Day 3 (Sep 15):
Left Rampur @ 9am, today's destination was Chitkul. A place I can never get bored of visiting. One can sit on the rocks along side Baspa river for hours just watching the beauty around it. Mighty mountains covered in snow, lush green fields, meandering river Baspa splashing on the rocks, clouds so close you can almost touch them, construction of houses makes you feel you're still living in the 50's, you just cant get enough of it.
I was on the road after Karcham that takes you to Sangla. After a couple of kms, I got to this point and my reaction was "This road is DEAD". The road was completely destroyed by a recent landslide. That moment I realized that nature is so powerful, we can put all the technology together, use all available resources to build the best of the roads, buildings, bridges but really nothing can withstand nature's fury.
Mother nature taking it back from mankind
Bridge constructed by army
I was heartbroken with the thought of not to be able to visit Chitkul. With a heavy heart I returned. On my way back, I was stopped by this soldier who told me that a temporary bridge has been built by the army which connects to the other side of the road. You can go to Sangla via that bridge. His words got stuck in my head. He said 'em once but I must have heard 'em a 100 times. That moment of happiness, I couldn't hide it, I thanked him, hugged him and told him "Sir, you've made my day".
Reached Sangla around 1pm, had the yummiest Dal Makhni and roti @ Himalayan Dhaba. Spent about an hour there and headed for Chitkul. Distance between Sangla and Chitkul is 24kms. But those are some of the most scenic 24 kms. Its highly picturesque drive, You have beautiful mountains around you, Alpine forests, water streams, falls, apple orchards, green meadows, River Baspa flowing on your right side and Views of beautiful Sangla Valley. You just don't wish those 24 kms to end.
Himalayan Dhaba, Sangla Market
When I left Sangla, it started to drizzle, such an awesome feeling, When you're riding your bike @ 20kmph, surrounded by beauty of nature, rain welcomes you by splashing tiny droplets on your face and you wipe them every few minutes, its so much fun, you don't experience it very often.
Beautiful Sangla Valley
Approaching Chitkul
Chitkul
Reached Chitkul around 4pm, all wet and shivering, found a room in Hotel Shehenshah. Very nice hotel with clean rooms, I had doubts in my mind regarding the quality of food as I had a bad experience with Hotel Dev Bhoomi Regency(Sangla) in my last visit. But this one did not disappoint me. Food was good, I highly recommend this hotel as you can enjoy great views of Baspa valley from your room.
Its not what you think it is ;)
Changed wet clothes, had a cup of tea and by that time the rain was stopped. So got out of the hotel and walked downwards towards river Baspa.
Its always good to make new friends out there :)
River Baspa
Spent sometime on the river's shore, time was around 6:15pm, it started to get dark, so decided to return to the hotel. On my way back, met 2 fellow BCMTians(Deepak Sharma and Anupam Kishore). They came from Delhi on their bikes, had a chit chat with them. They stayed in the same hotel. They were going to Spiti, their plan was to reach Nako, the next day.
When I was back in the hotel, I met a group of scientists from Shimla who just arrived. They were going to trek to a hill nearby for their research the other day. This hotel was managed by a group of three bengali men, An old fella, the other one in his twenties and a teenager. Asked them that I would require their mobile for a minute just to inform my parents that I have arrived safely to my destination for the day and found a room in a hotel. There was no network coverage except Airtel and Unfortunately the only Airtel phone getting the signal was the one which the Bengalis had. The phone was placed at a strange angle on the wall where it was able to receive the signals. You can only talk on speaker phone because you cant pick the phone, you cant even move the phone an inch to either side on the wall as it would loose signals. That was strange, anyway, I asked the dude in his twenties to dial my home number. He told me to wait as he was talking to his lady(wife/girlfriend??? not sure), who lives in Kolkata.
They were speaking in Bengali and he was staring at me like I was listening to their private conversation. I didn't understand a single word except "Ame Tuma Ke Bhalo Bachi". Now, how do I know that. Well I had a bengali friend in my last company, who used to crack Santa Banta jokes on my face and used to tell me "Ame Tuma Ke Bhalo Bachi", means, I love you. And I used to reply "Ame Tuma Ke Bhalo Bachi Naa", means, I hate you.
Finally, their long conversation ended. I asked him to dial a number. The moment he pressed the first two numbers, phone's battery died and it got switched off. He looked at me with a huge grin on his face and said - battery khatam ho gaya hai, charging pe lagana padega(phone's battery is dead and needs to be charged)... That was embarrassing, I was expecting an apology. Anyway, I told him that I'll be back in 30 mins and make sure the phone is fully charged.
So, I came back to my room and started adjusting the luggage. Then went downstairs to make the call and found a long queue of people waiting for their turn to call their beloved ones. Thank God, the battery lasted longer than expected, finally, felt relief after talking to mom and dad, I can sleep now.
Some pics I clicked that day:
The Gateway of Kinnaur or The Gateway of Heaven
Tranda Dhank, very famous road in Kinnaur, specially this spot... where the road is carved into the mountain.
