12th July 2010.
Wake up as usual at 5.30 am. (Its becoming a habit, this waking up early! Wifey would be pretty pleased if I can continue this in Bombay). Had a decent nights sleep, not very comfortable in the sleeping bag (gets rather hot), but okay nonetheless. Wash up and get ready to proceed on the journey. Dinesh wakes up a little later and gets ready too. Its 6.00 am., Arshad gets up and as usual asks for his tea. I also need my morning cuppa, so I go looking for the caretaker. All the other rooms are locked or closed and can't figure out where the caretaker is. Hope that he arrives/ gets up and gives us some tea before we leave. In the mean time Arshad gets ready, but still no sign of the tea or the caretaker.
Its almost 7.00 am. Its high time we started off, tea or no tea! Pack all of the luggage into the car and start the car for the onward journey. Not the best of places to have stayed in, but it was definitely better than having to sleep in car! Drive into the bazaar area of Tapri, hoping to find a stall or a restaurant to have the first cup of tea! The town is just about waking up, so we decide to proceed further and stop somewhere ahead.
Cross the BASPA II hydro-electric project (Karcham-Wangtoo) on the river Baspa and Satluj. Lots of construction work, roads in bad condition due to the work and the rains.
Looking at all the frenetic construction activity taking place, I wonder to myself:
Yes electricity and power generation is required, but is the rampant destruction and alteration of the mountains, the harnessing of the river and changing the course of the river, really a necessity? Is there no other way this can be done? The damage to the mountains looks too permanent! I have seen the destructive power of nature up close at Rohtang. Who would be to blame, if something goes wrong and lives are lost and property destroyed? I am sure the people who conceived this project, have all the answers, but it will take a lot to convince me and assure me that there will be no future problems! (Of course I keep all these thoughts to myself)
We cross the Shontong Bridge and reach Powari at 7.50 am. We stop at a small roadside dhaba, to have tea and breakfast. The chef (Dinesh) makes sandwiches, we order tea and boiled eggs from the dhaba, have a leisurely breakfast. The river Satluj flows alongside the road. We leave the dhaba after a 35 min. break. The BRO/ GREF Hq is situated just outside the town of Powari. This is the last place you will find a proper Petrol Pump, before Kaza. It is advisable to fill up/ top up here before proceeding. The Bolero's tank was more than three quarters full, besides we had nearly 40 lts. in the jerry cans, so we decided against filling from the pump. Just 2 kms., after the town of Powari is the turn of for Recong Peo and Kalpa. Its an uphill climb all the way.
Call HVK from Dinesh's phone (only Airtel works) to inform him about our progress. He is very glad to hear from us. He asks about road conditions, weather, etc., tells us that the roads should improve after the village of Jhangi. News from his side - ROHTANG has been closed indefinitely by the BRO, because of repeated landslides! (So our decision to not wait in Manali/Kothi was the right decision) We thank him again for all his inputs and help, promising to keep in touch.
We reach the town/ village of Thopan at 9.00 am. The quality of the road improves quite a lot from this point onwards. There are bad stretches in between at many places, but mostly due to falling rocks or landslides, thankfully not due to any construction activity. Reach Kassang bridge and stop to take a few pictures. Most of the bridges hereon permit only one vehicle to cross at a time. The roads have been literally cut through the mountain face and in some places the mountain sort of forms an overhang above the road. Truly spectacular!
Around 14 kms., from Thopan, we come up on one of the many places where blasting and clearing of the mountain is being undertaken by the BRO/GREF for widening of the road. We stop for about 10 mins. for the road to be cleared. Reach the town of Spillow at around 10.00 a. Stop at Himani Hotel, to have tea. The town has a Monastery on top of the mountain. Leave after tea and 2 kms., later we are at the police check post adjacent to the Shri Mati Dhang Durga Mandir. All the car papers, drivers papers are thoroughly checked, details of where we are coming from and headed to are duly noted. All foreigners wishing to travel beyond this point require Inner Line permits. Beyond this point all three of our cell networks were not working. Only BSNL works here, we are told. So we will be out of touch, till we reach a town with STD facility.
Leave after getting all the papers checked and cross the town of Pooh at 11.25 am., which has a BRO/GREF camp and officers mess. Reach the Dubling bridge, where NH22 ends and SH30 begins. Stop to take a few photos of mountains on the opposite side of the river, for some interesting patterns on the rock face. The road after the bridge is again below the overhang of the mountain. Drive on towards Nako, crossing the village of Ka and the exit to Yangthang village.
It is a steep ascent towards Nako, which necessitates driving in either 2nd. or 1st. gear. Reach the top of the ascent around a km. from Nako, sort of like a table land. Its 1.00 pm. and luckily for us there is a small dhaba right there in front of us. We stop there and decide to have lunch. While lunch is being readied I stroll around and take a few snaps. Just adjacent to the dhaba is a helipad, built for medical or other emergencies. While strolling I realise that I am feeling very cold. Pull out another jacket from the car and put it on. Much better. Lunch is veg Thupka and Chowmein. Interesting combination. Feel colder after lunch as expected. Order tea for myself, to warm my insides.
