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Ride through hell to see the heaven - chitkul , Himalyas
Since last years Spiti tour, i wanted to see all white spiti.Heard that this time there was less snow and moreover just got a 3 day leave so spiti plan was cancelled.What now?
Snowed in Kalpa and chitkul last week.Bingo Problem was it was holi and everyone wanted to spend it with family.At last one of my roomies agreed.He has never been on a bike trip before.He wanted to take his bull but i insisted that we rode on one bull as he was not experienced in riding in hills.All set and on 23th march we started our journey.Plan was to reach tapri or kalpa or sangla on the ist day. and the traditional teaser : (sorry, all images clicked with my HTC mobile so bear with quality) http://www.bcmtouring.com/forums/att...nt-jpg.668808/ |
Welcome thebullriderindia,
A great first post. |
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Since last years Spiti tour, i wanted to see all white spiti.Heard that this time there was less snow and moreover just got a 3 day leave so spiti plan was cancelled.What now?
Snowed in Kalpa and chitkul last week.Bingo Problem was it was holi and everyone wanted to spend it with family.At last one of my roomies agreed.He has never been on a bike trip before.He wanted to take his bull but i insisted that we rode on one bull as he was not experienced in riding in hills.All set and on 23th march we started our journey.Plan was to reach tapri or kalpa or sangla on the ist day. 23rd March : The plan was to start early and reach kalpa / sangla by evening.During spiti ride we started at 7 from panchkula and reached tapri at around 5:30 PM.So my guess was if we start a bit early we can reach kalpa/sangla by 6 PM.we started at around 5:30 AM.The problem to be was the bags.There were 2 bags with us.A big one with clothes and a laptop bag with other essentials.Aman said he will carry the big one and i can have the lapi bag attached to the tank.We had reached narkanda when aman told me he couldnt carry the bag as it was a bit heavy and his shoulders were paining already.So i decided that i will have the big bag on tank and he can carry the lapi bag.and for 3 days the big bag was on the tank.Luckily it was placed in such a way that the handle was still free to move so it didnt cause us any problems.I knew that the road till wangtu will be ok and after that till tapri was hell.Reached Wangtu at around 4 as planned and then was the 10km strectch to tapri.kept on riding slowly and reached tapri at around 4:30.It was still some time left for sunset so decided to keep riding.The only fear i had was that last year we had to take a 17 km diversion from tapri to reach chooling as the road was blocked due to huge landlslide but luckily this time the road was open.but the road from tapri market was blocked due to landslide.So had to take the road from behind the tapri RH.When we reached the point from where the highway was blocked last year and saw the mess there, i realized why it took them so long to open it.the whole mountain had fell on road and the makeshift bridge they had made always got washed away during rains.Thats why we had to take the 17km diversion for a 4 km road.We were the only ones on road with some local pickups coming now and then.i was still confused with kalpa or sangla.took a break at chooling and saw the clouds giving the impression that it will rain as forecasted.Decided to go to kalpa as then the next day we can try sangla chitkul and back to sangla.reached peo at around 6 PM.There were two roads from there.one was bypass and other pangi-kalpa.missed the real kalpa road and took the pangi road by mistale and we regreted it when we saw the big gate with word WELCOME TO PANGI . bhencho yeh kaha se aa gya.A pick up was coming from the village. Signalled it and without even speaking to him, the driver said.Galat aa gye bhai ji.kalpa uss side hai and he signalled us to follow him.We did and reached kalpa in 20 minutes.Well not kalpa but 2 km before the town but were too tired to try to reach there and booked the ist hotel we found.Not the best one but we didnt cared as all we wanted was a good sleep.but the keeper there was very nice as one would expect from people there.Took a bath and went to kalpa village to see the temples but as it was already 8 everything was closed.Came back and then came out the MONK we had taken from panchkula.The keeper arranged a bon fire for us in the garden and we started the chit chat.He told us about the kinner kailash trek and how people go there to see the shivling and that its not the actual one that is seen in pics.told us how one man tried to reach the actual one,which is always covered with around 50ft galciers and the man never came back.then introduced us to the cook who had done the trek last