Riding solo to the last village of India
24th June 2011 ( Delhi
– 357km - Shimla – 60 kms - Narkanda – 168 kms - Karcham - 17 kms - Sangla – 24 kms - Chitkul– Delhi).
Total of 1252 kms up and down
Its very difficult to say whether
riding solo gives you a sense of freedom or insecurity. Its not about courage
but how prepared you are to be on your own. When I say prepared I mean mentally
prepared, rest of the preparedness is just a ‘to do list’ which you need to
tick mark and be aware about. I still have one lying on coffee table.
I had just resigned from last job
and desperately needed to take a break before joining my next job. The reason
for riding solo was not just lack of company but also because I wanted to make
myself ready for longer solo rides. Since this would be my first solo ride, one
side of my brain was being fussy but then eventually I managed to suppress my
brains partial feelings. Motorcycling by
nature is individual’s activity and then of course your machine is your best
pal.
So after tick marking things on my
list, I was ready to head towards hills. Original plan was to cover entire Lahaul
valley which would have been – Delhi - Shimla – Narkanda – Sangla – Nako lake –
Tabo – Kaza - Kunzum la – Rohtang pass – Manali – Chandigarh – Delhi. After
riding twice to Ladakh and other routes in mountain region, I was well aware
about road conditions. I knew that I needed around 10 days to cover entire 2000
kms on this terrain. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to do it in 7 days so I
left it open and started packing my bike. Now that’s one benefit of riding solo,
you can choose to keep it as open ended you want.
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| Welcome to Kinnaur |
Day 1 - I
started from Delhi slightly late and as expected first few hundred kms was riding
through traffic. Though I did manage to twist the throttle occasionally but it
was only once I was close to Shimla that I started getting open roads and fresh
air. Shimla is undoubtedly one of the most popular hill station which is the
reason I always avoid it. So I took the bypass and kept riding to Narkanda. It
was 6pm and Narkanda was still around 10
kms away when I came across a resort called Crossroads Village Resort. Good
accommodation, nice big rooms, wooden walls and floor with view of the valley
through the huge window, fire place, comfy bed, bathroom was ok. After hectic
ride through the traffic on Delhi - Chandigarh highway and crossing Kalka and Shimla
this was the perfect place to end the day by watching sunset with a cup of tea
on rocking chair. Food was homemade to order as they had very limited guests. My
chicken curry and roti turned out to be amazing and much more quantity than
what I could consume. Guess how much I
paid for this wholesome meal, huge comfy room and pleasant view, just Rs.1200
for a night.
Day 2 – Started
riding around 8 am next day. I tanked up in Narkanda because I had still not
decided where would be my next stop. The roads were a mix of good tarmac, bad
tarmac and no tarmac. First 100 kms downhill was good road, probably the most
relaxed part of entire ride, not much traffic but next 50 kms sort of
compensated for it. After crossing Jeori one can take turn for Sarahan (famous
for its rustic appeal and Bhimkali temple).
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| Smooth road cut out of mountains was the best part of this entire trip |
After Rampur there is a dramatic
climb, clinging to the cliff, to Kinnaur. Constructing roads in Kinnaur is
perhaps toughest in India as all the roads are constructed after blasting tunnels
in mountains. I was still on NH22. This
is one of the most important roads as it connects further to Tibet (Hindustan
Tibet Road). Rocks in this part of Himalayas are far stable unlike what it is
in Lahaul or even Uttarakhand region where rocks are very loose and lead to
land slide. Road is cut out of a mountain for about two to three mountains and
its simply amazing to see how would it be cut out. Though there is almost no
space if you end up braking out of your line but it was a pleasure to ride on
this smooth twisted highway.
Welcome to Kinnaur, is what a
arch gate on road indicated. The already beautiful landscape started becoming
even better. I could see stream of Sutlej river flowing across ranges. This is
where road started getting worse and this is where my bike also started giving
mechanical trouble. Nothing serious but I started realizing that Ninja 250R was
not really an off-roader, whereas I was using it like one. Well Kawasaki service
center had warned me about it but I obviously was confident after my last trip
on it to Leh. I almost felt that it was telling me “take it easy man, don’t push
my suspension, my chasis, my engine performance beyond limits. I’m not meant
for this terrain”. Talking with your
machine might seem weird to lot of people but that’s fairly common amongst
those who have any emotions towards their machine.
My night halt destination, Sangal
was not so far. I crossed the Wangtu
Bridge, the spot where travelers and traders have crossed the Sutlej from time
immemorial, and rode to Karchham from where I turned off NH22 to Sangla. Sangla Valley is extremely beautiful, on the left bank of the Baspa River are
snow-clad mountains and on the right bank the whole terrain is full of apple
orchids and wooden houses. The 18-km
drive from Karchham to Sangla is not for the faint-hearted. For the most
part it is like a ledge, with a sheer drop to the Baspa River below, my bike
was still pleading for mercy. The reason for such bad roads on this stretch are
multiple hydro power projects, which means heavy- vehicle traffic which can ruin
even the best quality road bad in no time. From development of state
point of view Baspa-II is a critical power project. The Baspa-II project is a run-of-the-river
hydro-electric power plant with an installed capacity of 300 MW. As per sources
development of Hydro-Power potential in Himachal Pradesh which is endowed with
established potential of over 20,000 MW is bound to play a decisive role in not
only making H.P a power state of the country but shall ignite multi-dimensional
development of the entire region.
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| Multiple Hydro Power porject is set to boom states position in the region |
I reached Sangla around 5.30 pm
with a strange metal hiting metal
cling noise on the rear of my bike.
