REDiaries: February 2016

Friday 26 February 2016

Chitkul Village, Himachal Pradesh.

On my way to Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, my next stop was Chitkul. It is a last village located on Indo-Tibet border and at a distance of 180kms from Narkanda, Himachal Pradesh. Riding to Chitkul was one of the best ride I had till now. Road offers the view of Sutlej river, the famous cliff-hanger roads of Kinnaur and the beautiful Sangla Valley on the way.

My first stop was at Sutlej view point from where the view was beautiful and one can see the roaring Sutlej. After few snaps at view point I continued my ride and now I was riding along river, Sutlej. Riding in such terrain is always fun and breathtaking, but one should be cautious of incoming traffic. After riding few kilometers it was a cliff-hanger experience, now roads were narrower and I was bit slow. I parked my Enflied on the broadest point of the road, clicked few snaps and admired the beauty of the road. Cliff-hangers are considered to be one of the most dangerous roads around the world. These roads are narrow running parallel to river, with plenty of incoming traffic. Narrow roads continued to Sangla Valley where it gets wide opened.

Sangla is small village, with number of guest houses and hotel , at distance of 50kms from Chitkul. It was about to rain, so I decided not to take a break at Sangla and reach Chitkul asap. On the way one can find many camps for accommodation near Rakcham, a village at 14kms from Sangla. Road to Chitkul is un-tarred going through wooden slopes and streams without bridges. But again rough road offered beautiful view of Baspa Valley. There is a small army check point before 3kms of Chitkul where we have to provide identification and no permits are required for Indian citizen. It was 5:30pm when I finally made to Chitkul. There are few guest house at Chitkul which remain open in summers and shut down in winters due to heavy snow. After checking in to hotel, I wandered for an hour in Chitkul, talked with locals and came to know about Nagasthi. Nagasthi is at a trekking distance of 4kms from Chitkul, which is the last Indian outpost on Indo-Tibet border.

Next day I ventured for an hour in Chitkul and left for my next destination Kalpa, Himachal Pradesh.

Sutlej View point on the way to Chitkul.

Unknown village.

There are many water fall on the way.

Entering KinnaurValley.

Cliff-hanger.

Birdyyy..

Agriculture is the main source income for locals, Chitkul.

Hydro Power project.

Basapa Valley.

First glimpse of Chitkul, Himachal Pradesh.

Chitkul Village.

Store house.

View of my hotel.

Dense forest around Chitkul.

Basapa River.

Wheat.

Splash.

To be continued to Kalpa, Himachal Pradesh.......

Thursday 25 February 2016

Narkanda, Himachal Pradesh.

To travel to Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh holds its place on the top of my to-do list.he Spiti Valley is a desert mountain valley located high in the Himalaya mountains in the north-eastern part of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The Middle Land", i.e. the land between Tibet and India.

I planned to escape to Spiti in the month of August and planed my itinerary accordingly.First day of my ride started from Delhi via Chandigarh to Narkanda, Himachal Pradesh. At a distance of 5kms from Narkanda at an altitude of 12000ft and is a highest peak in Shimla region, Hatu Peak. At the top of the peak a wooden temple is dedicated to "Mandodari" wife of "Ravana". Government tourist guest house for night stay is available at Hatu Peak. I planned to camp on the lawn of rest house from where the view was serene. It was a scary night for me as locals warned me about the movement of wild animals, which made me sleepless whole night. After a long tiring night view of sunrise from my camp was refreshing and energized all of my senses.

On Day 2 my destination was Chitkul, Himachal Pradesh, at a distance of 180kms from Narkanda. I took a breakfast hault at Narkanda town and left to Chitkul with lots of good memories from Narkanda.

Misty view of mountains after rain.

Break somewhere near to Kalka, Himachal Pradesh.

View of Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.

Towards Narkanda, Himachal Pradesh.

Yak rides can be enjoyed on the way to Narkanda, Himachal Pradesh.

Apple orchards at Theog, Himachal Pradesh.

Narkanda is not far now after a day long ride.

Lawn of tourist guest house where I pitched my camp.

Morning view from my camp.

Sunrise from Hatu Peak.

Hatu Mata temple.

To be continued.........

Saturday 20 February 2016

Prashar Lake, Himachal Pradesh.

After a long wait it was the day to start my ride to Prashar Lake, Himachal Pradesh. Prashar Lake lies 49 km north of Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India, with a three storied pagoda-like temple dedicated to the sage Prashar. The lake is located at a height of 2730 m above sea level. #Wikipedia

I started to Panchkula at night from New Delhi, where a friend was waiting for me. Ride was thrilling and scary as it was a night time and it was cold. It was 6:30am when I touched Panchkula where a friend of mine joined me. After a small break at Chandigarh we continued to Prashar Lake via Pinjore and several villages on the way. Our next pause was somewhere near to Bilaspur where we had breakfast, clicked some snaps and admired the beauty Bilaspur lake. Roads are good but full of truck traffic which made us bit slow, somehow we managed to reach Mandi on time. Prashar Lake is 49kms from Mandi and road is in good condition till Baggi. Baggi is a small village from where Prashar Lake is connected by a trekking route as well as motorable road. In winter motorable road to Prashar lake is covered with snow and mostly blocked after halfway. We managed to ride few kilometers before the lake and from where we started our trek. Road was covered with hardened ice which made our feet slippery. It took around an hour to cover rest 3kms on foot and reached our destination around 6pm.

The local temple is dedicated to Prashar rishi and it is believed that it was built by a small boy from a single tree. Guest houses and hut is available for night stay at Prashar Lake but we choose to camp under stars. It is advisable to carry warm clothes even in summers as nights are cold and during winters the area might get covered with snow.