Himalayan adventure company and hostel custom made for getting into the wild.
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Rooted in the idea of holistic eco-tourism, we curate handcrafted & environmentally responsible experiences & journeys with the world’s most stunning mountains in our backyard
08/03/2022
Due to unforeseen personal circumstances, we have made the incredibly difficult decision to close our doors and stop operations at our Playground Manali location.
Over the past 2 years, this community has filled Playground with so much love and adventure, for which we are eternally grateful. Thank you so much for being along for the ride.
See you outside❤️
P.S. For anyone who has open credit notes or adoptahostel bookings with us - you can send us a mail to [email protected] with your booking ID and UPI, PayPal or bank transfer details so that we can refund you👍
16/02/2022
Adventure Indecision: Noun
Definition: When there’s too many cool things to do near Playground so you go hiking up the trail with your bicycle just in case…😉😂
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14/02/2022
When you can finally hear yourself think again - you know you’ve made a step in the right direction🏡
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12/02/2022
The middle of nowhere really is our favorite place.
09/02/2022
Today we are excited! Why?
Because living in the Himalayas with a bunch of friends is awesome? Well that too, but today we are particularly pumped because the Playground Blog is officially live on our site!
Whether you’re looking to dig into the work/life balance debate, be in the know about how to help close the gender gap in outdoor sports, or just want to know more about co-working, Playground, and what the heck we’re doing up here - check us out!✨
You know how all those movies we watched when we were kids that had a secret place in the woods?
You know, the hideaway - in an abandoned lot, under a few tarps tied between trees in the backyard, that blanket draped over the old table nobody used anymore.
The one that held a few books, pencils to draw, blankets, and a couple of good friends. The one exclusively used for hiding away from the mundane world in their own little fort where big adventures were right at their fingertips, real or imagined?
Yeah - we’re that place for adults.
P.S. Can you spot us in this photo? (lower right)
07/02/2022
Plug in, or unplug - either way we’ve got you covered💻🌲In fact, why not a little bit of both?
06/02/2022
If you’re not channeling some major “crammed into a Gypsy with all my Playground housemates during a snowstorm for a weekend hike” vibes - what are you even doing here in the winter?😉
02/02/2022
If any photo captured the essence of co-living at Playground, it would be this one. When a bunch of strangers come to one house to live, work, eat, and adventure - a lot of new things happen.
New friendships form, we learn from each other and from the new experiences we are exposed to, and when we eventually do leave, we do it full of new memories and stories to tell.
And that’s the point - not the 100mbps wifi or power backup - but that we brought ourselves back to nature, found a home there, and lived differently with each other for at least a little while❤️
01/02/2022
When that morning sun hits just right through the workstation window, and you hear the cafe bell ring because your cappuccino is ready☀️☕️
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31/01/2022
When you wake up and have a decision to make: Hike, cycle, or fly before your 10am conference call today? 🚴🏽♀️🪂🚶♂️
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30/01/2022
We promise we’ll post some photos from inside Playground at some point… we’ve just been too busy exploring with all of our housemates recently😘
📸: shot during this weekend’s guided group hike!
29/01/2022
Why just do a Saturday hike when you can do a Saturday hike + impromptu forest slacklining sesh? 🌲
28/01/2022
Couldn’t see the trail under all the snow - so we made our own😉
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23/01/2022
Some of our favorites from today’s amazing guided hike for our Playground housemates! It snowed heavily the entire time, but that didn’t stop us from leaving up our boots and having one hell of a beautiful Su day adventure❤️ Join us for the next guided day hike!
1. Our smiles as we finished the last section of trail (and started dreaming about 🍕).
2. A house in the village we passed through on our hike.
3. Our first view of Kanyal (our destination for today’s hike).
4. A silent hike through our favorite section of forest.
5. Colors of Kanyal’s houses.
6. A traditional style Himachali home.
7. Grass stored for the animals for winter.
22/01/2022
Trying to be as real as possible when we show people a glimpse into co-living life at Playground.
