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A room with a view.....Hotel Glacier Resorts , Manali

No trip is complete unless you have a nice place to stay. I was lucky that i had pre booked a hotel in Manali, i had just gone through the website of them and read some reviews on Trip advisor and it was easy for me to go for it.

Hotel Glacier Resorts , Manali

They had sent there cab to pick us from bus stand. some 10min away from bus stand and 5-6 min walking distance from Mall Road. Standing tall above all the Hotels.

My first impression for the hotel was quite impressive, as was expected on a hill station all wooden lobby, and which is most common is that hotel starts from the top floor which is opposite in plain areas.



 



 

I had booked a deluxe room and had asked for a view of the valley. I had no idea that there every room has a view of the valley as it is located on the top and gives a full view of the Manali valley from the up, Apple gardens standing in front adding some more paints to the view.



The day we arrived it was raining . And my idea of a room with view was right on stop. Just on entering the room first thing was to look for a view, and it was amazing. Whole Manali valley in front of me, clouds covering the whole valley like they had come down to welcome us and make our trip memorable and they were right on their task.

 



 

Some hours of our arrival spent in the balcony only enjoying the drizzle, watching water droplets acting as curtain to our room. This room fo mine had suddenly changed into heaven.

Next day was bright sunny day. And this day has its own beauty, i could see whole Manali bathed in sun light, the previous day it was raining and today it was all together a different world.



 

Hotel Glacier , i was confused a bit by the name of it. Generally hotel's name is chosen by some of qualities and i was not able to see any glacier. But today on a bright sunny day, i could link it and they were right in naming it as " Hotel Glacier ". A view of glaciers from every room , something which is the USP of this Hotel.

 



 

A whole line of glacier standing in front of you, beautiful gift from nature, a combination of green and white. What else i would expect from my resting place. A room with a view.....Hotel Glacier Resorts , Manali  giving me an open window to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of Nature.



 

I wouldnt have expected much more than this from my trip, I had my bucket list and all the destinations were right there on my list.

Main local tourist attractions were just walk away from this Hotel which was the best part and saved my lot of money which would have gone on taxi. exceptionally well in their services , neat and clean room with a very spacious bathroom and which i never wanted was not there " Jacusi " as i dint needed it. Food was too good and hygienic, served hot in room but with buffet i was not at all satisfied, and may be the temperature of Manali was playing his part in worsening the situation, no falt of Hotel.

A must choice atleast for me whenever i am going to visit again or i am booking tour of Manali for some client of mine.

 

Roses of Manali : Speechless, cant Describe in words their beauty...

Nature has bestowed his blessings to all places. But somehow i felt in this trip nature has been somewhat a bit partial also to some places. Manali has been blessed with Greenery that at some point you will have to look hard to find a brown spot, river flowing with its full flow and the mountains covered with Snow.

Though being fickle in mind nature plays game also here, sometime its dark clouds and in an hour its a lovely sunny day which pinches.

[caption id="attachment_573" align="alignnone" width="768"] Starting of a rose.. the first stage[/caption]

This nature of Manali has given it lot of beautiful things. And something which i noted most was the ROSES. For me it was like i have seen malnourished roses in my city New Delhi. In a my whole trip i had not seen a single bouquet shop in Manali, may be the whole sole reason was that every house had its own Rose garden so whats the need of gifting a rose bouquet to any, loss of bouquet industry.

[caption id="attachment_574" align="alignnone" width="678"] After 2 days... In Delhi a full grown Rose is like this...[/caption]

From the day one i was suprised to see the size and density of the roses in manali. i had heard of valley of flowers but that is in uttrakhand and i was in Manali which is in Himachal pradesh, i was stunned and curious what valley of flowers would look like if Manali is like this.



 



 

I talked to my hotel staff... they told me that this time they are very less in number because of heavy snow otherwise they would have been double in number. Cant even imagine what scene that would have been.



 

 

I visited club house which has its own rose garden. First view on entering there was a board highlighting in big font " Warning : Plucking of roses is Illegal and will cost a Rs 100 on a single rose ". This board had its meaning as it is necessary to save them otherwise no beauty would be left.



 

I had seen Bougainvillea plants in Delhi with full load of flowers on them, holding thousands of flowers on a single plant. But this was something different, yes it is a rose tree not a plant. I tried to count but it was futile effort as i knew i wont be able to count correctly as density was too high and it was best to enjoy rather than being too intellectual. Atleast some 200 roses on a single tree, and this was not alone, everywhere it was same just colour would be different.

