Jul 2024
Spiti & Lahaul
|
Route
Chandigarh → Solan → Chail → Kufri → Narkanda → Thanedar // Rampur → Karcham → Sangla → Chitkul // Karcham → Spillow → Pooh → Nako → Chango → Sumdo → Tabo // Shichling → Dhankar → Kaza // Langza → Komic → Hikkim → Key → Kaza // Kibber → Chicham → Kiato → Hansa → Losar → Kunzum La → Batal → Gramphu → Koksar → Atal Tunnel → Manali // Chandigarh Highlights Kinnaur valley and the tricky Karcham - Sangla - Chitkul stretch. The Ka Loops to Nako and the dusty brown high-altitude terrain of Spillow - Pooh - Nako. Tabo Monastery (996 AD) and its frescoes, the "Ajanta of the Himalayas". Langza the "fossil village", Komic the "highest motorable village" (4600m), and the Dhankar and Key monasteries. Chicham Bridge, Kunzum La and the tough Losar - Koksar off-road stretch into Lahaul. Food Along the Way Momos and giant parathas near Karcham; thupka and momos in Tabo village. Seabuckthorn berry juice at Dhankar; Piti Cafe's local Spitian menu in Kaza. Omelet and Maggi in Langza; rajma-chawal at Chacha Chachi Dhaba in Batal. Trout and cortado in Old Manali. Source Original thread on X, archived below. |
Notes from the Ride
There is a point on the third day, somewhere between Sangla and Karcham, where the road is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen and also the worst, and both are true at the same corner.
Seven days, Chandigarh to Chandigarh, two Himalayan 450s and Aditya, on a route that climbs out of the plains and does not come back down until the last morning.
What it really is, is a week of rivers. The Baspa, the Sutlej, the Spiti, and finally the Chenab on the far side of Kunzum La — you pick one up, follow it for a day, and hand it on to the next. The Sutlej stretch through Kinnaur is the one people warn you about: shooting rocks, stone arches cut into the cliff, the water a long way below and getting further. They are right to warn you. It is also the best riding I have done.
Above Nako the pines give out and the whole world goes brown and thin. After Sumdo the two-lane simply ends and a single track takes over, hugging the cliff into Tabo — mud huts, and a thousand-year-old room lit through one hole in the roof. Then Kaza, and the high villages above it, where the altitude numbers stop meaning much and the best omelette of the trip turns up at 4500 metres in a one-man cafe.
Kunzum La at noon on the sixth day, and then a descent that was close to hell for twenty-five kilometres and enormous fun for every one of them.
Day seven was the run home. Nobody says much on day seven.
Tweets from the Road
In July 2024, Aditya and I rode through the Spiti and Lahaul valleys. Here are my notes and highlights from the trip.
  On the first day of our ride, we started riding out of Chandigarh towards Narkanda. Rode through magical forests of chir pines and gigantic deodar cedars of Chail and Kufri.
   Stunning roads hugging the cliffs of Narkanda and apple orchards dotting the hills.
    Caught a beautiful sunset over the hills and stayed the night in a lovely off-beat place nestled in apple orchards in Thanedar.
    On the second day, we rode down the mountain from Thanedar and picked up the road along Sutlej river towards Kinnaur valley.
   Rode the tense roads of Kinnaur valley.
    At Karcham, picked the road into Sangla valley and rode along the serene Baspa river.
    But the roads on the Karcham - Sangla - Chitkul stretch were as tricky as they get.
    On the third day, started riding out of Chitkul, the "last Indian village" before Indo-Tibet border. Incredible views at every turn. It was like riding through paradise.
    Rode along the ferocious Sutlej.
    In the Spillow - Pooh - Nako stretch, pine trees and coniferous forests disappeared and the terrain was now a dusty brown.
   Rode the Ka Loops to Nako. It was like riding to top of the world. Air was getting thinner. Just when you think the views can't get better, they do. Raw and relentless.
