Tag: manali

The Johnson’s Cafe , Manali

We had not planned the recent road trip to Manali so obviously we weren’t prepared with the must visit places , given the short 2 day trip . While river Beas was travelling besides us, I happened to see her closer when we were reaching The Tranquil Inn and saw a restaurant which was filled with foreigners . For some reason I happened to check with Ms. Google and she said in Manali eating Trout Fish is a must and my friend in the car mentioned that she wanted to eat it and that she heard rave reviews about it. Then  Johnson’s cafe it is screamed Ms.Google with some great ratings on trip advisor and the plan was made .

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The Butter Garlic Grilled Trout Fish

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Bruschetta with egg plant

The next day we decided to visit the most famous cafe for the Trout Fish only as the dinner we wanted to devour was waiting for us at the hotel 🙂 . We had our priorities right you see . We went to this place which had the feel of pondicherry and was almost empty thanks to the rains and the off season perhaps? Trance music was playing loudly at the bar area and we chose to sit in one quaint corner  . The order was white wine , trout fish , butter garlic – grilled , bruschetta with egg plant . My friends wanted to eat masala fried fish but the only option they had was the one we ordered . My order came in first obviously easiest to make the bruschetta and it was delicious . My friends enjoyed the Trout Fish and was all praises for it . We polished off our respective dishes and left the place smiling ,for good food always makes one happy . Its an Aye ! from us . The next time you are in Manali , you know where to eat The Trout Fish 🙂

The Venue .. Some Random clicks

Address : Circuit House Road, Siyal, Kullu, Manali, Himachal Pradesh 175131

Website :Johnsonscafe

Phone : 01902 253 023

 

#Keylong (Himachal Pradesh)

While we initially had plans to laze at Manali and just stay in our sit out area with the chai and pakoras another part of us said arre! Go explore , so many places around just go. And the travel bug bit us again and instead of resting we decided to go to Keylong . While spiti valley was on top of the list it was over 200 km and we had to return by evening as we had to head back home the next morning again . So we decided to go to Keylong and that was through Rohtang pass . The journey began with our guide Negi .

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We crossed several waterfalls and mountains . It was cool and green to begin with and I was dressed to keep myself warm and as we climbed high it got Sunny and the mountains I felt were telling me a story . Every mountain was so beautiful , so different yet same . They were magnificent and I felt I had attained nirvana . All I could do was stay silent as it was breathless . They spoke to me so much and all I wanted was listen . Who said we were great artists really?

 

Can we ever match up to Nature and her creations?
The entire route is filled with quirky sign boards obviously sending a serious message like drive carefully in a funny way so that we may register in our minds 🙂 . The journey went on and I felt the chill down my spine and yes it was Rohtang pass. I was amazed how temperature changed and also the view . It was so misty and we saw people walk around in a full body suit , for a moment I felt I was in another planet . We took a quick 10 minute break and had a long way to cover through the bumpy road and the journey went on . I was telling my friends that all of us would have lost a minimum of 300 gms weight each . The ride was such 😉
_J6A8026We stopped  to click some breath taking images . We spotted snow miles away , was it Ladakh, I wondered . So many army vehicles on the road and also the entire stretch was filled with workers and cranes busy repairing the roads for us to travel safely .
We later stopped by for lunch and Maggie I said without blinking an eyelid . I knew that would be the best while my friends settled for Tukpa and momos . After the food , some chai and Parle g biscuits we started again .
Now the mountains were all looking angry , dry and dusty . There was no spec of greenery and the roads were equally upset with us . It was the bumpiest stretch and we didn’t keep the windows down as the car interiors had changed into brown colour with a layer of dust . We reached Keylong clicked some images and read a board which said Leh was 450 kms away … We wanted to go ahead but we couldn’t and consoled ourselves saying there is always a next time and being greedy isn’t good and descended back through the same range clicking – talking – staring all in silence agog .
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We reached back Manali fighting the mist oh wait! Weren’t they clouds that we drove through?
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And Manali greeted us with rain and our host at Tranquil Inn with some mirchi and allo pakoras with chai . We were tired yet felt accomplished and had no regrets for we saw all that we had to and we realised our journey had just begun with this …
Photo courtesy : Rohit Varma
To read more about Keylong read here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keylong

#thetranquilinn

It has been a while since I went on a holiday, was my rant from many months now . It was a Wednesday and we had a work meeting scheduled in Delhi and after the meeting a plan was made to travel to Manali where a friend of ours had a beautiful place. I couldn’t believe my ears was this happening? Excitement took over me and I had to pinch myself several times to make myself believe that I was finally going on a break .

Some images enroute to Manali

It was 12.43 am when we headed out of Delhi on road and the journey turned from highways to ghats . It was early in the morning and the beautiful sun set its eyes on me , I was enthralled by all this feeling alas! I was in a place I have always wanted to be from the time I have known myself . We reached our destination the Tranquil inn by 3 or so and we were asked what would we prefer for lunch . The tired souls in us wanted some comfort food and all we asked was for some rice , dal and alloo Sabzi and they happily obliged. We devoured it and crashed to wake up to a beautiful evening .

The hotel we stayed at and my room

It is such a beautiful place tucked far away from the hustle and bustle of the city . All I could hear was the sound of water and was it wind?

And hell broke loose when I stepped to the backyard of the hotel into the apple orchard, was I dreaming? Thousands of them spread over acres of land and I was like this kid in a candy shop . I plucked one red apple and another green, I wanted to eat what I earned and was in bliss . The evening went away staring into the sky , listening to the river Beas who escorted us from the time we reached the ghat till our rooms and she was still there around checking if I was fine 🙂

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View from my balcony – Apple orchards
Sitout
View from my  sit-out
In the evening we visited the market area and my friends wanted to feast on the trout fish which was the specialty of Manali . After a little shopping and stuffing ourselves we were back in our abode which put us to sleep in a jiffy not before I thanked the universe , my stars , my friends for this experience .
If you want to experience peace , good food and amazing hospitality in short feel at home below are the details
Number : +91 9816016414
Peace be with you!