Ride to Lahaul spiti valley
Day1:- 22 July ’06
We reached New Delhi railway station at 9:15 AM by rajdhani express. It’s really hot there and everybody was getting little uncomfortable by the weather and humidity there. My Friend Guddu came to receive us on station but we had lot of luggage with us so we opt to go by metro to CP (Guddu’s office). We took metro from CP to pul-bangas and then walk down to lalji mulji delivery center at roshnara road. None of us had ever come to this part of Delhi. We unpack our bike and pour some petrol and move to Karol bagh as my tail light was broken in transportation and munna have to purchase a new white helmet as he forgot to get his helmet from Pune.
After doing all shopping and repair work we all load our luggage on bikes and now everybody is set to move from there. We took some snaps and ask the shortest route to touch GT road (NH1) and start moving at around 4:15. Everybody was excited about ride and was very happy as we are back on our bikes after 10 days. All 4 of us were hungry so I told everybody that there are good and famous dhabas at murthal where we can have food. We stopped at prakash da dhaba at murthal. We all had prathas and lassi. Its 6:15 when we finished our food and ready to move.
First thing we did after moving from there is to top-up the petrol. NH1 is long straight 6 lane highway which goes to Attari border (Amritsar). There are surplus amount of petrol pumps and dhabas on the way. We turn toward Yamuna nagar from pipli (Kurukshetra) and decided to have a break for a cup of tea. It’s already 9 pm and everybody was tired of traveling thing. Then I make everybody to stop at radaur as it’s my engineering college where I had spent most memorable days of my life.
I meet owner of dhaba in front of my college and warden of my hostel. He gracefully welcomed all of us and we had some chat at hostel’s reception. I was remembering my old days when we all had fight with this person on almost every alternative day. And I was among blacklisted student in the hostel. We took some snaps and decided to move ahead. Everybody was very tired by then so we decided to stop at jagadri instead of ponta sahib. I was still in my cherish memories of my old college days when we use to come to Yamuna nagar chasing the girls bus from college or with other friends on truck to watch movies or jus chill out at model town. We take 2 rooms at Hotel Samarat near jagadri bus stand at matka chowk.
It was a very hot, dusty and hectic ride today so we all took bath and went for sleep at around 12 PM.
Jagadri is very famous place for its kitchen utensils and ply wood. It’s an industrial area having huge paper mill (BILT) and one of India’s biggest sugar mill.
Distance traveled: - 234KM
Day2:- we all wake up at 7 AM and had a cup of tea there and move at 8 pm from there. Now this road has green fields on both sides. We stop at first ghat section on our ride which is at border of HP and after hathni kund in haryana.
We reached ponta sahib at around 9:15 and had darshan there. Sachin was full exited to go to gurudwara as he is very inspired from RDB. Munna, Ranjit and Sachin were gone to gurudwara for the first time.
We start from there at around 11:30, after having langar there, towards chakrota. We don’t have any kind of route information after this place but everybody would like to try and explore this route. We all tank full our bikes at “Herbertpur”. Road condition is bad and there is some part in between where only one way traffic is allowed but we request at gate and shown our I card and they allow us to go from this side before the time of opening of gate otherwise we will end up in losing 2 hours there. This route has almost no traffic with a very nice view of green valley. We stopped on road side on a cliff and had a tea in my thermos.
The Great Himalayan Ride
My bike was not performing well on this route and it power was not as it was before. I finally decided to play around with fuel settings on my bike. Munna explained me how to keep it appropriate. But after trying everything, it was still the same. Then I thought to check the air filter and found that it was wet of oil. So I throw it out of my bike and now everything was back to normal. We then move from there and stopped at chakrota for tea and some hot pakoras. We were just 50 km away from mussorie. We gather information for this route and move ahead. Road condition was very bad on this route and almost no road for around 18 km before we reach tyuni on the banks of Tons river as no village on the way where we can stop. There is no petrol pump on this road after “Herbertpur”. But this route was unexpectedly awesome and has a beautiful scenic view. We got very late as we had lots of stops on the way to click some photos and just chill there. This is first time we came across with this problem on any of our ride that the distance which was mentioned in lonely planet is wrong and it was more than 200km and we expect that to be around 60 km. We stopped at Hotel fatehpuri and put our luggage at 9PM. went out to have dinner and call up home from STD nearby.
Ponta Sahib is situated on the river Yamuna, on the Border with Uttrakhand. It is linked with Guru Gobind Singh the 10th Sikh Guru who lived here from April 1685 to 1685. At Bhangani, 23 Km. away, he achieved a great military victory when his forces defeated the combined might of 22 hill-country kingdom. His weapons are displayed in the town and his Gurudwara still overlooks the river.
Distance Traveled: 226 KM
Day3:- Wake up at around 7:30 and put our luggage on bikes by 8:15. And Sachin & Ranjit went to bridge to click some snaps. In the mean time we had our breakfast. Finally started from there at 9:30 AM and reached NH22 just 7 km before Rampur via arakot-hatkoti- rohru and had lunch at a dhaba near bridge on Sutluj River. We had a lot of fresh apples (Stolen from Apple Orchid) on the way and had lot of stops to enjoy this beauty of nature.
Road was blocked on the way due to land slides and we have to wait there for 20 minutes to get some corner part clear. Rampur is most important market of MP and very must commercialized. It is biggest town on this route after shimla. Bad road ends here and black tarmac wide road starts from here. We move from there at around 3:30 PM and fill our tanks at jeori after Rampur. Many bad patches of road are there till wangtoo. And there after 70% of road is in bad condition due to land slides and flood in Sutluj River last year. BRO is trying hard to maintain this road and are really working hard. The road is running parallel to Sutlej River and is risky due to stones so we were driving at around 30KPH. We stopped at karcham to have a view of Dam. But I and Ranjit are not happy with munna as he didn’t stop there and took turn toward sangla. It was dark and road was also narrow and risky so we decided to move together slowly. Finally reached sangla at around 8:30 and found munna was sitting there on Sonu Café. We both shout on munna for not stopping but munna seems to have no effect of our voice. Then we both calmed down and ordered dinner. We went out to find place for stay and decided to stop at Hotel Madhu. Food at sonu café was really good and we gather lot of information about the place and finally went to hotel to sleep.
This whole region of HP is lush Green and is famous for its Apples. Long teakwood trees are there on the way also.
