Day 5: August 12, 2010, Thursday

Stayed in Chhitkul today. And stayed mostly on foot. We started late and took it easy. We enjoyed the chilly morning air and I even felt the cold floor with my bare feet for the lack of slippers! For breakfast, I finally decided to adapt and had an omlette with the parathas- just to keep warm. To prevent mishaps, I took a swig of pudinhara- you know, just in case- especially since I haven't been having eggs directly for ages.

Freezing in my summer wear!

View from our rooms

Everyone was ready for the trek and looking at the weather, most put on their warm gear- some even wore their biking gloves! I made a mix of gatorade in my alum bottle for the  climb up. We felt rather stupid when we saw that there was a bridge over the stream to walk across- while last night we had been trying to jump over it or walk through it- in the dark! Anyway, we walked through the village, clicked a gazzilion pictures and yet again, it proved tough to take Dev away from little girls- these kids wanted pens in return for permission to photograph them! 

We even chatted with some Kinnauri menfolk who told us that ther are all taught Hindi in school and thats why they all know the language. We met an old man who offered us some freshly harvested turnips- that we washed and ate at the spot- was way better than what we had last night. The village seemed to be quite developed- it had solar panels in spots, there were water channels everywhere and water even powered the sole wheat-mill that we saw there- Apparently, people had to just give a share of their wheat in return to be allowed to grind their wheat- that's all! This was a village of a claimed 600 people- but they seemed to be doing rather well. I really like the atmosphere around here, natural or cultural- and generally I am someone who doesn't like people so much!

Beni starts his funny poses with his Japanese hat!

Temple temple everywhere

They take this to heart-learned it last night!

Paparazzi

Contemplation + break

Dev treks up valiantly- all by himself!

The village becomes a speck

The flag-top- lower than our point! ;)

Rock-land!

Beni gets up, close ad personal!

Kjo, Alok and Suku went on some trail that went up to a hiltop that had some flags. Bijoor san had disappeared in the horizon somewhere. Dev, who was walking ahead managed to find some route (or so he thought) that seemed shorter to the same flag-top. Me and Beni took it easy on the climb but kept on the trek route that we were all on from before. And in the middle of green mountains we came upon a whole rocky section and from that point you couldn't even see the village or anyone else. It felt like we were finally really away from home. Bijoor san was at the end of the route and we stopped for a mini photo session and just to contemplate. We saw Dev still climbing hard to the top on his supposed short route and soon they were all on the top. Beni was showing signs of AMS but it probably was just the lack of oxygen and we were all tired without a doubt.

As we (me, Beni and Bijoor san) made our way down, Suku and Dev were making their way up from where we came from. We three did not see the other two so we proceeded to look for food in the village- we saw the SUVs and taxis we had seen the day earlier. We finally found food and service in the more expensive guest house- the food was pricey at 200 a head! We met our Israeli neighbors from our guest house and a Israeli couple who were riding on one bike- a beat up enfield with a bent front end and busted meters! They were almost on the same schedule as us so perhaps, we would see more of them.

The drizzle had returned on our way down and was getting a little heavier while the clouds engulfed the mountains we had trekked earlier today. We three walked back to the rooms where the rest of them joined up soon. The rest had lunch here and everyone fell asleep after that! I was bored to death and the Airtel recharges were not working at all and I was not getting any signal on signal point in front of the guest house!

We had a brief chuckle when we saw these group of bikers making a big deal out of the little crossing in front of our guest house! One guy got stuck in the middle of the water, one got stuck before the water and everyone was terrified on seeing this water body! I guess they got back their courage when a guy on an avenger on the other side just plowed through the water effortlessly! What surprised us was the presence of a Splendor and a Samurai in their midst!

Stuck guy on his pulsar while Avenger guy is about to show how its done!

Beni woke up soon and with Bijoor san in tow, we headed back for photographs on yesterday's roads. I took him pillion on my bike and at points, one realized how tricky it would be to have a pillion in the mountains, esp on slush and ditches at bends. The sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds but we did not get much of good light and darkness was creeping up fast. Calling up Airtel customer care was a pain and futile for calling needs. Bijoor san's BSNL worked perfectly fine. As Bijoor san felt his bike would be slow so he headed back before us and we followed soon. 

Signal point- in front of our guesthouse- everyone comes to call!