Because as lovely and warm as our burning tandoors are, tasty as the café food is, and life-saving as the 100mbps wifi system and power backup are - the truth is that when you live at the end of the road, providing these things is hard!
Feeling cozy in the common space means someone spent hours chopping firewood for you. That power backup? Someone carried 20 liters of petrol for the generator up an icy road during a snowstorm so that your laptop stays charged. And yeah - your food came in that way too.
Long story short - show a little love for the awesome Playground team, and all they do to make our middle-of-nowhere co-living dreams a reality❤️
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20/01/2022
The common spaces are still silent at Playground, as you tend to wake up before your house-mates.
At the top of the stairs, you choose a new book from the library shelf and grab your steaming chai before heading to the balcony.
The blanket of snow and morning mist create a hush that you haven’t “heard” since you moved to the city years ago. But now tucked away up here in the forest as everyone sleeps, you finally have some space to think and dive into this new book before work begins, thinking at the back of your mind - “where to explore today?”
19/01/2022
At Playground, we believe that everybuddy deserves pancakes🥞😉
18/01/2022
Pretending to read your emails, but TBH wondering where that trail heading into the forest just outside the window leads to… Guess today’s lunch break plans are sorted😉
17/01/2022
Honestly, almost everything you need in life is on the other side of that door🌲
16/01/2022
Do Not Disturb: TBH trying to decide which mountain to hike today…
13/01/2022
Step 1: Spend the day hiking through the snow until my legs give out.
Step 2: Make it home just as the sky reaches that dusky blue color, windows glowing a soft gold color.
Step 3: Spend the next three hours with my hands outstretched over the burning tandoor in the common space, totally exhausted, but not quite ready to sleep yet - I want to feel this way just a little bit longer tonight❤️
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11/01/2022
For today’s Ted Talk we’re doing a deep dive about winter in the Himalayas - and we’re not holding back, so if you want to keep the fantasy alive in your head that life in winter is beautiful and perfect, we suggest you continue scrolling🤓
This is our third winter now that we’ve spent tucked into the snowy forests above Manali, and we’ve learned - it’s colder than you think it is. But it’s also warmer than you think it is. Point is - the perspective and planning that you come with will make all the difference.
What does that mean? It means for all you city folk who are used to 45 degree summers, of course -10 is going to be a shock. It also means that if you’re expecting that, it won’t come as such a surprise. It means you’ll bring the right layers of clothing, and the mindset that if you can’t beat the cold, then just join it - literally!
One of the best ways we’ve found to stay warm throughout a winter day (besides a sesh next to the tandoor) is to take a morning hike through the snow!
What else? The power *read: will* go out (thanks generator), the wind will blow like crazy, you might slip a few times in this strange, cold white power you’ve found yourself surrounded in, and you’ll forget what you used to look like before you were wearing 5 layers of clothes - and in the spirit of total honesty, this lifestyle really just isn’t for everyone.
But to those of you with real and true adventure in your souls, the ones plowing through the knee-deep snow up these backyard trails in their boots and gaiters because it’s freaking awesome and beautiful, not just because it makes a great selfie, the ones who know that beauty and adventure will not always be accompanied by perfect comfort - welcome to your Playground.
09/01/2022
Winter came late, and then all at once✨Few people have the nerve to come experience the Himalayas in their rawest form, but those who do also see them at their most beautiful.
Link in our bio for our winter co-living options!
08/01/2022
Finally decided to change our answer to the constant question: “Do you guys have momos??!” from “No” to “Yes!”
And maaaan is it a vibe all the way up here on our little piece of mountainside✨
05/01/2022
Walking through the co-living space today - what can we hear?
There’s the occasional crackle of the fires burning in the common space tandoors, Neo-soul playing softly from the radio, the clicking of people’s laptop keys as emails are sent from our workstations, the oven ticking in the kitchen with today’s fresh cake, and the murmur of new roommates chatting about travel plans, old stories, and making new ones.
And if we walk outside - we hear nothing at all. Today’s snowstorm is in full swing, and the world beyond Playground has dropped away, completely muted by the falling snow.
