Bus Trip from Manali to Keylong

In the cold morning wrapped in a shawl before sunrise cupping a hot metal cup filled with chai we waited and waited and waited for our 4 o'clock HRTC bus , typical Indian style. Whilst waiting we plotted a plan of how to get seats on the bus as there was now a large crowd of people waiting for the bus. The plan was basically; me and Suhas would run onto the bus, him at the front and me at the back then Guru would put the bags on the roof of the bus and tie them. The plan seemed air-tight with no loopholes. Though, when the bus finally arrived at Manali one hour late we ran onto the bus only to find it was already full, oh no, an 8hr bus journey standing on an HRTC bus.

We managed to find a small area to cram into holding onto a pole and were paying for our tickets (170Rs each - equivalent of about 2pounds 30pence) when the bus came to a stand-still and although chai-breaks are fairly regular, 5 minutes into the journey and not even left Manali, this seemed strange.

A short discussion with the driver confirmed that the bus had a flat tyre and we would have to wait an hour for the mechanic to open the shop we were parked outside to fix it. Whilst we waited there was a beautiful sun-rise behind a stream and the mountains in the background. I had a chat with a French man who had been in India three times before and had come back with his co-worker Marie, both music teachers, to do some volunteer work at a school in Delhi teaching the children the basics of playing an instrument. They had been on the bus for 12 hours already and Jerome seemed to thrive slumming it on HRTC buses and admitted he loved it. Marie didn't seem so keen and when she got off the bus Jerome called out "Marie! Ca va?" and the look she gave him confirmed she was not enjoying the scenario at all.

After having a look at a stream, I was shocked to see the man that was sitting near me on the bus walk down and crouch down and empty his bowels right in front of us, knowing everyone was watching. Some things in India I just can't get used to and this is one of them.

Finally, the shop opened and the mechanic got to work, with a group of Indians who obviously had never heard the term 'a watched kettle never boils' observing like hawks as he removed the wheel, got a new one prepared and put that on the bus. He then decided it would be best to do the front wheel as well as the back so the process was repeated.


At last, with all wheels ready for action and the mechanic paid 300Rs we set off again on the bumpy, winding roads ascending the Himalayas. Crammed in like sardines in a tin can it was less than comfortable sitting on the floor of the bus.

A few chai stops later and we reached Rhotang Pass and a large land-slide meant we had to all vacate the bus and woth our heavy bags hike up a grassy mountain. With sweat pouring from us we all slowly climbed the mountain and a middle-aged woman would not stop complaining in Hindi. The conductor was hilarious and he was being very cheeky to her and telling her "it would do her a lot of good" and "she should be in the gym anyway". By the end of it her daughter and even the lady herself had to laugh. when we reached the top of the grass mountain we stopped for a break and the view was breath-taking. Being amongst such large mountains on all sides makes you realise you are nothing but a pin-prick in this world, with such landscape, very humbling. We sat in silence looking at the view for about 15 minutes then continued to the other bus that was waiting to collect us 1 km away. It was a mud-path and with the altitude it was hard to walk with our bags, every step is harder than usual and ahead there was a truck that had nearly been pushed over the edge of Rhotang Pass were the mud-slide had occured. At this point we had to run through the mud that resulted from the slide in-between cars trying to do the same. I was determined to get a seat on this bus so despite my body desperately wanting to stop I continued to rush.

When we reached the bus there were seats available right at the back and after tying my bag to the roof of the bus I got on and fell asleep. With the bumpiness of the journey sleep was disturbed an hour later and despite a puking baby and a sleazy man beside me the rest ofthe journey was rather pleasant with beautiful scenery.


Finally reaching Keylong, 10 hours after my journey began I had time to take one photograph from the window of the guest-house before I fell asleep and slept like a baby till the following morning.

Just your average HRTC bus journey really!!!