    At Khab, we left the Sutlej river and picked up the Spiti river. After Sumdo, the road was a rugged and ruthless single lane hugging the rough cliffs while the Spiti river ran in a deep gorge below. We rolled into Tabo village at dusk.
    The pitch black sky was absolutely stunning and you could see a million stars.
  Fourth day started with a visit to the Old Monastery in Tabo, established in 996 AD.
    What seemed a dusty mud house from the outside transformed into a stunning collection of frescoes and stucco paintings. The "Ajanta of the Himalayas" has survived unchanged and almost intact for over a 1000 years.
   Rode along the determined Spiti river.
   Rode up to the Dhankar monastery.
    And onwards towards Kaza. Reaching Kaza after four days of riding felt like a small victory.
    On the fifth day, rode up to Langza, the "fossil village". Home to less than 150 people and base for Chau Chau Nilda mountain.
    Visited the Komic village, the "highest motorable village in the world" and the Komic monastery. Altitude 4600m.
   Skipped stopping at Hikkim, the "highest post office in the world" and off-roaded back down and headed to the monastery in Key.
   Both Adi and I dozed off in the cozy prayer halls of the monastery till a monk woke us up and offered tea.
    On the sixth day, our plan was to ride from Kaza to Manali (~190km). Losar to Koksar stretch (~100km) had no signal, roads or villages; and took 8 hours to cross. I have to admit - I had butterflies in my stomach before the ride. Started early and rode across the Chicham Bridge.
    Road through the absolutely gorgeous Kibber National Park, home to the snow leopard, Himalayan ibex and blue sheep.
    Met shepherds who were on out a hike. "Our horses ran away last night .. we're searching for them." A few kms down the road, met the horses too.
   Each view was more breathtaking than the previous.
   Road to the source of Spiti river. Met a guy camping solo in his car who had no agenda other than to skip phone calls for 4 days.
    Rode to the top of Kunzum La.
    The descent from Kunzum top into Lahaul valley was a tough one.
    But the first views of Lahaul valley and Chenab river made it all worth it.
   Drank from mountain streams.
   Navigated water crossings.
   Rode along the resolute Chenab river.
   What we saw and we experienced on the off-road stretch from Losar to Koksar numbed our minds. No words and no pictures can capture the beauty of the mighty Himalayas.
    Aditya captured this pic (my fav from the trip) as we were about to exit the valley and hit paved roads just before dusk.
 The seventh day of our ride was about bringing the bikes home from Manali to Chandigarh. Rode along the gorgeous Beas.
   Thankful for the all the fresh hot tasty food we ate along the road. Momos and the giant parathas near Karcham.
   Thupka and momos in Tabo village market.
   Seabuckthorn berry juice under the walls of Dhankar monastery.
   Piti Cafe in Kaza surprised us with a very chill vibe and a pretty neat menu - soupy momos, local lamb sausages, Tsem Thuk (barley, dry cheese, black peas), Ema Datshi chicken (spicy Bhutanese cheese curry), Tingmo (local steamed bun)
    Omelet, Maggi and tea in Langza village while enjoying crisp mountain air.
   Rajma-chawal at this surreal Chacha Chachi Dhaba in Batal.
  Fresh trout at the The Johnson's Cafe in Old Manali.
  Cortado at a quirky cafe dedicated to Bob Dylan in Old Manali.
    Huge hug to @AgarwalAditya for doing this ride with me.
    And big shoutout to @royalenfield for making the Himalayan 450. What a great and affordable bike built and tuned for the mountains!
    And that's a wrap. 1150 km in 7 days. Chandigarh - Chail - Kufri - Narkanda - Thanedar // Rampur - Karcham - Sangla - Chitkul // Karcham - Nako - Sumdo - Tabo // Dhankar - Kaza // Langza - Komic - Hikkim - Key - Kaza // Losar - Kunzum La - Koksar - Manali // Kullu - Chandigarh.
|