3rd August 2019, 20:30
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| BHPian  | Bangalore to Spiti Valley in our Mahindra Thar Introduction: En-route Ladakh, there is this signboard at Gramphoo, giving the directions: Spiti (to the right) and Ladakh (to the left). Back in 2016, en-route Ladakh, we noticed the signboard at Gramphoo, thanks to the low speed of movement due to the pathetic roads after the Rohtang pass. At that time we never thought of Spiti as a place to visit. Since it was out first big trip together we were only excited about the Leh-Ladakh trip. Link to our Ladakh TL: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ndra-thar.html (Kolkata to Ladakh in our Mahindra Thar) Both, my wife (Bhavneet) and I love traveling to the hills (read: Himalayas). We were in Kolkata till a year back and we made a number of trips to the hills in North Bengal and Sikkim. After our BIG Ladakh trip, we had decided to do Spiti sometime in the future. We thought to ourselves that two years would be enough time to gather the courage to ask for long leaves from work. However, 2 years later we made a major decision in life and re-located to Bangalore. Now, we needed at least a year to get familiar and ask for that leave at our new place of work. We targeted July 2019 keeping in mind the amount of work schedule at our respective organisations. We made our move to get leave approvals in March 2019. That gave good 4-month advance notice to our bosses. Leaves were tentatively approved without much concern and planning for the trip started in April. We floated the news to our near and dear and welcomed anyone who wanted to join us. Gurveer, (Bhavneet's younger brother) and his wife (Monica) were excited and wanted to join us, but their first preference was Ladakh (just like us a few years back). They took some time before they confirmed their participation in the trip since they wanted to assess their chances to have a Ladakh trip with friends during that time. It was within a week or two that they confirmed their participation and like any planning process, a WAG (WhatsApp Group) was created and planning kicked off. Thanks to Sumitro (aka BlackPearl) and Rajsri (aka Teesta) for their constant advice and standing tall, answer all our queries. Big thanks to Hvk Sir, for being the support system throughout our trip. Arrangements and Planning: Arrangements for the Thar: The detailed preparation story is here: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...ml#post4644383 (The Red Rhino - My Mahindra Thar CRDe 4x4) Papers -
At the same time, Gurveer prepared the same set for the WRV. He also got auxiliary lights fitted on the WRV which were elegantly placed. Red Rhino, our Thar, ready at Bangalore  The WRV all set at Bhopal  We carried the following items for the trip
Besides the usual items to be packed for a 15-16 day-long trip, we decided to pick up some additional items from Decathlon since there was going to be some trekking during this trip. We picked up:
We also arranged a set of medicines and food. Route Planning: We had finalized the route we were going to take based on Blackpearl's TL(https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ndra-thar.html (An experience called Spiti in a Mahindra Thar)) and Samba's TLs (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...dans-suvs.html (Sailed through Lahaul & Spiti in hatchbacks, sedans & SUVs)) We then started planning out the Hotel reservations and we decided it would be a good idea to ask HV Kumar Sir for something like the 'Ladakh Package' that we had opted for, from him back in 2016. We had a short chat over the phone, and I decided to go for the 'Chalo Spiti Package'. I shared my itinerary with Sir and he made little tweaks after which we came up to this final plan: Final Itinerary: Day 1: Bangalore - Nagpur Day 2: Nagpur - Noida Day 3: Noida - Rampur Bushahr via Chail Day 4: Rampur Bushahr - Chitkul Day 5: Chitkul - Kalpa Day 6: Kalpa - Tabo via Nako, Giabong, Ropa, and Gue Day 7: Tabo - Kaza via Dhankar, Mud, Phukchung, and Kaa Day 8: Kaza with a visit to Langza, Hikkim, Komic, and Demul Day 9: Kaza with a visit to Kay monastery, Tashigong, Kibber, and Chicham bridge Day 10: Kaza - Chandrataal Day 11: Chandrataal - Manali Day 12: Manali - Noida Day 13: Noida - Nagpur Day 14: Nagpur - Bangalore Day 15 and 16 buffers With the blessing and good wishes from all over, we were able to save the buffer days and the return leg was modified, as below, to spend a couple of days at Bhopal (Bhavneet's hometown): Day 11: Chandrataal - Ambala Day 12: Ambala - Bhopal Day 13: Bhopal Day 14: Bhopal Day 15: Bhopal - Hyderabad Day 16: Hyderabad - Bangalore Day before launch It was a usual working day, a Friday. Both Bhavneet and I finished our day at work in full excitement as there was a long holiday to look forward to. We got back home and completed some last-minute packing. As with most of the people out there, it is the last minute packing that is most time taking and most important. With the excitement in the system, I was constantly telling Bhavneet, that it would be a good idea to leave at 12 (midnight) since we had a lot to cover on Day 1. She was persistent and stayed put on the plan to leave at 3 - 4 am after at least a couple of hours of sleep. I was not able to sleep that night but finally did. We were up in a few hours, got ready, packed everything into the Thar and were off by 4:30. Last edited by navsjab : 12th December 2019 at 16:47. |
