Day 10: Pleasantness continues to descend

9. Manali

“Look at the commercialization maan!” – SF on Manali, upon arrival

“You know what Vishnu, I think Manali is the closest to the Himalayas, the “not so fit” people can reach” – O on Manali

It must be close to 7 when we reached Manali. The place, I tell you, is totally in contrast with Leh. Commercialization has spoilt the beauty of Manali. It’s a honeymooners’ paradise. We did see quite a lot of couples cuddling and walking with hands around the other’s waist and stuff like that.

We had a train to catch from Delhi the next day.

The 19 hour bus journey had spoilt any enthusiasm that was left in us. We hardly spoke. The waiter at “madras café” in Manali stood by our side for 15 minutes waiting for us to order. That was the scenario. We found ourselves seconds away from drifting to sleep when Oneiro asked me to pass the water bottle. I turned and turned back with the bottle and he was fast asleep.