Ride to Kaza- A Lifetime Experience

Finally, we left for Narkanda at 10:30 am. It was a sunny day and we were getting sweaty with all the necessary gears but as soon as we started riding and reached on highway all the sweat dried up and all of us were pumped up with the excitement.

Our first stop was at Dharampur for breakfast. Then we decided to take the Chail route as all of us had been to Shimla and we don't wanted to get stuck in traffic jam at Shimla. After crossing Chail, we again took a stop for refreshment at near a small village Chalanda.

Riding about 15 kms from Chail, it started getting cloudy and the moment we reached Kufri we were welcomed with the massive rain. We stopped our bikes to put on rain wear and started riding again but rain stopped us again within a km as the visibility was getting really low to ride through helmet; heavy rain, clouds made all of us shiver on the very first day of the trip. Temperature dropped below 10 Degree Celsius and it was completely dark by 4 pm. We waited for half an hour at bus stop for the rain to get stop but it did not show us even a single sign of getting low. So, we decided to spend night at either Fagu or Theog and started riding again in rain. We checked with couple of hotels at Fagu but couldn't find any good option for a night stop. Now, there was some relaxation from rain and sun also managed to show up its presence through clouds.

It was a positive sign for us. So, we rode nonstop till Narkanda in the light rain. Reached there at 7 pm and by then it was completely dark. Before booking a hotel we had a cup of tea which was badly needed.

Temperature in Narkanda was even lower than what we faced in Kufri. Quickly booked 2 rooms for Rs 600/- each on the road leads to ski area, had dinner at dhaba in the main market at 9 pm. Till now, all of us realized that it is not going be an easy task.

We also got the privilege to eat fresh cherries shared with us.

Thanks to the Sharma uncle to offer us some fresh cherries.

Then, we all decided to have food at a roadside dhaba running by a Nepali couple in a small town just before Thanedhar.

What a warm welcome, quality service, delicious food we had over there. It was really a good decision by us to have a stop over there.

It was 1 pm by the time we left dhaba and we were already running late as per our schedule.

Until we reached Bethal where road meets with Rampur highway the road was mostly tarmac with slush at curves and narrow with steep slopes. After touching Rampur highway, road is newly built with no traffic till Wangtoo. It was 4 pm by the time we reached Wangtoo, then had a tea break and left for the destination. There was no roads at all after Wangtoo, so it was getting very hard for us to maintain a speed of 25 kmph. It was about to get dark when we reached Karchham. We were expecting a good road after that to reach Chitkul but things doesn’t go the way you have expected, especially on a road trip like this . Few minutes after we left Karchham it was little dark and was getting challenging to ride on unknown hilly roads which had lot of slush, sand and it started drizzling which made the composition worse. Somehow, we reached Sangla by 8:30 pm. We stopped to enquire about road ahead and whether we can get hotel and food late night if we reach Chitkul. There was a group which was coming from Chitkul, said you will not find rooms in Chitkul. So, we all decided to spend our night at Sangla but still it took us more than an hour to find a hotel with 2 vacant rooms. By the time there was only one open dhaba in the market. So, before check in we had dinner in the market and then went to hotel.

The moment all of us took off our bikes from the center stand we realize that the Ballu's bike rear tyre was completely flat, so we use air pump to inflate it untill we can find a puncture repair shop. Luckily we got a shop in just 2 -3 kms. As there were many other bikers to get their bike repaired so the shopkeeper said it would take him an hour to fix the puncture. Then, we decided that only I and Ballu will stay at Sangla until the bike is fixed and rest of us will proceed to Chitkul. Vikram and Himanshu had already taken a lead so I asked Amit to join them.

At the shop, after an hour puncture was fixed and the nail was also removed from the tyre but as soon as bike was up for testing, rear tyre got flat again and front tyre also started losing air within just 5 mins (don’t know the reason). Now we decided to leave bike at the shop to be fixed and we left for Chitkul on my Pulsar.

By the time we reached Chitkul it was 12 noon, rest of the riders already had breakfast and clicked plenty of pictures at Chitkul. We also had lunch, spent an hour and then we all returned for Sangla.