year.After an hour of talking went to our room to sleep.I dont know why but i cant sleep when i am travelling.only slept for 3-4 hours i guess and then i was waiting for the morning. The Bull ready to roar http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/1.jpg Near THEOG http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/up...3-1024x576.jpg http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/up...4-1024x576.jpg http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/up...5-1024x576.jpg The Roaring Satluj River in Rampur http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/up...6-1024x576.jpg The first site of snow claded himalyas http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/up...7-1024x576.jpg The rock Gate in kinnaur http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/up...6-1024x567.jpg Reason why kinnaur is one of the worlds dangerous roads http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/up...328_102223.jpg |
24th March :
Next day was the Sangla-Chitkul ride.I was up from bed at 6AM.wanted to see the kinner kailash wwhen the first sunlight falls on it.went to the roof and waited for the sun but clouds spoiled my plan.waited for half an hour and then decided to get ready and visit the Roghi suicide point and come back to village and see the temples and then take the road back to peo from market.It was already 8 when we started back from kapla.Took the main road which was better than any other roads we had seen after wangtu.Filled up at powari and reached karcham at 10.Took the diversion to sangla.The road here too was hell for 5 kms.At a point almost lost control of the bike on sand but luckily got it under control again.But after 5-6 kms signs of road started to appear and we reached sangla at 11AM.wanted to reach chitkul so didnt spend much time there and kept riding.Just beofre Rakcham there was some snow.Now i knew that i wont be disappointed and after crossing rakcham i was 100% sure that we will happy reaching chitkul.All the way from rakcham to chitkul there was snow on sides of roads.but wait its snow and there must be some on roads too(encountered black ice on chakrata trip and knee took almost 25 day to heel completely) so was a little careful.Reached chitkul at around 12 and what a sight it was.Dil garden garden ho gya.All white and calm.I didnt stopped in the village itself and kept on riding on the road.Reached a point where there was all slush on road and bike started to slip and couldnt go any further.Sat there for a while cherishing the beauty and then started back to the village.havent had breakfast so looked for a dhaba but as it was holi most of the village was either drunk or playing holi.Saw one dhaba opened and ordered bread omlette which was ok but at that moment was life saving.Started back from chitkul at around 2 and reached sangla at around 3.the plan was to halt at sangla for the day but as the sun was still there we decided to try sarahan as i havent had the chance of visiting it and then the next days ride would be shortened.So we started our journey back and this time i didnt slowed down on karcham to wangtu stretch and we were in wangtu in no time.Plan was to reach sarahan before 6 and we succeeded in reaching there at exactly that time.Looked for staying option.Found one guest house near the temple.Took bath and went to temple but it was closed the time we reached there so decided to visit in the morning.Had some pegs left in the Monk so asked aman to go get some cold drink.he came back and said yahan cold drink nahi hai.ik ke paas hai but deta nahi.I think its prohibited here to drink thats why they are not giving us.I too thought may be thats the case but later after having dinner got to know that there was no supply of cold drinks for a few weeks and not because its prohibited.That night too couldnt sleep well and was up at 3 in the morning. Kalpa village : http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/up...6-1024x576.jpg Suicide cliff at Roghi : http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/up...324_081902.jpg Kinnar kailash as seen from kalpa: http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/up...5-1024x576.jpg Apple orchids at kalpa: http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/up...0-1024x576.jpg on way to chitkul : http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/up...4-1024x576.jpg http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/up...7-1024x576.jpg http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/up...6-1024x576.jpg http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/up...3-1024x576.jpg http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/up...9-1024x576.jpg Chitkul village http://thebullrider.in/wp-content/up...9-1024x576.jpg |
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