A walk with Buddha: Kinnaur and Spiti Valley

Rain in the Mountains: That day i was taking a stroll on the good old Shimla’s mall road with parents and my younger brother who could barely speak but argue like a professional lawyer. Like always, i was busy in myself watching the skyline and thinking if there are more mountains behind them or is it all the Himalayas we are reading in our textbooks.

The sky turned darker and everybody started looking for a shelter. On the other hand, i was all set to experience my first “Rain in the Mountains”. It rained heavily that day. There is no music as melodious as drumming on the tin roofs and no fragrance sweeter than that of damp soil. During another visit to Shimla, we climbed till “Jakhu Temple”, a temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman. It was a short but steep walk along the ridge which offers a magnificent view of the Blue Mountains. I firmly believed then that this is the limit now; I’ve seen all the Himalayas.

Years passed by and my quest to explore the mountains took me much beyond than my previously set limits.

The highway from Shimla to Kaurik is called “Hindustan-Tibet road” as it connects the two countries (Kaurik being the border). My plan was to continue on the highway till the last point and then switch to a state highway leading to the uncharted Spiti Valley.

The Hindustan Tibet Road-Dubey Ji

The monsoon arrived earlier than expected and Ambala-Chandigarh route was already flooded in the first week of July. I was waiting for this expedition since a long time and now, i was wound up enough to overlook all the warnings of landslides and floods.

Day One: (Shimla - Sangla) After a night long drive and a hearty breakfast near Shimla, we (Me, bunty and Dubey Ji) continued towards Kufri (2290 m) and then Narkanda (2708 m). Narkanda is a beautiful town which now attracts more tourists than ever, who come here in search of peace which no longer exists in bigger hill stations. We had our much required pepper tea in Narkanda main bazaar which was energizing enough to keep us elated till our destination for the Day-Sangla Valley.

The road now descends some 35 kms till it comes parallel to River Satluj which we were to tag along for three more days. After crossing the small towns of Rampur and Jeori, we entered the district of Kinnaur. While the landscape was slowly changing to rocky and loftier hills, the road condition changed abruptly. It seems that the government cares for the district only where the officials live; in case of Himachal, it is Shimla.

Roads in Kinnaur

The tough rock-strewn mountains in Kinnaur are carved beautifully for the highway adding to the glory of the environs which includes plenty of big and small waterfalls.

After crossing the mud-spattered road besides the Wangtoo hydroelectric Dam, we reached Karcham from where we were to take a detour to Sangla Valley. The road to Sangla is along the river Baspa which meets Satluj at karcham. It is a narrow but well maintained route which took us to the town of Sangla (2700 m) at around 6.30 pm.

My car through one of the streams on the road

 
Day Two: (Sangla-Chitkul-Reckong Peo-Kalpa)

We started early today to reach one of the most picturesque motorable villages of India, Chhitkul (3450 m). The drive was upstream Baspa River though lush green forests, waterfalls and some small tributaries on the road itself. We were welcomed by a signboard which read “Hinduatan ka Akhri Dhaba”. Chhitkul is the last hamlet on the Indian side of Baspa valley and a few kilometers of trek would lead you to Tibet.

Chhitkul

The Glacial peaks were standing right next to the banks of the river which were telling us that its origin is right here. It was 1.00 pm when we left for Kalpa, the ancient capital of Kinnaur. The city reflects the true Kinnauri culture. Surrounded by Kinnaur Kailash Range (a Sacred Mountain), Kalpa (2960 m) is a tiny city with a Buddhist Monastry and a Hindu Temple sharing walls and the population here is equally divided in the two religions. We offered our homage to both the shrines and most importantly to the Kinnaur Kailash Parvat itself. I slept early but was soon interrupted by Bunty’s shouts “Spain has won the World Cup”. I was double annoyed now as i was supporting the Netherlands.

Kinnaur Kailash range from Kalpa

Day Three: (Kalpa-Nako)

We woke up in leisure, had our morning tea in Reckong Peo and refueled our car to tank full as there was no petrol pump for the next 200 kms.

