Manali Travel Guide

[Prasham]

What grades of rapids can one find near Manali? Say around september beginning.

[tsk1979]

I would like to put forward and alternate Manali Delhi route, which is more scenic, less traffic and has more of 4 lane NH1
Normally people do this
Delhi-Chd-Ropar-Manali
Alternate route is as follows
1. At ambala do not take diversion to chd, instead proceed towards Amritsar
2. Cross the Shambhu toll check post into punjab, if your vehicle is diesel fill up at the second BP pump(its a huge pump) on the left after toll post. Diesel is cheapest in PB, and that pump is among the best in punjab.
3. Carry on all the way to Doraha. How will you know you have reached Doraha? Well on the left there will be a big McDonalds. Doraha comes after Khanna and is the last major town before Ludhiana
4. At doraha there is a flyover over the canal, don't climb that, instead take the narrow bylane on the left and proceed for 200mts till you reach the canal.
5. Take right turn, and drive longside the canal all the way to ropar. Excellent scenic road is bad in some patches but mostly devoid of traffic and a hoot to drive
6. Reach Ropar city. Here its a bit tricky. You come across a barrier sort of thing through which trucks cannot pass. A very narrow road crosses the canal into the city towards left, but you have to take right there, hit the main road(30mts), take left go a few hundred meters, and take right across the railway crossing to merge with Chd-Manali road.

Why is this route better?
Consider the travel times
1. Ambala-Chd = 1 hour
2. Ambala-Doraha = 50 minutes
3. Doraha-Ropar=1 hour
So you save 20 minutes and instead of driving on single road and traffic infested roads you drive on dual carriageway for the first part, and a little used excellent canal road on the second leg!

Detour Number 2:
This can be taken by both Chd-Ropar people and other route people since it comes after Ropar.
A few kms after ropar you come at a toll gate of NHAI where they charge 10rs. The road after the toll gate is horrible. Why do people take that road? Because you bypass two railway crossings.
However if you are not running short of time, don't take the toll road. Instead take the left to the canal just before toll gates. Often the toll fellows put stones on the left road so that people are forced to take toll road(its illegal to put stones like this).
So you may be wondering why should you take a road which has 2 railway crossings(its actually same railway track)?
The reason is that you can see a canal crossing a river on a bridge. Parallel to your road the canal flows, on the way is a river, and they make the canal go over the river on a bridge. Its one of the coolest things you will see. Amazing scenic route.

[akshay4384]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

I would like to put forward and alternate Manali Delhi route, which is more scenic, less traffic and has more of 4 lane NH1
Normally people do this
Delhi-Chd-Ropar-Manali
Alternate route is as follows
1. At ambala do not take diversion to chd, instead proceed towards Amritsar
2. Cross the Shambhu toll check post into punjab, if your vehicle is diesel fill up at the second BP pump(its a huge pump) on the left after toll post. Diesel is cheapest in PB, and that pump is among the best in punjab.
3. Carry on all the way to Doraha. How will you know you have reached Doraha? Well on the left there will be a big McDonalds. Doraha comes after Khanna and is the last major town before Ludhiana
4. At doraha there is a flyover over the canal, don't climb that, instead take the narrow bylane on the left and proceed for 200mts till you reach the canal.
5. Take right turn, and drive longside the canal all the way to ropar. Excellent scenic road is bad in some patches but mostly devoid of traffic and a hoot to drive
6. Reach Ropar city. Here its a bit tricky. You come across a barrier sort of thing through which trucks cannot pass. A very narrow road crosses the canal into the city towards left, but you have to take right there, hit the main road(30mts), take left go a few hundred meters, and take right across the railway crossing to merge with Chd-Manali road.

Why is this route better?
Consider the travel times
1. Ambala-Chd = 1 hour
2. Ambala-Doraha = 50 minutes
3. Doraha-Ropar=1 hour
So you save 20 minutes and instead of driving on single road and traffic infested roads you drive on dual carriageway for the first part, and a little used excellent canal road on the second leg!