Sangle-Baspa Valley.
SANGLA-It is 21kms from Karcham, where the mighty Sutlej meets the Baspa and turns away in a different direction. At a height of 2,700 mts, sangla is surrounded by towering mountains on all sides and the banks of the Baspa river that surges through the valley.
all the way from Chitkul (3,475 m) to where the Baspa meets the Sutlej River at Karcham (1,830 m).
Distance Traveled: - 237KM.
Day4:-
We wake up at around 8 Am and took few snaps in flower orchid nearby. It has lot of Akhrot trees also. Then we start to move toward last village on this route, Chitkul. The beautiful panomic view of the region but fog was stopping us to have a clear view of valley and back side of Kinner kailash (Shivling and tallest mountain in this area).
We check in PWD guest house after 12 PM as person there is ready to take on the spot booking if no tourist have booking there and it is Quite comfortable place. We had tea in the café. Then we all started to trek to a last village Nagasti which is occupied by ITBF and there after you need permission from govt. to go ahead. There are lots of treks from there to badrinath, gangotri and kinnar kailash. I was moving ahead and when I turned back all three were taking pics and chatting. But I decided to move ahead and slept for some time on a huge stone in this silent valley. There is a huge waterfall also on this way; I was missing camera at this time. I returned back and then we went up in Himalaya Café. This café is made up of wood and you can have a clear view of whole village and there you can have best soup you ever had. We had two big bowls of soups there and walk down to street for some time and as the light getting dim; we went back to PWD and slept in our rooms.
This was chilling day and very less bike ride. We all enjoyed a lot there.
CHITKUL:- Chitkul, on the banks of River Baspa, is the first village of the Baspa valley and the last village on the old Hindustan-Tibet trade route. It is also the last point you can travel to without a permit. Of particular interest at Chitkul are its houses with either slate or wooden plank roofs, a Buddhist temple and a small tower. The Kagyupa temple has a highly valued old image of the Shakyamuni Buddha, a Wheel of life and four Directional Kings on either side of the door.
Chitkul is practically the last point of the famous Kinner Kailash Parikrama as one can hitch a hike from here onwards.
Distance: 22 KM
Day 5:-
Started from chitkul at 8:30 am and reached sangla valley and had breakfast at Sonu’s café and move ahead to Recong Peo. There is one petrol pump just before diversion of reckong peo at powari but thought to fill petrol at peckong peo which is district HQ of Kinnaour valley. We found reckong peo very crowdie so we thought to move ahead to kalpa and finally decided to stop there at Golden Apple Resort. This place is costly but you will have a good view of kinner kailash from room window. But we have a bad luck from the morning as we couldn’t see kailash top due to fog and clouds.
Then we had a tea there and took bath. We decided to roam around the village, and move 2-3 km ahead to have a clear view of the place. Then we went back to village for STD and were searching for food there but then decided to order some snacks at hotel itself. But on the way clouds get clear and now we have a clear view of kinner kailash top along with a beautiful rainbow. We stop our bikes and click few snaps from there. But the time we reached back the resort we found that now we can see both primary and secondary rainbows there and this is the first time I am watching both together. We reached the roof top of the hotel to have better view. And then went for sleep there.
Kinnaur shawl is very famous in HP. Height of kinner kailash is 19,965.
Distance: 70 KM
KALPA-This spectacular mountain village is reached through a winding road climbing up from Recong Peo (district headquarters of Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh) through pine forest, apple orchards and fields. a typical house under snow in Kalpa
Known as Chini back in the days when it was the regional capital, Kalpa has changed little in the last 500 years. It is said that as and when Lord Dalhousie wanted to take a break from his hectic schedule in Shimla, he would come here on his horseback. The views of the Kinner Kailash range are some of the most spectacular in the Himalayas. Kinner Kailash is the legendary home of Lord Shiva who is said to retire here each winter to meditate. You get a complete panorama from behind the Chorten (Tibetan Pagoda) at the top of the hill. The range looks so up close that one gets a feeling that one can just reach out and touch it.
Day6:-
We started at 9am in the morning for kaza. It was almost impossible to ride from kinnaur to spiti valley due to land slides in Malling-Nullah but now an alternate route via nako is made by BRO. We stop for petrol at reckong peo as there is no petrol pump after this till KAZA. We stop at puh for lunch at a roadside dhaba. We crossed sumdo, from there you need an inline pass if you want to go towards Tibet border to kaurik. But nothing is required for our route just to put an entry in their register. After riding from there we came across an unbelievable sangam of Sutlej and Spiti River. You can actually see two rivers mixing together as sutlej is brown is color due to lot of soil on that way and spiti river is grey in color because there is silt in this water. We stopped at bridge made by BRO to cross this sangam. It is one of the best views of our ride.
After crossing this we came across full baron land where you will hardly see any greenery but the sky and the landslides are incredible. Blue sky above different shades of Brown Mountain and white patches of clouds in the sky, you simply cannot resist yourself from clicking snaps. There are numerous loops of hairpin bends just before Nako. We Reached nako which is just 1km inside from main road and we went to nako lake.
It is very small pond of water so no use of spending much time here. So we move ahead to chango – tabo. I stopped there and went inside to view tabo monastery. This place is very clean and developed also. You will find a helipad also near monastery. Dalai Lama is going to take his retirement in this monastery. Then we are enjoying riding in spiti valley as we can see snow capped mountains on both horizontal ends and mountains on both sides with Spiti River in the center. This is the most dramatic view of any landscape you can ever find. We reached kaza at around 8pm. me and Ranjit had some argument while searching for a place to stay. But then we put our luggage at PhanDhey guest house near main market. And then went out for dinner.
Spiti is second lowest population density after zanskar valley. Kaza is district headquarter of spiti valley. It has world’s highest electronically operated retail petrol pump outlet operated by IOC. There is no petrol pump till manali.
Distance: - 233km
Road is good after sangam bridge. So 70 % of this part had good road.
TABO:- The Tabo Gompa, or Buddhist monastery, is second in importance only to the Tholing Gompa in Tibet in the entire Himalayan region. It was developed as an advanced centre for learning by the great teacher and translator Lotsawa Rinchen Tsang Po, the king of western Himalayan Kingdom of Guge -- also known as Lha Lama Yeshe O'd or Mahaguru Ratnabhadra. The Chos-Khor at Tabo remained one of the most important Buddhist establishments during the time of Lotsawa after the Chos-Khor at Tholing, the capital town of Guge. It is known that the Chos-Khor at Tabo commanded great importance, and hosted for a considerable period, many great scholars and translators in the Buddhist history studies. To date, it is the preserver of the Buddhist Legacy and is one of the most important Gompa of the entire Tibetan Buddhist world.