04/01/2022
Realized today that you guys drank 164 Ginger Lemon Honey Teas in the last year, and we can’t help thinking about all the new friends and connections made over a steaming cup of chai that we’ve been lucky to watch take place in this space that we call home❤️
01/01/2022
From the bottom of our hiking nerd hearts - we wish you a wonderful New Year from Playground, and at least a handful of moments in 2022 where you feel as content as this good boy does when he finds a nice sunny spot and a friend to give him a head scratch.
30/12/2021
Let’s talk about Himalayan WiFi for a minute, shall we?
Being an end-of-the road co-living and co-working space, it’s no surprise that one of the questions we get most before people choose to stay at Playground is about wifi speed and stability - so let’s talk about it here, clarify a few common misconceptions, answer some FAQs, and leave the floor open for your questions.
Q: What’s the wifi speed? I need at least 100mbps.
A: Here we want to clarify two things - one, to answer the question, is that we own a dedicated 100mbps fiber line as our primary wifi, and a secondary leased line from Airtel as a backup in case needed. The second thing is that oftentimes people don’t understand the difference between a consumer broadband connection (the kind you use at you flat at home, which says it’s up to 100 or 200mbps, but in reality is actually shared between potentially thousands of people in your nearby geographical area) vs. a dedicated 100mbps that is exclusive to Playground, shared amongst only the people in the property itself.
Q: I need the wifi to be completely stable since I’m working - what happens if there’s an outage?
A: To be blunt - what happens is the same as anywhere else when the wifi cuts out, which it does everywhere - at your flat, in your office, at your hotel. It’s why all network providers have a service agreement saying a certain % of time that the wifi is allowed to be down - since 100% uptime is not reasonable in any setting according to industry standards. If someone tells you that their wifi is 100% stable, that’s a red flag that they’re not communicating honestly with you. Unlike almost any other accommodation, when our main wifi drops, we switch to our backup. In the rare instance that both fail, we have it serviced and back online within hours. That’s a better arrangement than most have in major cities, let alone a small village in the Himalayas.
Q: How’s the wifi stability during winter?
A: Same as any other time of year.
We’ll keep the comments of this post updated with more FAQs when they come in🤓 Have more questions? Let us know in the comments!
29/12/2021
Something interesting happens every day in the mountains.
You’ve seen the view a million times - and yet when you step out into the morning chill, steaming cup of chai in hand, the landscape always seems to feel new again somehow.
Almost like it’s changed just slightly to give you something special to find every day - Nature’s little treasure hunt❤️
P.S. Candy canes in hot chocolate after Christmas are still cool, change our minds😜
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Playground Manali, Majach Road Village Shanag Manali 175131
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When you can finally hear yourself think again - you know you’ve made a step in the right direction🏡 #PlaygroundColiving
📸: @shadow_and_sun
Walking through the co-living space today - what can we hear?
There’s the occasional crackle of the fires burning in the common space tandoors, Neo-soul playing softly from the radio, the clicking of people’s laptop keys as emails are sent from our workstations, the oven ticking in the kitchen with today’s fresh cake, and the murmur of new roommates chatting about travel plans, old stories, and making new ones.
And if we walk outside - we hear nothing at all. Today’s snowstorm is in full swing, and the world beyond Playground has dropped away, completely muted by the falling snow.
Realized today that you guys drank 164 Ginger Lemon Honey Teas in the last year, and we can’t help thinking about all the new friends and connections made over a steaming cup of chai that we’ve been lucky to watch take place in this space that we call home❤️ #PlaygroundColiving
In a world full of manufactured tourist attractions- go somewhere that makes you feel natural🌱
Wishing everyone in our community and beyond a day and night filled with light - and making it a goal to share our own light on every day of the year💫 Happy Diwali to all!
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We believe that the ability to spread light starts when people first care for and honor themselves. For us, that looks like nourishing our guests with good food, physically moving the body on countless backyard adventures, and opening ourselves up to new ideas (from the books on our library shelf to the community from all over India that we find walking through our doors).