Leave the dhaba at around 2.00 pm. and head towards Sumdo, the next town as per the maps. The town of Nako lies towards the right, while Sumdo is towards the left. Pass the famous Malling Nallaha and the village of Chango. (peas in this season) Its a steep descent to Sumdo, with winding roads. The sun peeks out of the sky at a few places and we get our first look at the Spiti river. At Sumdo bridge another police checkpost, all papers checked, verified, details noted. We enter Spiti Valley at 3.15 pm., and the scenery changes dramatically. Beautiful vistas, wherever you look!
Driving alongside the Spiti river, pass the villages of Hurling and Lari before reaching Tabo at around 4.10 pm. Tabo is a big town, with a very old Monastery (Visit on the return leg). Drive through the town, heading towards Kaza. The sun is playing hide and seek, causing various areas of the mountains to light up, offering truly very spectacular views all around us. The drive is pretty relaxing and the roads are pretty good.
Pass the villages of Kurith, Poh, Sichling, Lingti, Lidang and Shego. Stop at many places to take photos of the surroundings, before we finally reach the entry to Kaza at 6.00 pm. Head straight to the IOC petrol pump at the far end of town. This is the highest retail outlet for fuel in the world in terms of Altitude. So there you have it, my Bolero has been to the highest petrol pump in the world. (Atleast something I can brag about, after the Ladakh fiasco!) Fill diesel into the tank , pay up and head out in search of a hotel to stay for the night.
Head to The Hotel Spiti run by HPTDC, to be greeted by the manager, the caretaker sitting out near the entrance, twiddling their thumbs! They are surprised to see someone coming to the hotel. I presume they haven't seen many tourists recently. There is hardly a soul around and the place is absolutely deserted. After speaking to the manager my suspicions are confirmed. The hotel is huge, around 40 rooms, if I'm not mistaken and none occupied. We ask for a discount on the room rent, but the manager declines, saying that as it is a Govt. run hotel, it is not possible for him to offer any discounts. He suggests some other hotels in town, where we will get good rates and discounts.
Head back towards town and come across Hotel Khangsar on the main road. The place looks promising. Arshad and Dinesh go in to check the place, while I wait outside. The board outside says parking in compound, so that is a bit of relief. I wouldn't want to leave the car out on the road for the whole night! Arshad and Dinesh come back after checking the rooms and getting good rates for the same. We decide to check in. I'm guided to the parking area, which is behind the hotel. The attendant gives us the news that Spain has won the Football World Cup defeating The Netherlands 1 - 0 in extra time. Great news for me, as I was rooting for Spain after the Selecao` (Brazil) were knocked out!
Take out our luggage and head to the room. As is customary for me, I order tea! Settle into the room, which is quite decent and after last nights room at Tapri, seems luxurious. The attendant gets an extra mattress and covers and arrives with the tea after some time. we ask the attendant, the possibility of making a call to Bombay, he tells us that the STD booth is in the main Bazaar area. We are a little loathe to walk all the way into town. Seeing our predicament the attendant suggests that we use his BSNL mobile and pay him for whatever usage we incur. We gladly accept his offer and make calls to Bombay, to inform our families of our whereabouts and well being!
All of us are pretty happy that we have made it this far and are really glad that we did not head back to Bombay from Manali! Arshad and me are absolutely thrilled that we are getting to see nature at its best, in vivid colour and variety. Dinesh having visited these places earlier is not as excited as the two of us. A case of been here, done this already!
Chalk out the plan for the next day, while having our teas. Chandratal is our destination for the next day. The plan would be to ideally reach Chandratal before around 10.00 am., so as to get some good pictures of the lake, weather permitting and sun shining! On the return journey probably visit Kye Monastery and Kibber Village. Plan sounds good. The attendant comes to enquire about dinner, and we place the order for the nights dinner. Dinesh goes for a wash and comes out saying that the heater is probably not working as he did not get enough hot water. Arshad goes in next and comes out almost immediately, complaining that the water is too cold. I decide to give the heater some time to recuparate and decide to go for a bath after some time.
In the meantime Dinesh has taken out his Laptop and is transferring pics from his Camera onto the Laptop. I go for a bath, and realise that though the water is getting hot, by the time it reaches the bucket it sort of turns luke warm. Its pretty cold outside too. I decide against having a bath and just wash my face, hands and legs, change into my night clothes. (Yes, all 3 of us changed into our night clothes, every night, without fail!)
Go to the dining room/ restaurant to have dinner. Meet the Manager cum Chef of the hotel, Mr. Vilas. The gentleman is from Nepal, settled in Siliguri, West Bengal. He spends around 4 to 5 months in Kaza, managing the hotel and cooking for the guests. Heads of to Goa for 6 to 7 months during winter and is a chef at a resort in Candolim, Goa. (My bad, forgot the name). This Hotel shuts down during the winter months, due to the lack of tourists visiting.
Finish of our meal and make enquiries regarding the drive to Chandratal. There shouldn't be any problems, we are assured, by the staff. But actual details, regarding the condition of the road will be available only at Lossar or Bataal, we are told. Since we have made up our minds to visit Chandratal, we decide to drive till wherever possible and trek it to the lake from thereon. We request the Manager to serve us tea at 5.00 am., "5.30 am." he says, which is fine with us.
Get back to the room and decide to hit the bed immediately. Tomorrow's going to be a tough day, especially if we have to trek to Chandratal! Put on the water heater switch before getting into bed, in the hope of getting some hot water in the morning. Get into bed and cover myself with what appears to be a Chingoo! (Actually it is some sort of acrylic blanket, very warm) and like always dead to the world!
To be continued.......................
