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Published: January 31st 2007
Foot hill of Rotang Pass
The climb to the high mountain pass starts here.Rohtang pass is at 4000 meters high and Great place for winter sport holidays - full of snow and mind bending scenarios. The huge mountains peppered with snow flakes make a majestic vistas for the weary traveler. Great canyons at their deep floors are amazing to appreciate - makes one so small and humble. The journey took about 2 hours to reach up there. What a journey - great experience at the extremes, at one end the sheer beauty of the place took me by amazement and the other end the terrible and miserable pot-holed road making the journey a bone crunching nightmare willing me to end it all at once !
Dangerous drive up the snowy and slippery road First we went by our normal van. But at one point it couldn't go any further due to snow fall. So had to hire a four wheel jeep - a typical rugged and rickety vehicle. The driver wore a hat like the UK's Napalies Goorka regiment cap and looked like a Goorka too. He took us confidently to the top in his 'Gypsy Jeep' - a small and rugged suzuki vehicle. All along we over took other cars
Foot hill of Rotang Pass
Fog shrouded Solang Valley. Indication of very cold hill tops ahead. and vans who had rather foolishly ventured into this snowy and slippery road dangerously skidding helter-skelter. The road was very narrow and had no barrier on its side - so one bad skid you can find yourself hurtling down the steep mountain side. What a stupid risk to take. But somehow fortunately there were no accidents.
Point Zero At the top - they call it 'zero point' - there is a vast expanse of snow filled Plato for snowmobiling and skiing. Winter sport is still in its infancy in India. So the skiing was nothing but a mockery of the great Spanish Pyrenees mountains. Couple of guys carry a ski slide with them and charge you 50 quid for a 5 minutes skiing ! And that's it - not even a bit of taste of skiing. Ridiculous indeed. However it is rather be that way though because if someone breaks their leg in skiing - God bless them. By the time they will reach hospital through all that bone crunching, pot-holed road they will be in hell. Mind you, the breath taking scenery makes up for what is lacking in skiing.
Magnificent vistas Snow draped landscape
Foot hill of Rotang Pass
Shops for hiring fur coats before you go to Rotang pass. They hire long coats and wellington shoes. with pure white background, its crisp and clear atmosphere with pristine blue sky - makes such a beautiful and magnificent vistas to take your breath away. We all stood there captivated and enthralled by the magnificent nature at its best.
Snow-mobiles and sliding tubes The snow was about ankle high and thick. Still soft and not hard enough for skiing yet. However soft snow is great to make a snow-ball and throw at each other. No wonder the kids lapped it all up by rolling, somersaulting and bashing each other with snow balls.
There were couple of snow-mobiles sliding effortlessly on the snow. My mom and dad enjoyed the snow-mobile. If you can not afford the snow-mobile then there was even a snow-sledge chair on offer - a muscular guy pushes you while you are seated on it for about 10 minutes. And there was another guy offering a slide down hill on a large truck's rubber tube. And you know what - that was the most enjoyable of all and he had a que. Talk about business acumen - making the most money with absolutely no investment !
King of the world on top of On the way up
Snow topped mountians comming into view as we climb up. the world !
As I had caught head cold - I could not do anything due to tiredness. Everyone was engaged in some physical stuff - So I took a solitary walk on the top of the world with winds gently howling on my ears. Sheer bliss. I felt like screaming 'King of the world on the top of the world' - and you know what, as there was no one around - I did scream that as loud as I could !!! That reminds me the "Beautiful South" band's song -'sometimes you feel expensive, sometimes you feel so cheap.....You can roam the street of the king while everyone else is sleep'. When no one was around I was truly roaming the streets of the paradise. Great.
After two hours we rather begrudgingly started the decent. Who can blame us.
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memories
oh man its 1973 again,your excellent photographs brought the memories flooding back.Once more I was transported instantly back to this magical part of India.Thanks bundles.I think I am going up the loft to get my photos.Thanks again.