Spiti Tour of October 2021 - Part 1 :: Reaching Manali, the Runway for 15000 feet Altitude Ride
Channel: Pickles n Backpack
Date: 07/11/2021

Our trip itinerary to Spiti was via Delhi and Manali. We reached Delhi by train# 02301 - Howrah New Delhi Rajdhani Special. Privatization of railway made the rail travel less lucrative considering the services that were being offered. On top of that, there was an engine failure late at night, that caused us to get delayed before reaching Allahabad (Prayagraj Jn.). We were planning to stay at Himachal Bhawan in Mandi House, New Delhi. But, due to the delay - we got refreshed at the IRCTC Excutive Lounge in New Delhi Railway Station and took couple of cabs to reach Mandi House to board the bus.

Bus ride was awesome! They made it Covid-safe ride by alloting 2 seats per person ar INR 1600 per seat. It started at 18:30 from Mandi House and reached Manali Riverside Volvo bus stand at around 09:00AM. We took cabs for the remaining one kilometer ride to Hotel Yak for that night's stay. 

Manali was the last major town before heading for Kaza via the Gramphu-Batal-Kaza road. Hence, along with aclimatization, we had to buy essentials and adequate water supply (at least 4 litres per head) for the trip towards Kaza in Spiti valley. Since the next day was taking us from 8000ft to 15000ft within a short duration of 6 hours, I took a Diamox (Acetazolamide) tablet split in half twice that day to push out few bicarbonates and get ready for the high altitude ride next morning.

Our guide Sonam was in Manali a day ahead and promised to start at 06:00AM from Manali. Hence, we cut short the evening and did hit the bed early without much amusement in Manali. 

IRCTC Lounge Booking: 
https://www.irctctourism.com/accommodation

Himachal Bhawan Room Reservation System: 
http://himatithi.nic.in/

HPTDC Bus Reservation System: 
http://www.booking.hptdc.in/

Hotrl Yak, Manali: 
http://www.yakhotels.com/