At the bike repair shop, rear tyre was fixed but front tyre was still opened and had many small punctures which couldn't be fixed and tube of that size was also not available at the shop. Luckily, I was carrying my Pulsar's rear tyre tube, so as a temporary solution, mechanic fit that tube in Classic's front tyre and we left for Reckong Peo.

At 5 pm, we reached Reckong Peo and we all decided to spend night at Kalpa because of its altitude, climate and the view of Kinner Kailash we can get from there.

So, we went to Kalpa and booked a budget hotel above the Kalpa village. By the time it was completely dark and as soon as we parked our bikes it started raining like cats and dogs.

It was a nice hotel running by an Uncle and Aunty from Kolkata. We had cup of Tea and then dinner at the hotel Restaurant. Then we had a long conversation with Uncle and Aunty. They really make us feel like home.

We went to bed at 11 with plans for tomorrow in the mind.

Day 4 | May 31 | Kalpa to Tabo

Then we headed towards our hotel, got ready for the day, tied our bags on the bikes, had tea at the Hotel restaurant and meet with Uncle Aunty to say bye, clicked some group photos and then we left the place with thousands of memories captured in our heart.

Every group have that one mate who is always ready to do something different. I had my tripod with Gun handle and Balwant (Born Punjabi) who love Danali (Double barreled rifle) wanted to get a click with triple barreled rifle (My tripod) so that he will show the picture to his friends at his Village Sangrur.

It was 8 am when we reached Reckong Peo market. It is the largest market between Rampur and Kaza where we can get spares and our bikes fixed for any major and minor issue. So, we did chain oiling, adjustment for all bikes, Vikram got his bike's carrier fixed by welding which was broken after I hit from behind in a minor accident happened last day, Ballu bought a front tyres tube as he was still feeling some shake while taking his bike above 40 kmph, since his bike got a Pulsar's tube.

Got our bikes set to ride again in 45 mins and then we rode towards the destination. Around 10:30, we stopped at dhaba for breakfast, until the breakfast was ready; Ballu got his bikes tube replaced from the shop next to the dhaba. After having stuffed paranthas with butter and tea we all were charged up for a ride. By now, the sun was shining bright and lush green mountains started converting into desert. While enjoying the ride on bumpy and dusty roads we crossed Kinnaur district and entered in Lahaul & Spiti district. Just 7 kms before Khab we found a perfect location for capturing landscapes and group photos. Had too much fun in that pass and after clicking many pictures we crossed Malling nallah. We found it very easy to cross, as it was well maintained by BRO.

Our next stop was at Nako to take a look of beautiful Nako Lake. However, surroundings of the lake was full of wrappers, empty beer bottles, cold drink bottles and group of mature travelers aging between 50-60 were completely drunk and contributing in polluting lake area. We didn't like to spent time over there, so we left the place in just 10 minutes and rode towards Sumdo.

By the time we reached Sumdo we all were feeling hungry and tired of riding off road for more than an hour. At Sumdo check post we all made an entry and ask someone about the nearest place where we can get food, he suggested to ride another 20 mins and you will reach Hurling where you can get good options. While clicking pictures it took us 40 mins to reach Hurling. Had Rajma Chawal, Rice Chapati, Momos, Thupka at roadside dhaba.

Right after we left Hurling at 4:30 pm, we noticed a sign board mentioning Chandigarh as location (locals said because of the myth of number 13, Chandigarh sec 13 was planned over here, long time back when there was no Himachal, it was all used to be a Punjab).

Until we reached Tabo it was completely dark and was still 45 kms from Kaza, due to very bad road conditions and risk of sliding and shooting stones throughout the road from Sumdo to Kaza we all decided to take a night stop at Tabo. This time Vikram and Amit took the responsibility to look for a hotel. They were back in 30 mins after booking 2 rooms in a hotel. The inside story behind booking the hotel was something else which only they know and didn’t shared the reason why they were late, we entered in the room and found candles to lit up the room as power supply was shut down since morning. Vikram and Amit went to roam around (again another mystery) and 3 of us (Arun, Balwant and Himanshu) took some rest. By 9 pm, we all had dinner at the hotel restaurant. Certainly, while discussing the options to eat we noticed that the sky was full of stars like a crowd in Kumbh mela. We could even see milky way through naked eyes due to complete darkness in the town, so we decided not to miss a single chance and grabbed our camera, tripod and went up on the roof to click some milky way shots. It was getting really cold by then so after clicking few pics we packed up the camera and went to sleep.