In Delhi if a single rose is their at your home, all the neighbours start asking from where you bought this plant , and the next day question is stopped on its own as rose has fallen from its branch.

[caption id="attachment_566" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Holding multiple roses on a single branch... what a view it was[/caption]

This blog of mine had nothing much to write as somethings cant be explained in words. The beauty which i witnessed in Manali was something which i would like live again and again.





[caption id="attachment_570" align="alignnone" width="1024"] roses : Speechless , cant describe in words[/caption]

Trust me i was dumbstruck at most of the times. Seriously it is hard to narrate my feelings, what i saw there and how beautiful it was.

Roses : Speechless , cant describe in words.... so enjoy the beauty through some of my pics may be could understand my situation.

 

Casa Bella vesta : Wood fired Pizza, This was the time to relish, it was happening first time for me

Last day of the trip, slowly moving towards the end , but i was enjoying every bit of it. La Plaze visit was over and i had moved back to my next and last destination.

Casa Belle Vesta

Was lucky enough that La plaze auto rikshaw has dropped us to club house. Casa Belle Vesta was 10 min away from there. It was going to be a special place for me i knew this, i had visited this place the day before also but that time Green Forest Cafe had robbed the opportunity but i had kept Casa Belle Vesta for the next day and it was the time.



 

First view the way they had clamped the board was impressive.



Built like an Ethnic hilly region mansion, this building had appealed my senses. This place is known for its wood fired Pizza and as said by their staff they consider themselves as the best in India. I was ready to challenge them. Dilemma was to choose the place where i wanted to sit, as both indoor and outdoor sitting area were attracting me to the most. But going with the wind and feeling the winds of Manali for last time i decided to sit outside only.



 

For a second it seemed like artificial from far but on knocking them i came to know they were the real heavy Deodar wood placed as a table top, giving this place a contemporary look. Whole design has been the idea of the couple who owns this place though i was not able to meet them as they had gone out some reason and peeping much into detail was unnecessary as Pizza wont be cooked by them.

Next thing for me was to decide the Pizza. It was bit confusing for me, as they had so much of options to serve. I went for a simple one, Margherita with toppings of Onion,Capsicum and olives.



I was damn excited, as pizza was going to be cooked in front of me only. Yes i am right with my words, here they have this open air kitchen in which they prepare their Pizza and anybody who has ordered can see his dish being prepared. This was the time to relish, it was happening first time for me.



This cook was working there from the start of the Casa Bella Vesta. I was loving his style of work, they way his hands were sprinkling cheese and vegetables and in the beginning the way he tossed the pizza base in air to increase it size. It took him just 2-3 minute to be ready to give a suggestion " Sir if you are going to click pictures then switch on your camera as your dish is going in oven ". He said thousands of clicks i have gone through, anybody who visits here for first time it is a must that he would be standing here with me.



My Pizza was in the wood fired chimney, but dont get confused fire was not underneath the floor, Pizza was placed just a feet away from the fire. It was going to take 8 minutes to be served directly in the plate. It was my mistake i should have recorded a video instead of taking pictures, as i witnessed how the pizza changed its look, though most off must have seen this in microwave oven even i had also but this was something unique.



Temperature inside the chimney was near to 370 degree celcius, hope this explained my situation why i dint clicked the wood being burnt inside as i was getting too cautious about my camera lens. It was too hot there but thanks to cool breeze of Manali i was able to cope up with the situation. 8 minutes were over and without any delay even of a second Pizza was out directly into the plate and was ready to be sprinkled with little bit of Oregano, but i luv oregano so i demanded bit extra of it.



Pizza was served to my table with a fresh pineapple juice which i added later on. Now was the time to take the first bite. Though i am trying to explain but the taste was something , which i would say was felt in my mouth even writing this blog. i can still remember its softness though being a thin crust pizza which is generally crispy in mouth. I have always been fan of Pizza hut but this time it had taken a back seat and i would say every time i would be comparing Pizza hut's pizza with this Pizza in future and expect them to surprise me bringing a better Pizza than this one. Just a simple Cheese Margherita with very simplest of add on would turn out to be so good, i had never expected. How could i forget the fresh Pineapple juice. Most of the times tinned juices are served by the name of fresh juices even in 5 star hotels but at Casa Bella Vesta it was direct from the juicer freshly churned out.

