The above scene is from the famous movie Jab We Met which portrays a broken man boarding a random train, meets a random person named Geet, spends time with her, travel all the way to Manali, gets healed during the course and comes back strong. In this scene, the protagonist’s colleague is surprised by his positive changes and without knowing anything, asking him “Did you go to Manali?”. It depicts the common notion of people travelling to Manali for rejuvenation. The movie is a classic one and shows how Geet teaches the man about self-love. Maturity is when you realise you have to be your own Geet.

Last October I travelled to Manali for a week doing a workcation. First of its kind for me doing a solo workcation and it was really worth it. I stayed in a small homestay called Ikigai. It was about 30mins before Manali town in a village called Hallan, a calm & peaceful place with fresh cold air. Evenings I walked around the village capturing photos of the beautiful landscapes.

After staying in Ikigai for five days, on Saturday morning I checked-out and went to Manali town. Took a bike on rent from there and rode towards Ladakh. Needless to say that was a memorable experience and something words can’t express. I knew I wanted to do this after my first trip to Ladakh and I know I will do this again. After few kilometers from the town I passed through the new 9KM long Atal tunnel, I was not having proper riding jacket and after a few kilometers into the tunnel I was feeling very cold.

One need to be very careful and patient riding through these roads. You don’t need to be an expert but you have to be confident & alert. These are roads which wont easily forgive you for any mistakes, a hard brake and skid can make you fall into 100s of feet below the road. Turns can be sharper and narrower than you anticipate, rocks can fall-off anytime & overuse of break or clutch can cause their failure.

The landscapes were so catchy for my eyes that I had to stop my motorcycle very often to take photos. I rode till Tandi, looked at my watch and realised its time to take a U turn back to Manali to catch my bus.

Watch a small video compilation of the places I have visited.