Some best Indian road trips: Delhi-Manali

New Delhi: If you want to beat the scorching heat of Delhi, you must tour a hill-station. Geographically, Delhi is situated at a place from where one can go to hill-stations of Himachal and Uttarakhand easily. One famous and easily accessed hill-station of Himachal Pradesh is Manali. Manali is situated at a height of 6,726 ft above the sea level and 580 kms from Delhi. If you start your journey early in the morning you can reach Manali within 12 hours. As the fuel prices are high in Haryana, Punjab and Himachal as compared to Delhi. It is advisable to fill up your car's tank from Delhi and then refuel it in Ambala which is in the vicinity of Haryana-Punjab border.• National Highways are marked by yellow sign on top of the milestones and marked with green if it is a state highway.From Delhi, you need to get on National Highway-1 which will take you to Ambala. Because of the 4-lane Highway, you can cover the stretch of 200 kms in just 3 hours. In between the journey, you can stop at any Dhaba of Karnal which is 120 kms from Delhi to have a breakfast. There is a Lake ‘Karni' which is a famous spot for travelers on this route.There are many Dhabas as well as food-chains of Barista, Subway, McDonalds and Café coffee Day along the route to Chandigarh.After crossing Ambala, head straight on NH-1 instead of going on NH-22 to Chandigarh till you reach the right turn for Kharar as it will save you from traffic congestion on Ambala-Chandigarh highway. But if you want to visit Chandigarh you can take NH-22 which will take you to Zirakpur and then take NH-21 to Chandigarh. It will be an hour drive from Ambala. From Chandigarh you can take NH-21 for Manali.After reaching Kharar, you can get on Nh-21 which will take you all the way to Manali. The distance from Kharar to Manali is 288 kms which will take about 6 hours to cover. The hilly road will start from Swarghat. During the journey you will pass by Bilaspur, Sundernagar, Mandi and Kullu. You can stop in between the journey for having Maggi, Snacks, Tea or Coffee. There are some Dhabas who serve Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian food at reasonable prices. Just 15 kms short of Kullu, there is a place called Bajaur known for Basheshwar Mahadev Temple. Then after that you can take a right from Bhuntar and get on the Manikaran road if you are a trekker and go to kasaol which is situated in the Parvati valley on the banks of Parvati River. This place is a hotspot for trekkers and you can stay at Turquoise Kasol Lodge which has rooms, Coffee shop and restaurant providing various cuisines.On reaching Kullu, you can go to temples if you are religious person. In fact, Kullu is known for temples. Kullu is famous for its Shawls that are made from natural fibers, sheep wool, angora etc. There are many age old temples like Bijli Mahadev temple, Raghunath temple, Maha Devi tirth temple, etc. Kullu is situated on the banks of Beas River and you can camp at the Himachal tourism camping site in Raison on Kullu- Manali highway. You can go to Beas view restaurant for having a good meal as this restaurant is famous for its food on the Kullu-Manali highway. If you want to go to the old capital of Kullu that is Naggar then you have to leave the NH-21 and get on State highway MDR-29. Naggar is situated 22 kms short of Manali. It is known for Nicholas Roerich Art Gallery, Gauri Shanker Temple, Tripura Sundri Temple and Vasuki Nag Temple.When you reach Manali, you can go to Hidamba Temple or near to it there is an amusement park. Manali is mainly attracted by tourists who want to go to Rohtang Pass. But there is Vashisht temple where you can go to get the blessing of God Manu and have a hot water bath in the spring. There are 3 newly built Tibetan Monasteries from where you can buy carpets and Tibetan handicrafts but bargain to 50% of the quoted prices is must. Then you can get to the Manali Sanctuary to spend some time in between flora and fauna.