Manali

Road from Shimla to Manali is all through the Himalaya. It’s the ghat section all the way so if you have motion sickness, keep the medicine and plastic bags with you. You will get to see beautiful sights. At every turn, you will get nice view. The journey is via bhunter, Mandi, Barmana, Kullu on NH20. En route, some of the attractions are Shawl factory at Kullu, Satluj-Beas Link project, Prati Vaishno-Mata Mandir, Beas River valley. It takes close to 10 hours with breaks.

Shawl Factory

Shawl factory is at Kullu. It hosts a factory and a shopping complex. The factory has several handlooms and artisans are cooperative enough to give demo of building a shawl on handloom. After watching then work, you realize the efforts required for weaving a single shawl. The shopping complex on second floor has an array of material from shawls, gloves to dresses/sweaters. The prices seem to be on higher side though. Nevertheless, the articles are tempting. The fountain outside the factory is quite good. Enjoy the hot coffee by the factory side.