The month of June was full of unsettled desires but I am glad to fulfill at least one of them i.e. travelling to the remote areas of country's beautiful locations and talk to the locals there. So I journeyed to Himachal Pradesh with a friend of mine on 21st of June from Delhi in the afternoon. The heat was at its peak at day time. We only got slight reprieve in the evening. First, we reached at Chandigarh at night. There we settled to fill our empty stomach before moving forward. After much wandering, we founded the Dhabha. We replenished our stocks to our satisfaction and headed to Kullu in the night itself. So far so good. We reached Kullu in the morning and straightaway advanced futher to Keylong in Lahaul Valley. Keylong was 175 km away from Kullu. The route was Kullu->Manali->Rohtang Pass->Keylong. To tell you the truth I am not the sort of person to plan everything beforehand hence I had to rely largely on my friend's iPad and lonely planet guides. Our Idea was to take a stopover in keylong to move to UdaiPur for Triloknath Temple Visit. The bus journey took 7-8 hours. In the meantime my friend took as many snaps as he could and frankly speaking the view was so refreshing that one could not resist the temptation to capture every bit of imagery of that place. We reached Keylong at night on 22nd of June. After spending the night in a warm nice room, we got up in the morning to start our sight seeing. We visited local market in keylong. We went to the Keylong's Museum but that was closed due to bi-election. Meanwhile we were enjoying the climate, the scenery and the our conversations with local people. What I experienced at that place was stillness of nature: calm and serene atmosphere. I was occupied with idle thoughts, enjoying the whole set up and marveling at the beauty of mother earth.
We returned at the Keylong bus stand and revisited our plan there. We decided to move towards Gonda->Sissu->Gramphoo route. Our ideas was to move to Spiti valley from Gramphoo. So we took a stopover in Gonda village. In Gonda village, the attraction was the eight story building which was 600 years old. It was made from wood and stone by the then local king. The building is handed over to ASI for restoration and preservation by the king's descendants. There we met a villager who described to us villagers, their life, impact of climate on their life etc. We were pleasantly surprised to know that the whole route from Manali to Keylong is open only for 4-5 months in summers. After that inhabitants face severe winter when roads are closed and they are completely cut-off from the city. Snow is about 10-12 feet high so they have to clear it to move inside the village or to go to nearby villages. From Gonda village, We climbed back for 1.5 km to catch the main road. One more thing which I forgot to mention is the public transport. See in these parts, roads were cut from mountains so these are one way roads which generally allow only one vehicle to pass at a time. The buses are rare and once the roads are cleared during summers then only bus service is resumed that too once in a day. As we were dependent on the buses, it was imperative for us to plan our fixture with in the constraint of this simple fact. To go from Gonda to Sissu, we missed our bus and we had 2 options either to wait for the next bus or to travel for 15km by foot. Luckily to our rescue, there were 3 Buddhist monks who were going to Manali in Tata sumo. We requested them and got the lift till Sissu. Once we reached Sissu, we had lunch at the only hotel located there. In Sissu, the spot to visit was the hanging waterfall along side make shift camps. We reached in a primary school and the view from there caught our attention. We snapped pictures and soaked in the beauty of that place and decided to move further to our next destination. Fortunately, we were told the futility of our resolve as there was no place to stay in Gramphoo and we decided to stay in Sissu for the night. Now as we had 4-5 hours left in the day, we decided to go to that spot again but this time closer to the camps. I am glad that we did that. Let me tell you why: Brief description of the place and that moment - time was 6 P.M. one has to descend from the main road to reach the camps. At the camp side, there was a lake. The place was surrounded by two mountain ranges: upper Himalayan(Snow clad) and Middle Himalayan(Greener mountains). Near the camp to the east, the mighty Chandra river was flowing. Once we settled beside the chandra river on a rock. The view was exhilarating. There was the sound of wind, sound of river water splashing at the shores, magnificent view of hanging waterfall, scenery of the hills and mountains and to top it all the beautiful sunset between the mountains. We sat there for one and half hour soaking all we could. There was silence, nature and its myriad hues and colors. The whole experience was divine. After this sublime moment, we returned to our hotel, had dinner and slept to catch the early morning bus for Spiti valley.
