Eye sign and arrow.  We left the main road and navigated a series of alleyways in between small village houses, complete with kids playing cricket and moms doing laundry, all eyeing us suspiciously.  We wandered through the quaint village scene until we found Tiger Eye, where a nice man greeted us in near perfect English.  He showed us around his place, kitchen for our use, wood stove, nice rooms, cool dog, etc. and told us that he was one of 3 guest houses open this early in the year.  I asked him how much a night and almost couldn't contain my excitement; R300 (about $6) a night.  We were paying more than three times that currently and had the same amenities  but this place was literally in the heart of a small village and a 20 minute walk from downtown Manali.  It was just what we were looking for.  We shook hands and promised to be back tomorrow.

BLIZZARD!

By the time we left, the snow was falling quite thickly, in large, fat snowflakes.  We hired a tuk tuk to drive us back to Manali and grab some food.  We found a decent place and had some hot tea, pizza, and sweet and sour chicken, which actually turned out to be a soup.  When we left the restaurant, about 3 inches of snow had accumulated on the roads; time to get back to the hotel.   We found a bus heading up to Gobja, a town near our hotel.  Once the bus was packed with people, we set off, crossed the river to the other side of the valley, and were immediately stuck in stand still traffic; shit.  The bus driver tried backing up, but ended up spinning his tires for about 15 minutes.  The bus started clearing out, and people started hoofing it.  We were about 15 km away from our hotel and the snow was pouring down.  Gabby insisted we go for it, and we started walking.  We soon saw the problem, nobody could get up the first hill, it was way too slippery.  We walked past cars sliding down, people trying to push tuk tuks up, and lots of people walking.  I wasn't exactly dressed for a blizzard, so I was quite cold and wet by this time.  We hiked on through the snow and sludge, occasionally stopping to help people push cars or tuk tuks.  We walked for a good 45 minutes before we found a lone tuk tuk river who was willing to brave the weather and take us as far as he could.  He ended up driving us halfway, sliding down hills and barely muscling up others, occasionally getting help from people on the street.  It was insanity.  We gave the guy a big tip for braving the roads and were back on foot.  As if by some crazy miracle, the driver had dropped us just outside a liquor store that was open.  Gabby and I decided it was fate and bought a very expensive (all they had) bottle of red wine and two cheep beers.  Then the long trek really began.  The snow was not abating and did not help my cold and wet situation.  Trapped in a blizzard in the Himalayas, just another day in the life.  We trudged and trudged on and on, keeping warm by talking to keep our minds off of our wet feet.  We even cracked and enjoyed a beer during the walk.  Finally, tired and wet, we reached Sarthak resorts where we were very happy to have a hot shower and warm bed (although there is no heat, so many blankets were needed).  We had dinner delivered (I had a delicious paneer kadhai, fast becoming one of my favorite dishes) and fell asleep watching movies.