[Tiger]

Narkanda looks fine, iternary finalised & now need to search for Hotels.
Hope HPTDC are having hotels at all these places & getting accomodation is not a problem.
29th early morning - reach Narkanda & stay
30th - Chitkul stay
31st - Kalpa stay
1st - Tabo stay
2nd - tabo to Kaza
3rd - Kaza - Manali
4th - Manali
5th - Manali to Delhi
6th - 9.30am flight back to Hyd.

[wanderernomad]

It looks ok now. Wish you a safe and happy journey. Let us know if you want to know anything more. Cheers.

[tsk1979]

When you go Tabo to Kaza, do visit Pin Valley on the same day too.

[wanderernomad]

You have but a single day at kaza. Drop Pin and rather visit Kibber (some claim it to be the highest inhabited village in the world). Pin wont offer you anything substantial unless you venture inside the park, just a short time trip to the outer fringes wont yield anything.

[tsk1979]

On a side note, won't it be better to spend one more day in kaza instead of manali. Manali will be full of noisy tourists. Spiti is heaven in comparison.

[wanderernomad]

But he would require a day to rest and recoup after that journey from Kaza and before he starts off to Delhi. It would be very very tiring if he did both back to back.

[docfreak]

hi everybody m,
i am back(terminator style) .

i was thinking of is it easy to do from narkanda to chitkul , why stop at kalpa? i believe its become very noisy and crowded. ?
also between kaza and manali where can we make a night halt?
pin valley , does it have any accn arrangements within the park?or nearby?
stok kangri climb begins from where?
also from where can i get up to date info about the roads , malling nallah, and kunzum la , variabilities?
so many questions guys.
tomorrow perhaps the final itenry will emerge then next step starts, coming back to home tomorrow.
thaks all of u
sharat

[hvkumar]

Why would you want to stop between Kaza and Manali? It is a day's drive.

You have hotels at Losar, tea shops at Bada Dara, PWD rest houses at Chota Dara and Chahtru. I did not see anything in Gramphoo.

Updates on the roads - no better place than team-bhp!!!

Malling Nullah is always unpredictable. One easy way of getting info is to get hold of a hotel number in Nako and call them up on the status - they will know or sure since Malling Nullah is a stone's throw away!

Kunzum la - try hotel in Losar for info, since that is immediately downstream from Kunzum. Even HPTDC hotel in Kaza will help.

[wanderernomad]

Doc you dont get to stop at kalpa if you are doing Narkanda to Chitkul. There is a place called karcham from where if you take the right fork you go on to Chitkil (the valley closes here and its a road head) but if you continue left along the Satluj you reach Powari from where you again turn left to drive on to Kalpa via Rekong Peo. Kalpa is again a road head and you will need to drive all the way down either to Powari or take another orad that joins the main road about 5 kms from Powari.
Also do Kaza manali at a stretch as the accommodation is not porpoer but only passable in this stretch. PIN valley doesnt have any arrangements per se.
Malling is unpredictable it is open now and closes in a jiffy. Best place is enroute will be rekongpeo market or the HRTC workshop as they run a regular bus on that route and when Malling closes they run a ferry service on either side. Kunzm La best are hotel contacts in manali, keylong and Kaza. Call the HPTDC ones they would readily help.

@Stok kangri is through Leh and Markha Valley.

[tsk1979]

I had mapped kalpa and chitkul on our trip
OpenStreetMap
The first right turn(when you come from left) is the sangla road. If you overlay "Data" from the "+" at the right, you will see location of PWD rest houses
few kms after that is the right turn for recong Peo. Recong Peo is a good place to get clean fuel.

[wanderernomad]

@ tsk: Mate, if you are driving from karcham (since first right turn is to Sangla) wont the turn to Rekongpeo be a left? On your right at Powari is Satluj with now where to go unless ofcourse you are pointing at the right turn inside the town for kalpa that is. Or maybe I failed to read your map overlays properly with the directions given.

[Tiger]

on the first day, i.e 28th we will stay at Chandigarh(will be reaching there at 11pm) & travel to narkanda on 29th & stay there.
By this we will be able to avoid night travel & enjoy scenic drive till Narkanda. Also we can drop the plan of hiring a driver till Narkanda.
We have asked some of our contacts at Delhi for Booking at all those places & i think we may get the confirmation by thursday.
We have kept one day buffer(extra day at manali) just to be on the safer side if any roadblocks on our way(malling or Batal).
Any good Dhaba's (for our dinner) on the way to Chandigarh??
Tks
Hemanth

[Tiger]

Some more info..
Kaza to Manali road opened today & from tomorrow HRTC buses will start services.

Spiti valley opens to vehicles from Keylong

HimVani
Shimla: After remaining cut off for five months from the district headquarter Keylong, communication link with Spiti valley was restored today. District information officer Shar Singh told HimVani that the 4,551 meter high Kunjum Jot Pass has been cleared by workers of Public Works Department (HPPWD) and Border Road Organization (BRO). Meanwhile, traffic on the Killar-Kishtwar road too has been restored after a massive landslide obstructed vehicular traffic for almost eight hours on Monday.
Singh also informed that HRTC buses would start plying on this route from tomorrow onwards. Meanwhile, the Keylong-Leh road is likely to open within one week as only three kilometer snow-covered patch is left for clearance. While talking to HimVani, Border Road Organisation superintendent engineer SK Doon said the recent snowfall on the Baralacha and other passes delayed clearing operations by one week. The Manali-Keylong road has already been declared open.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

@ tsk: Mate, if you are driving from karcham (since first right turn is to Sangla) wont the turn to Rekongpeo be a left? On your right at Powari is Satluj with now where to go unless ofcourse you are pointing at the right turn inside the town for kalpa that is. Or maybe I failed to read your map overlays properly with the directions given.

Oops! Typing error from my side.

Sangla is to the right and Kalpa is to the left after the Sangla term.
Map of course is accurate.

[wanderernomad]

Originally Posted by Tiger

Spiti valley opens to vehicles from Keylong

HimVani
Shimla: After remaining cut off for five months from the district headquarter Keylong, communication link with Spiti valley was restored today. District information officer Shar Singh told HimVani that the 4,551 meter high Kunjum Jot Pass has been cleared by workers of Public Works Department (HPPWD) and Border Road Organization (BRO). Meanwhile, traffic on the Killar-Kishtwar road too has been restored after a massive landslide obstructed vehicular traffic for almost eight hours on Monday.
Singh also informed that HRTC buses would start plying on this route from tomorrow onwards. Meanwhile, the Keylong-Leh road is likely to open within one week as only three kilometer snow-covered patch is left for clearance. While talking to HimVani, Border Road Organisation superintendent engineer SK Doon said the recent snowfall on the Baralacha and other passes delayed clearing operations by one week. The Manali-Keylong road has already been declared open.

Good news. I hope it stays open now and no new fresh snows. Killar Kishtwar stretch is the one to do these days. Guys going upto Keylong or looking for an alternate to Leh (due to time constraints) can enjoy this stretch. Its good.