Next day, we got up on time but still managed to miss the bus. Luckily, We got the shared cab to Gramphoo. At Gramphoo, there is a single Dhabha and an intersection route of two valleys- Lahaul and Spiti. We called up a person from Manali and booked 2 seats in a cab going to Spiti valley last night. So we had to wait around 3 hrs for the cab to arrive. Then we left for Kaza, the main town of Spiti valley. We started around 11 A.M. and reached Kaza at 5 P.M. with the 140km distance covered during this time. In the route, there were two important halts- Batal and Kunzum Pass. From Batal, the track to Chandrataal lake is planned which comes highly in the itinerary of travel enthusiasts. Second stop, Kunzum pass is at 4500m height and there is a temple which is considered pristine and divine by the locals. The view from Kunzum pass is another reason to stop there. Kaza was relatively better populated. Mid-way Kaza, batteries of our mobiles, camera and iPad were drained completely. There was no electricity in Kaza from past few days so we had to rush to the internet cafe where generator was available to power up our devices. I sat on a system to browse and check my email. As I opened my mail, there was one email from IIM Lucknow for admission confirmation in PGP-ABM program. I was shocked to know that to accept the offer I had to reach at the campus after 2 days otherwise my offer will be cancelled. Before that, I had left MDI PGPM after much contemplation but still the attraction of IIM Lucknow's brand was pulling me to consider doing MBA again. My friend, who was on this trip with me, had completed his MBA from IIM Calcutta. So I deliberated with him for an hour or so and decided to let go this offer. Finally, putting all the turbulence aside from my mind, I slept to start the next day with new excitement.
Next morning, we planned to visit the Keeh Gompa(Buddhist Monastery) but to our disadvantage there was no bus from Kaza to Keeh. We set out to reach for Keeh on foot rather than wasting 1000 Rs on cab. The distance to Gompa was 15km. I asked for lift from a car driver from petrol pump. He dropped us near bridge as he was going towards Rangreek then we took the lift from JCB to Keeh village. From Keeh we got the lift further for 3 km towards Gompa. Finally walking for a km or so, we reached at the Keeh Gompa. The Gompa was at an altitude of 4250m. We went to the tea room where we were comforted with herbal tea by the in charge of the Gompa. As we were sipping our tea, four college girls from England entered and sat. We all finished our tea and wrote good things in the visitors book. Then incharge took us over to the various halls and explained the history and culture behind each thing present in the Gompa. He was more than kind to let us ask as many questions from him. Near the Gompa, there was a hotel cum restaurant where we had veg manchurian and thupka. We then were planning to move to Kibber village. The hotel attendant suggested us to take a different route than we had thought earlier as the former one was shorter. We followed the road suggested to us and to our dismay we had to follow the footsteps on the mountain and reach at the top of it and then went downhill to reach Kibber. When we started, we were not aware that we would be climbing till the top. Gradually, we started to feel the altitude. The climb was steep and dangerous to the least. We made 15-20 stops to climb to the top. But once we reached at the top, we screamed our lungs out for that feeling was priceless. It was eureka moment for us literally. But our adventure did not end there for there was more in store for us. We stopped at the top for a brief moment and advanced further to reach earliest to Kibber. But as we were progressing, suddenly clouds started gathering, chilly winds were blowing and rain started. We had to take refuge in the nearby small temple, which was in the form of mud hut and completely deserted. As we were stranded there for 2-3 hours, we were making all sort of assumptions eg. what if we had to stay there till morning then how can we lit fire and sleep there or whether we should move to nearby village and ask for their assistance...
Finally, clouds moved further and we witnessed a rainbow. At 4500m altitude we were told that weather changes are sudden. We were feeling cold and hurried towards Kibber. We reached at Kibber in night at around 8 P.M. With some aggressive bargaining, we managed to get a nice room and stayed there till morning. We ordered veg soups at night to ameliorate our dwindling health condition due to exertion and cold. In the morning, we visited a temple in Kibber where all the Lamas (Buddhist monks) had arrived for four days prayer and procession. From there, we boarded a bus to Kaza but halfway through I realized that my ring was left at the hotel. I reached at Kaza and hired a cab for return trip from Kibber at 700/- Rs. Next day I left for Manali to end this memorable journey.