Day 5 | Jun 1 |Tabo to Kaza

Then, we started trekking towards the lake, after 100 meters all of us were out of breath :) and we realized how difficult it is going to be. Due to less oxygen level we were getting out of breath after every few meter. As there is no proper path leads to the lake, you just see a flag on the top of the mountain and that's what you have to follow.

Finally, all of us reached at lake in 2 hrs and started clicking pictures. Vikram found a wallet near the lake with 7,300/Rs cash and college ID, (but we were unable to reach the person until Sept 2016 when vikram searched him on FB and returned his money after verification). After spending an hour at the lake

we returned and reached dhaba at 3 pm. Had some chocolates, snacks, juice to regain energy and then drove to Kaza.

Entire road till Kaza was prone to slides and full of slush. Finally we reached Kaza and got our petrol tanks full.

Now it was getting dark and we knew, we have to cover Kee and Kibber next day so we started look for a hotel. Again Vikram and Amit took the responsibility to find a good hotel just because they enjoyed searching for Hotel in Tabo and found the same reason in Kaza as well but this time we came to know the reason it was one beautiful Californian lady they met at Tabo while searching for Hotel.

It took them more than 40 mins to book a good budget hotel with parking. After taking an hour rest we went out for dinner and then we bought a pair of gloves, praying flags from the last remaining open shop in the market then went to hotel and slept.

Day 6 | Jun 2 | Kaza to Batal

After that we rode towards Kibber which was 18-20 kms from Key, instead of visiting the monastery there we preferred to visit a local government school where we distributed pencils, erasers and biscuits to kids. We wrote our names on Slate (Black hand board and slate which kids use at remote areas), clicked some photographs.

Amit and Himanshu started taking test of students and started asking questions. Luckily all of the questions were answered correctly.

Among all the picture we clicked over there, I love the portrait of a small girl who had cat eyes and head covered with Scarf.

After spending some time with kids we headed towards Manali via Kunzum top. In between, we had breakfast with our regular breakfast debate. Our main topic for today was Egg is not non-veg (Eggiterians) and finished up with another term called Lacto which is used for people who drink Milk and cannot be pure Veg.

Debate

Pure Veg side - Arun and Vikram

Eggitarian - Himanshu and Balwant

Amit was Ghooskhor Referee.

Here is the famous Chicham village view from Kibber.

Pic 22 (Chicham Village).JPG (Chicham Village)

At Kibber we came to know that the way from Kunzum has been opened and can be closed at any time. So, we rode towards Kunzum with few clicks on the way.

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At Losar, we found few breathtaking views so we took couple of stops to click few photographs. Riding through the hilly terrain was an awesome experience. Reached Kunzum at 4:30 pm, love spending time at Kunzum top.

We also had a plan to visit Chandertaal and there was a trek of 8 kms which starts from Kunzum but according to me it was not the right time to take this route and that too at 4:30 pm; no way.

This way we had to park our bikes at Kunzum pass, which was not a wise idea and I knew that none of us would be able to make it till Chandertaal before sunset especially at 4000 meters. Above all, the concern was of night stay at Chandertaal. Kunzum opened just a day ago and tent owners from Losar left at 3 pm to pitch their tents at Chandertaal but they wouldn’t have all the facilities for the travelers. So, we all decided to leave Chandertaal for next day and with setting sun priority was to reach Batal because water crossings were getting stronger.

Road till Batal was like a river. Finally we reached Batal just before sunset and there we met the famous personality (Chacha & Chachi), no word can explain their generosity. They treated us as their own children. They provided us an Army moveable house to stay for night and charged only 100 rupees per person for the stay.