TABO MONASTERY: It is another big gompa for serving the population of eastern side. It belongs to the tenth century and is located 50 kms. from kaza. It is a famous gompa next to Tholing Gompa in Tibet. It has about 60 Lamas and a large collection of Scriptures, wall paintings etc. Murals of this gompa have a great similarity to that of the Ajanta paintings.
Day7:-
We started for pin valley and dhankar gompa after having delicious breakfast at shambhala guest house. There we got lot of information about treks etc from tsering lara (Manager). First we went to dhankar gompa; you can get whole view of spiti valley from this gompha. It’s a very old and famous monastery in spiti valley. We had clicked lot of landscape sceneries from there. Road is good and well maintained by BRO, all hairpin turns will take you to Dhankar monastery. Sachin stops after every 800 meters to click photo, thanks to his easy to use digital camera.
We then went to pin valley from there. Road was bad but again we entered into whole new type of sceneric beauty. There are lots of small villages on the way with population of around 125. Ranjit’s bike was out of petrol and refuses to move ahead so I put 1 liter of petrol from my bike to his. Thanks to good average of AVL-350 where it can beat std-500.
We reached MUD in the evening’s time. This is last vegetation village in this valley but you can still drive your 2 wheeler to 70 km ahead from where you can trek to manikaran near kullu; this is what villagers told us. But we just slept in green fields for some time and done a long photo session there. We have to put more petrol in Ranjit bike to take it back to kaza. Munna’s bike was giving average like it has an engine of bajaj-Boxer.
So we take petrol from his bike and then start moving back from there and ask Ranjit to move ahead. We reached back Kaza and had dinner at same breakfast place. Our bumps were paining because road condition on this route is really bad. PIN VALLEY
Distance: - 150km.
It’s better to stay at tabo and move ahead to dhankar-pin and then to kaza.
DHANKAR MONASTERY: It is situated about 25 kms. east of Kaza and serves eastern part of central Spiti. Dhankar is a big village and erstwhile capital of Spiti Kingdom. On top of a hill there is a fort which use to be the prison in olden times. The Monastery has about 100 Lamas and is in position of Budhist scriptures in Bhoti language. Principal figure is a Statue of " Vairochana" (Dhayan Budha) consisting of 4 complete figures seated back to back. It has relics in the shape of paintings and sculptures.
Pin ValleyThe Pin Valley lies off the beaten track. At the head of the valley lies the famous Pin-Parbati Pass which leads into the Parvati Valley. This remote uninhabited region is the location for the Pin River National Park, which lies at the head of the Pin River, the most important tributary of Spiti.With large parts under permanent snow cover, the park is home to many of the larger mammals including the elusive Snow Leopard and the Ibex. The Ibex, capra ibex sibirica, is well adapted to the extreme environment, making it a fascinating, if extremely difficult to get at, study. A thick winter coat helps against the intense cold whereas the summer coat is a thinner dark brown. Ibex seem to cultivate danger, frolicking on the most hazardous of slopes with gay abandon, and to all indications, spend their winter on steep cliffs that are highly prone to avalanches. In fact, unlike other Himalayan animals the Ibex do not descend in the winter and remain at the sub- arctic regions above the summer snow line. No wonder, then, that it has been estimated that winter avalanches account for as much as 10% of the population over an average winter.
Day8:-
We started from kaza at around 11 and went to ki monastery. This monastery is the oldest (800-1000years old) and most famous among lamas. There you can easily find lamas from Tibet. There is some annual festival which is going to start next day so we met a lama there who showed us all the internal rooms of that monastery and all prayer halls. And we have also seen some old painting which are around 800 years old and are made up of colors from different stone. He also served us hot ginger-lemon tea.
Then we went to new prayer hall where prayer was just started and all old instruments were played there.
Then we move out after some time and done some shopping from outside there and move ahead towards kibber. Kibber is world’s highest village. We stopped there and had coffee at a hotel and move back to reach manali. Ranjit don’t want to take any kind of risk this time so he again full his tank with petrol and he was bit angry with us as nobody stops at bridge and diversion for kaza for him. But the road condition is not bad after some km and we cannot drive fast there. It was dark and so we decided to stop at losar village and will start from there on next morning. The color of sky and shades in that valley is awesome. There were very limited places in this village to stay and eat and on this night lot of tourist got stuck on their way, so decided to stay here. So able to find one dormitory and all four of us stayed in same room. Then we had gone out in small tent for dinner and came back had some discussion and slept.
KIBBER(4205 m): It is locally known as Khyipur, one of the highest villages in the world at an altitude of 4205 m above sea level in a narrow valley surrounded by mountains from all sides. Rest Houses available for the visitors. Gette village, at a short distance away from kaza, is the highest in the world with a height of 4270 m.
KYE MONASTERY: It is situated 12 kms. north of Kaza and serves the western population of Spiti. It is the oldest and biggest monastery of the valley and located at (4116 m) above Kye village. It houses beautiful scriptures and paintings of Budha and other goddesses. Lamas practice dance, sing and play on pipes and horns. Many Lamas get religious training here. It has murals and books of high aesthetic value.
Distance: - 98km
Day9:-
We were ready to start in the morning but Sachin’s bike was punctured. So we took out our tools and replace the tube of his bike and finally push off from there at 9:30. There is no road on this part of route and we have to cross lot of big waterfalls. We all successfully crossed them all on our bike with full throttle. We took diversion to Chandertal Lake just before batal. It is around 30km inside the main road. When we reached there our eyes were just stuck on that first view as you are in front of a huge lake with crystal clear water and mountains on both sides with snow capped mountains above it. We sit some time on a stone near lake and then went in a test to have tea and food. They serve delicious rajma-chawal, maggi and tea. Its worth to stay there and cost in those tents is around Rs 80 per person per night.
But suddenly silence of that place was broken when 17 minters of HP govt. reach there to have an annual visit of some place. I never was able to understand what they do by visiting these places with their families on govt. funds. So we thought to move back as we were planning to reach manali.