Kalpa

As soon as we left Reckong Peo, we encountered a huge waterfall right on the Hinsdustan-Tibet Road. This is probably the beginning of the Cold desert of Spiti. The highway was now lonely with no vehicle at all for hours of drive. Villagers commute here by asking for a lift from the intermittent transport on the highway (We too were the lift providers to many). After crossing Pooh, we reached the confluence of Satluj and Spiti rivers. The roar of the waters was no less than that of a rocky beach and now the road continues along the Spiti instead of Satluj.

Nako Village

A narrow, deserted, steep zig zag road lifted us from the Spiti banks and led us to reach the dazzling village of Nako (3662 m).

No electricity, no refueling station, no telephone line and no mobile signal; just a high altitude lake with an ancient monastery and Buddhist flags fluttering on every single house. The village made us sleep early at 6.30 pm, as it was a complete blackout. Nevertheless, the sleep was essential for the next morning. We had to start very early so that we can cross the infamous Malling Nallah before its water level increases in afternoon due to snowmelt. 

Into the Spiti

Day Four: (Nako-Kaza)


We could safely cross the Malling (though the water level was still over a foot) at 6 in the morning. As we crossed Chango, we soon were in middle of a small Army cantonment and we soon realized that we are very close to the border now. Although we did not get the permission to go closer to the border, an officer pointed towards the hill sitting next to us- This is Tibet, what will you gain if you go a few steps ahead?

Tabo Gompa

It was the end of Hindustan-Tibet road and we switched to the state highway. 
The valley suddenly unfolded for the magical town of Tabo (3280 m). By now, all the trees are vanished forming a complete cold desert and the inhabitants were completely Buddhists; primarily from the neighboring Tibet. Tabo Monastery dates back to 996 CE (some 1015 years old) but still in a good form. Kaza, the headquarters of Spiti was some 50 bumpy kilometers when we were stopped by two tourists from Israel (Shay and Tal) who sought a lift till Kaza. We happily agreed and discussions of all sorts erupted in our otherwise quite car. They were completely in love with mother India and could not stop praising her every now and then.

We finally reached Kaza (3800 m) and started our hunt for the lodge. While going for a bargain, i asked our non native friends to not to come along so that the hotel owner doesn’t come up with inflated prices. I proudly came back after a bargain, 500 Rs. But they’re charging us 200, said Shay. I shouted at the hotel owner; Why such a discrimination? They are our guests you know.

Shay and Tal

Day Five: (Kaza - Key Gompa - Kibber - Sumdo)

Would you like to come for a visit to Key Gompa and the highest village in World? I asked Shay and Tal. After hearty breakfast of Aloo Parathas and tea, we were again seated in the car to reach the highest motorable village in the world, Kibber (4270 m). A small stroll in Kibber made us realize that we are actually at the highest village. We were breathless like dogs; thanks to the limited oxygen of a high altitude village with no trees at all. A few minutes of drive from kibber took us to Key Gompa (4166 m), the principal monastery of Spiti valley and a religious training centre for Lamas. It is a pyramid shaped structure with Spiti River flowing right next to it; picturesque!!

Kibber Village

The lamas were quite hospitable who took us to a detailed tour of the monastery complex and served us with hot butter tea, all for free.

Soon we were sitting in the Kaza main bazaar and parted the ways with our Israeli friends after a small Jalebi treat.

Our original plan was to descend to Manali through Rohtang Pass but according to a local tour operator, there was a severe landslide on this route and the vehicular traffic was blocked since last two days. So we decided to return by the same route. But this time, we halted in Sumdo (3474 m), a two-household village on the banks of Spiti, some 120 kms from Kaza. Thankfully we got shelter in one of them.

Key Gompa

Day 6 (Sumdo - Sarahan)

It was a silent drive. We reached Sarahan at 3.00 pm and found a good lodge for the night stay. After paying our homage to the Bhimkali Temple, we decided to take a walk in the village when we unintentionally reached a beautiful football field surrounded by lush Green hills.

Kinnaur is known as the Apple Orchard of India. There were plenty of ripe, red apples around but despite all our efforts, we got away only with two.