Just before dinner at Batal dhaba, we met with a group who just returned from Chandertaal on their bikes, they were completely wet and they suggested not to go on bikes because of recent landslides road till the lake was in very bad shape, couple of strong water crossings which were almost impossible to cross during evening. So, as per chacha’s suggestion we decided to drop the plan of Chandertaal.

During night it was so cold there; we didn't even change our clothes and preferred to sleep instead going out.

One of the cab driver suggested us to leave Batal early morning so that we will pass all the water crossings without any issue. One of the biggest challenges was Pagla Nala.

Early morning we found a frozen layer of dew on our bike’s seat and we used our nails & keys to scratch it.

While riding through the nala’s and semi frozen water logs, we could hear the sound of ice getting cracked when touched by our bike's tyre. After crossing back to back numerous nala’s we finally reached Chhatru and it took us two and a half an hour to cover 31 kms of distance. Morning was the best time to go through these water crossing as they tend to have less water in the morning but still it was enough to get our shoes soaked in the water.

At Chhatru, we enjoyed our meal with our usual debate; interesting thing today was Himanshu became a Travel Guide who was going back all the way to Kaza and Tabo from Chhatru to guide a Lady from Vadodara, hahahaha Just kidding.

Road from Chhatru to Gramphoo remained same but with less water crossings. Tried doing all the pagalpanti at Rohtang.

One of our co-rider Amit Sharma spent some time and created an awesome creature with snow and we named it as "Snow Woman" :) for his creativity we could say only one thing "Kisne banaya ye Mudasama",

we waited for couple of hours so that we could see fresh snowfall, unluckily we were not able to encounter even one.

Had group chat and decided to spend night at Old Manali.....We were stunned after reaching old Manali...it was like "mini Israel". Met some of the Jews, discussed about our bikes and trip, walked barefoot on the road wearing shorts and sando in 10 degree, enjoyed our meal with one and only "Thukpa soup".

Visited mall road in Manali, I must say, that was the most crowded place throughout our trip and didn't like spending my time there at all.

Until we returned everybody was ready to have glimpses of Manali market. By 11 am, we all had breakfast and decided to leave for Manikaran Sahib. After riding about 20 kms Ballu's bullets silencer went off his bike as few of the screws got loosen. Within few kms, we found mechanic who fixed it and also get other bikes chain lubricated and tightened. Then we drove till Manikaran Sahib without any stops, reached there by 3 pm and parked our bikes in the multi-level parking ensuring that our bikes and luggage tied on bike remain untouched and safe. The moment we start walking towards the entry gate of Gurudwara sahib with all the gears and jackets, we were looking like a group of Alien who just landed from Mars. Everyone was staring at us but on the other hand they were curious to know about our wearing. We spend more than 2 hrs in the Gurudwara and the Shiv temple next to it. It was getting very humid inside because of crowd and the hot water spring inside and below the surface. Stepping on the marble was also getting difficult near the hot water pool in the Gurudwara Sahib.

It was really an amazing experience to witness all this including standing on the bridge and watching Parvati river flowing in the full force and hot water spring besides river with the cold water.

Left Gurudwara Sahib around 5:30 and decided to ride till Bhunter for night stay. It was completely dark by the time we reached Bhunter, booked a room in Himalayan hotel next to Gurudwara.

Day 9 | Apr 5 | Bhunter to Chandigarh

This was the most boring day of our trip. Temperature constantly getting up since we crossed Manali and we know after crossing Mandi it was going to be like a hell till Chandigarh.

So, decided to leave early morning to get the pleasure of riding before sunrise. Our first stop was at Jot for photographs and breakfast. Near Sundernagar, road construction work was still going on from last year but after that roads are very good.

Then we took some stops for Neembu paani, Shikanji etc to get some relief from the scorching heat. This seems to be a never ending road to me, after coming from Kaza, none of these locations seems to be attractive to be clicked, so we didn't even click a single picture after crossing Jot.

Finally at 4:30 we reached Chandigarh by then we all were completely exhausted and sweating badly. Till 5:30 we all were at our rooms but my brother Vikram has to go to Gurgaon so he decided to stay in Chandigarh till midnight, he left for Gurgaon at 2 am and reached at 6 am. This is how we completed our journey with countless memorable moments, good and bad experience.

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