Floating clouds meet us again

Dinner was again at the hotel but not before the owner met us with the local alcohol that beni had asked for. After looking at our photos, he proceeded to show the potency of his land's alcohol by inserting his finger into the alcohol directly in the bottle and burning the bits of alcohol that he could manage to put on his finger. It was sort of freaky to see him do that but more gross because everyone else had to have that alcohol afterwards! Everyone says alcohol at high altitudes is inadvisable- and I just hoped that we wouldn't have to find out the hard way-esp since it's hard to keep Pegus away from alcohol!

Arvind demonstrates fire catching abilities of Kinnauri alcohol

It was a good day with hardly any riding- good rest for the bodies but I was itching to be back on the roads again.  I think the road had been harder on the rest much more than on me, so we do need these recharge stops- plus, I really like this village a lot. Tomorrow, we head to Nako via Rekongpeo.

Total distance covered= 0kms

Total cost= Rs. 1120

[ Lunch=  200 + Recharge= 200 + Stay(dinner,water,breakfast)=720 ]

Day 10: August 17, 2010, Tuesday

Kaza to Chandra Tal

We took it easy and had our breakfast again at German bakery of more or less the same stuff. We run into the British kids again- who seemed confused about where they were going today! After the satisfying breakfast, we had to be sure that the bikes and bikers could move forward- Bijoor san went looking for a cab, Dev went looking for a mech and Beni decided that he needed to see a doc. However, me, he and Kjo went to get our boots polished- the poor combat boots looked like they had been through hell! So after we got our boots polished and taking he shoe guy's advice, we went to the "Mission hospital". There was a Korean doctor who checked on Beni and advised him on bed rest, showed sleeping positions and prescribed medicines. But of course, we had to ride out today- and Beni, though worried sick, was ready to roll.

Bijoor san got his Sumo cab and Dev got basic things fixed though his bike still sounded terrible. We started from Kaza at about 12 finally- but not before filling up at a petrol pump where someone had to manually pull at the pump (the world's highest retails outlet apparently!) because there was no electricity! We all also got the air pressure checked in our bike's tires and we were off, albeit the cab right behind us and most of our luggage in there. I kept my backpack on- it had my laptop, water, spares and some dried fruits. We met those British kids again, just outside Kaza. Apparently, they were now going towards Lossar and then Leh on the bus- they thought of getting a ride with our cab but we had to leave them behind because they refused to pay 1000 per head to go all the way to Gramphoo. The cab was costing us 6000 in any case so it was a fair price to ask.

 

The roads were a mixed bag of smooth surfaces with the rough patches- alternately running through dry, rocky valleys and green pastures and croplands. My pace was good and I led for a while before I decided to wait for the others. We had a few water crossings but Dev got stuck in one major one- just as Beni predicted on the spot! The bike wouldn't budge and it wasn't a case of aquaplaning as the rear tyre wasn't spinning. The cab driver, Tsering, had to roll up his pants, go into the water and push Dev all the way out of the water! By about 2:30 pm we came upon the small village of Lossar. We had a humble lunch of rice, dal and achar! This, as everyone told us, was going to be the end of metaled roads until Gramphoo! We absolutely did not know what to expect. Till we moved about 30 metres ahead on the road!

The Wild Wild West- Suku style!

 We instantly came upon a road that was sloping downwards and it had a stream flowing down the entire length, complete with rounded stones on the bottom! A group of people on Enfields was coming from the other side and they were struggling to climb this! The roads that followed were mix of rocks, gravel, loose sand mud, wet mud and water. Streams would often cut entire portions or even run along it. And we were always climbing and the views around us were getting more spectacular at every turn. In addition to the 100% focus on the road with the occasional glance at the scenery, trucks coming downhill from the opposite direction were really very distracting! 

 

Feeling my bike's engine revs slowing down a bit, I knew that we were very close to the highest point we would go in the whole trip- Kunzum Pass was around the corner! And sure enough it was. At 4551m, we toook the mandatory photographs and on Tsering's insistence, went to the Gompa right there to ask for blessings to move forward.We met 3 guys from Bangalore on two bikes coming from Manali and aiming to get to Kaza the same day! We advised against it because it was already 4:30 pm and darkness would slowly come over the hills. They decided that would probably stay over at Lossar- I sure hope they did! We were so high that we were quite close to the source of a stream as well!

