Konni & Matt - Perpetual Travellers: 24 Jun

South Asia
Republic of Incredible India, the world's biggest democrazy
Himachal Pradesh
Lahul
Keylong (c. 3,350 m above sea level)
Khandroling Guest House +919418205932

Adequate and reasonably clean double room, with shared bathroom, for only INR 200.- or US$ 4.45 per night. Friendly staff.

Beer: 650-ml bottles of chilled “Godfather Super Strong” (8 % alc./vol.), available for INR 100.- from our guest house.

Click below for an interactive road map of the Khandroling Guest House in Keylong and for directions:

N 32° 34.26' E 077° 02.04'

Overnighting in Keylong, the capital of Lahaul, leaving the majestic but heavily militarised Indian Himalayas the next morning and taking a H.R.T.C (Himachal Road Transport Corporation) Keylong rust bucket (the same worn and rusty but still reliable vehicle with the same virtuoso of bus driver at the wheel as on the previous day) from Keylong via the dangerous and infamous 4,112-m high Rohtang-La Pass, the highest point on the Manali-Keylong road, jam-packed with (i) flimsy Tata 4x4 SUVs, steered by newly rich domestic tourists from New Delhi and Mumbai, and (ii) rugged Tata 2x4 lorries (“goods carriers” and tankers on contract with Indian Oil), steered by turbaned and bearded, exotic looking mahout-turned-truck drivers from Punjab, to Manali (115 km, 6 ½ hours, INR 130.- per person), a major tourist destination for Indian holidaymakers, and taking thereafter a private Kanika bus from Manali to Mandi (110 km, 4 hours, INR 125.- per person), a quaint town with 81 temples, an obscure 17th-century palace and a colourful bazaar, which is huddled on the left bank of the Beas River at the southern end of the Kullu Valley, just below its junction with the Uhl River.