Manali, Finally!

I sit here, before you, right now having just arrived in Manali, India after a bruttal (Brian, if I may borrow) jeep ride from Leh to Manali, 475 km. The LP does not even touch on the condition of this road only to mention, "they're working on paving the road the entire way". Sounds nice, doesn't it esp. coming from my book dated, 2003. Let me explain something to you, this road deserves at least a paragraph - at least a few lines of description of what one is getting themselves into upon booking this journey!

For one thing, you MUST have 4 wheel drive with room to stretch (I recommend hiring a driver with a jeep - forget bus); shocks in good condition are a ticket to a "possible" headache-free journey. Why, you ask? Well, I found the gravel sections just as bumpy as the paved. Having just read that statement, I think it isn't bold enough - how's this: I have never in my life been tossed, bumped, thrown, scrambled and jolted in a nice SUV for this amount of time on a road in this poor of condition. How can this be? How can a paved road be so bumpy? These poor Indians slave over this road, covered in what remains of burnt tar, just as black as an African, in order for us nice travelers and delivery trucks to journey from point A to point B. With a few exceptions, they have no special machinery that we know in the U.S. It seemed to me that they just carve out a road, remove some of the rocks and pave it! That's the best they can do. Amazing to watch them work knowing the fumes they breathe are not helping them live to 80. They definitely do it the hard way, the slow way, not to mention they sleep right there on the road overnight in bone-chilling temperatures!

The other difficulty with this road is really it's blessing - the terrain and views you see are spectacular, in my opinion. Who wants to travel through Kansas when you can venture through and over the Rocky Mountains at a quarter of the speed? As a matter of fact, this place puts our rockies to shame. Passes at 17,000 feet and peaks even higher, this is a mountain lover's dream paradise with views that your camera will scream over. Everything from Sinai-like desert mountain landscapes with purple and green colors to pure Colorado-feeling peaks and valleys including pine trees. The smell today of sweet pine trees alone brought a tear to my eye. "Are we in Switzerland?", someone in the jeep asked, as we laughed over the stunning outlooks while jostling around like lottery balls on TV. Curve after curve and sign after sign stating, "Please be kind to my curves" - we tread through this far away land like a snail glides through his forest - slowly and with caution. Dangerous, treacherous, mind-boggling, prestine, untouched are words that come to my mind. This land is something I didn't expect from India!