Day11 (Sep 23):
Woke up around 7:30am, was able to charge my mobile for 15 mins, good enough to bring it back to life and now I should be able to click some pics. No breakfast, no tea, I wanted to reach Manali asap before the nature's call comes knocking again. By 8:30am, I left Chatru, the Chatru-Rohtang stretch is much better than Losar-Chatru, less bumpy and just few water crossings. The distance from Chatru to Manali is about 80kms. Just few kms before Manali, It came back knocking again, and this time it had no intention to go back. It was getting very hard to hold it up and the urge to do it was getting more and more intense. Finally reached Manali and found this hotel "Hotel New Shivalik" and got a room for Rs.600. Sadly, that was not the end of my torture, the cruel hotel manager must have known my current state and to add to my misery, he gave me a room on the very top floor(3rd) and the hotel doesn't have lift facility, so I had to take the stairs. Imagine carrying 40 kilos of luggage in that condition and climbing all those stairs, that was indeed the toughest part of the trip. With every painful step, I somehow made it to the top, locked the door and after 16 hours of torture, I finally pooped and relieved myself.
Today was a rest day, so just relaxed in the room, then in the eveining, went out and roamed in the market, came back to room and slept.
Some pics @ Rohtang pass
The jugaadu footrest which I found at Batal
Day12 and Day13(Sep 24, 25):
The plan was to reach Solan, stay at massi's house and leave for Delhi the next day. However on my way back, I missed the road after Bilaspur that goes to Shimla and instead took the Rupnagar-Chandigarh one. Which I only realised when I got stuck in a huge jam caused by trucks from Rupnagar all the way to Kiratpur sahib. Couldn't go back, so had to continue with this one. When I was near Ropar, my bike's engine was heating up pretty bad and making weird noises, checked the engine oil level and it was way below the mark. There are many automobile shops in Ropar, so bought the oil from one of the shops and there is a mechanic near the two-wheeler parking area, so got the oil changed. He suggested me not to stay in Chandigarh as rooms there would be very expensive instead stay @ Gurudwara Bhatha Sahib in Ropar. Glad I followed his advice and paid just Rs.50 for the night stay, rooms there are very neat and clean with attached bathroom. Besides, I got the opportunity to have Guru ka langar there, which is always yummy. The next day, took blessings from Gurudwara and headed to Delhi, finally reached home in the afternoon.
Gurudwara Bhatha Sahib, Ropar
At the end, I can describe my Spiti experience as Divine and complete Nirvana.
Woke up around 7:30am, was able to charge my mobile for 15 mins, good enough to bring it back to life and now I should be able to click some pics. No breakfast, no tea, I wanted to reach Manali asap before the nature's call comes knocking again. By 8:30am, I left Chatru, the Chatru-Rohtang stretch is much better than Losar-Chatru, less bumpy and just few water crossings. The distance from Chatru to Manali is about 80kms. Just few kms before Manali, It came back knocking again, and this time it had no intention to go back. It was getting very hard to hold it up and the urge to do it was getting more and more intense. Finally reached Manali and found this hotel "Hotel New Shivalik" and got a room for Rs.600. Sadly, that was not the end of my torture, the cruel hotel manager must have known my current state and to add to my misery, he gave me a room on the very top floor(3rd) and the hotel doesn't have lift facility, so I had to take the stairs. Imagine carrying 40 kilos of luggage in that condition and climbing all those stairs, that was indeed the toughest part of the trip. With every painful step, I somehow made it to the top, locked the door and after 16 hours of torture, I finally pooped and relieved myself.
Today was a rest day, so just relaxed in the room, then in the eveining, went out and roamed in the market, came back to room and slept.
Some pics @ Rohtang pass
The jugaadu footrest which I found at Batal
Day12 and Day13(Sep 24, 25):
The plan was to reach Solan, stay at massi's house and leave for Delhi the next day. However on my way back, I missed the road after Bilaspur that goes to Shimla and instead took the Rupnagar-Chandigarh one. Which I only realised when I got stuck in a huge jam caused by trucks from Rupnagar all the way to Kiratpur sahib. Couldn't go back, so had to continue with this one. When I was near Ropar, my bike's engine was heating up pretty bad and making weird noises, checked the engine oil level and it was way below the mark. There are many automobile shops in Ropar, so bought the oil from one of the shops and there is a mechanic near the two-wheeler parking area, so got the oil changed. He suggested me not to stay in Chandigarh as rooms there would be very expensive instead stay @ Gurudwara Bhatha Sahib in Ropar. Glad I followed his advice and paid just Rs.50 for the night stay, rooms there are very neat and clean with attached bathroom. Besides, I got the opportunity to have Guru ka langar there, which is always yummy. The next day, took blessings from Gurudwara and headed to Delhi, finally reached home in the afternoon.
Gurudwara Bhatha Sahib, Ropar
At the end, I can describe my Spiti experience as Divine and complete Nirvana.
