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.........

The Last Indian Village: Mana, Uttarakhand.

Mana village is located in the district of Chamoli, Uttarakhand and at an altitude of 3,200mts above sea level. Mana is also the last village before Mana pass and is just 24kms at a distance from Indo-Tibet border. The village is at a distance of 2.5kms from a famous Hindu pilgrimage Badrinath, Uttarakhand. This is a place for trekking as well and there are many trekking spots located here. There is a waterfall located at 5kms of trek from Mana Village, Vasundara Falls.

My journey started from my hometown, Srinagar Grahwal. Srinagar is a small town in the foothills of Himalayas and at a distance of 200kms approx. from Badrinath. The route from Srinagar to Badrinath offers a joy of riding in hills, adventure and is a paradise for photographers. Landslides and narrow roads is one of the most common story of riding in hills. But as it is said," Rough roads leads to beautiful destinations."

All set to ride towards Badrinath and Mana.

Somewhere near to Chamoli.

Riding along Alaknanda.

Mana is not that far now.

Flora and Fauna at Badrinath region.

Govind Ghat.

Village nearby to Badrinath.

First view of Badrinath.

Badrinath.

The Last Indian Village, Mana.

Last Shop of India.

The Last Indian Village, Mana.

Bheem Pul.

Holy fire at Tapt Kund.

Hot water geyser at Badrinath, Tapt Kund.

Badrinath Temple.

First ray at Neelkant Peak, Badrinath.

Last trip of 2015: Manali, Himachal Pradesh

Kullu-Manali is located in the banks of the Beas River. The Kullu valley is known for hills, various temples and sight seeing which attracts large amount of crowd each year. The Kullu valley is surrounded by Deodars and Pine trees and is located between of lower and upper Himalayan range.

There are many places to visit in Manali like Rohtang Pass, Vashist hot water springs, Hidimba Temple and many more. Apart from sightseeing Manali is also full of cafes serving international food and most of them are located at Old Manali region.

Beas River.

View of snow covered peaks from my hotel room.

Random shot.

Snow covered peaks and deodar trees.

Woods.

Time for good food. Cafe 1947.

Cafe 1947.

Johnson Cafe.

Time for a ride.

Hidimba temple, Manali.