Football field- Sarahan

Day 7 (Sarahan - Shimla)

We again entered the “good road” section of Himachal and the summer capital of India during the british reign, Shimla. After days in one of the least peopled places in India, Shimla seemed to be overly populated. But how could i be deprived of the Mall Road which refreshes my childhood memories? The walk was just as delightful.

A Walk with Buddha: Pangi Valley and Lahaul

The second half of the “Walk with Buddha in Himachal” awaits me now. It is one of the most unexplored circuits in India which connects the Pangi valley of Chamba with Lahaul of Lahaul-Spiti. 

Mall Road- Shimla

Gangotri-Gaumukh

First glimpses of Himalayas always excite me more than anything. I still treasure that first sight of mountains from the train to Kalka en route Shimla when i, a 10 year old boy shouted in joy “Mummy, look, Mountains are here”. As i go deeper in the hills, my inquisitiveness augments with each bend we take.

I could relate the ecstasy of Shimla toy-train in my childhood to a topical Spiritual-Adventurous trek to source of River Ganges, Gaumukh.

One lazy afternoon, I was following through the map of Uttarakhand, preparing a list of treks i would accomplish this year. Gaumukh was always in my mind and after a whisk of thoughts i decided, lets plan for next week. !! September 2010, monsoon breaks all previous records and severely damages the vulnerable hilly roads of upper Himalayas. Was it enough to discourage me? No. I called gmvn for the current updates on roads and treks and i was not happy to hear that portions of the road to Gangotri are washed away. Still hopeful, I postponed my plans for two weeks and now, my plan was ready.

Day 1: 7 Oct 2010, Thursday;

I came back from office at 11pm, Wednesday, and my plan was to depart at midnight considering the long drive and bad roads. Bunty called me to advise that we should leave by 2 am so that we do not reach Rishikesh earlier than required. In reality, he wanted to have a quick nap. Dubey Ji and Mathew were already at my place but obviously the trio didn’t sleep for those 3 hours. 2.00 am sharp, we were in my Wagon R and after picking up Arora from his home, we headed towards Uttarkashi.

Mathew clearing roads for us

Road to Rishikesh was not as bad as we thought. 7 am we had our typical touring breakfast of Aloo Parathas and moved further. Drive till Chamba was a smooth one and we started to satirize news channels for showing bad road conditions of Uttarakhand during monsoons. Post Chamba, things did not remain the same. Roads and Arora’s jokes were getting bad to worse. While the roads were still tolerable, Arora was not. May be he was the reason that Mathew couldn’t stop puking, or may be the hilly roads. 

The journey on the first day included waterfalls, the famous Tehri Dam and awful roads which forced us to get down of the car several times before we finally reached Uttarkashi. 4.00 pm, we arranged a permit for the trek to Gaumukh basis the fax i had sent in advance to DFO Uttarkashi. While Arora and Mathew preferred to sleep after a tiring day, i, Bunty and Dubey ji went to explore the town and to pay a visit to famous “Kashi Vishwanath Temple”.

Dubey ji at Kashi Vishwanath Temple

 Day 2: 8 Oct, Friday;

Harshil Valley

We had our breakfast after some bewilderment, what and where to eat when all the Dhabas look the same? Finally, stuffed with Parathas, we headed towards Gangotri. A taxi driver warned us about the bad roads but the warning was ignored as usual. The first few kilometers were smooth and we stopped every 15 minutes to get ourselves clicked. Roads were getting narrower and sometimes, we could spot a large chunk completely washed away. We reached Gangnani at 12.20 pm where a petit waterfall welcomed us. So called warm spring water in the Kund was not warm, it was Hot. It was difficult to acclimatize with the boiling water but we still had a dip while Arora and Bunty were testing their resistance in the hottest part of the Kund. The Roads after Gangnani should not actually be called roads. It was a driving test for me and a patience test for Arora as the quartet had to get down every now and then due to low ground clearance of our tiny car. 

