Last month when I was returning from a bike expedition to Spiti Valley, I decided, to spend a couple of nights in the Town of Manali. I thought of going to my usual place, in old Manali, where I’d stayed for at least a dozen times before. I like its peaceful ambience and the location which allows you to sit almost at top of this sleepy Himalayan town. But as I enquired about the price for a double-bed room, out of courtesy, despite being very much familiar to it, I went a little flabbergasted. “No, just one bedroom” I repeated with all innocence, before the caretaker repeated, twice, the exact same figure, “It’s 1,200 a night sir”. The same room which I’d earlier (3 months ago) owned for about 400 a night, had shot up to a whopping 1,200 a night, all because I was here during a Peak tourist season. Tourists often find themselves getting ripped off, mercilessly, in the name of peak season rates – a golden time period when locals make big bucks, …