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17th August 2019, 18:56
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| BHPian | Re: Bangalore to Spiti Valley in our Mahindra Thar Day 1 - 13th July: Bangalore - Nagpur The day with the maximum number of kms to drive. We started from our home at CV Raman Nagar, Bangalore at 4:30 AM. While we were moving to Bangalore from Kolkata last year, we found a convenient way to drive long distance, where in Bhavneet and I would switch driving responsibilities every 200 kms/2-3 hours which would also be the refueling/food/tea/bio break. This had worked well then, and we applied the same for the long stretches of drive during the trip. The road condition from Bangalore to Nagpur were really smooth and we experienced Fastag for the first time which was a welcome change at tolls (at least for most of them). Google showed us an estimated 16.5 hours for the 1000+ kms. We were able to make it at our hotel in Nagpur by 7:30 PM which was good. Maybe the excitement to get to the Himalayas really pushed our Thar with greater forces. We had our dinner and slept soon enough to have an early morning start the next day. As the sunrises  The KIA factory near Anantapur District, AP. This is only a partial picture, The factory was a towbship of its own  One of many stops enroute to re-fuel ourselves    The road quality was splendid throughout this day  A happy me to drive on such roads  A nice Fastag experience  Total travel for the day  This is how the last meal of the day was served at our Treebo stay  Treebo Trend A1 Service Apartment - Overall Rating: 4.0/5 Total kms driven: 1136 Total expense on toll: Rs. 1240/- Day 2 - 14th July: Nagpur - Noida We left our hotel at 4:30 AM. This day had some added excitement to it, as we would be meeting Gurveer and Monica. The plan was to meet at Malthone, MP. Having estimated our pace to be better that what google would show (from the previous day), Gurveer decided to start an hour before planned, from Bhopal. The WRV was filled with excitement too and it resulted in reaching Malthone way ahead of us. We finally met at a fuel station 70 kms beyond Malthone. Had a nice thepla break there and started our little convoy. Via Jhansi-Gwalior-Agra-YEM we reached our place of stay at Noida at 9:15 PM. Freshened up, had dinner and off to bed. Tea break as we start the day's drive   The number of flies killed by the windshield  We meet Gurveer and Monica  We soon stop for lunch  The mandatory picture  Stay for the night  Hotel Treebo Sswag 18 - Overall Rating: 3.6/5 Total kms driven: 1099 Total expense on toll: Rs. 1360/- Day 3 - 15th July: Noida - Rampur Bushahr via Chail This was the day when we were going to see the mountains. As suggested by HVK, we took a slight detour from the usual route and went via Chail instead. We left from Noida at 5:20 AM since we had to cover around 500 kms which included hill driving which in turn increases the travel time. We had initially planned to stop for breakfast at Karnal but were extremely hungry and stopped earlier, at Mannat Dhaba, Murthal. We had a lovely breakfast. Starting for the day  Breakfast stop for parathas  After breakfast we started our drive towards Chail. We got heavy rainfall near Kurukshetra. We were just hoping that we do not get such heavy rains further north since we were heading towards the landslide prone hilly zone. The road to Chail had a lot of diversions but the view was beautiful. It is suggested to try the chicken achaar at this region but due to the paucity of time we did not stop. The rain scene The first glimpse of mountains  A short film on the roads from Panchkula to Chitkul A tea stop  The bad road/lanslides due to which there were a number of diversions  The plan was to have lunch at the famous Chail Palace. The Palace is surrounded with thick deodar forest. It was once the residence of the Maharaja of Patiala. We reached Chail at around 2 PM. To enter the Palace there is a fee of Rs. 100 per person which acts as a cover charge if you have a stay booked there. We took a tour of the Palace and then ordered our lunch wherein we decided to have Himachali food. I went for a bio break and while returning I came to know that our Thar was attacked by monkeys. Gurveer and Bhavneet had gone to attend to the Thar. The Monkeys perhaps learnt to undo the soft top while I was closed if before getting into the Palace. They opened it with ease, got in to look for food and instead opened up the packet containing the shoes. They caught hold of one of Bhavneet's shoes when the locals