What to do if one plans to visit high altitude places -
1. Keep a BSNL SIM along with you because at such remote locations you will only find state run operator towers.
2. Keep Sun Cream with you for at high altitude, you will get sun burns easily.
3. Keep goggles to protect your eyes.
4. Keep warm clothes to avoid cold esp. at nights.
5. Plan your schedule according to the bus facilities or bring your own vehicle.
6. Keep medicine for AMS for it takes time to acclimatize in high altitudes.
We returned at the Keylong bus stand and revisited our plan there. We decided to move towards Gonda->Sissu->Gramphoo route. Our ideas was to move to Spiti valley from Gramphoo. So we took a stopover in Gonda village. In Gonda village, the attraction was the eight story building which was 600 years old. It was made from wood and stone by the then local king. The building is handed over to ASI for restoration and preservation by the king's descendants. There we met a villager who described to us villagers, their life, impact of climate on their life etc. We were pleasantly surprised to know that the whole route from Manali to Keylong is open only for 4-5 months in summers. After that inhabitants face severe winter when roads are closed and they are completely cut-off from the city. Snow is about 10-12 feet high so they have to clear it to move inside the village or to go to nearby villages. From Gonda village, We climbed back for 1.5 km to catch the main road. One more thing which I forgot to mention is the public transport. See in these parts, roads were cut from mountains so these are one way roads which generally allow only one vehicle to pass at a time. The buses are rare and once the roads are cleared during summers then only bus service is resumed that too once in a day. As we were dependent on the buses, it was imperative for us to plan our fixture with in the constraint of this simple fact. To go from Gonda to Sissu, we missed our bus and we had 2 options either to wait for the next bus or to travel for 15km by foot. Luckily to our rescue, there were 3 Buddhist monks who were going to Manali in Tata sumo. We requested them and got the lift till Sissu. Once we reached Sissu, we had lunch at the only hotel located there. In Sissu, the spot to visit was the hanging waterfall along side make shift camps. We reached in a primary school and the view from there caught our attention. We snapped pictures and soaked in the beauty of that place and decided to move further to our next destination. Fortunately, we were told the futility of our resolve as there was no place to stay in Gramphoo and we decided to stay in Sissu for the night. Now as we had 4-5 hours left in the day, we decided to go to that spot again but this time closer to the camps. I am glad that we did that. Let me tell you why: Brief description of the place and that moment - time was 6 P.M. one has to descend from the main road to reach the camps. At the camp side, there was a lake. The place was surrounded by two mountain ranges: upper Himalayan(Snow clad) and Middle Himalayan(Greener mountains). Near the camp to the east, the mighty Chandra river was flowing. Once we settled beside the chandra river on a rock. The view was exhilarating. There was the sound of wind, sound of river water splashing at the shores, magnificent view of hanging waterfall, scenery of the hills and mountains and to top it all the beautiful sunset between the mountains. We sat there for one and half hour soaking all we could. There was silence, nature and its myriad hues and colors. The whole experience was divine. After this sublime moment, we returned to our hotel, had dinner and slept to catch the early morning bus for Spiti valley.