Nearly an hour after Kunzum and traversing over similarly bad roads, we came upon a fork where the road on the right went to Chandrataal and the one on the left went to Batal. We wanted to see Chandra Tal so we took the right. I forgot how long the road was from there on the map so every five minutes I expected to see campsites and the lake. But all we got were narrow roads cut on mountain cliffs that would sometimes open up to flat green plateaus! As Dev and Kjo plowed on forward, I kept waiting for the others to show up in my mirror- I did not know if they were behind or if they had changed their minds about the lake! We crossed two deep river crossings- and they were probably deep because it was late evening in any case- and Suku nearly got stuck in one. After crossing the last stream, in my head I was not ready to go back through them or the narrow rocky roads that we had had left behind. And soon, just around the bend, we saw the campsite and were relieved. 

The tents were sort of expensive but Bijoor san got the price down to somewhat okay levels and in accordance with our mantra- "the point is to travel...". Light was going down but Dev wanted to use it for his pictures and he was insisting to go on his bike and take pictures- he had to return immediately and he hadnt even moved 200 metres from the camp! Next time, I think we needt o get our own tents- it would be handy everywhere I feel.

The camp had mediocre facilities. The food (rice, dal and aloo matar) was not only average, the utensils werent clean and there wasnt enough aloo matar for everyone for seconds! The Mumbai group was also there- they had got here earlier today and had done their bit of trekking already- there were going to push towards Manali tomorrow. We also plan to cross Rohtang tomorrow so we all made a decision to sleep early by 9 pm and get up at 5-5:30 to go trekking, see the lake and come back to ride again. Ofcourse, all this was conjectural at the moment.

Total distance covered=  101 kms approx.

Total cost= Rs. 800

[Breakfast= 100 + Water= 60 + Lunch=  40 + Dinner & Stay= 600 ]

Day 11: August 18, 2010, Wednesday

Chandra Tal to Sissu

Today was trek-day and we had slept off by 9:30 pm last night- so I was up bright and early at 5:45 am! While Bijoor san could escape up to the mountains to answer nature's call, I decided to jump in one of the potty-tents 'cos it was getting tougher to hold it all in! I survived! Very soon everyone was up too and we left quite early and hearing different accounts, finally took the route on the left of the mountain facing us. The climb started steep and gradually increased but we were mostly dying due to lack of oxygen! Even our resident fleet-foot KJo was struggling- considering he was wearing all the warm gear he thought he would need!

While Bijoor san, a experienced trekker, carried on walking, Dev was following him and never stopped it seemed. The rest of us kept stopping every 50 metres to catch our breath and our climb was slow, to say the least. We made it fun for us eventually by switching on music on my phone, taking funny pictures of each other and just trying to yell out to the two in the front- who were a few mountains away very soon! I believe that this is the way to trek- it was slow but more fun! Due to shortage of water (despite my repeated requests for everyone to stock up!) Kjo was trying to make do with stream water- water we didnt really feel was the cleanest- the rest tried to fight the thirst. Beni was doing much better though- his back pain did not seem to be there anymore and neither was the tingling in his calf- maybe the bad roads yesterday were good for his back! I was beginning to suspect alcohol to be his real tormentor- and his not having it for more than 24 hours must be doing his a lot of good!

At one point we thought that the lake was only a myth till we finally came across it- its water reflected the green all around it and it did not seem very deep either. We walked around it and caught up with Bijoor san and Dev (who was busy taking photos from on top of the rocks). We saw horses, sheep and dogs- one dog even came up to us and lay on Suku's feet! We started to walk back to our camp from the other side of the lake and passed a few private camps. It was interesting to see that fat middle-aged ladies had been able to trek all the way to the lake!!

 

Midway, we came across 'Govind's cafe', a small dhaba/restaurant stall with chairs- and decided to have breakfast there. Most of us piled on Maggi and Omlette sandwiches with a cold drink- however, Dev got a fungus covered bread so he had to do only with the egg! As we walked back, Beni decided to answer nature in between rocks by the river. I and Bijoor san got to the  camp first and started to pack up. I, Bijoor san, Beni and Suku lft first (at about noon) were ahead through the two water crossings till we lost Suku behind somewhere. We got to Batal and saw water and immediately stocked up and I gulped down a whole bottle right there! We waited for about 5 or 10 minutes- not seeing anyone behind, we decided to continue. Asking the shopkeeper about the roads ahead, he said that its all streams and more streams! Great!

