Delhi-Manali-Rohtang

After New Delhi as a nice introduction to India, off we went towards Ladhak and its capital Leh, which as nothing to do with the rest of India (different climate different people etc etc). The trip to go there however was typically Indian: long.


After a night in a freezing bus under the broken yet too efficient air-conditioning, I was sick. Apart from making me sick, this bus did allow us to go from Delhi to Manali. On arriving in Manali, we had to negotiate like crazy to get a rickshaw for a decent yet too expensive price. We did not sleep at Manali but in Vaschicht: nice small village a few hundred of meters above Manali. We saw many Europeans who where here for the cooler atmosphere, like in the colonial days. Except that her majesties civil servants now serve the plant industry...

After a good night of sleep (started off by a good day of resting) off we were again.

We left behind Manali and its nice Alp style (Swiss Alps) atmosphere and green valleys to climb towards Rohtang, the first of several high passes on our trip to Leh.

Up up up we went......through nice little green mountains...
...thanks to our bus...

The buddhist prayer flags started popping up un the scenery. We understood that we were headed towards a different cultural region.

Always up and up

1 km to Rohtang...
And there we are, almost as high as the highest mountain in France....
At Rohtang we discovered the other tourists of Manali valley: the Indians on their honey moon. for those who are lucky enough to be able to go on vacation for their honeymoon, Manali seams to be a very popular destination. And nothing is more important than climbing (driving) up to Rohtang for a souvenir picture or a little ski.