Mission Snow 2025

Koksar Village, Lahaul, Himachal Pradesh, India

Finally, here’re some photos of our recent trip. Only a selected few, because there’re tons! (Hey, it ain’t easy, OK? Especially, when you have a family of trigger-happy smartphone photographers, who’ll take anything, and everything, that’s in the way. And that super-large smartphone storage isn’t really helping).

Anyway, here’s what we set out to do in December (to see snow), and errrrmmm… failed (mostly). (Hey, it’s the weather. I can’t control the friggin weather!)

Mission Objective: Take mother-in-law to see some snow.

Constraints and limits:
- Must be in India (heck, mom-in-law doesn’t have a passport);
- Must be in December (that’s when the kids’ school holidays are);
- Must be affordable;
- Must be comfortable;
- Must not involve strenuous walking or climbing (Ama has a walking problem).
Anymore? Hmmm… I think that’s about it.

And so, Manali’s our destination… (besides, I’ve never been there before, hehe. None of us have, actually. Oh, I’ve been to Himachal Pradesh. In my pre-blogging years, let’s see, 2003, or was it 2004? Toting a friggin ‘film camera’!! Yeah, they existed then. But only to Shimla… So, Manali would be nice!)


Meeting Ama in Chandigarh Airport! Our family of 4 flew from Jaipur (which was where we were visiting), and Ama and sis-in-law, Rekha, flew in from Silchar, Assam, on the same day.


The sisters and their mother, at a roadside stall, with a view point, by the Sutlej River (it’s just labelled ‘View Point’ in Google Maps, duh…). Our first stop in Himachal Pradesh, enroute to Manali, from Mohali, Punjab (where we spent a night in – Mohali is where Chandigarh’s airport is located)


The view point, from the ‘View Point’ dhaba (stall), Sunan, Himachal Pradesh…


Tucking into some Rajma Chawal… a popular local dish, featuring red kidney beans (rajma) and rice (chawal). Yup, that’s it! Rs 100 per plate! At the ‘View Point’ Dhaba


Good morning Manali! ‘Perfect’ weather, clear and sunny… But, didn’t the news say that it snowed here? Yeah, …in November, …a month ago!! Looks like it’s ummmm… all gone now. (I still see some! There, on the mountains). The view from our hotel, Hotel Hollywood, Vashist, Manali, HP


The Beas River… that’s where all them snow ended up in, I guess. The Beas River forms the valley where Manali and Kullu (one of the main tourist areas in Himachal Pradesh) are in… The Beas is a major river in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, and will flow into the Sutlej River (photo above) further downstream in the Indian state of Punjab… A view from the Beas Sangam Restaurant, Palchan (see, snow high up in the mountains…)


Hello! From the Beas Sangam Restaurant, Palchan …this is near the junction to Rohtang Pass (a pass thru the Himalayas). (Our rented car ain’t a 4WD, and the authorities have blocked the Rohtang Pass Road for all, except for local rented jeeps, if you wanna get up there to see some snow. We decided against it. It’ll not be a comfortable ride, and not really convenient for our senior Ama…)


Dread not, let’s head further north, up the mountains… Approaching the Atal Tunnel (aka the world’s longest tunnel above 10,000 feet). It opened in 2020 as an alternative to the Rohtang Pass, cutting short the journey to the other side by 4 - 5 hours!


We’re thru the tunnel. Nope, no real snow here either. Exploring the hillside, near Koksar Village, Lahaul, HP, India


What the heck. It’s still a nice trip! Ama saw some snow… (OK, some old, dusty ones, that we scraped off the sides of the hills, hehe…) But, it ain’t my fault. Snow has been dwindling in the Himalayas, due to climate change (yes, here’s a report, and I believe it’s happening, unlike some doofus of a president who thinks otherwise), and we’ve always known that we’d have a better chance of snow in India, in January and February, but what choice do we have, when the kids have to get back to school!


OK kids, go ahead, you can zipline across to the other side… of the Chenab River


The Chenab River, Lahaul – this is the third major river we’ve seen in this trip alone, in Himachal Pradesh! 3 of Punjab’s 5 rivers! (Punjab’s name means 5 (panj) waters (ab) in Persian, didn’t know that, huh?)


Fancy some Siddu? It’s a Himachali dish, fermented steamed bread… (like the Chinese steamed bao, but with butter and spices. Honestly, I prefer the Siddu to the Bao, ahem, or maybe I was just really hungry at that time). At the BRO Café, between Solang and the Atal Tunnel


One last pic before I end, a hot air balloon at Biastar, Kullu. If you’re the adventurous type, there’re loads of stuff to do here… paragliding, hang-gliding, white water rafting, skiing (if there’s snow, duh…)