India’s first ever Igloo stay can be experienced in the Sethan village situated 16 km above from Manali. Sethan village is a secluded destination that offers breath-taking views of Dhauladhar ranges right in front of you. The village is a perfect location for travellers, hikers and trekkers and changes its flavours along with the seasonal change. The place is ideal for hiking and camping during summers, on the other hand it gets transformed to a snow land best for adventure activities like Snowboarding, Skiing and Ice Skating during winters. Walking on snow is an amazing feeling but if you get a chance to spend a whole day inside the snowy Igloo is something beyond words. Be “Elsa” for a day, enjoy the “Frozen” land all around and “LET IT GO” all your worries there.
Reaching Manali
To reach Igloo Stay site one will have to reach Manali first and then continue their journey to HMT Igloo from there. It’s suggested to reach the site at 10 or 11 in the morning so that people can explore the village and hike on the mountains of Panduropa.
Via Air—>Bus/Taxi/Two Wheeler
Kullu Manali Airport is the nearest airport to Manali located in Bhuntar about 50 km away from Manali. Air India flies from all the major cities daily and the fare would be INR 7000 approx. To save time this can be the best mode of transportation only if you won’t mind spending 7000 INR and avoid road journey.
Since Manali is 50 km away from Bhuntar village, people can opt any one mode from bus, taxi, scooty or bike.
Bus: Bus stand is about 11 km from airport, almost every 10-15 minutes buses to Manali goes from this bus stand and can reach in 1 hour 15 minutes, charges would be somewhere around INR 100-150.
Taxi: People can also hire a taxi to reach Manali from airport itself or any travel company outside the airport that will drop you in Manali within an hour in INR 1500-2000.
Two Wheeler: To enjoy the breeze and roads of mountain, I would suggest to opt this option who love to drive bikes. One can easily get a bike or scooty on rent just from outside of airport that would cost 600-800.
Via Rail—>Bus/Taxi/Two Wheeler
This option is not suitable for people with less time in hand. The nearest railway station to Manali is Kalka (6 hour), rest of the journey needs to be covered via bus, taxi or on two wheeler (8-9 hour). There is no difference in the duration of the journey since this option would also take 13-14 hours to reach Manali and bus also. People who want to avoid long bus journey can go with this option and the prices would be almost same as mentioned in above section.
Via Road
Lastly, comes the road journey where in you can cover whole trip through bus or car/taxi to reach Manali. I personally find this as the most relaxing and best option for people travelling from cities like Chandigarh, Delhi, Shimla or any of the cities beyond Delhi.
Bus: State and Private Buses both ply on this route daily starting from 5 PM. A normal bus for Delhi to Manali would charge INR 800 and a Volvo will cost INR 1200-1500. You can find many buses on redBus app and decide one of your choice from state ordinary, state Volvo or Volvo with the cost ranging from INR 700-1500 and drop you at Manali bus stand in 15 hours. It is suggested to opt for HRTC bus!!
Car/Taxi: People who love driving and who can drive for about 13-14 hour can go for this option. Distance from Delhi to Manali is 530 Km that would cost you about INR 12000-14000 for 4 days excluding toll taxes. If you drive your own car then you can save a lot of money. Just remember, the roads when you reach Mandi are not so good and can be a bit difficult to manage after Mandi due to construction work.
Reaching the Igloo Site
After reaching Manali comes the question how to reach the Igloo site. Don’t worry, to reach the Igloo site located in Panduropa village just 16 km from Manali there are few options available. First one is taxi provided by the Igloo Stay’s that you have booked on extra charges of INR 3500-4000 to and fro on 4X4 Gypsy, you just need to reach the pickup point. Second, you can book a 4X4 Gypsy from Manali and reach the Igloo site. Third, if you are travelling by your own car you can take your car their and park at a convenient place. If there is no snow on road then it will take about 45 minutes, if road is covered with snow then it will take about 1 hour and there are chances that couple of km needs to be covered on foot due to snow.
Igloo Stay Packages
Igloo Stays packages in Sethan Village comes in trio with first one as Day Tour, second as 1 Night 2 Day and third 2 Night 3 Day. It’s a Manali to Manali trip so reaching Manali and leaving Manali needs to be managed on your own. Depending on your package the organizers of Igloo Stay will take care of your stay, travel, meal and adventure activities.
The packages with night stay comes with all the meals, bonfire, BBQ, stay in Igloo, sleeping bags, snow dresses and boots but the Manali to Manali expense comes at an extra charge.
Here, I have attached link of Igloo Stays packages, guidelines and essentials needed for the trip:
HMT Igloo: https://www.igloostay.com/
Keylinga Igloo: https://www.keylinga.com/manali-igloo-stay/
About the HMT Igloo
HMT Igloo is organized and managed by HighMountains.in that organizes group and solo travels, founded by Aman Singh Gulati in the year 2017. Initially he used to organize trips to Leh for groups but lately he expanded it.
In 2017 he and his team decided to start an Igloo Stay, just 16 km from Manali to give people around the world experience an awesome stay inside an igloo with snow all around. One can easily confirm their booking reaching them on Instagram and get the details about the packages they are offering.
Best Time to Visit
Obviously, the best time to visit is when there is lots and lots of snow that is December to mid-March. Since you are visiting an Igloo, be ready to walk few km as Gypsy won’t be able to drop you till the site due to heavy snow (if heavy snowfall happened in past days, check weather forecast). Do not forget to take adequate boots and clothing along to enjoy walking in snow. Also, don’t forget to take permit at Hampta Pass to go till Panduropa Village.
It is suggested that Igloo should be given a visit after checking weather forecast so that people can get fresh snow and experience the snow walk, play in snow, tube slide, skiing, snowboarding and do all the adventure activities.