interfered and saved them. The localities shoo-ed the other monkeys which were still inside the Thar. Gurveer managed to tie the soft top from the inside and keep it safe from the monkeys to open. He relocated the vehicle to keep it away from their direct area of approach. We were then called back in to have our meal as it had arrived. I just couldn't have my meal peacefully because I was thinking about the Thar and the monkeys constantly. However, we completed our meals quickly and got to the vehicle before it was attacked again. One of the notorious monkeys  Due to the sudden distress the monkeys were causing, this is the only picture I managed of the place  Then this, after we were out of harms way  We left for Rampur and clicked a few pictures en-route. The roads after Chail were decent and we reached our hotel at around 8:30 PM. The place was good. The normal parking was in the open but since I had the Thar (soft top) I asked if there was any safer spot. Though there was nothing valuable left in the vehicle apart from the tools and food, I parked the vehicle in their optional closed parking area. We ordered for food and freshened up. The meal was served at the hall and we enjoyed the meal. After the meal we got the oil container (our make shift jerry can) from the WRV and washed it thoroughly since we planned to fill it up for any backup requirement during the trip. We chit chatted for a bit and finally slept. A few pictures en-route while enjoying the weather     HPTDC The Bushehar Regency, Rampur - Overall Rating: 4.0/5 Total kms driven: 532 Total expense on toll: Rs. 380/- Last edited by navsjab : 15th December 2019 at 15:20. |
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10th September 2019, 19:22
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| BHPian | Re: Bangalore to Spiti Valley in our Mahindra Thar Day 4 - 16th July: Rampur bushahr - Chitkul We got up after a good rest and had a nice breakfast before we started from Rampur at 9 AM. We were moving at a relaxed pace making numerous stops on the way as there was not much distance to cover to reach our destination for the day. There is a detour off the main road at Karcham to take the right which leads to Chitkul. After crossing the bridge and reaching Karcham at around 12:15 PM, we made a lunch stop for almost an hour. After a fill consisting of momo and maggi we got back on the road. We crossed Kamru and Sangla and reached our stay in Chitkul, Samaa resorts, at 3:40 PM. The hotel we stayed in at Rampur   The lobby  Exclusive parking for the Thar  Random stop and click  Milestone  Clicks as we went along         At a waterfall    Karcham dam   Chitkul is a beautiful village in the Baspa Valley. After getting our luggage to the room and having some maggi we decided to go down to the river (Baspa) side. It was a short 1-2 km drive from Hotel Samaa. It is an unpaved road but we took both the WRV and the Thar. Once through the path, we carefully went off the track to get as close as possible to the riverside. We parked the vehicles, took a number of pictures, explored the valley, went through the rocks, enjoyed the beautiful, quiet place (apart from the water flow). After spending some good time there, we got back to the cars and took the road that went through the village to see what is beyond Chitkul. There are no roads according to 'Gmaps' but there was a Final Destination resort marked on the map. There was a wedding on the same day at the village because of which there were a lot of village folk walking down from the temple which was further up. The locals have a long drawn custom performed in a big way wherein all villagers participate in a walk at night (something like a 'Baarat', I guess). Accompanied by many locals, we crossed the 'Final Destination' resort, clicked some pictures and got back to our hotel. We ordered dinner soon after we reached as they would take time to prepare it. We relaxed while the dinner was being prepared. We were called to the dining hall once dinner was ready. We enjoyed the delicious meal and were back in our rooms soon after. We planned for the next day and decided to cover 'Kamru Fort' on our way to Kalpa. We chit chatted for a while and were soon off to bed. Almost there  Our stay at Chitkul     By the river      The Thar Splash (read it like - The Hulk Smash)  Day 4 continued in the following post.. Last edited by navsjab : 15th December 2019 at 09:33. |
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13th September 2019, 00:45
