There are few plans one make which no matter how much you try to materialize, always falls apart at the last moment. For three years, I planned for the trip to Spiti Valley, but for one reason or the other, I always had to postpone the plan. Come January,2016, I made a New Year's Resolution (one among the few, the others as usual, every year goes down the drains)---------> COME HEAVEN OR HELL, THIS YEAR I SHALL COVER SPITI VALLEY.
Once I decided on the plan, I wanted partners for the trip. I wanted to do with friends, but those morons were either busy with jobs or post marital life & none can afford a leave of almost two weeks. Being in the dilemma I was in, I opted for Indiamike & Travbuddy if anyone shared the same interest and planned for Spiti in the month of July (as was I). Eventually, thanks to my Rahu Ketu Shani and all, I did find a few "Comrades" for the same. Plans set!!! Fellow cohorts found!!! All was well set for the trip now.
Before I start on the travelogue, I would say there are innumerable blogs you may find
on Spiti Valley and the details are well available. So why go through the pain of reading my travelogue knowing it is going to be long and may induce sleep for the ones who don't want to read or just get into the details??!! Well, for starters, such grand and adventurous plans are in everyone's bucket list & not everyone is able to make them a reality for their job schedule or one of the many causes. I myself being a washed out Engineer working for a PSU, find it very hard to adjust leaves, that too of a long duration. Anytime I ask my Boss for leave accounting for more than 10 days, the look of appalled horror & repulsion he gives make me wonder if I am asking for his heart or any of his other precious bodily organs (CURSE YOU ALL BOSSES!!!). Am sure, most of you working in the Corporate Sector face the same predicament as me. In any off chance you do get the leave, you shall definitely want to utilize the most out of it and cover the trip in a wholesome manner to make it a memorable one. Well, for us "Lesser Mortals" grinding ourselves in our jobs, this article is for you. For all "The Motorcycle Diaries" Go Pro clad dudes, this one is not for you, as I didn't have the luxury of so many leaves or the ability to "Quit my job to satiate my wanderlust" kind of adrenaline rush!!!I won't digress more and shall come back to the trip. We were a group of five.
All complete strangers as we all met through online portal and shared the same plan. We had our rendezvous in Mohali Airport, Chandigarh from where we got our Innova booked through Zoom Car. Pleasantries exchanged, seeing each other for the first time and chatting for a while, we gelled pretty well and it was group well in sync with each member. We started from Chandigarh around 14:30 hrs and to my amusement, I got to know none of the other mates had proper high altitude experience. I being from North Eastern part of India, basically grew up in the Himalayas and high altitude & rough terrains are non issues. I secretly hoped none of the members turn out to be a party pooper with Altitude sickness and as a preventive measure I asked each one of them to pop a pill of Diamox before the start of the trip. Thanks to my Rahu Ketu Shani once again, none of the members had altitude sickness throughout the trip except for one girl who vomited twice on the Chandigarh Shimla Highway. We eventually reached Shimla around 18:30 hrs and checked into Torrentium Lodge. Its a pre colonial establishment that has been renovated and now is a Heritage property. Located at just 15 mnts of walking distance from the Mall Road, in Chotta Shimla, the location was decent enough for us.We started early morning to Rakcham around 07:00 hrs after a hasty breakfast of Chai and Sandwich (SUTTA too in my case). The weather till Rampur Bushahr was nothing short of
pleasant. Post Rampur, the incessant nagging rains and mist played kind of a spoil sport. We reached Bhabanagar around 13:00 hrs where we had our lunch of Rajma Chaval, fried momo and Thukpa. By this point of time, the rains were merciless and we were worried our Kinnaur Trip shall be a total disaster. Thankfully by the time we reached Karchham, the skies began to clear out a bit and a complete fog cover ensued. Roads from Shimla to Karchham were decent considering mountainous terrain, but we were in Dante's Seven Rungs of Hell considering the roads from Karchham to Rakcham were virtually non existent and at some points we were literally driving through small glacial streams of water or big jagged boulders. The Hydel Power Projects on the Satluj & its tributary Baspa took a heavy toll on the landscape and it was actually disheartening. Result of such activities was loose rocks, non existent roads & ever increasing number of land slides. Finally around 16:00 hrs we reached our destination Rakcham where we had bunked in Rupin River View Hotel right on the banks of the Baspa river. The view of the Baspa from Rupin was awesome and the proprietor Mr. Naresh, though was a bit chatty and boastful, was a wonderful man and a real adventure seeker. He guided us on a few of the hiking trails in Rupin Meadows and also gave us valuable information regarding the life of the locals. The best thing about Rupin was the super amazing food and the awesome views of the Baspa. I seriously didn't expect the food to be this heavenly in a location which has an ice cover 8 of the 12 months a year. The very same day we hiked for a while in Rakcham meadows and got to know of their local drink "Angoori". Being the Booze-tards we were, we coudn't help but order a full 1 litre bottle of the same. Angoori came with a statutory warning "NOT TO BE DRUNK NEAT IF YOU WANT TO LIVE." With apprehension & excitement at the same time, we all did our Angoori shots. Trust me guys, you should't drink this "Acid" neat. 4-5 shots down we were already sloshed and gave up.The next day early morning we were supposed to visit Kamru fort and then make our way to Kalpa. We had our hearts in our mouth when we got to know there has been a landslide and we may "indefinitely" have to stay in Rakcham. The grim situation made us visit the landslide spot and make a quick scrutiny that was the reason of the pickle we were in. Thanks to the locals and ITBP Jawans, they cleared the landslide pretty soon and we left Rakcham for Kalpa by 16:00 hrs in the evening. We had to give up on Kamru Fort as we anyhow had to drive to Kalpa before sunset.
Once again we had to reroute back to Karchham
and once again, we had to manoeuvre our ride through those Hellish roads. While coming to Rakcham, the sheer depth of the gorge below the road was undecipherable due to the heavy cover of fog that ensued after the rains. But on our return journey to Kalpa, the view that we had below the road made us chant the name of our "MAKER". Not only was it almost a 2000 ft deep gorge, but the rampant mood in which Baspa was flowing below, it sent a shiver down our spines. Though drinking & driving is something I am totally against, but I really missed our dear friend "Angoori" to calm our nerves. Still we trudged along the road & finally reached Karchham without any misdadventures.I woke up around 05:00 am in the morning hoping to click some good shots of the Kinner Kailash. But it turned out to be a royal blunder as there was a thick cover of cloud over the mountain range. I was sitting alone in the balcony silently cursing myself at waking up so late and being a victim of the cold. The thoughts of the warm & cozy blanker were drifting in my mind and I was almost willing to doze off again. But being a man of the mountains myself, one thing I learned is, "Mountain weather is always unpredictable". Just as I was about to go back to my room and light a smoke, the cloud began to vanish giving me quite a good early morning view of the Kinner Kailash Range. The snow topped peaks played hide and seek with the clouds and with the rising sun began to emanate a reddish aura. It was a sight to make you believe in God.
We soon freshened up, had our breakfast and by 08:00 hrs, were on the way to Tabo, in the magical Spiti Valley. The thing to notice from Kalpa to Spiti Valley valley is the gradual change in the terrain and the change in vegetation. Shimla to Rakcham and then to Kalpa offered us a drive through lush green mountains veiled with fog and sometimes covered with snow. It was the exact opposite on our way from Kalpa to Tabo. The lush green mountains gave way to naked stone mountains without any vegetation except shrubs scattered randomly on the mountain face. The rugged nature of the mountains gave us a clear presumption of the kind of terrain we were about to face in Spiti Valley.
Continued in The Jajabor in Spiti Valley-2
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