Next day, we got up on time but still managed to miss the bus. Luckily, We got the shared cab to Gramphoo. At Gramphoo, there is a single Dhabha and an intersection route of two valleys- Lahaul and Spiti. We called up a person from Manali and booked 2 seats in a cab going to Spiti valley last night. So we had to wait around 3 hrs for the cab to arrive. Then we left for Kaza, the main town of Spiti valley. We started around 11 A.M. and reached Kaza at 5 P.M. with the 140km distance covered during this time. In the route, there were two important halts- Batal and Kunzum Pass. From Batal, the track to Chandrataal lake is planned which comes highly in the itinerary of travel enthusiasts. Second stop, Kunzum pass is at 4500m height and there is a temple which is considered pristine and divine by the locals. The view from Kunzum pass is another reason to stop there. Kaza was relatively better populated. Mid-way Kaza, batteries of our mobiles, camera and iPad were drained completely. There was no electricity in Kaza from past few days so we had to rush to the internet cafe where generator was available to power up our devices. I sat on a system to browse and check my email. As I opened my mail, there was one email from IIM Lucknow for admission confirmation in PGP-ABM program. I was shocked to know that to accept the offer I had to reach at the campus after 2 days otherwise my offer will be cancelled. Before that, I had left MDI PGPM after much contemplation but still the attraction of IIM Lucknow's brand was pulling me to consider doing MBA again. My friend, who was on this trip with me, had completed his MBA from IIM Calcutta. So I deliberated with him for an hour or so and decided to let go this offer. Finally, putting all the turbulence aside from my mind, I slept to start the next day with new excitement.
Next morning, we planned to visit the Keeh Gompa(Buddhist Monastery) but to our disadvantage there was no bus from Kaza to Keeh. We set out to reach for Keeh on foot rather than wasting 1000 Rs on cab. The distance to Gompa was 15km. I asked for lift from a car driver from petrol pump. He dropped us near bridge as he was going towards Rangreek then we took the lift from JCB to Keeh village. From Keeh we got the lift further for 3 km towards Gompa. Finally walking for a km or so, we reached at the Keeh Gompa. The Gompa was at an altitude of 4250m. We went to the tea room where we were comforted with herbal tea by the in charge of the Gompa. As we were sipping our tea, four college girls from England entered and sat. We all finished our tea and wrote good things in the visitors book. Then incharge took us over to the various halls and explained the history and culture behind each thing present in the Gompa. He was more than kind to let us ask as many questions from him. Near the Gompa, there was a hotel cum restaurant where we had veg manchurian and thupka. We then were planning to move to Kibber village. The hotel attendant suggested us to take a different route than we had thought earlier as the former one was shorter. We followed the road suggested to us and to our dismay we had to follow the footsteps on the mountain and reach at the top of it and then went downhill to reach Kibber. When we started, we were not aware that we would be climbing till the top. Gradually, we started to feel the altitude. The climb was steep and dangerous to the least. We made 15-20 stops to climb to the top. But once we reached at the top, we screamed our lungs out for that feeling was priceless. It was eureka moment for us literally. But our adventure did not end there for there was more in store for us. We stopped at the top for a brief moment and advanced further to reach earliest to Kibber. But as we were progressing, suddenly clouds started gathering, chilly winds were blowing and rain started. We had to take refuge in the nearby small temple, which was in the form of mud hut and completely deserted. As we were stranded there for 2-3 hours, we were making all sort of assumptions eg. what if we had to stay there till morning then how can we lit fire and sleep there or whether we should move to nearby village and ask for their assistance...
Finally, clouds moved further and we witnessed a rainbow. At 4500m altitude we were told that weather changes are sudden. We were feeling cold and hurried towards Kibber. We reached at Kibber in night at around 8 P.M. With some aggressive bargaining, we managed to get a nice room and stayed there till morning. We ordered veg soups at night to ameliorate our dwindling health condition due to exertion and cold. In the morning, we visited a temple in Kibber where all the Lamas (Buddhist monks) had arrived for four days prayer and procession. From there, we boarded a bus to Kaza but halfway through I realized that my ring was left at the hotel. I reached at Kaza and hired a cab for return trip from Kibber at 700/- Rs. Next day I left for Manali to end this memorable journey.
What to do if one plans to visit high altitude places -
1. Keep a BSNL SIM along with you because at such remote locations you will only find state run operator towers.
2. Keep Sun Cream with you for at high altitude, you will get sun burns easily.
3. Keep goggles to protect your eyes.
4. Keep warm clothes to avoid cold esp. at nights.
5. Plan your schedule according to the bus facilities or bring your own vehicle.
6. Keep medicine for AMS for it takes time to acclimatize in high altitudes.
