Ronak, an avid HolidayIQ-er of long standing, is the quintessential travel enthusiast. He writes well and is one of the finest, most prolific photographers the community has. With 6 destination write-ups, 65 photographs and 17 hotel reviews, Ronak is right up there in the HolidayIQ hall of fame.

The active member of HolidayIQ that he has been since 2005, Ronak’s August, 2009 contributions bettered all his previous efforts. With a destination review of Manali and four hotel reviews (all of these written like a true travel pro, complete with photos!), he is the obvious Best Contributor for August.

Manali offers everything a traveler needs, from budget to luxurious stay options, variety for foodies, thrills for adventure lovers and, of course, beautiful scenery & landscapes…

Manali is one place where you need not worry about food as here you can have all types of food from Punjabi, Gujarati, South Indian etc., Sagar (Pure Veg) on The Mall offers good Punjabi & South Indian dishes.

Rohtang Pass, Solang Valley, Hadimba Temple, Vashist Kund are the sites not be missed. One can also visit Old Manali which is a favourite for guests who want to stay for longer duration. While in Manali, one can shop for woollen clothes which are available at good discounted rates.

There are lots of adventure activities one can do in Manali like Zorbing, Skiiing (During Winters only), Rafting (Seasonal), riding a multi terrain vehicle, trekking, and paragliding etc. Most of the activities are conducted at Solang valley. Rafting is conducted on river Beas. Rates are not fixed & depend upon tourist season & off season. There are a number of operators who offer tailor made trekking packages. Antrek Tours & Travels (located on the Mall) is one such operator and is very reliable.

How to Reach: Regular Deluxe & Volvo buses run from Delhi & Chandigarh to Manali. From Delhi it takes around 12 hrs. to reach Manali. There are day time as well as night time buses. One can also opt for a private vehicle. Travel Warning: As in any place in India, fix up charges before hiring a taxi.

Comments
This camp is located in Sarchu, almost halfway on the Manali – Leh highway & is operational only for four months in a year. This place is disconnected from the outer world for the rest of the year & hence the camp needs to be dismantled for the remaining eight months. The camp is located at a high altitude of 4290 Mtrs. & offers stunning views of the surroundings. Since the camp is located at a high altitude be prepared for some symptoms of high altitude sickness, however taking certain precautions during & before coming to this place will help you in enjoying this place. Owners have done a great job in setting up this camp site. All the tents are double bedded with attached toilet & running cold water. Hot water is provided on request in buckets. Limited electricity is made available in the evening for 3 - 4 hrs. through gensets. There are separate dining, cooking & staff tents. Meals served are the best one can provide at such an isolated place. Since fresh milk is not available powdered milk is used for making tea & coffee. Camp site has no means of communication with the outside world. Guest here do not stay for more than one night at this place due to high altitude. Staying at this place has to be experienced once in your life time & remember to keep seeping water (mix some Glucon D / Electral powder) to avoid high altitude sickness.

Best Highlights
1] Soups, Main Course & Desert – This kind of dinner was unexpected at this place, thanks to the staff for providing piping hot dinner.
2] You have nothing else but mountains for you company. Awesome landscape I would say.
3] Good service, courteous staff.

Worst Highlights
1] Hot water is supplied only on request & that too it takes some time to get the supply once you make a request. Also the quantity supplied is too less for us to complete our daily rituals & washing hands & face. Agreed that at such places hot water is a luxury but still a little bit of extra care in the matter will help the guests in enjoying the stay in a better way.
2] Roof of all the tents are in V shape which causes some trouble to its occupants since the height on the sides is very less. We saw other campsites where the roof height was equal on all sides.

Comments
Good interiors, spacious bathroom & excellent service, this is what I will say if you ask me our overall experience at Rafica. After checking out 2 – 3 other hotels in Leh our driver Alibhai led us to this place whose owner was a friend of his. We were showed two rooms Normal Room (Ground Floor – Rs. 700) & Deluxe room (2 nd Floor – Rs. 1000). After seeing the rooms & hearing the specially discounted price we decided to increase our budget a little & opted for deluxe room. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at this place. The rooms are spacious with very good interiors. The wooden interiors keep the room warm even when the outside temperature is chilling. The bathroom is large & enough space is provided for keeping our things & luggage. Hotel staff is courteous & always smiling. We were very much satisfied with their service. They even helped us in getting innerline permits for Nubra Valley & Pangong Tso at a nominal charge. Even our rafting trip (From Chilling to Nimmu) was arranged by them at the same rate as other operators in the market charge. Since the hotel is located just off the main market road all the essential services like Internet Café, STD Booth, Travel agents, good restaurants are located at a walking distance. Overall we were more than satisfied with our stay at the place.

Best Highlights
1] Room interiors are excellent. Wooden finish makes you feel warmer.
2] Service is good; staff is very courteous & always helpful.
3] Their Fresh Lime Soda (Salty) was amazing. We loved it.
4] Since we had to go to Nubra Valley for one night they offered us to keep our excess luggage in the same room we were staying & when we returned our things were there exactly as we had kept it.

Worst Highlights
1] Not exactly worst but the view from the window did not open to a fabulous view as you would expect to see when you are in such a beautiful place.
2] Sometimes we had to remind them to switch on the hot water supply, without which you cannot have bath in Leh especially during Mornings & evenings.

Comments
We were at this place for just one night on our way to Leh from Manali. This room was a part of our Manali to Leh package booked from Antrek tours in Manali. The room given to us was suite room which comes with an additional room along with superb views of the mountains. The hotel is located slightly inside / off the main road & local market is at a walking distance. The rooms are comfortable & clean with a big bathroom. There are large windows in the room so that you can enjoy uninterrupted views of the mountains. If you wish more you can also come out of the room in a small terrace sort of thing from where the views get even better. Our room had a big T.V. with cable. There is a small garden restaurant where guests sit for long hours & enjoy the environment. Food was good & our request for Jain food was handled well. Owner & the staff were very friendly & enquired about our further plan & helped us out with tips as well.

Best Highlights
Awesome views from the room window & terrace.
Big spacious rooms & large bathroom.

Worst Highlights
Personally we did not have any bad experience. But the next morning our driver complained that they made him wait for an hour & half for his dinner & at last told him to have food at some outside restaurant that too at 10.00 PM in the night when all the restaurants are closed.

Comments
HPTDC owned Rohtang Manalsu offers basic accommodation for budget travelers. It is located at a 10 to 15 mins. Walking distance from the Mall road. For around Rs. 400 we got a basic room with attached bath & it was value for money for sure. It has a nice garden with different varieties of flowers. Check in & check out was instant. We were allowed to Check in some 2 hrs. before normal check in time. Room service also was good. They also have Deluxe & Family rooms. Duration of our stay at this place was for just one night (since Manali was only a stopover for us as our destination was Leh) although short but comfortable.

Best Highlights
Nice flowers in the garden & allowing us to check in 2 hrs before actual time.

Worst Highlights
Little bit of coloring / refurnishing interiors would be good for hotel rooms.