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| BHPian | Re: Bangalore to Spiti Valley in our Mahindra Thar   The beautiful green   Back to the hotel - look at the receptionists   Samaa Resorts - Overall Rating: 4.2/5 Total distance driven: 132 km Total expense on toll: NA Day 5 - 17th July: Chitkul - Kalpa We woke up in the morning and what a lovely view from the room. There were less cloudy unlike on the previous day and a clear view of the peaks. I immediately decided that we need to redo the photo session we did by the riverside. We got ready and went to have breakfast at the dining hall. While eating we spoke to Vicky, one of the guys there and learnt about the meditation bowl. We also tried our hands at it. We also discussed the Spiti circuit and our drafted itinerary. He liked our plan. We loaded our vehicles and set off to the riverside for the short and quick photo session. Once done we headed for Kalpa at about 9:30 AM. View from the room as we woke up  The interior of our hotel at Chitkul  Few parting snaps at Chitkul      We planned to visit 'Kamru Fort' on the way. We followed the detour after Sangla on 'Google Map' along a narrow road and ended up at a point where there was no more way for a vehicle. One would need to trek up to the fort. At that point, there was a vehicle and 2-3 people. One of them, after mentioning that I am in a Thar, advised us to go back a short distance and take a left. He said that the Thar would be able to go and the walk from there would be shorter. I was excited and asked Gurveer to make a U-turn and take the road as directed. The U-turn at that narrow road took some time but we finally got to the point with the left turn. It was an acute-angled inclined turn. The incline was enough to cause the WRV's rear wheel to lose contact with the ground but we finally made it. This was a very muddy road and 50m into the track the WRV lost all traction and could not move further. People from the neighborhood came and suggested we park the WRV there itself, with other 2WD cars and take the Thar. Happiness factor up a little more. It was a challenging surface and we continued on 2WD. Gurveer and Monice started walking up. At one point, there was a Bolero pickup parked to the right of the track getting loaded with sand. The place on it's left was just enough for the Thar to go, however, the surface was inclined upward and towards the Bolero, also the track had very low traction. As I moved forward the Thar slipped and luckily stopped at a fender to fender distance of 1 cm from the Bolero. The driver started getting annoyed and asked us to stop. 'Why did we have to go? Why did we not tell him to move aside before getting forward?' and many other why questions. Not that he was absent from the scene when we started, but then, this is how he reacted. Bhavneet and the Bolero's co-driver helped him to back off while making sure that the cars did not touch. It was tricky as there was a drain running on it's right. I moved to 4WD and I sailed through. Once we reached the top the same pick up followed and was saying that he was finding difficulty because the picked was heavily loaded with sand and the surface was muddy. I parked the Thar and we proceeded to see the Fort. We started our trek to the Fort. It was not a very long one from this point. We followed the advice of the guide (more like a police woman) once we reached the fort. We removed our shoes and belt and wore the cap and band (to be tied around our waist) provided by her and entered the fort. We clicked a few photographs and left from there at around 12:30 PM. A short film on the roads from Chitkul to Tabo The narrow 4x4 stretch for the Kamru fort once we completed the ascend  As we trekked  Pictures at the fort     The Red Rhino from the fort, focus toward the center of the image  We went towards Sangla for a bio break and stopped at the roadside to have some snacks before we started to Kalpa. We crossed the last fuel station for the circuit at Powari and continued to Reckong Peo. Pictures en-route      We were planning to eat at Reckong Peo as we were already very hungry and it was almost 3, we also thought that we would not get lunch at Kalpa as it would be late. We made a call to our contact at Rollingrang (Kalpa), (shared by Hvk Sir) and were glad to know that they would serve us food. The end of the conversation went like this: Mohit (the contact at Rollingrang): Aap log abhi kaha pahuche? (Where have you guys reached now?) Me: Abhi Reckong Peo, market area pe ruke hai. Yaha se kitna time lag jayega? (We just stopped at Rechong Peo market area. How long will it take from here?) Mohit: - Waise toh hum logo ko 15 mins lagta hai, aap ko 30 mins tak lag jayega. (We usually take 15 mins, you guys will take upto 30 mins. Me: Theek hai. Pahuchte hai. (Ok. We will come.) Back of my childlike mind: 'Challenge Accepted'. He had directed us to a better route and it was pretty smooth. Both Gurveer and I raced up to Rollingrang. We were there in a little over 15 minutes. I was satisfied. Little did I know that this quick climb in altitude will affect me very soon. We checked in to our rooms and came down to the dining hall to order the meal. The place was good, but the management of a guy named Mahinder was pathetic. He was trying to do his best at his work but he was somehow messing it up. Be it the check-in process, the food order, the delivery of the meal, everything was a little messed up. We waited as our meal came. For some reason, I ordered Chicken Biryani and as I waited I started feeling irritated, lost appetite, the meal came and I found the food: 'not as expected'. I just wanted to go to the room to rest and that is what I did. Perhaps it was AMS. We needed to leave for a visit to the Suicide point, the monastery, and the Roghi village. I did not feel well and needed some rest. After an hour I felt better and we went to the Suicide point. Our stay at Kalpa   The view from our room  Day 5 continued in the following post.. Last edited by navsjab : 15th December 2019 at 09:56. |
