Independent trekking in Manali, Indian Himalayas

Manali is a stunningly beautiful place surrounded by 3 Himalayan 6,000-meter peaks. Organized hikes into the mountains (treks) are very popular here. Not having much money but owning a tent and sleeping bags, we started looking for information about an independent hike in the Manali area.

Rainbow over a mountain valley and the houses of Manali, Himalayas — View from the roof of our guesthouse in Manali

Choosing a route for an independent mountain hike — trekking in the Manali area

Initially we planned to do some medium-difficulty route on our own, but, finding no information or reviews online, we decided to ask the travel agencies in Manali for help. Prices for treks were prohibitively high, but a kind employee at one of them took the time to help us choose and plan our independent hike in the Hampta Pass area. This 5- or 6-day route starts from the small village of Jagatsukh and has overnight stops at Chikka and Seri. The final goal of the route is a visit to the mountain lake Chander Taal at an altitude of 4500 meters (which, as it turned out later, was still frozen at that time).

Route map to Deo Tibba peak and Hamta Pass in the Himalayas, trek outlined in green — Map of our trekking route in Manali, Hampta Pass

We made arrangements with the owner of our guesthouse in Manali, left the stuff we didn't need on the hike with him, bought some tea, instant noodles, potatoes, and a pot for boiling water (at that time we didn't have a gas stove yet), and set off in the morning.

We got from Manali to the village of Jagatsukh on a regular scheduled bus for 10 rupees per person. We got off the bus, ordered 30 chapati flatbreads at the nearest eatery, turned off the highway, and headed up. The first part of the way took us about 4 hours (12 km and 1000 meters up) to a spot called Khanol. As it turned out later, the standard organized route has you driven up to this point :)

Hiker with trekking poles on a gravel road above a forested valley, Himalayas — The first part of the trek. Tourists get driven up here, not fair!

From there we headed toward the first camp, Chikka, but because of the terrible weather — heavy rain and cold — we didn't make it and pitched the tent at the nearest convenient spot (as it turned out later, the camp was only about 20 minutes' walk away). With great difficulty we got a fire going with wet firewood, made instant noodles and tea, and ate them with the flatbreads.

Woman by a campfire near a tent in a mountain valley at night, Himalayas — Our first night, not far from Chikka camp

Tent lit from inside at night under a starry sky in the mountains

The next morning we quickly reached the camp at Chikka, didn't stop there, and moved on toward the next camp at Seri. It was a constant climb, it kept getting colder, the snow hadn't melted yet (we went at the very beginning of June; the season fully opens in July), and on top of that it rained nonstop. Life had not prepared us for this, and we stopped somewhere in between, joining a camp that some group had already set up.

View from a tent onto a snowy mountain and meadow at a camp near Seri, 3800 metres — Camps near Seri, 3800 meters

It rained all evening and all night. After thinking for a long time about whether it made sense to finish the route, we decided to turn back after all, since the temperature at our altitude (3800 meters) was already approaching freezing (our sleeping bags are super-light summer ones, and the tent is 3-season), and it rained constantly, and apart from the tent we had no protection from it.

A shame, of course. But one way or another, the trek took us 4 days and 3 nights and turned out really great and budget-friendly. The views were stunning, the air fresh, the water clean (all along the route there was a mountain stream with the purest meltwater).

And just look at the amazing photos we came away with from the hike: