No ! No ! No ! NO !!!!!!!!!!!
BBBBBAAAAAMMMMM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What the fffffuuuuucccccck happened !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She yelled with her eyes wide open.
Car got skid and rammed into the ice wall. Let me check.
It’s a cold night and we are in the middle of no where. Almost !!!!
Relaxxxx !!! , It’s nothing ( looking at the broken fog lamp and dented bonnet), we rammed into the ice wall and lost our left fog lamp and may be the supporter of the radiator is also broken. Let me tie this thing with the rope and then we will be good to go again.
LLLOOOOKKK !!!!!! screaming and jumping with ecstasy , as soon as she stepped out of the car.
What ?
The Sky !!!!!
I stood there motionless , looking towards the sky , billions of stars were beaming,something I had never seen before.It was full moon night but still one can clearly see the shinning pearls of the sky.
Isn't it beautiful ?
Indeed !!!
"Usually these mountains are dark , but tonight they are glowing, as if they are made up of crystals . Snow makes everything beautiful,things start looking so pure"
I agree !!! It’s a beautiful night !!!! ohkey let's get in ,we are good to go
Can't we stay here for sometime , the view is majestic , I had never seen mountains glow like this
Do you want me to take out the camera ?
No !!! I just want to sit here quietly , just want to be in this moment , right here (Walter Mitty :P)
I opened up the trunk , and took out our supplies of wood that I had been carrying around , l light up the fire and we sat there , just there gazing at the full moon ,sound of the flowing water,the night sky and snow capped glittering mountains….Its chilling !!!!!
2 Days Back :
What are your plans for this long weekend ?
I had not decided anything as of yet , what do you suggest ?
Lets go on a road trip, how about that place that you always talk about ,Chitkul right !!!!!
Are you crazy !!!!!!!! It’s winter , there are almost no roads up there and probably they will be covered with snow as well and at night temperature in Chitkul will be around -20 C
So what ? I know you will find a way , we are going there , I will start packing and you better start planning. We are left with one day only.
At 6 AM , we left from Delhi for our destination , CHITKUL
You had booked some place to stay ?? Right ??
Yes Mam !!
Great
So what will be the route ??
Pretty simple !!!!
Delhi > Chandigarh > Theog > Shimla > Narkanda > Rampur > Wangtu > Tapri > Sangla > Rakchham > Chitkul
Quiet a distance to travel
Yep , around 600 KM
At around 11:00 hrs we reached Chandigrah , and had our brunch at McDonalds
Are we going to travel directly to Chitkul , or we gonna break the journey
We will be staying at Theog or probably at Narkanda
Sounds good
At around 14:00 hrs, we were at Shimla , and it was raining .As we moved ahead ,water drops started to convert from drops to hails to snowflakes
With some stops here and there, we reached Theog at around 16:00 hrs. and it started snowing heavily
" Theog is a small hamlet just after Fagu , roughly around 30 KM from Shimla.This little hamlet has some of the best views of the valley , and if the valley is covered in snow then its a village direct from the fairytale.Be safe while driving , you may forget to look at the roads , every turn has an unobstructed view of the valley."
"We should call it a day and enjoy the snowfall , its risky to go ahead ".And I stopped the car in front of Hotel Shimla Hills in Theog
It snowed heavily that night
Wake up !!!!!
Ohhh!!!! Come On man , It's 5 in the morning
Wake up !!!! we have a distance to cover
After having heavy breakfast,we came out of our den ( Hotel )
Looks like it snowed all night !!! look at our car , mirror is frozen ( while looking at the thin layers of frost on the front mirror )
Yeah !!!! Let me pour some hot water on the mirror to melt the ice and then we are good to go
Where now ?
Narkanda, some skiing and then towards Chitkul
Camera !!! Camera !!!! Camera !!!!
What the heck !!! Now What ?
Look outside , the sun rise , its so beautiful when everything is covered in white.
" A sunrise after the night of snowfall is a sight to die for ,sun rays kissing everything and turning them into the hues of red and orange.( Drawbacks of driving , sometimes you miss the show of mother nature )"
Theog to Narkanda is merely 30 KM's , At around 10:00 or so we reached there.
" Narkanda is the highest place around Shimla,standing there and looking eye to eye to the mountains is a great feeling in itself.It's not wrong if I say Narkanda is the roof of Shimla "
So now what ??
Lets eat somethings first and then towards the skiing slope
I parked the car in the parking ( once you enter Narkanda, after crossing the temple there is a parking on the left side ) and we marched in the snow towards the slopes
Fun Time !!!!!!
Lets go , we are getting late and we have to cover quiet a distance today
At around 15:00 hrs, we started towards Chitkul,I knew it was late but with limited days in hand , I opted to get going to reach our destination
Crossing Narkanda we started to descent down the mountains , snow started melting,turn by turn views started changing frequently , every turn offering the majestic views of the mountains and valleys and soon there were roads without snow and we picked up our pace again.