The roads were the worst ever and it seemed like it was a dried out river bed because there were rocks all over the place- as if someone took the time to put them there! However, the views were gorgeous to compensate for the harrowing time we had on them! Just like the shopkeeper had told us, we encountered one stream after the other- so much that by the end of the 4th or 5th I lost count and stopped counting too! After the first few crossings, I and Beni decided to wait for the others- we had even managed to cross Bijoor san on a water crossing. The sun was beating down hard so I took advantage of that and took out my socks and shoes to dry them out- Beni did the same since water found its way inside his shoes too! Yes, the water crossings were maddening and getting deeper and longer. Bijoor san, concerned about his bike dying, carried on forward while we waited...for about half an hour! We left only Beni could see some specks in the mountains far away which we assumed were the other guys.

Drying shoes as we wait

Carrying on, we came across pink flowers, horses and even more horrible water crossings! The rocks at these crossings were getting bigger and rounder till we got to one crossing where some of the the rocks were bigger than footballs and very rounded. We had heard about these ones so we were sort of prepared. There was a driver of a Innova cab on the other side who had come up to it and seeing how he would drive over it while his  concerned passengers- a couple- looked on. I can only imagine their faces when they saw two bikes (me leading Beni) cross it without even thinking for too long! Again, I think we were just getting too used to the water crossings without getting too complacent though. This  crossing was followed by a road that was full of boulders and the bikes, without the weight of the saddlebags, jumped up and down and I had to use my legs and thighs to stay upright- we got out of it without a scratch thankfully! We also noticed the scenery was changing gradually.

At one point, I even ran into Beni's bike on a cliff who braked a second time very suddenly- I would have stopped but for the loose sand underneath- a truck was coming down the slope which had led to these events. My left index finger got a bit bruised under the nail but the glove had taken most of the force- it pained for a few miles but all was forgotten soon enough.

It seemed like we were chasing Bijoor san who seemed to have flown when he left us! We even skipped Chhatru where there seemed to be a number of restaurants on the road- mainly because we wanted to cross all the water crossings before Gramphoo before they got worse. We soon came upon green mountains again and the biggest water crossings of the trip! The rocks were huge but not rounded- they were sometimes sharp and jutting out of the bed- hit the underbellies of my and Beni's bike- at the first major one, close to Gramphoo, we saw Bijoor san around the bend. But we stopped to dry off our shoes- I even left my socks to signal the others that we had been there! I put on new socks- however, they got wet at the next crossing just two bends later! We however made it to roads that had tar and stone on it and boy were we glad. The views were superb and seeing green mountains was... refreshing! More horses, more flowers, more trees. We finally came up to the fork where one road goes to Rohtang and the other goes to Keylong. We saw Bijoor san sitting in a dhaba just at that  crossing and we joined him.

The first major crossing enroute to Gramphoo

Also at the dhaba were a group of foreigners riding enfields as part of some tour from Manali- they were traveling with a mechanic too and we shared tales of the roads ahead of each other- while we made them wait to cross to Kaza till tomorrow, they warned us of mud at Rohtang. I had a huge lunch of, yes, rice and dal and aloo matar! We even saw the British kids get off a bus to hop to another one that would come later. It was about 4pm when we got there while the others reached at only about 5-5:15!! Suku had apparently got a flat and it had been fixed with the Gulf tire sealant that Kjo was carrying and they had also stopped at Chhatru for lunch.

Taking the advice of a local, we went to the village of Sissu, finding no decent accommodation at Khoksar, the nearest village to Gramphoo. Riding to the next village of Sissu was absolutely wonderful- wide sweeping metalled roads- with no saddle bags I was tempted to put my knee down but the backpack made sure that I wasnt carried away much. We made it to Sissu in good time and even found a "home stay" at a Mr Ram Lal (correct me guys, if I am wrong). Dev and Kjo decided to move next door as they did not like their room. We all met for dinner though and finally sat in the cab to find a hotel. After a bit of back and forth, we finally ate at a small dhaba where the people made us rice and dal and even omlettes. The others (excluding KJo) had some Royal Stag and I was betting that Beni's pain would come back tomorrow!

We face the last major hurdle in the Rohtang tomorrow- and considering that we always think that the worst is over, it gets more interesting the next day. So we can only expect the unexpected tomorrow!

Total distance covered=  73 kms approx. + 6 kms approx on foot!

Total cost= Rs 550

[Breakfast= 100 + Water= 60 + Lunch=  100 + Dinner= 90 + Stay= 200 ]