Journey day 1 - Delhi to Manali

the vehicle santa fe 

Our journey started from Delhi  and we started around 6 am. The plan was to reach Manali the same day and pretty soon we were cruising on the GT karnal road or NH1 as it is known. There are lot of options to eat on the highway and we stopped only to get gas and food once.

The journey was uneventful and we drove at respectable speeds. Please make sure you carry ample change for the toll taxes that you encounter on the way as there are some hefty tolls along this route. We ended up paying almost 700 Rs in tolls before we actually reached the corner to Manali.  Once you reach Chandigarh, be prepared to be stopped by cops  on some false pretext of jumping light or so. They generally stop cars to extort money and this can range any where between 300 to 1000 Rs.

We reached Keerat pur and took a wrong turn to Una and this led us to waste almost two hours of precious driving time as we had to back track all the way to keerat pur. 

Journey to Manali was uneventful and we almost reached around ten where after contemplating to pitch a tent or stay in a hotel we decided to stay in a hotel . there are a lot of guest houses in the beginning of Manali that are cheap and good for a night’s sleep.

We did come to know that one needs a permit to drive to Leh from the SDM’s office and this can be a tedious job as everyone who wants to drive needs one. Some new rule as to 1000 permits being issued to go to rohtang pass and Leh each day. The idea is to reach the office well in time to save precious time but as we had reached rather late, we had no option to go the same day to submit our application.

We ate at a restaurant and good part was there were no unwanted taxes on the food that have always left a bad taste in my mouth.  Day one was coming to an end and we were all excited and apprehensive about our  journey the next day. We had planned to cover distance to Sarchu. A small quaint little place in the ladakh region.

Route 

Delhi - Ambala - Chandigarh - Keerat Pur - Manali

PS: Be careful about the signboard at Keerat pur that marks the way to Manali. its not a good signboard and we missed it only to back drive for almost two hours. Ofcourse if you are extremely adventurous  you can drive to Dharamsala but then you will waste a complete day driving to Manali as there is no other route.