Riding Solo To The Last Village Of India

Riding solo to the last village of India

24^th 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.

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).

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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).

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.

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

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.

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.