Days 6, 7, 8 ...

Up we got, late as usual, at 08:00. And we were off to Rohtang Pass/ Snow Point. We got into four mini-buses, each carrying about 10 people, and started the 52 km long drive. The road initially followed the river Beas through Manali Town and then turned to rocky and uneven terrain. The higher we climbed, the colder it got. I was glad for my two jackets and my new cap. We stopped in between to pick up suits that would protect us from the cold at Snow Point, and I tried on about 5 coats, and finally settled for a hideous purple skiing suit. We continued up the rocky uneven road, and started spotting tiny frozen waterfalls, which sometimes overflowed onto the road and froze, making it slippery and dangerous-looking. The view was nothing like any I had ever seen. Simply too many mountains topped with delicious looking snow and sparkling bright in the December sun! We stopped on the way for an early lunch, where we realised how windy and cold it was outside the vehicle. After a lunch of noodles, pav bhaji and dosa, we continued, not before picking up lots of Lays and other munchies.
We arrived at about 12:00 at Snow Point, and it was super-snow-fight- time! I did some skiing, fell about a dozen times, each time bracing myself to hear the snap of bones breaking, (the skiing shoes were hard and came upto the middle of the shin, so if u fell, u risked breaking your legs if u fell on ur skis and couldn't move your legs in time), assuming that they make a noise when they break. Fortunately, I got through the exercise in one piece, and so did everyone else.
Everyone was filling their caps with snow, which was a tough task in itself as the snow wasn't soft adn had to be scraped off the ground, and flung it at their targets. I got a couple of earfuls, and another couple of capfuls down my suit, and of course, returned them with interest :P.
The best part of the visit to the place was, undoubtedly, the snow mobile ride. For 500 bucks, the friendly guy took us to highest point that was reachable, where the snow was soft and felt like sand. We sank knee deep in it and found it impossible to walk. Our guy offered to take photos and we gladly gave him our camera, and the photos turned out to contain only our faces and none of our surroundings :(( How I wish our hands weren't gloved and still frozen!
Anyway, after our jolly ride, we were left with drenched and freezing feet, and sore throats from all the screaming. Some more snow fighting and it was time to head back to Manali. After all the activity, the walk back to the vans was very tiring and we were glad for the warmth of the vehicle.
It was dark by 17:00 and I must say, hats off to the driver for making his way safely back to level ground. His taste for music was very interesting, and we got to listen to many new hindi songs. He also had an english song, i dont remember which one. and there was a local song with quite a haunting tune, that i can still remember; it was about a girl called Dinga Dingi. Funny name, but i dunno, the song took its place in my memory.
We reached the hotel, cold and tired, at about 20:00, changed and got ready for the bonfire. The best part of the bonfire was not the dancing, but the warmth from the fire. The hotel manager, who was our DJ for that night, played some really sad old disco songs and all we could do was wrinkle our noses in disgust. But someone managed to find some familiar songs and everyone was soon shaking a leg or two.
That ended day 6.

Day 7
The longest bus journey ever, from Manali to Delhi. The only things I want to remember of this drive is the beautiful river Beas, whose banks looked so extremely inviting, and muttar paneer and naan at a punjabi dhaba at 23:30.

Day 8
We reached Delhi at 04:00 after a 18 hour journey and were ushered into one Hotel Sunshine. That day, the 5th of December happened to be the day when someone supposedly fired in the air at Delhi Airport. The morning was spent in apprehension, but by the time we decided to skip most of our visit and only do some shopping after visiting India Gate, the news channels weren't even sure if it was indeed a firing. After India Gate and some shopping, we picked up subs for a change and headed to the railway station. Inspite of the rather inhospitable conditions within Himala, a goodbye to the bus and the driver and our tour guide Junaid was in order. That was the end of our tour, and the beginning of our journey back to sweet home Hyderabad.