DEV BHOOMI - Day 8

11th. July 2010.

The three of us wake up at around 6.00 am., feeling very gloomy and dejected, by the turn of events. Step out into the balcony and see that there is a line of cars (mainly tourist taxis) parked on the opposite side of the road. Ask around, only to be told that the road leading to Rohtang is still blocked due to landslides. So its final, Leh via Rohtang pass is not going to be a possibility this year or rather on this trip!

Finish our morning rituals and sit down for a discussion, regarding further plan of action. Back to Bombay or should we wait a few more days for the situation at Rohtang to improve or should we head back to Kinnaur and Spiti Valleys? Lots of points and counterpoints.

And finally a decision: We are heading to Kinnaur and Spiti!

We call our families and inform them of our decision. I also call HVK and tell him about our plans. He is very happy to know that we are not abandoning the trip altogether! He wishes us all the best and a safe journey ahead. I promise to keep in touch with him.

Its around 8.30 am. We order breakfast, again bread and omelettes and tea to go with it. We pay up all the bills and leave the Hotel at around 9.35 am. Head back towards Manali, stop on the way at Rashpian filling Station, to top up diesel. Cross Manali and are out on the other side of the town by 10.20 am.

Now begins our Journey into the Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti Valleys. Driving through, I finally realise the reason Himachal Pradesh is called DEV BHOOMI!

Pass a small town Patlikuhal. Stop for a few minutes to buy some medication, fruits and a bottle of jam. On the journey into Manali, I could only only hear the Beas river flowing alongside the road. Finally I am driving on the road to Kullu from Manali and the Beas is running alongside. Truly a beautiful sight. There are loads of camps along the roads, renting out kayaks and rafts, for white water rafting. Maybe the next time I am here, will probably try it out!

Pass the town of Katrain and are at the Kullu bypass by 11.30 am. Cross the Toll bridge over the river Beas.

Pass the town of Bhunter at around 11.45 am. head towards Aut, passing Nagwain, Takoli and reach Aut at 12.10 pm. Immediately after Aut is a 3km long tunnel under the mountain range. While coming into Manali I had not kept a check on the length of the tunnel so made sure I didn't make the same mistake this time around. Its a smooth ride in the tunnel, which is adequately lit. At the end of the tunnel, the road forks into two, the right heading towards Mandi and the left towards Larji and Jalori Jot/Pass, where we are headed.

We cross the town of Larji at 12.25 pm and reach the village of Bali and stop to have tea and biscuits (from our stock of food supplies). We now are alongside the river Tirthan, which is much smaller than the Beas, but with fast flowing clear water. Stop to take a few snaps.

The views are just captivating and the smiles have returned back to our faces. We are glad not having abandoned the trip completely! This part of Himachal is turning out to be very interesting and beautiful. We cross the village of Banjar at 1.35 pm. and reach the village of Jibhi at around 2.00 pm. The river Tirthan runs alongside the town. Some very beautiful houses along the river.

We cross the village of Sojha. The roads are very narrow and winding. It is very important that you drive carefully and watch for oncoming vehicles. There is always a chance of having to back up and move to the side to let the oncoming vehicle pass. We had to back up a couple of times to let a bus and a pick up van pass us and on three occasions the oncoming vehicles backed up, to let us pass. The climb on this road leading to Jalori Jot/ Pass is very steep and most of the time we are either in second or first gear. Would have been a reason to complain some other time, but the views we encountered were just too beautiful. We stop again to take a few snaps of the surroundings.

The Doc and his 500mm lens in action.

We spend quite some amount of time admiring the views, breathing in the crisp mountain air and of course taking snaps. Finally decide to move on. Cross Jalori Jot/ Pass at 3.15 pm. The descent starts immediately after the pass. The road is still narrow and not paved in many parts. No problems for the Bolero though. Smaller cars may not be able to speed, for fear of stones hitting the underside. Small car or SUV, honestly one should not be speeding/ going fast on these roads! We encounter fog on the way down from Jalori Pass. Quite an eerie feeling driving through the fog.

We move ahead passing the villages of Kharag, Khamand, Khandugarh. Again an opportunity for some photos.

Reach the town of Anni at 4.15 pm. Stop for a cup of tea, when realisation dawns on us that we haven't had any lunch. Maybe the captivating drive made us forget about lunch altogether! Dinesh the official chef, makes us jam sandwiches, and cuts some fruits, which is finished in no time. We leave after tea and head towards Sainj, where we will join the NH22. On the way we pass the villages of Nagan and Chauthi. At Chauthi, we get the first glimpse of the river Satluj. Its a fast flowing river, but extremely muddy water.

Pass the village of Luhri and reach Sainj at 5.25 pm. The road meets with NH22. Finally a smooth, well paved/ tarred, double laned National Highway. We make good speed, passing Nirath, Nirsu, Nogli villages and reach the town of Rampur at 6.00 pm. Rampur is a big town, with the usual traffic chaos that goes with a big town. In case of any car trouble though, this is the place, you would want to be in. Lots of garages, including ASC's of Mahindra and Maruti. There are some car accessory shops too. (Just in case any body is so inclined). Thankfully we do not have any issues that need to be attended to and we cross the town.

