Mind Boggling Manali- Guest Blog by Amyra Kapadia

Our guest Amyra Kapadia, a 11-year-old shares her “Mind Boggling” experience of when she vacationed in the hills of Manali along with her family. Read her first-hand account of her escapades with her twin brother Ayaan as they explored the beauty of Manali.

Our exciting, adventurous and mind-boggling trip to Manali started at Chandigarh as soon as we landed. We walked a short distance to the airport then I saw a huge colourful guitar, which I had to take a picture with next we collected our baggage from belt number four finally we exited the airport and sat in the car, it was time for the dreaded 8 Hour Drive. For lunch, we stopped at a local restaurant called Adaba finally after eight hours we reached our hotel the green mountain Lodge when I got out of the car I was surprised as there was a huge German Shepherd, right in front of me, the man over there was a man named Tenzin. He told me that the huge dog was friendly and her name was Lisa. I found out that it was true. Lisa was the gentlest dog I ever met after I finished connecting with Lisa I went into our room with my family. We were astonished at what our eyes had met with. It was huge!

There was one big bedroom with a mattress on the floor of fireplace in the living room and even our own kitchen. Then, when my parents were resting, my brother and me went exploring after walking around for 15 minutes we went back to the room later, we left for a famous road called Mall Road there were many shops and restaurants.

We stopped at a shop and I got a slinky and my brother got an Uno Minecraft and Pokémon cards. Then suddenly my brother spotted a tunnel type of door which was labelled as underground shops. We went down to see further and saw a store for magic tricks we went there and asked the guy over there to show us some tricks. We were mind blown the tricks were mind-boggling and nobody could guess or know how to do them. We got five magic tricks, a card trick where it looked like I had made a match stick was flying, where it was impossible a circle could make money disappear and reappear money booklet, which could make the papers blank and then made the money come back and lastly a time clock thing which you could set a time and then guess the exact time you had set.

After staring in all at the tricks, we finally had the guts to leave. We headed to a restaurant where Ayaan and I had a pizza and my parents had Momos. Then we headed home to a proper dinner which Tenzin wife had cooked. It was surprisingly good, especially since we had our own dining table as it was freezing cold, we turned on the fire in the fireplace soon after we finished dinner and changed into our night clothes, we all was socks, so our feet didn’t get frostbite, the next morning we woke up at around 7:30 and showered and changed into warm layers of clothes, then settle down onto the benches of our dining table where our breakfast was given. There were various options to choose from. I had a Nutella toast to boiled eggs and some warm chocolate milk. We left for mountain biking. We drove a short drive to a cycle shop to get our cycles. I had a cycle larger than my mom’s. Then we started cycling from there my father, the Guide and me went ahead. Suddenly we noticed my mom and brother was still behind. We waited till they came, but Ayaan thought we could get hit by a car. They decided to cycle between two cars, one driven by our driver and one driven by the mountain bike store no the rest of us went ahead. I love the feeling of the wind, rushing past my face to take in the thought that I was free. We cycled for a long time and then decided to take a water break. Then we continued village where the downhill slopes were extra amazing. Finally, we reached the mountains. The trees next to us were stunning and lanky like a fantasy dreamland I had never imagined this. I expected it to be a normal mountain. We cycled through all downhill slopes and then stopped to wait for my mom and brother while waiting. My dad and I took gorgeous photos of our surroundings and photos of us together. It felt great spending alone time with my dad, for half an hour they were sitting in the car as my mom had fallen and gotten a bit hurt we met then headed forward they followed, but were way behind after reaching the bottom of the mountain where another village was located we got into the car we then headed to a place called Kullu for river rafting.

We stopped at a place which said counter 150 to get the tickets and headed to the place that rafting started in a car once we reached it looked a bit scary but once we got onto the raft, we were excited and nervous at the same time, luckily it was rapids one and two the instructor took many photos and videos with the GoPro camera on his helmet. We enjoyed a lot, but felt very uncomfortable at the end as we were drenched and soaked with water.