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30th November 2019, 13:51
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| BHPian | Re: Bangalore to Spiti Valley in our Mahindra Thar Pictures at the Suicide Point            The roads around Kalpa were pretty decent. We took some pictures at the suicide point when it started getting dark. We took a drive to Roghi Village and got back after a short stop there. While returning we started thinking about possible dinner options as we were not interested in having our meal at Rollingrang. We were recommended this place called Shambha-La and decided to eat there. The place was beautiful and the staff was very courteous. There were rooms too which were pretty expensive. As we placed our order we were asked by the Manager to take a tour of the place. He said that we would like it and indeed we did. There was a library on the top floor which had an excellent view of Kalpa. It was dark so we could not make the most of it, but one could imagine. We tried the meditation bowl kept there, took some pictures and it was soon time for dinner. The meal was delicious. After our meal, we went back to our hotel. Samba La hotel - for dinner  Spent some time at the library there till our meal was ready    At the dining hall   We sat at the balcony with the valley looking beautiful under the full moon. We chit chatted before we retired for the day. Night sky from the balcony  Hotel Rollingrang - Overall Rating: 3.4/5 Total distance driven: 93 km. Total expense on toll: NA Day 6 - 18th July: Kalpa - Tabo This was going to be one of the longest days in the Spiti circuit since we planned to cover as many of the villages that came along. We started at around 6 AM and made our first stop at the Kalpa Monastery. We did not only leave early cause we had a long day planned but also to cross the blasting sections before 11:30 AM. That is when they start blasting and continue up to 2:30 PM. (One of the signboards en route stated that too.) This was parked at our Hotel in Kalpa  Kalpa Monastery  Since no one else was in the mood to venture out and walk to the monastery, I visited alone. After that, we backtracked our route a bit to go to Powari to refuel, as the next fuel station was only at Kaza. After our vehicles were tanked up, it was our turn for some fuel. We made our breakfast stop at Spello where we had Alu paratha for breakfast. There were quite a lot of shops and stalls at Spello. On the way - from Kalpa to Giabong    Crossing the bridge Giabong and Ropa: We took a turn off the NH5 towards Giabong, We reached Giabong at around 10 AM. A signboard directed us to Giabong village. We were under the impression that the monastery would be where the signboard took us, but no, it took us through a narrow road into the village houses. We got to know from the local people that the monastery would come on the main road itself. We made a short visit to the monastery and then continued towards Ropa. Most of the road on this stretch was not good. The view of the Ropa valley is serene. The colors look unreal. There was some road work going on at Ropa and after a brief stop, we continued back and towards Nako. We were back on the NH at a little after 11 AM. Pictures from Giabong and Ropa The sign board  Giabong Monastery  Along Ropa Valley      Day 6 continued in the following post.. Last edited by navsjab : 15th December 2019 at 15:23. |
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30th November 2019, 21:35
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| BHPian | Re: Bangalore to Spiti Valley in our Mahindra Thar Nako: We took the turn off the NH towards Nako and were in search of food. We first went into the premises of the Nako Monastery and did not stop or click pictures there since we were getting late. We then went to the Nako (Sacred) lake. We were there at around 1 PM. There is a parking space from where one takes a short walk downhill to the lake. The meditation point at Nako is also visible from the parking space. There were properly build steps that one takes to go to the lake. Once back, we really needed a meal. We stopped at a restaurant at Nako and had some meat momos and Thenthuk. I tried Thenthuk for the first time and really liked it. We left from Nako at a little over 2 PM. While we were driving towards Gue, we encountered a waterfall where water was collected in a huge pool and people were using it to wash their cars. Our vehicles were dirty and Gurveer wanted the white WRV to actually look its