Our Biking tour of Manali can make even the most mundane holiday trip a rollicking adventure in the foothills of Indian Himalayas.
Talk of a vacation in north India and the first name that pops up is Manali. This hilly town, situated on the banks of the river Beas in a verdant valley of the Pir Panjal mountain range in Himachal Pradesh, sees thousands of tourists driving in for a cool holiday break every summer, and to witness snowfall every winter. Besides the holidaying crowd that comes to click selfies against the backdrop of lush green mountains or to make snowmen and pelt snowballs at each other, there’s a hardy bunch of adventure seekers that come looking for adrenaline kicks. And kicks they do get in river rafting, paragliding and mountain biking.
Of the three adventure sports in Manali, the most long-lasting and least perilous is mountain biking.
Manali’s location in the foothills of the Himalayas makes it a gateway for biking adventure into Ladakh and that is precisely the reason why it is the starting point of our Manali-Leh Cycling Tour. For the bikers looking to acclimatize before pressing into the towering heights of the Himalayas, we strongly recommend a Manali biking tour, comprising of short cycling excursions to the nearby hotspots and even the daunting Rohtang Pass that rises as high as 3980 meters above sea level.
Being a bustling hill station, Manali has no dearth of attractions to keep you busy for a day or two. We start off in Old Manali where the hippie party scene, evening concerts, German and Israeli bakeries, Chinese restaurants and Indian eateries provide a lot of options to whoop it up and celebrate before hitting the road on your Manali cycling holiday. There are also many options for exploratory strolls to the Hidimba Temple, Manu Temple or the Tibetan quarters and Tibetan market in the busy Model Town. It is best to tick all these touristy places before heading out of Manali on your bike.
The first and the nearest place to head to is the Vashisht temple and its many hot springs on the outskirts of Manali. The temple is located a few hundred meters above the NH 21 and is accessible by a metalled road branching up into the mountains. This is the first test of endurance on Manali cycling adventure. The road winds through a few hairpin bends and is steep at some inclines. Cycling up takes about an hour, but any fatigue that you may feel is washed away in the rejuvenating hot springs of Vashisht.
Ideally, if you aren’t in a rush, it is best to allot a day to this cycling trip to Vashisht and return to Manali at the end of day. Next morning, you may start out early for the village of Palchan, which is about 9 km up the highway and makes for a great place to rest and lunch before heading to the picturesque valley of Solang. Named after the namesake stream that cuts through the landscape, Solang Valley is the favourite haunt of paragliders in the summer and skiing buffs in the winter. It affords a stunning view of snow-capped mountains to the north and one may while away an evening just strolling around and taking in the view.
Anyone who argues that a Manali cycling tour lacks the challenge and thrill of mountain biking in the Himalayas is well advised to press on from Palchan towards Rohtang pass. The road ascends steeply to the village of Kothi, where one may take a breather before heading up through a series loops to the gorgeous place of Rahla falls. The Beas river here flows through a deep gorge and just a short ride up is Gulaba village from where one sees the spectacular view of the peaks of the Pir Panjal mountain range. Here, adventure seekers often love to wander into the lush pine forests with beautiful glades that make for excellent picnic spots.
At Gulaba, we’re almost half-way up to Rohtang Pass, and many cyclists here prefer to load their bikes atop the back-up cab and ride up to the pass because of the steep road going up. Further on, vegetation begins to turn sparse and the air gets chilly until we arrive at a village named Marhi, where tourists take a break for tea and snacks before heading towards Rohtang La.
Seventeen kilometres of uphill ride separates Rohtang Pass from Marhi and the distance is best covered on a motorized vehicle. On this stretch of the Manali biking trip, visibility dips as we enter a cloud layer and thick fog, which clears up only before the pass. It is often a surreal experience to emerge out of fog and into the bright sunshine at the height of the pass.
Rohtang Pass is often covered with snow till the month of June and is a bustling tourist spot. There is no accommodation here and visitors drive out before the day’s end. Travel agencies hosting mountain biking trips in Manali often drive cyclists all the way up to the pass in a vehicle for a breezy downhill bike ride back to the valley.
Our Manali to Leh biking adventure, however, takes you beyond the pass and into the Lahaul region which precedes the beginning of the Great Himalayan Mountain Range. Thereafter begins the extreme mountain biking over some of the highest motorable passes in the world. In and of itself, Manali is a good enough destination for a biking adventure at lower altitudes. The roads are smooth, the climate is pleasant, and the landslides aren’t as frequent as in the higher elevations. Besides that, Manali offers excellent opportunities for adventure sports such as river rafting, paragliding, angling, birdwatching, and mountain trekking.
CYCLING IN INDIA has the expertise and wherewithal to cover the best biking trails of Manali. The routes chosen are relatively easy and pass through picturesque locations with breath-taking sights.
So, if you are a biker looking for an adventure that doesn’t demand extreme endurance, a cycling holiday in Manali is the answer.
