You’ll find the long drive from Delhi was well worth the time the moment you cross Mandi and start the run-up alongside the Beas to Manali. The first sight of the hills cradling this picturesque town seems so inviting that the foot on the accelerator gets a shade firmer. Drive up to the centre of Manali and into the marketplace. Starry-eyed honeymooners hang around lost to the world. Every now and then an Israeli roars past on a dusty Bullet wearing a ‘Juley’ T-shirt, telling the world he’s survived the Leh-Manali Road. Nepali porters scurry up and down the street with ropes swathed across their torsos. Move over to the bridge across the mighty Beas, then look up — the sight of the majestic Pir Panjal and Bara Bhangal ranges cradling the town is mesmerising.

Manali is the first choice of many people who want to ‘see’ and ‘touch’ snow for the first time. But there’s far more to this happening Himachal town than just snow and ice. Manali has it all — for the young, the old, the energetic and the plain lazy.