Sangla (8,035 ft) is a charming
town, fortunately not overrun by tourists. The valley is partly forested,
partly cultivated and has many meadows. I could smell wood smoke and moist
rocks all around me and at a distant I could see snow capped Kinnar Kailash
range half covered in cloud and half painted orange at the time of sunset.
I had not prebooked accommodation so stopped at the first half descent hotel I
saw with good view. Rs.600 per night plus food at Mount Kailash hotel wasn’t bad deal
at this place. There are enough resorts here but don’t get mistaken by the word
resort, they only offer basic accommodation, good homemade food. I could also see
adventure camps around. Sangla is a popular trekking / camping point.
After checking-in I decided to
follow the sound of drums I could hear from distance coming from bazaar area.
After walking for a while towards the sound I found out that it was coming from
Badri Vishal temple. I was too tired to walk up all the way so decided to hit
the sack instead.
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| Some of the buildings are inspired by Tibetan architecture |
Day 3 at
Sangla. After two full days of riding I decided to take a break and explore
Sangla. It’s a typical small town in
Himachal. The word ‘Sangla’ in Tibetan language means ‘Pass of Light’.
First thing I did in morning was
to get by bike fixed. Since there weren’t any motorcycle mechanics here, bike had to be fixed by a car/truck repair shop. I
realised that I had dropped a bolt, dropped my rear footrest and my jerry can
carrier was just swinging on one small bolt. This is when I decided to not go
any further up towards kunzum pass.
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| View of Kinnar-Kailash from Sangla |
After getting my bike fixed I
decided to climb up to Badri Vishal
temple. You get to experience Himachal’s culture here and see ethnic
construction and lifestyle. Most of the villages here provide a glimpse of old
age wooden architecture. You have to wear special cap and cloth
around your body to step inside the temple. Further up is Kamru Fort, which has been converted into a temple dedicated to
Goddess Kamakshi. Fort is a long walk up and major let down as there is
nothing to see, no view, no heritage building, just one small structure and
rest of it was under restoration.
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| Baspa river and Chitkul |
Day 4 – Next destination was
Chitkul. 24 kms from Sangla, Chitkul is the last village of India on the
Indo-Tibet border.
Narrow tar roads going up to the
mountain through forest doesn’t have many surprises except the view and
surroundings that captivated me and occasional ITBF (India Tibet Border Force)
jawans.
After one crosses over the 5,242
m high Charang Pass, it is a long and steep run down through slithery slopes to
Chitkul
(3,450m).
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| Evening at Chitkul |
On the way is ITBP check post
at Mastarang crossing which lies alongside a beautiful stream flowing through a small
Pine Forest. The scenery seemed a straight lift from sets of typical Hollywood adventure movie scene of mysterious forest full of fairies and other strange characters, eg. Avataar.
The road ends much before the actual border. From Chitkul,
a 4 Km walk to Nagasthi checkpost of Indo Tibetan Border Police is a pleasant
one with fine scenic beauties enroute. Beyond Nagasthi is the border with
neighboring China (Tibet region). Roads
to Chitkul
closes around November after the first snow fall.
Chitkul is mostly visited by back
packer foreigners, Indian mostly come for excursion from Sangla and return
after a few hours of stay. There are very few places to stay in Chitkul. I stayed at the PWD
guest house by paying 250 a night plus food extra, Raju guest house was Rs.100
cheaper.
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| Self portrait attempt while riding solo |
In ancient times Tibetans would come through
this village to barter wools, leather, tools in exchange of salt, wheat,
vegetables and other food items. It is also the last point in India one can
travel to without a permit. Of particular interest at Chitkul
are its houses with either slate or wooden plank roofs, a Buddhist temple and a
small tower.
While you are in Chitkul make
sure you carry adequate cash and fuel as there is no ATM facility or Fuel
station in this hilly area, thankfully I was carrying enough fuel to ride another 250kms. Its also difficult to find a doctor or a medical facility in
this area. However, at shops you can expect to get canned food, toilet paper & confectionery which showed their preparedness for catering
foreign tourists
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| Israeli girl enjoying the evening at Chitkul |
I wanted to relax in evening over
a beer but you don’t get any form of alcohol here so please carry your own. In all
probabilities you ll get enough to smoke up with foreigner guests, mostly Israelis.
After talking to locals for a while I figured that one of the resorts might
have beer, well more like a bootlegger. One beer bottle was for Rs.150,
so Rs.250 for room night and Rs.150 for a
bottle of beer...hmmm.
I got myself stationed on the
terrace of a small restaurant along. On the
backdrop of snow capped peaks with sun going down I could see smoke coming out of
chimneys from local wooden houses. Monsoon had just started so green fields looked
even fresher and the noise of flowing Baspa river was adding to this serene
feel.
Being the only one to decid
about my next days journey, I again started contemplating going further up to
Kunzum but next morning I thought it was better to head back home and rather
stop for a night at Sarahan.
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| Sun goes down at last village of India |
Day 5 - I started around 7.30 am, plan
was to reach Sarahan by 11am to spend rest of the day and night there. While
riding back the narrow lane seemed even more dangerous. As I was riding up towards
the pass I could see from distance how the drop between valley and road was
continuously increasing. Yes, it was beautiful for sure but at the same time
whenever I saw any vehicle coming from other side I had to tuck myself on the
valley side, one sudden braking and I could easily go sliding down into the
into the deep end of valley.
As planned I did reached Sarahan
around 11.30. I felt I was too comfortable to stop riding, so I again had a chat
with myself and decided to continue riding. After riding for another 5-6 hours
I started feeling that I was getting closer to Delhi so didn’t see any point
stopping anywhere. Now that’s the benefit of riding alone, you are your master.
I continued to ride till I reached Delhi
at 11.30 in the night after riding for 16 hours. My body was hurting and butt
was bruised, well I was a step closer to becoming iron butt rider.