Bunty and Mathew at Suryakund

We passed through the beautiful valley of Harshil, ate bowlful of Maggi and a cup of sweet coffee (Courtesy Dubey ji) and finally reached Gangotri at 5.00 pm. We found a good budget lodge and went to explore the village. After Surya Kund, a beautiful waterfall in Gangotri, our next destination was the Ghat. I didn’t take a dip fearful of the chilling water and neither did Dubey ji. Bunty and Mathew enjoyed their plunge and quite surprisingly, Arora was bathing like a buffalo in the glacial water. We did a bit of shopping of cans to fill Gangajal and I also purchased a torch for the trek. Bunty’s casual attitude forced him to say “why did you waste your money?”

Day 3: 9 Oct, Saturday;

Finally, the day arrived. We decided to ascend 18 kms to Gaumukh and back the same day, which seemed to be an easy task but turned out to be an ordeal!!

Trek to Gaumukh

6 am, we were ready and started to mount. Trek did not seem to be an easy job as we thought and i realized it only after we came across 2 plain logs of trees placed over a mountain rivulet to cross it.

The trail till Chirbasa, 9 kms from Gangotri is through lush green valleys of Gangotri National Park. Arora and Mathew stopped every half a kilometer to recharge themselves, Arora to munch anything edible found in his bag and Mathew to take a nap. Arora was incessantly cursing Bunty for his instructions to carry our own sacs. Bunty is a speedy trekker, i and Dubey ji were steady and Arora and Mathew didn’t like the idea to trek.

After having a cup of tea and some biscuits at Chirbasa, we continued on our trail. Sometimes the path was not defined and we had to find our own way.  There were hardly any trekkers except for some foreigners and a couple of Sadhus.

Fist view of the glaciers

The landscape was changing now. Glacier Caps were fast replacing the green cover and i was delighted to see Bharal (Blue Sheep) which can only be seen above 4000 mts. We were dead tired when we reached Bhojwasa, 4 kms short of Gaumukh. To celebrate our success, they decided to take a nap under the sun and i, continued to gaze at Bhagirathi Sisters - the three glacier source of Ganges.

2.00 PM, somehow we managed to creep till Gaumukh and not a surprise, everyone collapsed and dozed without worrying about the second half of the trek. The sage at a small temple suggested us to go further 500 mts to the source of Ganges but we decided to abide by the warning mentioned near the Temple-“Don’t proceed ahead of this point”. If we were not much drained, i am sure we would have ignored this one too.

Bhagirathi Sister peaks

Time was running and we decided to descend back before it gets dark. Dubey ji was not feeling well and instead of taking rest, he fled away, all alone. 

We reached Chirbasa and it was getting dark. There was still no sign of Dubey ji and while we were having our tea, we all were worried about him. We asked the tea stall owner to accompany us till Gangotri but despite of a bargain, he didn’t agree. He was asking for 1000 which we were not ready to pay under any situation. We decided to rush and pretty soon, it was all dark. Now was the time for me to feel proud of my little torch which saved our lives that day. I was selected as the navigator. We were petrified of the narrow track and wild animals .Mathew was in a constant impression that a black bear is following him and i could see him sweating in -4 degrees. No idea how we reached that checkpost where we found Dubey Ji shivering in cold. We deduced, the Chaiwala in Chirbasa would have mixed a pinch of opium in the tea which gave us this energy. We all had a sigh of relief and thanked Ganga Maiya for bringing us back. We had our dinner and i could scarcely walk to our hotel with those swollen legs. That day, i pledged never to overestimate myself and not to rush through a 3 day trek in a single day.

Proud Arora after 18 kms

Day 4: 10 Oct 2010, Sunday;

We woke up late, at 8.00 am and had our breakfast with leisure. We shouted Har Har Gange and packed ourselves into the car for the return journey. Today we were not in a hurry and cruised through the Garhwal Himalayas recalling the previous day. With loud music and lots of snacks we enjoyed the journey while not paying any attention to Arora’s gibberish talks. After a car wash at Chamba, we continued with our retreat to Delhi whilst i was thinking about the next day in office.

HAR HAR GANGE !!!!