Then we stopped at Kumzum pass at 15018 feet, one of the toughest pass in India. We take on parikrama of the monastery there as per tradition and then from there we have bara-shigri glacier on one side of road which is second longest glacier in the world. We saw some waterfalls on the way which seems to be higher that the tallest falls. But as they may not be permanent or nobody could discover them so they are not mentioned in any record book.
Road condition is bad till grampoo We were saw some white smoke\clouds is coming out from valley on other side but we couldn’t understand what was that, so we move ahead The moment we reach near rotang pass zero stone, we are inside a fully foggy and rainy area and its really very cold there. But instead of stopping there we thought to move ahead and stop somewhere on the way to have some tea.
We managed to drive for 20 km but then we stopped for some tea as we are fully wet and its freezing cold and full of fog and had some tea with paranthas. And then I followed a quails which is having fog lights in its front, we had actually made a chain and keep following that cab at the same speed it was moving, and as that is the best option that time. We reached manali and I called up my friend vishu & baba from there. They meet us in market and was very angry on me as I was not picking there phone from past 1 hour and moved to hotel Pine View which they had already booked for us. They have booked a twin deluxe room and also got chicken, whiskey and food for us. But all of us are very tired and nobody like to haves drinks so they all three went in other room to sleep. And I, vishu & baba sit there till 3 am in the morning and remembering our old days of Pune. These both guys had done law from symby, Pune and were staying with us. We had a great time then. We had some food and went to sleep; most of the food got wasted as none of others had food.
Distance: - 180km
The Kullu valley has an ancient town in its lap called Manali. Surrounded by towering peaks at an arm length, Manali's major asset is its proximity to the snowline. It is a flourishing orchard industry, a popular honeymoon destination and trailhead for numerous treks as well as a great countryside ideal for adventure sport lovers.Manali literally means the 'Home of Manu'. Manu is the mythological character who is supposed to have survived when the world was drowned in Flood. He then came to Manali and recreated human life. Thus, the area of Manali is sacred and Hindus treat the temples over here as pilgrimage. PRIME ATTRACTIONS Hadimba Temple: Hadimba or Dhungiri temple in Manali is one of the most important temples in the region. This four-story wooden temple is located in the middle of a forest called the Dhungiri Van Vihar.
Day10:-
We wake up at 8am and get ready by 9. Sachin was very happy as he is first in his family to come to manali and is very excited about the place. But munna was still taking time to get ready, so thought to go to Hadimba temple.
We called up munna from there and ask him to reach in market to have breakfast. We then went in market for some shopping. I buy shawl, caps etc from there and Ranjit, Sachin, munna went to Tibet emporium to buy thing for them. We then reach back to hotel to pack our bags. It’s already 1pm and then Ranjit told me that they have yet to book there return tickets. We stopped at internet café ad I suggested them to book Air India international night flight from Delhi to Bombay and from Bombay they can book a pick and drop service to Pune. While they were booking tickets I went to that Tibet emporium and bought some t-shirts from there. Finally we manage to start from there at around 3PM. I stopped at vishu’s village to say goodbye and them move ahead. Road is very good after manali. We bypass kullu and just stopped for clicking photos of dam near bilaspur.
There is Huge ACC cement plant at bilaspur so lot of trucks and traffic starts after this place. But still we move ahead after taking a stop at a dhaba for tea and reach kiratpur sahib at around 8:30PM. We decided not to go ahead and went to a dhaba on bus stand to have dinner. We enquire about stay in gurudwara after that but as there is some prayer next day and that place is full of rush and peoples were sleeping in corridor of rest-house and gurudwara there. So we went 10km back to anandpur sahib to stay. There are is very limited option to stay there other than staying at gurudwara but Ranjit told that he prefer to stay outside gurudwara. So we found one lucky-da-dhaba to stay and we were very tired by then so collapse there on bed.
It is located on the lower spurs of the Himalayas surrounded by picturesque natural scenery, with the river Satluj forming a shimmering and shiny blue border on the south west barely four miles away. So far as the historical significance of Anandpur Sahib is concerned, it is second only to Amritsar, the city of Golden Temple. Anandpur Sahib was founded in the year 1664 by the ninth Guru, Sri Guru Teg Bahadur ji, near the ruins of an ancient place, Makhowal.
It was on Baisakhi day in 1699 that Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji baptised the 'Panj Pyaras' at Anaandpur Sahib at the place where Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib stands.
Distance-262km
Day11:- Munna wake up early in the morning as he is leaving early to meet his nana nani at panipat. We started at 9 and went to gurudwara and had langar there.
It is a huge gurudwara and very much famous among Sikhs. We bypass Chandigarh took a road from mohali to jirakhpur(panchkula). We stopped at Puran singh da dhaba at ambala, this is one of the most famous dhaba on GT road and is famous for its non-veg. but we had lassi and paranthas there. Next stop is at zilmil dhaba near karna lake karnal. We had tea and lassi there and called up munna to tell him the expected time by which we will be reaching panipat. But suddenly on next signal it starts raining heavily and we all get fully wet in rain. We stopped for some time below a tree and start again when rains stops. We got shocked when we didn’t find even a single drop of rain water just after next signal. It was very different experience. We reached panipat but munna still took 25 minutes to come out of NFL with his nana-nani. Munna had lost his white helmet which he had purchased before ride from Karol bagh. So he took his nanajis old front open helmet. We all reached lalji-mulji office to book our bikes back in Karol bagh but he refuse to take bike bookings so we have to again move back to roshnara road to book our bikes. But they don’t have any packing material and any expert person for packing but Ranjit and I somehow manage to find some raw stuff for packing. All three of them are ready to move to airport and I stay back there to train one person on packing of 1st bike. Then moved to tewatia’s place in rajender nagar to put my luggage there just take the minimum required luggage from there. I took auto to piragari and then took a Great haryana roadways to reach back home by around 1:30 am.
Distance:- 362
All in all it was an amazing ride to an incredible place. I am still in cherishing memories of my ride.
