how to reach · the last leg
aut to jibhi
almost every jibhi trip passes through aut, the small town at the mouth of the famous tunnel on the manali highway. it's where the overnight buses drop you and where you swap onto the road into the banjar valley. from aut, jibhi is about 33 km and a little over an hour of slow, lovely driving.
- distance
- ~33 km
- time
- about 1 to 1.5 hours
- the route
- aut → banjar → jibhi
- taxi fare
- roughly ₹1,200 to ₹1,800 one way (agree before you leave)
by taxi
the usual move after an overnight bus. taxis wait at aut and run you straight to your homestay in jibhi. the fare is roughly ₹1,200 to ₹1,800 depending on season and bargaining, and most homestays will arrange a pickup if you ask ahead. it's the simplest option with luggage.
by local bus
hpRTC buses run from aut into the banjar valley through banjar toward jibhi and shoja. they're cheap and frequent enough in daytime, but slow, and they thin out by evening. fine if you arrive in the morning.
why everyone changes here
aut sits on the main kullu-manali highway, but jibhi is off it, up a side valley. there's no through-traffic to jibhi, so aut is the natural handover point from highway buses to local transport. don't arrive into aut very late, the onward taxis get scarce after dark.
one tip
book your jibhi homestay pickup before the bus, so someone's waiting at aut. it turns a groggy 6 am arrival into the easy part of the trip.