We were up at 5.30 for breakfast, packed and ready to go for the long drive back to Manali. It was just as difficult a drive with a stop for drinks near a bridge where there was a flock of Yellow-billed Choughs flying around, a couple of Hill Pigeons and I walked back over the bridge to photograph a couple of flowers.
We made a few more stops for 'rock breaks' and lunch with a longer stop at the Kunzum Pass where we found Edelweiss. As I hadn't got out on the way up I did have a look round this time. There is a stupa surrounded by a fence and lots of prayer flags, which were difficult to photograph as there were odd wires in the way and getting angles was difficult.
Once over the pass we hit the difficult bit of road where there are lots of streams coming down the hillside. As the road is just a level cut from the rocks, these streams just flow across the road or even down it for a while, making it very difficult to negotiate with boulders, rocks and even a large metal pipe at one place. The worst one took about an hour to get through as it causes a bottleneck with cars, lorries and busses all vying for passage through. The four-wheel drives made it easiest, and often pushed through ahead of others. The drivers were very good at helping each other and others by moving rocks and building ramps, but with three cars to get through, it took a while. There were some interesting flowers to look at and the antics were very entertaining even if they got a bit close at times as they surged through the water. One of the busses just charged through, moving a large rock with its front bumper and carrying on regardless.
There were a few other difficult places but we managed to get through due to the careful driving of our drivers and we slowly wound our way through the mountains until we went over the Rohtang pass and began the descent into Manali. We stopped a couple of times for flowers and once Desh, the driver of the car in front, found blue poppies, which two of our cars stopped for. Alongside was an arum and lower down we stopped to quiz a lorry load of wood where there was a pair of Rock Buntings.
We arrived at the Mayflower around 7.00 where Anna and I had the most palatial room, with two triple sized beds in two separate rooms and a bathroom each. Unfortunately, Anna found some small maggots in her bedding and had to get them to change it.
We had a lovely trout and chips dinner before turning in after a long day.
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We made a few more stops for 'rock breaks' and lunch with a longer stop at the Kunzum Pass where we found Edelweiss. As I hadn't got out on the way up I did have a look round this time. There is a stupa surrounded by a fence and lots of prayer flags, which were difficult to photograph as there were odd wires in the way and getting angles was difficult.
Once over the pass we hit the difficult bit of road where there are lots of streams coming down the hillside. As the road is just a level cut from the rocks, these streams just flow across the road or even down it for a while, making it very difficult to negotiate with boulders, rocks and even a large metal pipe at one place. The worst one took about an hour to get through as it causes a bottleneck with cars, lorries and busses all vying for passage through. The four-wheel drives made it easiest, and often pushed through ahead of others. The drivers were very good at helping each other and others by moving rocks and building ramps, but with three cars to get through, it took a while. There were some interesting flowers to look at and the antics were very entertaining even if they got a bit close at times as they surged through the water. One of the busses just charged through, moving a large rock with its front bumper and carrying on regardless.
There were a few other difficult places but we managed to get through due to the careful driving of our drivers and we slowly wound our way through the mountains until we went over the Rohtang pass and began the descent into Manali. We stopped a couple of times for flowers and once Desh, the driver of the car in front, found blue poppies, which two of our cars stopped for. Alongside was an arum and lower down we stopped to quiz a lorry load of wood where there was a pair of Rock Buntings.
We arrived at the Mayflower around 7.00 where Anna and I had the most palatial room, with two triple sized beds in two separate rooms and a bathroom each. Unfortunately, Anna found some small maggots in her bedding and had to get them to change it.
We had a lovely trout and chips dinner before turning in after a long day.
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