Return to Nako

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Himachal Pradesh June 2017



“The real cycle you're working on is a cycle called yourself”

Robert Pirsig (1928-2017) 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'



“No conditions are permanent; No conditions are reliable; Nothing is self.”

The Buddha



Entering the district of Kinnaur on National Highway 22 (also called the Hindustan Tibet Road), I immediately felt a transition into another world of remoteness and unique scenery. While there were wonderful 'ski-slope' stretches of road that bikers dream of, others left me feeling I was now in seriously treacherous territory where one could quite easily just fall off a cliff-hanging road never to be seen or heard of again.



The road itself is an amazing feat of engineering brilliance traversing one of the highest ranges in the world. Started in 1850, half-tunneling was done manually through the sides of sheer rock cliffs and is a feat of human determination. I needed to stop several times on narrow stretches where upgrade work is constantly in progress, sometimes waiting for a bull-dozer to clear newly blasted rock into the abyss below. Through the intensive roadside signage promoting safety and cooperation in the interests of all, BRO (the Border Roads Organisations) gave me a sense of being watched over with care.



I was traveling in the relatively 'safe' period of summer. One warning I had read for other seasons said this:

“Do not travel this pass in severe weather conditions. Avalanches, heavy snowfalls and landslides can occur anytime, being extremely dangerous due to frequent patches of ice. It has a well-deserved reputation for being dangerous because of unpredictable snowstorms and blizzards, and driving under these conditions, can be extremely challenging.”



I needed to get an 'Inner Line Permit' to enter upper Kinnaur and Spiti, due to sensitivity about China/Tibet (being now very close to the border) and I guess as some degree of safety control for tourists. I was unconvinced by the 400 rps fee being anything more than revenue raising, but it did make some sense if someone like me passed one check-post and then not the next, to pin down the area I might have disappeared in. The permit meant a 20 km extra ride up and down to Reckong Peo to visit the Assistant District Commissioner (ADC) plus a further 10 km when I took the wrong road out. The ADC was out of the office and I had to wait 1.5 hours for his return (an opportunity for me to take lunch of omelet parantha). When he returned he seemed unimpressed by my impatience and made me wait for his signature on the 'form'.



My google maps (what an amazing world we live in) said Sarahan to Nako was 186 km and would take me nearly 7 hours. I had set off around 10 am from Sarahan, and got out of Reckong Peo around 1.30 pm. Nako was still 100 km away and I made it by 6 pm with plenty of good light left in the day to find accommodation (a lovely little Home-Stay) and explore.



I had been here back in 2010, but that time the skies were not so clear and I had not had such wonderful Himali vistas. Nako, the highest village in Himachal Pradesh, sits at 3,625 metres on the edge of Spiti Valley. Its backdrop is the Reo Purgyal peak (6,816 meters), the highest mountain in Himachal Pradesh. Immediately I noticed change: many of the very old quaint traditional buildings have been replaced by the ugly concrete structures (many are new guest houses and hotels) that are so dominant in modern India. My romantic foreign view sees this as tragic, but I have to understand that people aspire to better physical living conditions and modern luxury as well as choose cheaper ways to build housing (wood is now very restricted and very expensive in Himachal, and in a place like Nako there is next to no local wood anyway), as well as create business (tourism). Even so, here we might as well be on the moonscape of the Tibetan Plateau, only it happens to be in India. The culture is thoroughly Tibetan.

Tourism is now rampant in India... not foreigners but Indian middle class. This has rocketed in just the last 10 years. The affluence of these modern Indians means for the first time they have disposable income and aspiration to travel in their own country for other reasons than just attending marriages and pilgrim sites. The ownership of private cars in just the last 5 years has increased exponentially for this group (as against the 'other' India of 800 million relatively poor Indians who live in small villages). Nako, unlike 7 years before, is full of Indian tourists, including the other new phenomenon of young men on Royal Enfield Motorbike tours.

I venture out at 6 am to catch the views and I come across two simple guys from Delhi up in the grounds of the Buddhist Monastery. They are on a 6 day trip through Spiti Valley..... all the time they can muster from their annual leave. To me this is a mad schedule. One is on a 110 cc scooter and the other on a 150 cc Bajaj Pulsar motorbike. They have camped the night in their tent on the veranda of the monastery. They are so proud of their journey thus far. They have thought of everything. They make me popcorn (well I had just a few... not my preferred breakfast) and attempt to make me coffee on their little home-made alcohol fueled stove (however during their enthusiastic recounting of their adventure they take their eye off the pot and it starts to boil over... one grabs it with bare hands and has to drop it in the dirt to avoid severe burn). Oh well... I leave and go back to my room and make my own coffee with my electric coil.





The views are stunning. I was blessed with a clear sunset and even more clear sunrise, and after a leisurely morning I leave Nako for Spiti with a broad smile on my face.

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Entering remoteness
What a concept. Living in the moment even if you are nervous you'll fall off the road and never be heard from again. I could not travel this road....you amaze me. I'm thrilled the Indian middle class are out exploring their country. Fabulous.