Padum -> Manali – In the holy mountain is an unholy ghost

28. September 2026

 

 

The route from Padum to Manali isn’t served by a government bus yet, so we took a shared taxi. And this stretch isn’t quite as nicely developed as the Nimmu–Padum road. Tunneling work has already started here. First, they built the road over the Shinkun-la Pass so they could bring construction equipment into Zanskar to work on the tunnel from that side as well. Once the tunnel is complete, snow clearing won’t be necessary anymore. You’ll then be able to travel very quickly from Manali through the Atal Tunnel, the new tunnel, and the Nimmu road all the way to Leh. Meanwhile, they’re also building a tunnel through the Zoji-la, which will make Leh easier to reach from Srinagar, too. Naturally, it will significantly cut down travel times as well.

 

I actually quite like driving over mountain passes—it gives you a wonderful view of the landscape. However, one of the passengers got carsick early on, so we had to make a stop.

 

 

 

The weather was still lovely with blue skies, but as we approached Gombo Rangjon, clouds began to take over. Just like on my journey there back in May, I was denied good weather here.

 

 

 

 

 

Can anyone see the ghost in the mountain?

 

There were still quite a few motorcycle groups on the road. Meanwhile, it was starting to get rather chilly in the wind.

 

 

We didn’t stop at the top of the pass at all. I just took a few photos out of the car window.

 

 

 

 

On the way down, several vehicles came toward us. So there were still people making a day trip up to the pass from Manali or Jispa, even though there wasn’t any snow left up there. However, fresh snow was on its way—flakes started falling from the sky. As we descended, though, the snow turned to rain, and the weather became pretty miserable.

 

In the late afternoon, we reached Manali and headed straight to Rinchen’s relatives. They have a house there with rooms across several floors—and I was able to stay in one of them. And then I got frustrated all over again with Airtel, Indian bureaucracy, AI, and the whole system in general. Back in Leh, I had run into so many issues, and despite trying for hours, it was impossible to match my face with my data. The manager of the shop there had unbureaucratically provided me with a different SIM card instead. The problem: it didn’t work here anymore! According to Airtel, it’s a prepaid SIM that only functions in Ladakh. Isn’t that frustrating? Thankfully, the genuinely helpful employee had an idea and Rinchen was with me—she was able to issue one in his name quite quickly and without hassle. She even gave me a small discount on top of it. Traveling around these days without a working SIM has become pretty difficult.

 

 

The weather stayed pretty gloomy. It was raining in Manali, too, and quite chilly. My feet had taken a real beating over those days (and I hadn’t brought any good cream or anything), so I thought it would be a great idea to get a pedicure here. I ended up at one of the oldest establishments around. Neena, the owner, moved here from Chandigarh over 37 years ago after getting married and opened one of the very first beauty parlors in town. What a transition for a “city girl”!

 

Unfortunately, I didn’t take a photo of the lady herself, only of her employee, who gave my feet and lower legs some wonderfully tender loving care. Afterward, everything was baby-soft again!

 

 

 

 

 

And then it was already evening. The family served me a meal, which was very lovely and entertaining—and after that, I went to bed.

 

 

My previous night had been rather short, so I slept quite well. Now I was so clearly on my way home. I had briefly considered whether I would have liked to stay a bit longer—especially since Mr. Sharma had extended such a lovely invitation. But no, it really was time to fly back to Germany.