This much of pleasure, such a nice place to sit and eating best of Pizza in India, yes till now i had accepted this that i had lost the challenge and they were right with every word of them, this pizza was the best in India atleast what i have eaten till now. This much of thing costed me only some Rs 250 which if i compare with any other restaurant or big chains of Pizza available in Delhi would be only a fraction of their amount they would have charged me.

It took an effort for me and my wife to finish this Pizza as it was too heavy also. Still we had some time to leave for the bus stand so we kept on sitting there. As usual time to click some more pictures.



Casa Bella Vesta is also a Lodge. One can find a very posh rooms or cottages there though being bit costly but every penny spent is worth the place. This building was almost a look alike of the main building in front, though the front one was only the Cafe and included a small store also showcasing designer clothes.





what to say of Lounge, the best of style, all wooden sitting area, once again all deodar wood heavy just raw table tops.Always has been a fan of ethnic look whether in clothes or jewellery or like this which i saw here in Casa Bella Vesta. Sitting here had its own plus point, here you will have the view of river flowing just road cross of the Casa Bella Vesta which was not in the scene when i sat outside, this thing i realised later but i would say that was much more fun and soothing for me.

Now the time was over, it was the time to say good bye to Manali and proceed for Delhi. We moved from there as we had to pick our luggage also from the Hotel.

Again it was going to be a 15 hr journey, not afraid of hours but its going to be again Volvo and i had to sit in a Air conditioned jail again. But no option.

Bye Manali... we will meet again.

 

 

 

Feel the Beach in Manali... Just visit La Plaze Manali

Day 4 has arrived. Last day for me in Manali, trip was going to end and I had some hours only to cover some of the places which were still still left from Bucket list. Had to catch my bus in the evening and checkout from hotel by 10.00 AM.

I left my luggage with hotel staff and just carried my backpack and umbrella and moved out to explore some more. My first destination was club house,Manali.

I had read about this place in some magazines and I was very curious to go there. I had plenty of time today and just few places to cover so I skipped hiring a car and relied on my legs.Though it was a typical sunny day and a sunny day in hilly region is worse than the summers of Delhi, more chances of getting skin burn. First I reached Club house which was just 1km from my hotel.

Just outside of club house was a board, marking the name of my next Destination. La Plaze just 900 mts from club house. Me and my wife kept on moving towards La Plaze Manali , I had never expected this would be such a nice walk.



 



Walking on the street on the edge of mountains, river flowing on the right and Apple farms on the left, what else would I expect. But I do gave it a thought and I am pretty sure it was not 900 mts which I traveled that day or maybe the heat of the sun had exhausted me like I have travelled miles.

After some 20min from club house I reached LA PLAZE. A restaurant of which I had heard and I was dying to visit and atlast I was there.

 

Simple board outside and a small entry gate, but once entered it was something else. I could the feel the efforts which the owners have put in to make this place as something which would leave its imprints on one’s memory.



 

Built like a cottage home in a European stlye,  a small shed passage leading you to the entry of the main sitting area which comprise of indoor as well as open air sitting. Some 4-5 umbrella were placed in the open area and some 6-7 table sitting in the indoor area.

Two couples sitting and talking in one of the umbrella and on seeing me one of them approached me and welcomed me very warmly. This gesture of them had already impressed me. Though my 1^st words to them were “ Are Sure it is Only 900 mts “ from club house, he said , they have a full time auto rikshaw to give pick up service to people who are visiting La Plaze , pick up point being club house though I was not lucky enough and came by foot only.

Preferred to sit outside only and ordered something to drink and a pasta. Till the time my order is served it was time to click some picks.





 

 

 

Surrounded by Apple farms though no apple was hanging,  snow valley covering the back of the restaurant like a painting and on the right mountain from where huge water fall was flowing. A scene which was serene and calm in itself , I was just loving the location of the restaurant.

My order was to be served and I was roaming here and there just doing the Reiki of the place, there owner Shivani came to  us and invited us for the opening party of this season of them. They had opened this restaurant last year only and they have maintained this tradition to give an opening party to their friends and all. I told them I have to leave today only and wont be able to attend but their gesture had struck me and I was too impressed by this.



We had a long chat, she told me how she planned to open a restaurant in Manali. She runs a restaurant by same name La plaze which means “ The Beach “ in French, its like Feel the Beach in Manali just visit La Plaze. She showed me the inside of the restaurant and how she planned and designed every inch of there, it took her a month to decide the location and height of the Smoke chimney in the main dining hall. She had brought some carpenters specially from Goa who were building a small bamboo shop in the open courtyard, as they carpenters of Manali don’t know how to build from Bamboo so she had arranged some people from Goa.