Left Rampur @ 9am, today's destination was Chitkul. A place I can never get bored of visiting. One can sit on the rocks along side Baspa river for hours just watching the beauty around it. Mighty mountains covered in snow, lush green fields, meandering river Baspa splashing on the rocks, clouds so close you can almost touch them, construction of houses makes you feel you're still living in the 50's, you just cant get enough of it.
I was on the road after Karcham that takes you to Sangla. After a couple of kms, I got to this point and my reaction was "This road is DEAD". The road was completely destroyed by a recent landslide. That moment I realized that nature is so powerful, we can put all the technology together, use all available resources to build the best of the roads, buildings, bridges but really nothing can withstand nature's fury.
Mother nature taking it back from mankind
Bridge constructed by army
I was heartbroken with the thought of not to be able to visit Chitkul. With a heavy heart I returned. On my way back, I was stopped by this soldier who told me that a temporary bridge has been built by the army which connects to the other side of the road. You can go to Sangla via that bridge. His words got stuck in my head. He said 'em once but I must have heard 'em a 100 times. That moment of happiness, I couldn't hide it, I thanked him, hugged him and told him "Sir, you've made my day".
Reached Sangla around 1pm, had the yummiest Dal Makhni and roti @ Himalayan Dhaba. Spent about an hour there and headed for Chitkul. Distance between Sangla and Chitkul is 24kms. But those are some of the most scenic 24 kms. Its highly picturesque drive, You have beautiful mountains around you, Alpine forests, water streams, falls, apple orchards, green meadows, River Baspa flowing on your right side and Views of beautiful Sangla Valley. You just don't wish those 24 kms to end.
Himalayan Dhaba, Sangla Market
When I left Sangla, it started to drizzle, such an awesome feeling, When you're riding your bike @ 20kmph, surrounded by beauty of nature, rain welcomes you by splashing tiny droplets on your face and you wipe them every few minutes, its so much fun, you don't experience it very often.
Beautiful Sangla Valley
Approaching Chitkul
Chitkul
Reached Chitkul around 4pm, all wet and shivering, found a room in Hotel Shehenshah. Very nice hotel with clean rooms, I had doubts in my mind regarding the quality of food as I had a bad experience with Hotel Dev Bhoomi Regency(Sangla) in my last visit. But this one did not disappoint me. Food was good, I highly recommend this hotel as you can enjoy great views of Baspa valley from your room.
Its not what you think it is ;)
Changed wet clothes, had a cup of tea and by that time the rain was stopped. So got out of the hotel and walked downwards towards river Baspa.
Its always good to make new friends out there :)
River Baspa
Spent sometime on the river's shore, time was around 6:15pm, it started to get dark, so decided to return to the hotel. On my way back, met 2 fellow BCMTians(Deepak Sharma and Anupam Kishore). They came from Delhi on their bikes, had a chit chat with them. They stayed in the same hotel. They were going to Spiti, their plan was to reach Nako, the next day.
When I was back in the hotel, I met a group of scientists from Shimla who just arrived. They were going to trek to a hill nearby for their research the other day. This hotel was managed by a group of three bengali men, An old fella, the other one in his twenties and a teenager. Asked them that I would require their mobile for a minute just to inform my parents that I have arrived safely to my destination for the day and found a room in a hotel. There was no network coverage except Airtel and Unfortunately the only Airtel phone getting the signal was the one which the Bengalis had. The phone was placed at a strange angle on the wall where it was able to receive the signals. You can only talk on speaker phone because you cant pick the phone, you cant even move the phone an inch to either side on the wall as it would loose signals. That was strange, anyway, I asked the dude in his twenties to dial my home number. He told me to wait as he was talking to his lady(wife/girlfriend??? not sure), who lives in Kolkata.
They were speaking in Bengali and he was staring at me like I was listening to their private conversation. I didn't understand a single word except "Ame Tuma Ke Bhalo Bachi". Now, how do I know that. Well I had a bengali friend in my last company, who used to crack Santa Banta jokes on my face and used to tell me "Ame Tuma Ke Bhalo Bachi", means, I love you. And I used to reply "Ame Tuma Ke Bhalo Bachi Naa", means, I hate you.
Finally, their long conversation ended. I asked him to dial a number. The moment he pressed the first two numbers, phone's battery died and it got switched off. He looked at me with a huge grin on his face and said - battery khatam ho gaya hai, charging pe lagana padega(phone's battery is dead and needs to be charged)... That was embarrassing, I was expecting an apology. Anyway, I told him that I'll be back in 30 mins and make sure the phone is fully charged.
So, I came back to my room and started adjusting the luggage. Then went downstairs to make the call and found a long queue of people waiting for their turn to call their beloved ones. Thank God, the battery lasted longer than expected, finally, felt relief after talking to mom and dad, I can sleep now.
Some pics I clicked that day:
The Gateway of Kinnaur or The Gateway of Heaven
Tranda Dhank, very famous road in Kinnaur, specially this spot... where the road is carved into the mountain.
No comments:
Post a Comment