We were lucky to get a pass to travel from Mumbai to Manali, where our family has a small house. We hurried to take advantage of this stroke of luck, to get out for the summer from hot densely populated Mumbai to the mountains in the North of India.
Our trip started on may 28, when the fourth stage of the Lockdown 4.0 quarantine in India was coming to an end. By then, we had been at home for about 90 days. We knew that a quarantine center was waiting for us Manali for 14 days, it was a government owned hotel where we were expected to pay, because we were going from the ” red zone “(in Maharashtra, the largest number of cases of coronavirus in India – 62,000 cases) to the” green zone ” (in the Manali region, only 1 case). But we were not afraid of this prospect, we stocked up on everything we needed, including an electric stove and a kettle, and set off. We had to cover more than 2000 kilometers.
Roads now in India – a beautiful exciting fairy tale for any driver. There is almost no traffic, only a small number of trucks. Document checks and travel permits took a short time. We passed through the States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana with the final destination in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The police checked if we had stopped in their state, called their superiors, took our contact information and let us pass – it took no more than 10 minutes at each border. At the same time, they did not come closer than 3 meters to us, and the paper – permission to travel – was never touched and every time they took a photo on their smartphone to read its contents.
Ideal roads, it was possible to keep a stable speed of 100 kmph for hours on end
The permit was pasted on the glass, which greatly helped reduce the time spent communicating with the cops
Jaipur
On the first day, we were able to drive about 1200 kilometers in 14 hours – an unheard-of speed for normal traffic in India! It was a pleasure to go. And at 20: 00, on may 28, we are already in Jaipur, where our friend and partner Shiv was waiting for us – not so long ago, we had the honor to show him Saint Petersburg and Almaty during our promotional tour (October 2019). He managed to put us in a hotel, although technically all hotels in Rajasthan are closed. This one is designed to accommodate medical workers. There were 2 floors dedicated to doctors, with a separate entrance, where even hotel employees are not allowed to enter. We lived alone in another wing of the building, but contact with the hotel staff was only at check-in and at a great distance – even a copy of the documents was sent to the employee of the reception on whatsapp. Breakfast was delivered in a plastic bag to the door of the room – just left there on the table.
In the evening, we were waiting for a home-made Rajasthan dinner – an insanely delicious dish of lamb, known in Rajasthan as Lal Maas. Rajasthan is famous for chili peppers – the one that grows here is the sharpest in India. This is due to the super hot climate – when we were in Jaipur, the temperature was about 43+ celcius. The dish contained atleast 25 chili peppers for three servings, and in addition only garlic and fresh coriander. In this case, the dish turns out to be bright red, that is, in fact, “Lamb in chili soup”. It is very spicy, but amazingly delicious. Unlike green chili peppers, red gives an instant effect, but also quickly passes, and green pepper gives a burning sensation for many minutes. Thank you to our friend Shiv for the warm welcome in Jaipur!
Rajasthani chilly
Leaving Jaipur-the pink city … we will definitely return here when everything in the world normalizes
To the question of food on the highway. There were already quite a few restaurants open, but we didn’t stop anywhere, being careful – we had carried all our food from home for the whole trip. Even toll roads are now paid for using a contactless card, ensuring that our trip was as completely contact-free as possible.
Ambala
The next day we reached the city of Ambala, where another friend, Yashik, was waiting for us. We stayed at his hotel for two nights to get ready for the long quarantine, buy food and rest. At the same time, Yashik gave us a tour of his new project – a five-star hotel under construction and the existing Institute of hospitality (Ambala Institute of Hotel Management), where Indian chefs and hotel managers are trained. Now it is temporarily closed, but we hope that in September in India the situation will normalize, and students will be able to return to training. The hotel itself is scheduled to open in February 2021. Then the project will become unique – students will be able to study and practice in one building – in a real five-star hotel and a Banquet hall for weddings and events for 700 people.
A unique project – a 5* hotel and a hotel management school in one building. Yashik Aggarwal-founder (left)
the hotel will open in a year (on the highway between Delhi-Manali), with a functioning school of hotel managment
Classrooms, bakery
Meanwhile India announced the end of the fourth term of quarantine called Lockdown 4.0 and announced the next-Unlock 1.0. to be honest we did not understand what the difference is, when you cancel some restrictions, others remain, which make the first freedom useless. At least, our documents were thoroughly checked on the roads while heading to the beginning of the new quarantine period.
Ambala City
Manali
Early in the morning of the fourth day of our journey, we set off for the last leg of our journey. We had to drive 8 hours on mountain roads to the final destination – Manali. We were surrounded by beautiful landscapes, fresh cool air, and century-old pine trees around us reminded of a dacha in the Leningrad region. The temperature gradually decreased, and in Manali itself it became only +21-ideal for life.
There is no one on the road….
A village in the state of Himachal Pradesh
Quiet village life – it is not noticeable that there is a pandemic in the world…
Pine forest-landscapes resemble Russia
And now the long-awaited snow peaks calling us.
The border with the States of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh this time took about an hour. We filled out various forms, were examined by a doctor, the police took a long time to check our travel permit and, as expected, assigned us to the state hotel for quarantine. In fact, the distance from the state border to Manali itself is several hours, and no one accompanied us on the way… We could have veered anywhere, but in this situation it is reasonable to be conscious and follow the established Protocol. At the entrance to Manali itself, we were again stopped at a checkpoint, where we spent a long time talking on the phone with one of the local police chiefs (now he calls us every day and asks how we are feeling)
So here we are. The hotel where we will be locked up for 14 days is located in a quiet area of Manali, it has been operational for many years, but the rooms were quite acceptable – after renovation. According to all reviews on the Internet, the staff is very attentive and the cuisine is good. So it turned out. We were given one of the best rooms, we were very worried that they could not help us with our Luggage, which we had quite a lot. Accommodation here is paid for visitors (our case), and free for residents of Manali, as well as food, but quite a reasonable price. We stocked up on our own food, but ordering from a local restaurant is also not very expensive.
According to the rules of quarantine in the state of Himachal Pradesh, including in our hotel-you can not leave the room, contact the hotel staff only by internal phone. The trash can was asked to be put out of the room every morning, and the ordered food was left on the table next to the room, in disposable dishes. The TV works with all international channels, the Internet on the phone catches on full, and the Wifi in the hotel is excellent. In General, despite the need to spend two weeks in a locked room, the mood is great – because from the window you can see the snowy mountain peaks, roses bloom under the window, and birds sing from morning to evening…Well, only 14 days, I hope they will pass unnoticed and usefully. See you soon – in our next posts with stories about the state of Himachal Pradesh.
Our hotel is a quarantine center, a police officer stands in front of the entrance. No one is allowed out, and visitors are not allowed in.
Our home for 14 days
View from the window, Quarantine center in Manali
View from the window, Quarantine center in Manali
Author: Paresh Navani, Russian Information Center in Indida, russinfo.india@gmail.com