What helps you spread your light?✨
To be honest, it’s hard to catch a bad angle of Playground in the first place - but this instantly just became one of our new favorites😍
Mad 📸 creds to @journeyofthedash for capturing this!
Surprise!🎉 If you’re planning a trip to Playground this month:
Starting at 12:00am this Friday, you’ll have 48 hours to book any of our rooms in August for 6 nights or less at a 10% discount - so set your alarm, and we’ll see you soon!
Make your reservation by clicking the “Book Now” button on our website here:
https://www.playgroundoutdoors.com
WiFi in monsoon? No problem😉💻 #WorkFromHimalayas
What do our #WorkFromHimalayas packages include?
✔️Two 100mbps + fiber links for WiFi
✔️Guaranteed power backup
✔️ Dedicated workstations
✔️A co-living community
✔️Pet friendliness
✔️Free laundry
✔️This view. Every👏🏽Single👏🏽Day👏🏽
How can you not be pumped for Monday when it looks like this? #WorkFromHimalayas
Watching these cactus flowers bloom again every morning (yes, they close back up each night), has become our front-porch routine this week while we drink our morning coffee.
After trying three mornings in a row, we finally got a time-lapse of them opening to catch some sun! Sometimes you don’t need huge mountains to wow you - the little things in your front yard are just as special🌸
You might not be surprised to hear that our founders met on the side of a mountain - working together to scout out and document new trails in remote Himalayan regions.
Long story short, we know our stuff - having collectively trekked over 2,500km and cycled 2,000km through the Himalayas in the last two years alone. We might come from different sides of the planet, but we both feel the same about exploring as much as possible. In fact, we love it so much, it inspired us to open up Playground Outdoors with the goal of opening the doors to a community with unlimited adventure potential.
The premise? Holistic adventure tourism - curate travel experiences that are genuine & unique, support local cultures, environmentally responsible and traveler specific. Everyone wins.
Our “home base” is tucked into a mountainside of the stunning Indian Himalayas (can you blame us?) at Playground Adventure Hostel - Manali. Here, we run alpine high-adventure operations for both India and abroad, host yoga and meditation retreats, connect travelers with locals for handicraft & culinary workshops, provide long-term stays for the remote-working digital nomads among us and welcome travelers in search of something a little more raw than your standard guided tour.
About Playground Adventure Hostel - Manali: Home from the minute you walk through the door. Everyone is a traveler here, and that atmosphere can be felt whether you’re having coffee and a slice of banana bread from our cafe on the terrace or upstairs in the loft locked in an intense board game battle of Exploding Kittens. Choose the “me-time” of a private room or vibrant community of our shared dorms, the choice is yours. Our library is fully stocked, backyard garden waiting for its nightly bonfire hangout - and of course, a mountain view no matter which direction you look.
About Playground Outdoors Adventures: Whatever adventure you choose, we hold ourselves to a level of excellence while we make it happen. We’re proud to run our treks and cycling trips in India and Nepal by the following principles:
Uncompromising on Safety We operate with best-in-class equipment and internationally recognized safety principles, with certifications in Advanced Mountaineering, Wilderness Advanced First Aid, CPR and Search & Rescue Training.
True Adventure While we operate adventures to match all outdoor enthusiasts’ skill levels, what many of our routes have in common is that they have managed to stay under the radar. In other words, while everyone else is climbing ‘that’ mountain, we are climbing one few can say they’ve summited, still pristine in its anonymity. Our unique itineraries set us apart from other trek operators as well. After all, when before have you had the option to hike to a neon-blue glacial lake, and then kayak in it?
A Two-Way Street We align ourselves with U.N Sustainable Development Goals. We promote inclusive, and sustainable economic growth for the communities we work with, full and productive employment, and decent work for all. We are environmental advocates, and follow LNT (Leave No Trace) principles at all times, committing ourselves to reducing our footprint as much as possible. We protect what we love, always.
Long story short, our door is always open for those looking to truly explore, so come on in!
