Lots of buses
After having our morning cuppa we went and stood at the side of the road, in the hope a bus heading towards Manali would come. We had been given varied information, from many people and it all differed.
Around 9am a bus came along and on we got. This one would take us to Banjar, where we would then need to catch another bus to Manali .... or so we were told.
It was a pleasant journey, mainly downhill. We were surprised how big Banjar was and that it had a big bus station.
We decided to grab something to eat and had seen there was a local dish called siddu. We were not entirely sure what it was but ordered one as it looked good. The chap told us it was a steamed bun filled with dried fruit. It was really nice, although it appeared the dried fruit had all been minced up and it was served with a spicy tomato and coriander chutney.
We checked with the bus station and were told the bus to Manali left at 11.30am so this gave us time for tea. We went in search of tea, however, there was nowhere in the bus station or in the immediate vicinity which sold tea ....how unusual for India!
We went back to the bus station and someone asked where we were going. We told them Manali and they said we would need to catch a bus to Kullu first. On double checking this was indeed correct. Luckily a bus was just starting to load and we got a seat for the next leg of the journey. Again, a very nice journey along the river, crossing a huge dam. The roads going this way are not as windy as the route we had taken to get up north.
Kullu was a huge town which looked really nice. It appeared there had been a big fair recently as big tents and fairground rides were everywhere. On the route to Manali we saw a couple of paragliders coming down. This area is famous for this and also white water rafting, although we both agreed that water would be far too cold at the moment.
We found our connecting bus, at last, one going to Manali! Again we managed to get seats which is always a bonus! More beautiful scenery and we eventually arrived in Manali at 4pm. We had a quick cuppa before being picked up to and delivered to our accommodation, which is about 5 miles outside of the main town. Along the way we saw many apple orchards and even 2 tethered hot air balloons.
Our accommodation has an amazing view of the snow capped Himalayas. After a hot shower we headed to a local cafe for a very tasty veg thali before retiring for the evening.