Stays in Manali
If you are planning to stay in Igloo from cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Gujarat, or any other city, it would be better to spend a night in Manali and head towards Igloo the next day reason being anyone coming from these places would reach Manali somewhere around 10 am or 11 am or maybe late till 1pm if construction works are going on. So, it’s better to stay and explore Mall Road that day and visit Igloo the very next day. There is a detailed blog on places to visit in Manali in my other blog.
Manali is very famous among the bagpackers since all the high altitude treks start from here, students as it is more famous hill station and married couples as it is the Honeymoon Capital of India. There are many hotels, hostels, homestays, cottages and camps available here but since this blog is mainly for Igloo, please check this section in more detail on my blog specifically on Manali.
Itinerary for Igloo Stay
If you are coming from cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, etc. then it is suggested that you rest and make yourself comfortable for a day in Manali and head towards Igloo next day. Let’s plan an itinerary for you here for your trip to Igloo Stay and I would suggest that take a day extra with you to enjoy the snowfall. Let’s get started now:
Day 1: Plan your trip in such a way that you reach Manali at around 11 or 12 in the morning (it would take about 15 hour). Since it would be little late this day so keep this day to explore the Mall Road, relax and chill.
Day 2: After breakfast get ready and start your journey towards Igloo Stay at about 9am or 10 am, it will take about 45 minutes if road is clear and 1 hour if road is covered with snow. Enjoy the Sethan village, go hiking on the mountains all around the place, do adventure activities, and learn how Igloos are built. In the evening enjoy bonfire and delicious food amid mountains, roaring waterfalls and thousands of stars.
Day 3: This day, have your breakfast and again if you want to enjoy the sunrise, adventure activities, explore nearby places, take pictures and head back to Manali for your onward trip.
MOST IMPORTANT POINTS
ATM
Igloo Stay or Panduropa Village does not have ATM facility so take some cash along with you from Manali itself.
Network
All other users except BSNL network get ready to cut-off yourself from the world till your stay in Igloo, don’t forget to inform your loved ones about your whereabouts. There are 35 curves that needs to be crossed to reach the village, as soon as you cross the 17th curve you will lose the signal.
Prices
Please recheck the prices before planning your trip to Igloo Stay
Essentials for Staying in Igloo
- Warm woolen cap
- Waterproof gloves – 1 pair
- Thick woolen socks – 3 pair
- Comfortable warm snow boots
- Personal Toiletries
- Small Bagpack
- Common medicines
- Water bottle
- Sweater/ fleece
- Thermals – 2 pair
- Sun glasses, sunscreen, lip balm and moisturizer
My Experience
I have been to many places with snow and snowfall but staying in an Igloo and spending a night in snow was a unique, amazing and a lifetime experience for me. I visited the place with two of my friends from Delhi. We started our trip in a cab from Delhi at 8:30 pm and reached Manali at 11:30 am, booked a cottage SIDH COTTAGE (Very new property with all the facilities and beautiful interiors). After relaxing a while, we went to Hadimba Devi Temple and spent rest of our day roaming at Mall Road. Next day after having breakfast, we headed towards Sethan Village at 9:30 am and took permit of INR 100 at Hampta Pass. We took about 34 curves and then a straight road lead us to Panduropa Village that is next to Sethan village with our own cab since the road was clear.
After a 45 minute journey and awesome views of the mountains and valleys from the top we reached HMT Igloo with 4 Igloos ready for our stay that day ( There was a group with whom we had to meet at Hampta Pass to reach the Igloo together but they were a bit late). After we reached the HMT Igloo Meeru Bhai, the caretaker welcomed us with tea and gave details of the place, Igloo making and rest of the plan of that day. We waited for the group from Gujarat for adventure activities and a hike that Meeru Bhai was planning to take us. First we went for adventure activities like tube sliding, skiing and snowboarding. Trust me we had so much fun with people falling while doing activities, playing in snow and doing anything. We then headed back to the Igloo, had lunch and started our hike. It was a hike of an hour into the mountains with lots and lots and lots of views on the way fully covered with snow. During this hike, we came across beautiful views, waterfalls, freezed waterfall, Panduropa Dam, snow covered mountains and a small pond like thing where water was coming from somewhere inside and full of minerals. After spending an hour there and clicking pictures we headed back to the Igloo, had brunch tea and pakode, waited for bonfire and a few moments later party in the mountain started with dance, music, BBQ and lots of fun. Now, we had a group of 5 people from West, a group of 4 doctors from South and we three from North ( missed the Eastern part) all at one place singing, dancing, clicking pictures and having fun together. Lately, we had dinner and went in our Igloo to spend rest of the night.
Believe me, it was an awesome and incredible to be surrounded by snow and live in an igloo whole night. A more interesting thing was, I woke in the middle of night, came out of the Igloo and was stunned to see the night sky. It was literally full of stars (you know, after coming from Delhi it was like an animated movie for me), I can actually see stars moving here and there in full speed, even saw 3-4 shooting star in just 2 minutes. I thought the sky was hypnotizing me with its beauty and I was just standing, staring the sky, stars, their arrival/departure….LOL and listening the roaring sound of waterfall.
Next day we woke early, went for a small walk, again took pictures this time with sunrise, had a light breakfast took a group picture and left with lots of memories of lifetime.
Thank you so much Anupamaji (Sidh Cottage), Sarika, Meeru Bhai, Bablu Bhai (Rajesh Negi, a trained trekker – please contact him for trekking in Manali), the HMT team and friends from South and Surat for this awesome trip, see you again in December or January!!
Hope you enjoyed the blog and it’s helpful for your next trip!