I spent there and hour or so. I was too much satisfied from my visit there and infact I was too happy that I had chosen this place and my decision to add it in my bucket list was correct.

A place , one must visit if he wants to spend some lovely time with the loveliest of Ambience and a host who makes you feel comfortable like a childhood friend and has known your choices like their own.

Just loved visiting La Plaze….

 

What it feels when you ask why....No VAT...Johnson Hotel & Cafe manali

Visiting a Heritage property is in itself an experience. I had heard a lot about it and i was lucky that this place was just some 5min walk from my hotel.

Johnson Hotel & Cafe has been a land mark of Manali. Since 1917 standing there and maintaining its charm. A hotel built in early 1900 by Col. C.R.Johnson. In the starting was built as a family residence for himself but later on after some decades converted in a hotel. Now it comprises of 4 service apartments each having 2 bedrooms separate dining room and kitchen.



I had heard of this place but it was never in my list to visit there. A walk after dinner could turn into an experience, this must have happened with many and it turned into visit to Johnson cafe for me.

I just wanted to know some about this place so stopped there for a cup of coffee. This visit would turn out so good i never expected.



Had the best of hot coffee, perfectly blended with not a single hitch in making. A single sip had made me so happy that i was giggling and had decided that this single sip deserves a blog.

Had been to many pubs and cafe's in Delhi and this place is not at all below standards if i compare to best of i have visited in Delhi. Struck by its location, its Ambience and service, all being 10 on 10.



Its bar had all the brands of liqour you think off. All wooden architecture , well carved designs and a very elegant wood chimney which was the best thing which attracted me most and i am sorry to say something happened to camera that time and i blurred its pic very badly so couldnt post it here, Mishappenings do happen.



As it was night time so i couldnt roam around much and not being a guest also i didnt even bothered to request for a permission as it was too late when i had reached there.



How could i miss this board while entering into the cafe. But for humanity's sake i do had a click of it for others. I know this would attract a lot of you all guys. But something which is not written here that i would tell you all. "There is no VAT " and its not here only infact in whole manali.

Ya this thing happened with me when i asked for bill and i was looking for VAT charges as we Delhites are used too of paying VAT and the first thing we look in our bill. That day i realised What it feels when you ask why No VAT.

So enjoy guys and do visit this Heritage resort if you plan for manali in future. Best of Hotel,Best of Stay & Best of Liquor....No VAT...Johnson Hotel & Cafe.

Though being quite expensive for a stay but for a short visit to its cafe its a sure must place.

Lets tour

A place which is known as Backpackers paradise

Returning from Manikaran Sahib, it was pre scheduled to stop at Kasol. A place which is known as Backpackers paradise in Manali region other than old manali.

I had decided to stop for a while there when returning back from Manikaran sahib. a place situated just 20min away from Manikaran Sahib Gurudwara.



 

Its location was in itself which was the reason for giving it a tag of Paradise. Known for its night parties of Backpackers had a large number of foreign tourist, typically in backpacker style roaming there.

A very small town located on the bank of river with all the amenities which a backpacker need. I could see there while roaming around. I had not seen so much of backpackers in my whole trip, the number i saw in just 15min of my stay. something which i found, Kasol is very costly place in every sense. Though if one search well and is good in bargaining will get a good deal. But may be i was new there thats why i felt like this otherwise one wont find enough backpackers there if the place is going to be too costly.



 

Had a nice visit of their just doing some window shopping though the shops were without windows. Tried some bargaining also but in the end didnt buy, as much of the things were not needed by me. But still i would rate this place a nice destination for backpackers, a place to must visit and  if your are a trekking person then this place is an ideal stopover.

         You call it a Ghetto or typical home of hilly regions but this what backpackers delight is. I went in and asked for the tariff card which as expected was not available but they do told me there price list. Room started from Rs 800/day and ended at Rs 1500 , but after some 5 min only and trying my bargaining skill i was able to bring them down to Rs 500, may be if somebody is more better would be able to gain more.

Every place has its own pros and cons so was with Kasol. At one side it was too costly and on other side its reach was wide. One would find food joints in ample amount and that too serving almost all which you wish for whether its an Indian delight or looking for something international. I saw one German Bakery there which had so much of varities bread that at a moment i started reading there ingredients but then i thought its going to take hours, so i left.

If one is a backpacker then do visit Kasol.

If one visits Manali then do visit Kasol.

In any sense it is worth to take out time for this place. Just loved my 15 minutes.

Lets see when again.