Jan 8 ,2009- We had our lunch in a hurry and got ready as we headed to out (me, Rags , Praddy and Kamikaze rushed out to meet the 11 others on a trip to Manali and whereabouts). We rented 2 cabs- a tata sumo and a chevrolet tavera. We started at around 2.30 PM from NIT and started on our long journey. I was lucky to get the middle of 3 occupiable rows in the cab. We then proceeded for some distance and then stopped as the other cab had to undergo some repairs. ( around 1.5 hrs were wasted ). Then we proceeded till long throught the night until we came across a long deep underground tunnel. The engineering marvel had to be appreciated as the whole tunnel was carved from a single mountain. We took some snaps and then proceeded further to our destination. We then reached a place called Mandi at around 9.30 PM – the place where an IIT is coming up. Then finally we reached Manali- our destination at around 12.30 am in the night and slept peacefully in our dens.( a nice hotel for tourists with a tv and running hot water). Three people were in each of the 5 rooms which were actually meant for 2. Individually , we each payed around Rs.160/- for 2 days(which is damn cheap). 

 Jan 9,2009- We got up at around 8 AM, went to a nice decent hotel and had our breakfast. As we are ethnique south, we just tried a hand on dosa as we wanted to know if they can prepare the south dishes good too. All i can say is they didn’t do it bad. But the onion parantha was good though. Then we walked around a mile and a half and climbed some 75 zig zag ascending steps to visit the Hadimba temple. ( According to mythology, Hadimba is the asura married to Bheema and the mother of Ghatotkach). We had a good time there and then went to a museum where we saw artifacts and items of historic himachal significance. As we walked back , we realized that we were walking in beauty indescribable here. Paradise, scenic beauty with its snow capped trees and orange and red trees donning unparalled whiff of God’s own country. Those people who are in awe of Switzerland better take a trip here too.  Manali is one such place.Then we returned and took a long trip on the cab to Solang valley. The journey was a long 3 hr one but it was the one to be  permanently etched in our minds. The roads to this were snow laden and the mountains were snow capped which had us staring with raw awe and had our cameras clicking. We then unarguably had one of the best times of our lives, once we reached there, we payed Rs.150/- for renting some protective snow clothing which included thick leather boots. We then walked uphill on thick snow paths where vehicles weren’t accessible. A large ground was in view and people were playing all kinds of sports. We tried our hand on skiing. I fell down 2 times at the start, but boy, once I got the hang of it , I enjoyed it like anything. I mean anyyyythinggggg. My hands started to pain a little from vigorous pulling and my back started to hurt from the supposed posture I was maintaining. Then we tried our hand on tube- slide, 2 persons were made to sit on a tube and then pushed from a steep incline of the snow mountain. We had unbelievable fun here. As Vijay(a senior) and myself made our way to the bottom from the top of the incline , he was pushed out of the tube due to some bumps in the incline. Then I fell out of the tube at high speed and slided in the ice for around 20 feet. Luckily, neither of us were hurt or even scratched thanks to the protective clothing. Then we did some mountain climbing. We spent a lot of time there and finally as dusk was approaching, we made our way back to our  cribs.

Jan 9,2009- 8 am- We didn’t have our breakfast as we started out earlt for Manikaran- a place known for its natural hot water springs. We had some chowmein for Rs.20/- on the way . The roads to this place were very beautiful. We then reached Manikaran in the afternoon at around 4pm and had an amazing bath at the hot spring. We then went and had free food inside the Gurudwara. Nice food. And one thing I like most about these Gurudwaras is that many of them give free food as well as some give free lodging as well. We then went inside the Shiva temple and then saw some exquiste places where the steam was oozing out of the hot unbelievably hot spring.( The temple was built around some of these place). We then took some recluse inside a hot cave. Slowly , we approached the end of an amazing trip – wait , not amazing- a legendary trip. The trip cost each of us around Rs.1700/- including around 950 bucks for the cab.

         We then started at around 6.30 pm in the evening and returned to NIT at around 12.30 am on Jan 10, 2009… What an exhirilating trip!!

Summer is here.. Want to beat the heat? Then why not chill out at Corner House, one of the Garden city Bangalore’s favorite ice cream parlors !! Last month, my bro took myself and my cousin to Corner House in Sheshadripuram, and man !! Did i love it or what… i just digged it!! It was really worth it and the variety of ice-creams that they have is simply amazing.. The service is fast and quite good. The ambience is fine and you have to really try it if you are staying in Bangalore.. The prices are affordable and you needn’t shell out much money if you aren’t going there on an empty stomach.. Hey but once you have tried it, the next time you would be going there hungry so that you can have a feast there.

Now it seems that there is not much room for ice-creams in your stomach as the weather here in Bangalore is rather overcast… However it is worth a try and believe me you will not regret it..

There are quite a number of outlets in Bangalore and you can really have easy access to it either by looking it up on the net or use your yellow pages.. Don’t miss out on Bangalore’s favorite ice cream parlor!!!