Hitchhiking in India: Sarchu and arrival in Manali

4^th of June, 2023.

Hitchhiking in India: Sarchu and arrival in Manali

Next morning, very early, the ladies are up and ready to start serving the people with some chai and food. Yep! Chai and not butter tea anymore. Yay!

They offer me some chai and ask what I would like to eat. How seat! They know I have no money, of course. So, I tell them that a simple omelette will do. That’s what most of people are getting anyway. And it’s great!

Now with the sunlight I can see how small Sarchu is. It is basically some chads and tents for accommodation, but also some containers and some small buildings all together in a valley, surrounded by the hills. It is a very strategic rest point on the Leh-Manali highway.

I walk to the outskirts of it, and end up at another barricade. They tell me the road is blocked. Fifth! Or sixth? I’m losing count already… There are already a few cars around, and they are all being checked. I ask in all of them, but I get nobody going to Manali who would take me.

Luckily, the police officers tell me I can walk to the next barricade, about one kilometre ahead as I can see it, because there are already quite a few cars there, so I can ask them.

After a few “noes”, I come to a car with three young people, and a puppy. They say they can take me to Manali, and start trying to make some space for me. Because they were also camping and travelling for a while, they have quite a lot of stuff. Plus, the puppy. And plus, my huge backpack. I tell them not to worry too much, that I will keep trying to find someone going to Manali, and if I cannot find anyone, then we can try, perhaps, squeeze altogether.

After a few more “noes”, I come across an expedition. They say I should ask the man in charge. And he is by the barricade. Once in there, I ask around and I finally find him. He is a nice man. Young too. He says it’s fine and they can take me all the way to Manali. Yay! Once the road is open. Ahhhh…

He and some other people are trying to get into an agreement with the police officers. Or just trying to understand why do we need to wait such a long time until the road is open. What we get as information is that, a certain number of cars has left the other side early this morning, and until all those cars reach Sarchu, we are not allowed to go. Curious.

I don’t remember exactly how many hours pass. Perhaps three or four. Perhaps five. Middle time, I sit and chat with some of the people in the excursion. The nice people from the other guy, and the puppy, also join us. Richi invites me to come and spend some days with them in Manali, so I can rest from these crazy days I have had from Jammu and Kashmir all the way here. Yep, I surely need it!

I know this road block sucks! But at the same time, it is such an interesting experience, you know? Being here, stuck in the idle of nowhere, with all these people who I don’t know, and I am the only foreigner… It is very peculiar!

When they finally open the roads, another issue: the guys from the excursion need gas. Like a lot of gas. It is not that easy to find it here. I don’t know if it is always like this, or it is due to the road blocks. After all, being such a strategic point, Sarchu should be a place not only for rest but also to refill everything.

While they are deciding about the fuel, they also make arrangements about in which car will I come. They have two pick-ups and two regular cars. They have got a lot of stuff and luggage, so my backpack goes in one of the pick-ups, and I come along with a couple and another guy. I know this will sound silly, and probably even ungrateful, but I don’t have the name of their expedition company.

I chat with them but mostly with the lovely lady sitting in the back with me. She is constantly travelling too, and some awesome travels, but she is still very much surprised about my travels. They all are! She gives me different snacks that she brought for the trip and they didn’t need it, including some homemade ones. That’s so nice of her! And I eat some of them on the way because I have had only that omelette in the morning and now it’s afternoon time already.

We stop for tea at some point. I meet the other members of the excursion, including an adorable doggy! Everybody is very friendly!

We pass through some massive snow walls! Like two or even three metres high! We also pass some dark land places, where the soil is so black, and with the snow over it evenly, that it reminds me of a huge Oreo cake. It’s probably just because I was hungry.

We catch a lot of rain when we are getting closer to Manali. And we arrive there when it’s night time already. What a surprise! But at least the rain stopped. Well, slightly.

I got the directions of how to get to the Richi’s place, and I walk there. In order to do so, I must cross through the Old Town. Kind of. I don’t feel really great because I know that everybody will think I am just another backpacker in Manali. The town is very popular among backpackers coming to India.

Even though I should be dying by now, and for some many different reasons, I actually feel quite energetic! It’s not a short walk to their place, and it is a lot uphill. I ask for some water in a fancy restaurant, and cross some dark small streets. When I finally reach a small shop where I should ask about the guys’ place, they have just arrived from their trip. Yay!

We walk altogether to their place. It is a walk through nature, following nothing else but a track. It’s dark and we cannot see much, plus it is edging a valley. But after some good fifteen minutes we arrive safely and sound.