Sachin’s camera:-
http://picasaweb.google.com/albelasachin/
Rajeev’s camera:-
http://picasaweb.google.com/silverheart
Ranjeet’s camera:-
http://picasaweb.google.com/ranjit.nair/SpitiRide
And Some from my mobile Camera:- http://asia.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gaurav_rtk/album?.dir=/f3dare2
We reached New Delhi railway station at 9:15 AM by rajdhani express. It’s really hot there and everybody was getting little uncomfortable by the weather and humidity there. My Friend Guddu came to receive us on station but we had lot of luggage with us so we opt to go by metro to CP (Guddu’s office). We took metro from CP to pul-bangas and then walk down to lalji mulji delivery center at roshnara road. None of us had ever come to this part of Delhi. We unpack our bike and pour some petrol and move to Karol bagh as my tail light was broken in transportation and munna have to purchase a new white helmet as he forgot to get his helmet from Pune.
After doing all shopping and repair work we all load our luggage on bikes and now everybody is set to move from there. We took some snaps and ask the shortest route to touch GT road (NH1) and start moving at around 4:15. Everybody was excited about ride and was very happy as we are back on our bikes after 10 days. All 4 of us were hungry so I told everybody that there are good and famous dhabas at murthal where we can have food. We stopped at prakash da dhaba at murthal. We all had prathas and lassi. Its 6:15 when we finished our food and ready to move.
First thing we did after moving from there is to top-up the petrol. NH1 is long straight 6 lane highway which goes to Attari border (Amritsar). There are surplus amount of petrol pumps and dhabas on the way. We turn toward Yamuna nagar from pipli (Kurukshetra) and decided to have a break for a cup of tea. It’s already 9 pm and everybody was tired of traveling thing. Then I make everybody to stop at radaur as it’s my engineering college where I had spent most memorable days of my life.
I meet owner of dhaba in front of my college and warden of my hostel. He gracefully welcomed all of us and we had some chat at hostel’s reception. I was remembering my old days when we all had fight with this person on almost every alternative day. And I was among blacklisted student in the hostel. We took some snaps and decided to move ahead. Everybody was very tired by then so we decided to stop at jagadri instead of ponta sahib. I was still in my cherish memories of my old college days when we use to come to Yamuna nagar chasing the girls bus from college or with other friends on truck to watch movies or jus chill out at model town. We take 2 rooms at Hotel Samarat near jagadri bus stand at matka chowk.
It was a very hot, dusty and hectic ride today so we all took bath and went for sleep at around 12 PM.
Jagadri is very famous place for its kitchen utensils and ply wood. It’s an industrial area having huge paper mill (BILT) and one of India’s biggest sugar mill.
Distance traveled: - 234KM
Day2:- we all wake up at 7 AM and had a cup of tea there and move at 8 pm from there. Now this road has green fields on both sides. We stop at first ghat section on our ride which is at border of HP and after hathni kund in haryana.
We reached ponta sahib at around 9:15 and had darshan there. Sachin was full exited to go to gurudwara as he is very inspired from RDB. Munna, Ranjit and Sachin were gone to gurudwara for the first time.
We start from there at around 11:30, after having langar there, towards chakrota. We don’t have any kind of route information after this place but everybody would like to try and explore this route. We all tank full our bikes at “Herbertpur”. Road condition is bad and there is some part in between where only one way traffic is allowed but we request at gate and shown our I card and they allow us to go from this side before the time of opening of gate otherwise we will end up in losing 2 hours there. This route has almost no traffic with a very nice view of green valley. We stopped on road side on a cliff and had a tea in my thermos.
The Great Himalayan RideMy bike was not performing well on this route and it power was not as it was before. I finally decided to play around with fuel settings on my bike. Munna explained me how to keep it appropriate. But after trying everything, it was still the same. Then I thought to check the air filter and found that it was wet of oil. So I throw it out of my bike and now everything was back to normal. We then move from there and stopped at chakrota for tea and some hot pakoras. We were just 50 km away from mussorie. We gather information for this route and move ahead. Road condition was very bad on this route and almost no road for around 18 km before we reach tyuni on the banks of Tons river as no village on the way where we can stop. There is no petrol pump on this road after “Herbertpur”. But this route was unexpectedly awesome and has a beautiful scenic view. We got very late as we had lots of stops on the way to click some photos and just chill there. This is first time we came across with this problem on any of our ride that the distance which was mentioned in lonely planet is wrong and it was more than 200km and we expect that to be around 60 km. We stopped at Hotel fatehpuri and put our luggage at 9PM. went out to have dinner and call up home from STD nearby.
Ponta Sahib is situated on the river Yamuna, on the Border with Uttrakhand. It is linked with Guru Gobind Singh the 10th Sikh Guru who lived here from April 1685 to 1685. At Bhangani, 23 Km. away, he achieved a great military victory when his forces defeated the combined might of 22 hill-country kingdom. His weapons are displayed in the town and his Gurudwara still overlooks the river.
Distance Traveled: 226 KM
Day3:- Wake up at around 7:30 and put our luggage on bikes by 8:15. And Sachin & Ranjit went to bridge to click some snaps. In the mean time we had our breakfast. Finally started from there at 9:30 AM and reached NH22 just 7 km before Rampur via arakot-hatkoti- rohru and had lunch at a dhaba near bridge on Sutluj River. We had a lot of fresh apples (Stolen from Apple Orchid) on the way and had lot of stops to enjoy this beauty of nature.
Road was blocked on the way due to land slides and we have to wait there for 20 minutes to get some corner part clear. Rampur is most important market of MP and very must commercialized. It is biggest town on this route after shimla. Bad road ends here and black tarmac wide road starts from here. We move from there at around 3:30 PM and fill our tanks at jeori after Rampur. Many bad patches of road are there till wangtoo. And there after 70% of road is in bad condition due to land slides and flood in Sutluj River last year. BRO is trying hard to maintain this road and are really working hard. The road is running parallel to Sutlej River and is risky due to stones so we were driving at around 30KPH. We stopped at karcham to have a view of Dam. But I and Ranjit are not happy with munna as he didn’t stop there and took turn toward sangla. It was dark and road was also narrow and risky so we decided to move together slowly. Finally reached sangla at around 8:30 and found munna was sitting there on Sonu Café. We both shout on munna for not stopping but munna seems to have no effect of our voice. Then we both calmed down and ordered dinner. We went out to find place for stay and decided to stop at Hotel Madhu. Food at sonu café was really good and we gather lot of information about the place and finally went to hotel to sleep.
This whole region of HP is lush Green and is famous for its Apples. Long teakwood trees are there on the way also.
Sangle-Baspa Valley.
