Trip To Manali 2.0

[allhyundaicars]

I didn't even know I was going to Manali a day before this travel. I was confused between going to Mcleodganj or Manali and I am so glad that I chose the latter and enjoyed Manali in a total different way than the last time.

This time I took the Brezza and it was a much comfortable ride because of the automatic gearbox. It also had other problems , more on that later.
Reached Manali in 13 hours with two breaks. I drove the first 5 hours then my wife drove for 2 hours and I completed the rest of the journey.

Started at 6:30 Am.

Some pics of the highway.

Mandatory stop at the Lakeview Hotel in Bilaspur. The food is so-so but the location is amazing.

Reached the hotel at 7:30 pm
Hotel Name - Idylicc Inn. We again stopped at this beautiful budget homestay which wonderful apple orchids all around.
No point staying near Manali Mall road.

Some pics of the tasty food that they served during our stay.

With the right setting you can also catch the milky way galaxy. Tried it with my OP8.

 

[allhyundaicars]

I won't be adding day by day iternary. Will upload pics of the places I visited.

Walk to the Dream village cafe. A lovely place and should not be missed.

Went to Gulaba checkpoint. After this the road is blocked which goes to Rohtang pass.

I went there twice. On the second visit there was snow didn't go all the way above on my second visit since road was slippery. And as soon as the car slipped the second time I saw a safe place to make a U-turn and enjoyed the available snow. No point taking risks.

 

[allhyundaicars]

This was the weather forecast I saw before going to Manali and still decided to go. The bad news was when it was raining in manali, it was snowing in Rohtang pass and near the tunnel so the tunnel was closed for 5 whole days before it was opened.

And glad that I didn't miss this place. Pictures don't do justice to this place. No amount of words can describe this wonderful road and the mountains. Sure guys who have covered Leh can get to know my feeling.
Manali - atal tunnel - keylong - koksar - manali

 

[allhyundaicars]

Some more pictures clicked.

 

[allhyundaicars]

Restraunts tried this time. We had two meals a day at the homestay itself and other times tried a few restraunts.

1. Lazy dog lounge, old Manali.
Good cafe with nice views and decent food.

2. Chopsticks Restaurant , Manali Mall road.
Amazing taste plus very good portion. A must try. Sadly no pics. I was too busy eating the wonderful food they served.

3. Cafe 1947
Didn't have 4/6 items that I wanted. Expensive for what it offers. Don't visit.

 

[allhyundaicars]

Some things about the car.
1. It was a comfortable ride and I was able to drive 11 hours easily without getting tired.
My last trip was in the Elantra and even though at that time also I drove for 10-11 hours I was really tired because of the bad roads plus using the manual gearbox and the clutch.

2. Because of better GC I didn't pay much heed to the potholes like I did before with the Elantra.

3. The AMT sucks big time
I gave the car to my wife at the beginning of the hills and I was constantly bugging her as to why is she driving so slow on slopes. The reason was the damn gearbox won't downshift to 2nd when needed. It stayed engaged in the 3rd gear with RPM hovering near 1.1K. so you can imagin how slow the car was going.
Had to use manual mode most of the time to accelerate on slopes.

4. The engine power too is bad. If there were 4 people in the car my review of the car would have been totally different. I am sure there would have been more manual gear changes in that case making the drive tiresome. So due to the fact that there were only two people the car performed fine.

 

[350Z]

Note: Thread now live from TIP Zone. Thanks for sharing yet another wonderful travelogue.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[SandeepJohn]

Thank you for the picture filled post on your trip.

 

[gearhead2]

A bit late in the day I agree, but what a lovely photologue ! - very reminiscent of our own extended love affair with Naukuchiatal.

 

[gearhead2]

Some things about the car.
1. It was a comfortable ride and I was able to drive 11 hours easily without getting tired.
My last trip was in the Elantra and even though at that time also I drove for 10-11 hours I was really tired because of the bad roads plus using the manual gearbox and the clutch.

2. Because of better GC I didn't pay much heed to the potholes like I did before with the Elantra.

3. The AMT sucks big time
I gave the car to my wife at the beginning of the hills and I was constantly bugging her as to why is she driving so slow on slopes. The reason was the damn gearbox won't downshift to 2nd when needed. It stayed engaged in the 3rd gear with RPM hovering near 1.1K. so you can imagin how slow the car was going.
Had to use manual mode most of the time to accelerate on slopes.

4. The engine power too is bad. If there were 4 people in the car my review of the car would have been totally different. I am sure there would have been more manual gear changes in that case making the drive tiresome. So due to the fact that there were only two people the car performed fine.

That is a major grouse with the AMT - one does get to rest the left feet most of the time, but ......

 

[allhyundaicars]

That is a major grouse with the AMT - one does get to rest the left feet most of the time, but ......

I just came back from spiti valley and had a terrible experience again with the car. Will make a separate thread.

 

[gearhead2]

I sympathize totally. An improperly sorted AMT can be far worse than a normal manual. From the media feedback a fair number of people appear to think that their particular car is under-powered - which is unusual for a very popular Maruti product. On paper the AMT mechanism looks straight forward and good, but it has obviously not translated well on to the shop floor. I look forward to your updates on the issue.