Detour Number 2:
This can be taken by both Chd-Ropar people and other route people since it comes after Ropar.
A few kms after ropar you come at a toll gate of NHAI where they charge 10rs. The road after the toll gate is horrible. Why do people take that road? Because you bypass two railway crossings.
However if you are not running short of time, don't take the toll road. Instead take the left to the canal just before toll gates. Often the toll fellows put stones on the left road so that people are forced to take toll road(its illegal to put stones like this).
So you may be wondering why should you take a road which has 2 railway crossings(its actually same railway track)?
The reason is that you can see a canal crossing a river on a bridge. Parallel to your road the canal flows, on the way is a river, and they make the canal go over the river on a bridge. Its one of the coolest things you will see. Amazing scenic route.

Tanveer are you sure it is possible to do Ambala-Doraha in 50 minutes???,since it is like 90kms from Ambala
I have been Riding/Driving almost every 10 days since a few months now.
and 50 minutes is possible only if you go flatout at speeds in excess of 120km/hr that means you need to average above 85Km/hr which is very difficult keeping the current road conditions in mind.

[tsk1979]

After shabmu border you can sustain 100kms/hour for long intervals in cars. Of course bikers will do the said route in 80 minutes or so.
Ambala Ludhiana takes 2 hours, and I guess doraha will be 70 minutes and not 50 with slower driving.

[akshay4384]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

After shabmu border you can sustain 100kms/hour for long intervals in cars. Of course bikers will do the said route in 80 minutes or so.
Ambala Ludhiana takes 2 hours, and I guess doraha will be 70 minutes and not 50 with slower driving.

Yes it actually depends on how you ride/Drive,70 minutes should be more like it with decent driving in a 4 wheeler.
I did Ludhiana- Ambala in 1 hr 28 mins in june with speedo readings mostly between 105-130 for 80% of the stretch.

[tsk1979]

But I guess this routes still saves time because Ambala Chd route has lots of traffic, and NHAI constructions etc., I think chd is 1 hours from ambala due to the mess created by NHAI. Once the flyovers are complete I think the chd route will be much better.
there is another route through Sirhind-Morinda which is the shortest and fastest route, but unless you know the area it not recommended because of lack of signboards

[mountaintrekker.india]

Is Sirhind-Morinda route an alternate to Amabala-Chandigarh highway ?

if yes, explain.
if no, is there any alternate route till the usuall highway is complete?

[akshay4384]

Another option, just before the shambhu toll there is a right turn,that takes you to Banur, which is 17kms,and you come to lights of Zirakpur-Rajpura Road.
Keep going straight and after 25Kms you Land on Nh-21,this is the shortest route,but road is small and broken at quite a few places upto Banur

[akshay4384]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

But I guess this routes still saves time because Ambala Chd route has lots of traffic, and NHAI constructions etc., I think chd is 1 hours from ambala due to the mess created by NHAI. Once the flyovers are complete I think the chd route will be much better.
there is another route through Sirhind-Morinda which is the shortest and fastest route, but unless you know the area it not recommended because of lack of signboards

Yes this Route is also better,I got lost on this route this june while coming back from Ludhiana late at night,and on this stretch,me and my friend didnt even come across a single soul apart from cops who stopped us thinking us to be drug peddlers,infact they even asked to just Rip through this stretch and not to stop anywhere

[tsk1979]

The alternate route I explained is a scenic route, but will save only some time.
For shortest and fastest route, refer to map attached below. The route is marked in black, and except for a small stretch inside sirhind city, the route is good with nice road.
There are hardly any good signboards, so don't take it at night lest you have to ask for directions.
Esp the Morinda Rupnagar part is very tricky.
you can go via Kurali(immediately after morinda town you come at Verka Milk booth and road for Kurali is to left). But this route is longer, and you encounter 2 railways crossings
Alternatively you can ask in Morinda for the direct road to Ropar. This goes through village roads, good empty state highway where you can drive at good speeds.