We then ride up and change our clothes next, we got in the car and went to a local house for lunch. The person who hosted us was named Uma one more of Uma ‘s friends joined us. They were very nice and easy-going with us for lunch. we tried a local dish called Siddu, daal and rice and a carrot dessert call gajjar ka halva. We left and headed back home. The parents took nap and I went to play with Lisa. I looked all over and finally found her suddenly I heard a bat and a ball. I realize my brother was playing cricket with Tenzin’s son Ayush. I spotted a ledge above them, which was the perfect way I went and sat with my legs dangling down. Suddenly I felt soft nudge. I whipped my head around and was surprised that Lisa had followed me.

She sat down beside me and I automatically started petting her. I chilled for the rest of the evening until it was time for dinner. We decided to go to a place called Johnson’s Café and restaurant. It was recommended to us by one of my mom’s ‘s friends. We headed there by our car and decided that our kids should eat at the café. We sat down at an outdoor table and discovered there was a circle fireplace sort of thing that we could play on. Me and Ayaan kept on running around and playing on it. After finishing my dad and Brother went to check out the paintings while I chatted with my mom. Once the food came, I went to call the boys. Soon after finishing the delicious meal, we had to a place called kyaroo house. It was also recommended to us by Tenzin.  we sat indoors as it was cold, and my parents ordered some food for themselves. Me and Ayaan ordered a hot brownie with vanilla ice cream.

We ate our dessert peacefully and waited for our parents to finish their dinner. We heard some raindrops going pitter patter on the roof as quick as a flash. It starts pouring cats and dogs after eating. It was still raining so we made our way back to the car later we reached home and hit the hay immediately as we were exhausted. The next morning, we woke up at 7:00 had breakfast at 7:30 and left for a trek by 8:00-ish. We drove to the same mountain bike shop and realized that the same guy who came with us for mountain biking was coming with us. We switched to a smaller car as we had to drive up a mountain. We drove to the starting point and continued the drive up. The road was rocky and very narrow - if we fell, we could die, but apart from that the view was stunning. After reaching the top we started trekking. We trekked through some very steep places and finally reached a temple. We stopped there for a short break and then continued. It was a difficult trek but after stopping a lot and picking up random rocks thinking they were crystals; we reached the top. Suddenly, my brother yelled. He had seen snow!!! Our first close up sight of snow! We begged our parents to take us there but they said we would go on the way down. We climbed up a few rocks, and then came across a huge clearing where we would have a picnic. The guy cooked some delicious Maggi. We all took bowls but then realized there were no spoons! My mom got the idea to take a tiny tree branch as a spoon. It was nature after all. Me and my brother played football with a plastic bottle. Finally, it was time to leave. As promised, we got our first touch of snow. The snow was freezing. After messing around a bit, we took the long trek all the way down. Again, we stopped at the same temple. We continued down and finally reached the bottom. After reaching home, we rested for a bit. Then, we decided to go to a place called Hampta village. But my brother and I were hungry, so we went to a bakery opposite The Green Mountain Lodge. We got some Oreo milkshake and then left. It was a one-hour drive. Finally, we reached. We went to this place called Snow Point. There was so much snow that we could slide down the whole mountain. We decided to get some snow gear. We got some shoes. Then, we trekked up the mountain. We wanted to try sliding down on a tire, so we tried it. It was really fun. Then, we played in the snow for a bit. Once I got out, I realized that I was wet all over. After thinking, I decided to wear my mom’s long jacket instead of my pants. We then headed to a place where we had dinner. We also had smores. Then, we left and headed back home.

The next day, early morning we left for Sissu. After the long drive, we reached our hotel. Finally, we reached our room. We then went for lunch to this place called La Halt which was close to our hotel. Then we left for a popular snow- point where there was a huge zipline which crossed a huge, long, and rocky river. Me and my brother went on the same zipline as we were kids. After reaching the other side safely, we played in the snow. We then tried to make a snowman. It looked pretty decent when we saw the result. Then, we ziplined back and left for home.

The next day, we went to Solang valley for skiing. We had tons of fun and ate some maggi. It was really fun. I tried quite a few high slopes. The funny part was that my dad almost fell into the river! After skiing, we left straight for The Green Mountain Lodge. It was a 2 hour drive. We reached and had dinner. The next morning, we left for the airport. We had a great time nestled between the mountains of Manali.