SANGLA-It is 21kms from Karcham, where the mighty Sutlej meets the Baspa and turns away in a different direction. At a height of 2,700 mts, sangla is surrounded by towering mountains on all sides and the banks of the Baspa river that surges through the valley.
all the way from Chitkul (3,475 m) to where the Baspa meets the Sutlej River at Karcham (1,830 m).
Distance Traveled: - 237KM.
Day4:-
We wake up at around 8 Am and took few snaps in flower orchid nearby. It has lot of Akhrot trees also. Then we start to move toward last village on this route, Chitkul. The beautiful panomic view of the region but fog was stopping us to have a clear view of valley and back side of Kinner kailash (Shivling and tallest mountain in this area).
We check in PWD guest house after 12 PM as person there is ready to take on the spot booking if no tourist have booking there and it is Quite comfortable place. We had tea in the café. Then we all started to trek to a last village Nagasti which is occupied by ITBF and there after you need permission from govt. to go ahead. There are lots of treks from there to badrinath, gangotri and kinnar kailash. I was moving ahead and when I turned back all three were taking pics and chatting. But I decided to move ahead and slept for some time on a huge stone in this silent valley. There is a huge waterfall also on this way; I was missing camera at this time. I returned back and then we went up in Himalaya Café. This café is made up of wood and you can have a clear view of whole village and there you can have best soup you ever had. We had two big bowls of soups there and walk down to street for some time and as the light getting dim; we went back to PWD and slept in our rooms.
This was chilling day and very less bike ride. We all enjoyed a lot there.
CHITKUL:- Chitkul, on the banks of River Baspa, is the first village of the Baspa valley and the last village on the old Hindustan-Tibet trade route. It is also the last point you can travel to without a permit. Of particular interest at Chitkul are its houses with either slate or wooden plank roofs, a Buddhist temple and a small tower. The Kagyupa temple has a highly valued old image of the Shakyamuni Buddha, a Wheel of life and four Directional Kings on either side of the door.
Chitkul is practically the last point of the famous Kinner Kailash Parikrama as one can hitch a hike from here onwards.
Distance: 22 KM
Day 5:-
Started from chitkul at 8:30 am and reached sangla valley and had breakfast at Sonu’s café and move ahead to Recong Peo. There is one petrol pump just before diversion of reckong peo at powari but thought to fill petrol at peckong peo which is district HQ of Kinnaour valley. We found reckong peo very crowdie so we thought to move ahead to kalpa and finally decided to stop there at Golden Apple Resort. This place is costly but you will have a good view of kinner kailash from room window. But we have a bad luck from the morning as we couldn’t see kailash top due to fog and clouds.
Then we had a tea there and took bath. We decided to roam around the village, and move 2-3 km ahead to have a clear view of the place. Then we went back to village for STD and were searching for food there but then decided to order some snacks at hotel itself. But on the way clouds get clear and now we have a clear view of kinner kailash top along with a beautiful rainbow. We stop our bikes and click few snaps from there. But the time we reached back the resort we found that now we can see both primary and secondary rainbows there and this is the first time I am watching both together. We reached the roof top of the hotel to have better view. And then went for sleep there.
Kinnaur shawl is very famous in HP. Height of kinner kailash is 19,965.
Distance: 70 KM
KALPA-This spectacular mountain village is reached through a winding road climbing up from Recong Peo (district headquarters of Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh) through pine forest, apple orchards and fields. a typical house under snow in Kalpa
Known as Chini back in the days when it was the regional capital, Kalpa has changed little in the last 500 years. It is said that as and when Lord Dalhousie wanted to take a break from his hectic schedule in Shimla, he would come here on his horseback. The views of the Kinner Kailash range are some of the most spectacular in the Himalayas. Kinner Kailash is the legendary home of Lord Shiva who is said to retire here each winter to meditate. You get a complete panorama from behind the Chorten (Tibetan Pagoda) at the top of the hill. The range looks so up close that one gets a feeling that one can just reach out and touch it.
Day6:-
We started at 9am in the morning for kaza. It was almost impossible to ride from kinnaur to spiti valley due to land slides in Malling-Nullah but now an alternate route via nako is made by BRO. We stop for petrol at reckong peo as there is no petrol pump after this till KAZA. We stop at puh for lunch at a roadside dhaba. We crossed sumdo, from there you need an inline pass if you want to go towards Tibet border to kaurik. But nothing is required for our route just to put an entry in their register. After riding from there we came across an unbelievable sangam of Sutlej and Spiti River. You can actually see two rivers mixing together as sutlej is brown is color due to lot of soil on that way and spiti river is grey in color because there is silt in this water. We stopped at bridge made by BRO to cross this sangam. It is one of the best views of our ride.
After crossing this we came across full baron land where you will hardly see any greenery but the sky and the landslides are incredible. Blue sky above different shades of Brown Mountain and white patches of clouds in the sky, you simply cannot resist yourself from clicking snaps. There are numerous loops of hairpin bends just before Nako. We Reached nako which is just 1km inside from main road and we went to nako lake.
It is very small pond of water so no use of spending much time here. So we move ahead to chango – tabo. I stopped there and went inside to view tabo monastery. This place is very clean and developed also. You will find a helipad also near monastery. Dalai Lama is going to take his retirement in this monastery. Then we are enjoying riding in spiti valley as we can see snow capped mountains on both horizontal ends and mountains on both sides with Spiti River in the center. This is the most dramatic view of any landscape you can ever find. We reached kaza at around 8pm. me and Ranjit had some argument while searching for a place to stay. But then we put our luggage at PhanDhey guest house near main market. And then went out for dinner.
Spiti is second lowest population density after zanskar valley. Kaza is district headquarter of spiti valley. It has world’s highest electronically operated retail petrol pump outlet operated by IOC. There is no petrol pump till manali.
Distance: - 233km
Road is good after sangam bridge. So 70 % of this part had good road.
TABO:- The Tabo Gompa, or Buddhist monastery, is second in importance only to the Tholing Gompa in Tibet in the entire Himalayan region. It was developed as an advanced centre for learning by the great teacher and translator Lotsawa Rinchen Tsang Po, the king of western Himalayan Kingdom of Guge -- also known as Lha Lama Yeshe O'd or Mahaguru Ratnabhadra. The Chos-Khor at Tabo remained one of the most important Buddhist establishments during the time of Lotsawa after the Chos-Khor at Tholing, the capital town of Guge. It is known that the Chos-Khor at Tabo commanded great importance, and hosted for a considerable period, many great scholars and translators in the Buddhist history studies. To date, it is the preserver of the Buddhist Legacy and is one of the most important Gompa of the entire Tibetan Buddhist world.