We cross the town of Jhakri at 6.22 pm. (Nathpa Jhakri Hydro electric project) and move on towards Jeori. Halt for diesel at Soben Service Station, IOC outlet, just on the outskirts of Jeori. . Going by the maps that we were using, we had decided to spend the night at Neichar. We make enquiries at the petrol pump and are told that Neichar is not on the highway and we would need to take exit from the highway and travel atleast 2 to 3 kms. uphill to reach Neichar. We ask for alternative places and are told to try Bhavanagar, around 17 kms. from here.

Sounds good, so we head out and cross the town of Jeori, hoping to reach Bhavanagar in around 20 mins. What we did not take into account, was the condition of the road. The condition of the road has totally deteriorated, not due to the rains, but due to the Karcham-Wangtoo Hydro-Electric project being executed by Jaypee Associates. So what should ideally been a 20 min. journey, takes us more than 45 mins.

We reach Bhavanagar at around 7.35 pm. and I make the mistake of not getting out of car to make enquiries. I keep driving slowly, in the hope of seeing a hotel somewhere and stopping. Most of Bhavanagr is on top of the mountain side and I do not see any hotel adjoining the highway, so I keep driving and then the town ends! On we go, with Dinesh saying that we should have stopped at Bhavanagar and checked for hotels, rather than just driving on. We refer to the map and see that the next town is Wangtoo, and I am pretty confident that we will come across some sort of accommodation there.

Keep driving and after around 15 mins., we come across this huge construction site, which we assume to be part of the Jaypee project. We halt at the side of the road, to ask a couple of people sitting there for the distance to Wangtoo. Imagine our surprise when we are told that this is Wangtoo. No town, just a project area, is all we could see in the darkness, illuminated by the lights of the construction site. One of the men, requests for a lift to Tapri as he has missed the bus. We take him on, along with his luggage rather reluctantly. (Unknown to Arshad and me, this is the done thing in the mountains. After dark or late in the evening, you are not supposed to refuse help to any one stuck on the road!)

We get talking with the guy and he says that we will definitely get some place to stay at Tapri. He also assures us that he will help in any way possible. That is a bit of a relief, considering that there are no villages we are passing on the way. We reach Tapri at 8.20 pm. Arshad goes to a shop at the side of the road, in what appears to be the main bazaar area of the town, while I park the car. Look around and all I can see is a very small town, with no sign of any hotel or any decent place to stay.

Arshad comes out of the shop and tells us that the only possible accommodation available is at the Government Rest House. The new construction that I spot, is a hotel being built, but it won't be ready till the end of the year. (We can't wait that long!) Off we head to the Govt. Rest House, which is just adjoining the river (Satluj I assume). Dinesh and Arshad go in to talk to the caretaker, while I wait outside guarding the car.

After around 15 mins. Dinesh comes out and tells me that all the decent rooms in the rest house are not available, because some Ministers or Bureaucrats are arriving the next day and the rooms have been sealed for security and cleanliness purposes. However the caretaker after a lot of pleading and explaining our predicament is going to allow us the use of a spare room with a double bed and an attached bath cum toilet for the night, for a princely sum of Rs. 260/=, also included is a cup of tea in the morning.

Well something is better than nothing. In the meantime Arshad also returns and says that he tried to get a better room, with no luck even after offering more money. I decide to take a look at the room, with Dinesh accompanying me. The room itself is not so bad, just that the bedsheets, etc., are dirty. Probably this room is used by the servants/ drivers of the Ministers or the officials. Seeing as there are no other options, we decide to take the room and pay the money.

A little scared of keeping the car, with all the luggage, outside the rest house, we decide to drive it down to the bazaar area and look for a place to have dinner. Stop the car outside a local dhaba to have a dinner of very simple veg food, consisting of Aloo Mutter and Rotis. Finish dinner and head back to the Rest House. Take all the luggage into the room, except for the food stuff and the extra diesel cans, just to be safe. Decide to use the sleeping bags tonight, instead of sleeping on the soiled bedsheets.

Wash up all the grime of the days journey and have a small discussion regarding the next days program. We decide that we should leave by around 7.00 am. latest, so that we reach Kaza, before it gets dark. Besides we have no idea of the road conditions further towards Kaza. If its is in the same condition as the roads were today, we will require quite a lot of time to reach Kaza, so the earlier we leave, the better it is.

Besides Airtel, no other network is working. We take turns on Dinesh's phone and inform our families about our whereabouts and plan for the next day. Want to call HVK and thank him for his advice, to visit this part of Himachal and his route guidance, but decide against calling as it is too late. Will call him in the morning. On this note head of to La La Land for what should hopefully be a good nights sleep. (Hoping there are no bedbugs, etc.)

To be continued...................

p.s.: To HVK Sir: This trip is NOT a trip to Ladakh anymore. It is now officially a trip to Dev Bhoomi!