Mandi
Mandi lies at the mouth of the aforementioned Kullu valley. The valley is probably the most visited site in the state. Reckoned it was a good one to leave till last. More about Kullu later. I had to get up at 5.30 in the morning to grab the bus that went in mandis general direction. I say general direction because there is no direct bus and it is a whopper of a journey. My intention was to travel back to Dharshala and get some food there before completing the rest of the journey with a not so empty stomach. This plan fell apart when I was informed by the bus conductor with a bright pink turban and a big white bandage covering most of the rest of his head, that that idea was stupid ‘hey man, I might be stupid but at least I don’t look it….’ ah who am I kidding. The new plan was to stop in a town called Gaggal (I swear I am not making these names up) and then grab a bus straight to mandi from there. So I patiently sat there and counted down the miles to gaggal and food, I figured we were about 2 miles outside of gaggal when I get the poke in the shoulder to get off the bus, twas as if I was been taken out for a random beating – reckon the turbonator would’ve loved that!! The bus to mandi was directly behind us so the conducter let a roar in hindi to the driver who then stuck his foot on the pedal to get a bit of space between us and our pursuer – then the conductor jumped out of the bus while it is still in motion and while stuggling to retain his feet below the rest of his body he hailed the bus down for me. I take it all back – though maybe the bastard knew I was starving and thought another 6 hours in a rust bucket with nothing in the belly would be ripe justice for me. Back to bastard status for him.
6 hours later and about 6 stone lighter I arrived in Mandi and wouldn’t you know it, the Shivatri festival was in full flow. This the same festival that was in bharmore – reckon those mountain boys are at least a week out of whack – occupational hazard I guess. The town was swamped, not a hotel room to be had anywhere. None at a reasonable price. I found one after an hour in the main square. It wasn’t the best but it will do for 2 nights. 2 loud loud nights. The square in mandi actually contains a well concealed 2 level shopping centre, to the north of the square a concert was in full swing. Indians don’t do quiet concerts, or even appropriately volumed concerts, they do cheap hotel window rattling concerts. Any thoughts of an early night were well and truelly scuppered. I had the tv in my room at full volume and couldn’t hear what the people were saying. This concert went on till 1.30 in the morning….
I went out for some food, I was starving. There was a lovely punjabi open to the street restaurant not too far away. They operated a plate system in this restaurant, nothing as fancy as a menu – the waiter muttered a few dishes and I picked the one I could actually decipher. Shahi Paneer – mouth watering. I got 2 portions of the sauce it was that good / I was that hungry.
The next day I took a trip to Rewelsar. Its a town about 30 km south of mandi and the site where the st patrick of tibet got up of his lazy meditating behind and went to spread the good word to the people of tibet. It is therefore a place that is held really close to the hearts of the tibetan people and like mcleod ganj is a little piece of tibet far from home. Home for many of these people is just a word, what the Chinese are doing there is no worse than what Hitler attempted to do to the jewish people in the last century. Its truely despicable and I hope that common sense prevails and allows these people autonomy at least. The main site in the town is a small lake, all around the lake people are either meditating or feeding the enormous number of eager fish in the lake – wait for the pictures. There was also a massive amount of monkeys, very often they would go to the lake side and compete with the fish for the bread crumbs thrown in by the people. Its not a faceoff I counted on seeing on this trip, truely bizaare. Its such an attraction that several women ply a trade purely in selling bread crumbs to visitors. It was a nice place to spend a couple of hours, before heading back to the madness of mandi. I got back feeling ready for the festival action. I spent several hours walking around the stalls, sampling the cuisine and dodging pesky touts. Some people asked me if I came especially for the fair, they seemed a little amused by the fact that I didn’t have a clue it was on. Knackered I returned to bed. Tomorrow its all the way to the Paranthi Valley and the town of Manikuram.
Tags: Himachael Pradesh, Himachel Pradesh, India, India, Mandi
Phil Gill
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!