TABO MONASTERY: It is another big gompa for serving the population of eastern side. It belongs to the tenth century and is located 50 kms. from kaza. It is a famous gompa next to Tholing Gompa in Tibet. It has about 60 Lamas and a large collection of Scriptures, wall paintings etc. Murals of this gompa have a great similarity to that of the Ajanta paintings.
Day7:-
We started for pin valley and dhankar gompa after having delicious breakfast at shambhala guest house. There we got lot of information about treks etc from tsering lara (Manager). First we went to dhankar gompa; you can get whole view of spiti valley from this gompha. It’s a very old and famous monastery in spiti valley. We had clicked lot of landscape sceneries from there. Road is good and well maintained by BRO, all hairpin turns will take you to Dhankar monastery. Sachin stops after every 800 meters to click photo, thanks to his easy to use digital camera.
We then went to pin valley from there. Road was bad but again we entered into whole new type of sceneric beauty. There are lots of small villages on the way with population of around 125. Ranjit’s bike was out of petrol and refuses to move ahead so I put 1 liter of petrol from my bike to his. Thanks to good average of AVL-350 where it can beat std-500.
We reached MUD in the evening’s time. This is last vegetation village in this valley but you can still drive your 2 wheeler to 70 km ahead from where you can trek to manikaran near kullu; this is what villagers told us. But we just slept in green fields for some time and done a long photo session there. We have to put more petrol in Ranjit bike to take it back to kaza. Munna’s bike was giving average like it has an engine of bajaj-Boxer.
So we take petrol from his bike and then start moving back from there and ask Ranjit to move ahead. We reached back Kaza and had dinner at same breakfast place. Our bumps were paining because road condition on this route is really bad. PIN VALLEY
Distance: - 150km.
It’s better to stay at tabo and move ahead to dhankar-pin and then to kaza.
DHANKAR MONASTERY: It is situated about 25 kms. east of Kaza and serves eastern part of central Spiti. Dhankar is a big village and erstwhile capital of Spiti Kingdom. On top of a hill there is a fort which use to be the prison in olden times. The Monastery has about 100 Lamas and is in position of Budhist scriptures in Bhoti language. Principal figure is a Statue of " Vairochana" (Dhayan Budha) consisting of 4 complete figures seated back to back. It has relics in the shape of paintings and sculptures.
Pin ValleyThe Pin Valley lies off the beaten track. At the head of the valley lies the famous Pin-Parbati Pass which leads into the Parvati Valley. This remote uninhabited region is the location for the Pin River National Park, which lies at the head of the Pin River, the most important tributary of Spiti.With large parts under permanent snow cover, the park is home to many of the larger mammals including the elusive Snow Leopard and the Ibex. The Ibex, capra ibex sibirica, is well adapted to the extreme environment, making it a fascinating, if extremely difficult to get at, study. A thick winter coat helps against the intense cold whereas the summer coat is a thinner dark brown. Ibex seem to cultivate danger, frolicking on the most hazardous of slopes with gay abandon, and to all indications, spend their winter on steep cliffs that are highly prone to avalanches. In fact, unlike other Himalayan animals the Ibex do not descend in the winter and remain at the sub- arctic regions above the summer snow line. No wonder, then, that it has been estimated that winter avalanches account for as much as 10% of the population over an average winter.
Day8:-
We started from kaza at around 11 and went to ki monastery. This monastery is the oldest (800-1000years old) and most famous among lamas. There you can easily find lamas from Tibet. There is some annual festival which is going to start next day so we met a lama there who showed us all the internal rooms of that monastery and all prayer halls. And we have also seen some old painting which are around 800 years old and are made up of colors from different stone. He also served us hot ginger-lemon tea.
Then we went to new prayer hall where prayer was just started and all old instruments were played there.
Then we move out after some time and done some shopping from outside there and move ahead towards kibber. Kibber is world’s highest village. We stopped there and had coffee at a hotel and move back to reach manali. Ranjit don’t want to take any kind of risk this time so he again full his tank with petrol and he was bit angry with us as nobody stops at bridge and diversion for kaza for him. But the road condition is not bad after some km and we cannot drive fast there. It was dark and so we decided to stop at losar village and will start from there on next morning. The color of sky and shades in that valley is awesome. There were very limited places in this village to stay and eat and on this night lot of tourist got stuck on their way, so decided to stay here. So able to find one dormitory and all four of us stayed in same room. Then we had gone out in small tent for dinner and came back had some discussion and slept.
KIBBER(4205 m): It is locally known as Khyipur, one of the highest villages in the world at an altitude of 4205 m above sea level in a narrow valley surrounded by mountains from all sides. Rest Houses available for the visitors. Gette village, at a short distance away from kaza, is the highest in the world with a height of 4270 m.
KYE MONASTERY: It is situated 12 kms. north of Kaza and serves the western population of Spiti. It is the oldest and biggest monastery of the valley and located at (4116 m) above Kye village. It houses beautiful scriptures and paintings of Budha and other goddesses. Lamas practice dance, sing and play on pipes and horns. Many Lamas get religious training here. It has murals and books of high aesthetic value.
Distance: - 98km
Day9:-
We were ready to start in the morning but Sachin’s bike was punctured. So we took out our tools and replace the tube of his bike and finally push off from there at 9:30. There is no road on this part of route and we have to cross lot of big waterfalls. We all successfully crossed them all on our bike with full throttle. We took diversion to Chandertal Lake just before batal. It is around 30km inside the main road. When we reached there our eyes were just stuck on that first view as you are in front of a huge lake with crystal clear water and mountains on both sides with snow capped mountains above it. We sit some time on a stone near lake and then went in a test to have tea and food. They serve delicious rajma-chawal, maggi and tea. Its worth to stay there and cost in those tents is around Rs 80 per person per night.
But suddenly silence of that place was broken when 17 minters of HP govt. reach there to have an annual visit of some place. I never was able to understand what they do by visiting these places with their families on govt. funds. So we thought to move back as we were planning to reach manali.
Then we stopped at Kumzum pass at 15018 feet, one of the toughest pass in India. We take on parikrama of the monastery there as per tradition and then from there we have bara-shigri glacier on one side of road which is second longest glacier in the world. We saw some waterfalls on the way which seems to be higher that the tallest falls. But as they may not be permanent or nobody could discover them so they are not mentioned in any record book.
