Mountain passes in Himachal Pradesh

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5.30am saw us up after a uncomfortable cold night in the tiny guest house at Losar, the last village in the Spiti Valley and at 4079 meters altitude the highest we had slept. No water, cold or hot, but thankfully a cup of lemon tea before we loaded the jeep for our long day of driving to Manali. The first hour saw us heading up to the Kunzum Pass (4551 m) twisting round and round U bends on what was a very rough road. At the top of the pass we hung prayer flags for luck around the ancient chorten markers, beside the hundreds that were already there. We had amazing views of the mountains around us including the very impressive Karcha Peak (6270m) which seemed close enough to touch. It was fabulous there as it was very quiet and peaceful and we almost felt like the only people in the area. In fact there had been very little traffic at all the previous 10 days - we probably passed a couple of vehicles an hour. Driving down the range the road almost disappeared and for the next few hours it seemed that there wasn't a road - it was very rough and we drove past many small glaciers, through overflow from the many snow melt waterfalls and streams and at times just crawled around the edge of the valley, along the edge of the rushing waters of the Chandra River. After 19 hairpin bends we arrived at the bottom of the pass and stopped at a tiny very smoky mud brick dhaba for breakfast. And it was one of the best cups of coffee I've had in weeks!
After breakfast we stopped at the first of the many glaciers we passed that day. There are no words to describe how beautiful the valley was. Rushing water, high snow capped mountains either side, vivid blue sky - a landscape too wide to photograph! As we went further into the Chandra Valley the country was gradually getting greener with a lot of flocks of woolly sheep and goats grazing and the tents of the shepherds and their families lining the river bank in places. At one stage we seemed to lose the road totally and were finding our way between enormous piles of boulders on the valley floor. From the Chandra Valley we crossed into the Kullu Valley and we were back into Switzerland again - tall green pine trees everywhere as the road followed the river Beas. From up higher the river and road looked like two silver ribbons lying side by side. Eventually we reached the main highway and our wonderful circuit of Kinnaur and Spiti had finished! We still had a few days left before we left the jeep but knew that from now on we would have a lot more traffic to contend with.
We headed back up towards the Rohtang Pass after chatting to a couple of young backpackers who were waiting for a bus to take them to Kaza - the bus was already 2 hours late! There were major roadworks on the pass and it took us 4 hours to cross it - we probably traveled 15 kilometers in that time. The top of the pass and the view from the pass down the valley is a major tourist attraction for Indian tourists and we passed hundreds of jeeps and ordinary cars of Indian tourists lined up waiting to go up to the top of the pass. I felt like putting my head out of the window and telling them to turn around and go back - once they got to the top they had to face the traffic queues on the way down. Sadly there was nothing on top of the pass for them to see except a lot of mud, a heap of canvas food stalls and a long line of tired looking ponies waiting to take them up to the snow line. The snow line was almost non existent and any snow that was there was covered in dust. It was at least an hour before the first bus passed us - we wondered whether that was the bus the backpackers were waiting for at the top. Because the roads were so narrow they were only letting the traffic travel in one direction at a time - hence the very long queues. It was totally crazy and we were very pleased when we eventually got through. We were amazed to pass cars with skis on the top but when we passed dozens of stalls renting out skis and snow suits we realised that the Indian people heading upwards were expecting to see heavy snow. I felt quite sorry for them as there was certainly not enough snow at the top to even feel cold in let alone ski on. We ended up arriving in Manali at 4pm - it had taken since 5.30 am to go 140 kilometers! We had no desire to spend the night in Manali but I did wish to visit the local book shop and find a ATM. The town was full of wild looking young people - it is the center of dope smoking - as cannabis grows wild all through the surrounding areas.
We were planning on spending the next 2 nights in Naggar which is half an hour further south. It proved to be a great choice as we found a room in a 'castle' that was built in 1649, though obviously renovated since then, which had a great outdoor area looking straight down the Kullu Valley - another valley full of apple orchards and many large traditional wooden Himalayan homes with slate roofs. The town is very popular with Russian tourists as it was the home of a famous Russian painter Nicholas Roerich (who was also a botanist, author, scientist, poet) much renowned for his paintings of the mountains. The castle (built of stone and with heavily detailed wooden carvings) that we were sleeping in had actually been renovated by him though his residence was further up the hill behind the castle. We visited it the next day and enjoyed seeing his brightly colored paintings and displays of all his other interests. There were some wonderful photographs taken of the area and the people 70 years ago. The older local women still wore traditional dress which comprised of large woollen stoles somehow wrapped around their bodies as skirts and bought up over their shoulders and pinned at the front. Again the shops were full of the Kullu scarves - all made from hand woven wool in natural shades with wide geometric patterns around the edges. We had seen both men and women wearing these stoles for the previous few days - they fold them in half and wear them tied under their chins like a cloak. They also tie their babies on to their backs with them and fill them up with cut grass for their animals.
We wanted to visit the village of Ramsu, 3 kilometers above Naggur but couldn't face the long hot walk upwards so Sanju offered to drive us up so we could walk down. He had never been to the village before - in fact we were the first of his tourists that actually stayed in Naggur (usually they stayed in Manali). He drove us half way before he somehow managed to turn around as the road was very rough and narrow - I think it may only have been a trekking track. We walked the rest of the way up and it was so worth it. The village was the most traditional Himalayan village we had seen - 700 people living in great big wooden houses with slate roofs and the animals underneath. The main square had 4 temples and there were no cars at all - it had definitely not been a vehicle road up. Everybody was very friendly and we were actually invited into 2 homes. One was one of the few newer houses but the other was very old. It had the tiniest entry door into the main room, mats on the floor around the central metal stove and not much else. Later some boys showed us the footpath down to Naggur and we walked down uneven stone steps until we reached the road.. A very pleasant walk if a little hard on the knees. That evening we ate at a roof top restaurant and had the best meal we've had since we came to India. What a pity we hadn't discovered it the evening before! There was thunder rumbling around the hills when we went to sleep and it rained most of the night. Again another wonderful couple of days - we left Naggar the next morning for our last night with Sanju and the jeep. We were feeling a little sad that it was coming to an end.

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Comments

[Rose]

Thanks for all athe beautiful pictures you and the other brave people took of the Rohtang Pass. I really enjoy watching Ice Road Truckers in Alaska. Their journey one of the worlds deadliest highway is unbelievable. Lisa Kelly succeded in being the first American and woman to drive this road. Through watchilng IRT. I've learned alot and have traveled to places I would never seen otherwise. Thanks to the computer I've written down names of towns and roads and passes that were shown on IRT, looked them up and enjoyed new adventures. It's hard to believe that people actually live up there. Thanks Again. Rose