At around 17:00,we were standing at the fuel station at Rampur.
" Rampur is another town of Himachal,but very different from Shimla and others.
Rampur is just beside the river Satluj, you can clearly see Satluj and hear the gushing voice of the river flowing.This town is at the level of river.
This is the place from where you can get buses , taxis for other parts of the Kinnaur valley"
After refuelling our car and ourselves we started off for Chitkul, but the way was not easy.
We started climbing again as soon as we crossed Rampur,again with every turn vistas are changing.On one side we have a mountain and on the other we have a river flowing in the deep gorge.
"It's amazing to see what man and machines can achieve.Roads of Kinnaur are example of that , roads had been carved out of the mountains and blind turns at every 100-200 mtr.The views are unrealistic and very different from other parts of the Himachal.
Kinnaur is for sure one of the best region of Himachal to travel in"
"We were lost in the scenic vistas of Kinnaur,nobody was talking ,windows were rolled down,fresh breeze was coming from the window filling us with more energy"
Holding our breaths we crossed Jhakri , Jeori , Karape,Wangtu,Tapari
As we reached Karcham , we were awestruck by the sheer beauty of the mother nature,river flowing and we are running our car besides it.It was already too late , sun had set down and we still have to travel another 40 or so KM's
Some views in between Rampur and Karcham
Sun set down and everybody was asleep in the car.
Now there are two roads from Karcham,one goes towards Kaza and other towards Sangla.Take the one towards Sangla and keep on driving till the road end.
While driving I was enjoying the Baspa river flowing besides and its clear turquoise water unaware of the fact that the road ahead is one of the worst roads to drive on and is one of the most heart stopping drive for me.
Road was steep and was direct out of some adventure movie,with more turns and twists and condition of the roads varying from Roads to no roads to gravels and what not.On one side there is mountain and on other side , never ending gorge with Baspa flowing in it.
As we crossed Sangla and then Rakcham and soon after ice returned on the road and driving conditions became bad to worst.
I was driving very carefully , with my eyes stuck on the road and my heart in my throat. With every turn the tires were skidding and suddenly I lost the control and
BBBBBBAAAAAAAAMMMMMMM !!!!!!
What the fffffuuuuucccccck happened !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She yelled with her eyes wide open.
Car got skid and rammed into the ice wall. Let me check.
It’s a cold night and we are in the middle of no where. Almost !!!!
Relaxxxx !!! , It’s nothing ( looking at the broken fog lamp and dented bonnet), we rammed into the ice wall and lost our left fog lamp and may be the supporter of the radiator is also broken. Let me tie this thing with the rope and then we will be good to go again.
LLLOOOOKKK !!!!!! screaming and jumping with ecstasy , as soon as she stepped out of the car.
What ??? A concerned me asked ?
The Sky !!!!!
"That night, I witnessed one of the most beautiful skies of my life with billions of stars beaming.Something I had never seen before.It was full moon night but still one can clearly see the shinning pearls of the sky"
Isn't it beautiful ?
Indeed !!!
At around 23:00 hrs we reached Chitkul,which was chilling at around -15 C at that time and temp was about the drop drastically with every passing hour.By now everyone was tired to we checked into our hotel and went to bed.
I woke up at around 7:00AM and with some courage got out of the bed,got myself in double-triple layers and walked out of our stay and I was stoned.Not because of the cold but what I saw out there,i was stoned to the beauty of the nature.
"The entire Kinner Kailash range was in front of me , and here I am in the lap of the mountains covered in snow.Everything outside was white,pure and pristine.
The valley is extremely beautiful, on the banks of the Baspa River are snow-clad mountains.
In between the snow capped mountains just besides the river beautiful and gently flowing river Baspa is the picturesque little hamlet of Chitkul with its tiny population.
With the backdrop of the Kinnar Kailash range the entire Sangla valley offers amazing 360 degree views"
' fill='%23359391'%3e %3cpath d='M46.1538462%2c43.5714286 L41.5%2c50 L36.8461538%2c43.5714286 L36.8670256%2c43.5714286 C36.3173077%2c42.7142857 36%2c41.6851429 36%2c40.5714286 C36%2c37.4854286 38.4535641%2c35 41.5%2c35 C44.5464359%2c35 47%2c37.4854286 47%2c40.5714286 C47%2c41.6851429 46.6826923%2c42.7142857 46.1329744%2c43.5714286 L46.1538462%2c43.5714286 Z M41.4294872%2c39 C40.6150641%2c39 39.9487179%2c39.675 39.9487179%2c40.5 C39.9487179%2c41.325 40.6150641%2c42 41.4294872%2c42 C42.2439103%2c42 42.9102564%2c41.325 42.9102564%2c40.5 C42.9102564%2c39.675 42.2439103%2c39 41.4294872%2c39 L41.4294872%2c39 Z' id='Location-white'%3e%3c/path%3e %3c/g%3e %3c/svg%3e)