Road condition is bad till grampoo We were saw some white smoke\clouds is coming out from valley on other side but we couldn’t understand what was that, so we move ahead The moment we reach near rotang pass zero stone, we are inside a fully foggy and rainy area and its really very cold there. But instead of stopping there we thought to move ahead and stop somewhere on the way to have some tea.
We managed to drive for 20 km but then we stopped for some tea as we are fully wet and its freezing cold and full of fog and had some tea with paranthas. And then I followed a quails which is having fog lights in its front, we had actually made a chain and keep following that cab at the same speed it was moving, and as that is the best option that time. We reached manali and I called up my friend vishu & baba from there. They meet us in market and was very angry on me as I was not picking there phone from past 1 hour and moved to hotel Pine View which they had already booked for us. They have booked a twin deluxe room and also got chicken, whiskey and food for us. But all of us are very tired and nobody like to haves drinks so they all three went in other room to sleep. And I, vishu & baba sit there till 3 am in the morning and remembering our old days of Pune. These both guys had done law from symby, Pune and were staying with us. We had a great time then. We had some food and went to sleep; most of the food got wasted as none of others had food.
Distance: - 180km
The Kullu valley has an ancient town in its lap called Manali. Surrounded by towering peaks at an arm length, Manali's major asset is its proximity to the snowline. It is a flourishing orchard industry, a popular honeymoon destination and trailhead for numerous treks as well as a great countryside ideal for adventure sport lovers.Manali literally means the 'Home of Manu'. Manu is the mythological character who is supposed to have survived when the world was drowned in Flood. He then came to Manali and recreated human life. Thus, the area of Manali is sacred and Hindus treat the temples over here as pilgrimage. PRIME ATTRACTIONS Hadimba Temple: Hadimba or Dhungiri temple in Manali is one of the most important temples in the region. This four-story wooden temple is located in the middle of a forest called the Dhungiri Van Vihar.
Day10:-
We wake up at 8am and get ready by 9. Sachin was very happy as he is first in his family to come to manali and is very excited about the place. But munna was still taking time to get ready, so thought to go to Hadimba temple.
We called up munna from there and ask him to reach in market to have breakfast. We then went in market for some shopping. I buy shawl, caps etc from there and Ranjit, Sachin, munna went to Tibet emporium to buy thing for them. We then reach back to hotel to pack our bags. It’s already 1pm and then Ranjit told me that they have yet to book there return tickets. We stopped at internet café ad I suggested them to book Air India international night flight from Delhi to Bombay and from Bombay they can book a pick and drop service to Pune. While they were booking tickets I went to that Tibet emporium and bought some t-shirts from there. Finally we manage to start from there at around 3PM. I stopped at vishu’s village to say goodbye and them move ahead. Road is very good after manali. We bypass kullu and just stopped for clicking photos of dam near bilaspur.
There is Huge ACC cement plant at bilaspur so lot of trucks and traffic starts after this place. But still we move ahead after taking a stop at a dhaba for tea and reach kiratpur sahib at around 8:30PM. We decided not to go ahead and went to a dhaba on bus stand to have dinner. We enquire about stay in gurudwara after that but as there is some prayer next day and that place is full of rush and peoples were sleeping in corridor of rest-house and gurudwara there. So we went 10km back to anandpur sahib to stay. There are is very limited option to stay there other than staying at gurudwara but Ranjit told that he prefer to stay outside gurudwara. So we found one lucky-da-dhaba to stay and we were very tired by then so collapse there on bed.
It is located on the lower spurs of the Himalayas surrounded by picturesque natural scenery, with the river Satluj forming a shimmering and shiny blue border on the south west barely four miles away. So far as the historical significance of Anandpur Sahib is concerned, it is second only to Amritsar, the city of Golden Temple. Anandpur Sahib was founded in the year 1664 by the ninth Guru, Sri Guru Teg Bahadur ji, near the ruins of an ancient place, Makhowal.
It was on Baisakhi day in 1699 that Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji baptised the 'Panj Pyaras' at Anaandpur Sahib at the place where Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib stands.
Distance-262km
Day11:- Munna wake up early in the morning as he is leaving early to meet his nana nani at panipat. We started at 9 and went to gurudwara and had langar there.
It is a huge gurudwara and very much famous among Sikhs. We bypass Chandigarh took a road from mohali to jirakhpur(panchkula). We stopped at Puran singh da dhaba at ambala, this is one of the most famous dhaba on GT road and is famous for its non-veg. but we had lassi and paranthas there. Next stop is at zilmil dhaba near karna lake karnal. We had tea and lassi there and called up munna to tell him the expected time by which we will be reaching panipat. But suddenly on next signal it starts raining heavily and we all get fully wet in rain. We stopped for some time below a tree and start again when rains stops. We got shocked when we didn’t find even a single drop of rain water just after next signal. It was very different experience. We reached panipat but munna still took 25 minutes to come out of NFL with his nana-nani. Munna had lost his white helmet which he had purchased before ride from Karol bagh. So he took his nanajis old front open helmet. We all reached lalji-mulji office to book our bikes back in Karol bagh but he refuse to take bike bookings so we have to again move back to roshnara road to book our bikes. But they don’t have any packing material and any expert person for packing but Ranjit and I somehow manage to find some raw stuff for packing. All three of them are ready to move to airport and I stay back there to train one person on packing of 1st bike. Then moved to tewatia’s place in rajender nagar to put my luggage there just take the minimum required luggage from there. I took auto to piragari and then took a Great haryana roadways to reach back home by around 1:30 am.
Distance:- 362
All in all it was an amazing ride to an incredible place. I am still in cherishing memories of my ride.
Sachin’s camera:-
http://picasaweb.google.com/albelasachin/
Rajeev’s camera:-
http://picasaweb.google.com/silverheart
Ranjeet’s camera:-
http://picasaweb.google.com/ranjit.nair/SpitiRide
And Some from my mobile Camera:- http://asia.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gaurav_rtk/album?.dir=/f3dare2
Labels: bike, Bullet, himachal pradesh, kaza, kinnar kailash, kinnaur, lahaul, pune, ride, Royal Enfield, spiti valley
posted by Gaurav Bahl @ 11:30 PM
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