Manali Tourism

A popular tourist destination at 570km from New Delhi and 280km from Shimla, Manali is the northern-most town of Himachal Pradesh's Kullu Valley. Situated on the national highway that leads to Leh, Manali is also the gateway to the remote and desolate valleys of Lahaul and Spiti. According to Hindu legend, it was named after the sage Manu after he steered a boat of survivors to safety here during a great flood. In present times, the town was first 'discovered' by the hippies of the 70s and 80s. Later, in the 90s, domestic tourism to Manali got a fillip owing to insurgency in Kashmir. It caught the public's imagination and was soon a legitimate boomtown, eventually growing far beyond its original village size. Today, much of the main town centre, which is based around its bus terminal, is a hotchpotch of thoughtless construction, an overcrowded bazaar and copious amounts of litter, much like