colour. We stopped, parked our vehicle and started mission: 'Road-side Car-wash'. Four of us put in our best and we had two clean cars by the end of it. It was 3 PM now. Car wash  Enroute Nako        The lake    Meditation point from the Lake parking lot  Lunch at Nako   Gue: The road to Gue was again, very beautiful. We reached Gue at around 4:20 PM and made a long halt there. We had tea and maggi at one of the food stalls there, visited the mummy room and soaked in the beauty of the beautiful village. After around 30 to 45 minutes to decided to move to our destination for the day - Tabo. Towards the Monastery      At the Monastery        The view from the other side of the Monastery  Day 6 continued in the following post.. Last edited by navsjab : 15th December 2019 at 12:44. |
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1st December 2019, 14:07
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| BHPian | Re: Bangalore to Spiti Valley in our Mahindra Thar Tabo: On our way to Tabo, we stopped at a nice location in the middle of the road and had a short photography session. We reached Tabo at around 6:30 PM. The hotel for the night, hotel snow leopard, was very well located, almost across the Tabo monastery and had a proper car parking facility. We could see the monastery from outside our rooms. We had the welcome tea and went to the monastery. It was past the monastery visiting time, so we could only stroll outside the monastery buildings. The area of the old and new monastery is huge. We took pictures and spent almost an hour there. We had dinner at Hotel Tiger Den which was very close to the monastery. There was no electricity at that time and we sat at the room having a 'baithak' (low seating) and was lit with candles. We ordered the food and waited under the low light, exploring the various books and games kept in the room. The light, luckily, came around the time our food arrived. We had ordered a shakshuka dish and pizza for dinner. We topped it up with chocolate pancake. The food was delicious but we did not take snaps. The tiger den was a good place. They have rooms as well for stay and there were many foreign bikers there at that time. We took a walk after our meal at the huge area in front of the monastery. We went back to our room and took a few pictures of the night sky. While doing that we opened a passage for insects to invade our rooms. When we returned to sleep we had a tough time clearing the room off the irritating bugs. Enroute Tabo             The Monastery visit   Hotel Snow Leopard - Overall Rating: 4.2/5 Total distance driven: 236 km Total expense on toll: NA Day 7 - 19th July: Tabo - Kaza We got ready and started packing our luggage into the vehicle before breakfast when we realised that one of the WRV tyres was flat. We checked it with a gauge and saw a reading of only 6 PSI. We decided to get it fixed at Tabo before heading out and inflated it with our portable inflator to drive to the type repair shop. We had breakfast and then left from the hotel, planning to first repair the tyre. We reached the shop but unfortunately, the place was closed, we were informed that it would open an hour or two later. We did not have so much time as we had other places to visit for the day before reaching Kaza. We changed the tyre with the stepney and decided to repair the tyre at Kaza. We left from Tabo at around 9:30 AM. Dhankhar: We reached Dhankhar at 10:30 AM. We visited the Old monastery and were informed about the start point for the Dhankhar lake trek from one of the people there. (which was near the new monastery). We then drove to the new monastery, parked the vehicles there and started our trek to the lake. We took our time to walk to the point where one can see the lake and also a 360-degree view of the mountains around. After spending around 20 minutes there we started our walk back to the cars. The total trek up and down took us approximately 3 hours. It was drizzling, off and on, during our way back to the vehicles. We settled in our cars, snacked a little before we left from Dhankhar at 2:20 PM. A short film on the roads from Tabo to Kaza On the way to Dhankar   At Dhankhar  From the Monastery         At the New Monastery to park the vehicles to start the trek  Day 7 continued in the following post.. Last edited by navsjab : 15th December 2019 at 15:42. |
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1st December 2019, 14:36
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| BHPian | Re: Bangalore to Spiti Valley in our Mahindra Thar The Dhankhar Trek The trail starts like this  At the starting point  The old and new Monastery at the backdrop along with the old fort (refer to map image in the previous post), close up later  Moving forward  Rest  And after a long trail; Reached the top   The lake from the top  A close up  More pictures    The descend starts  The river from the top  A close up of the old fort  The New Monastery from the top, spot the vehicles parked  Happy to reach back to the starting point  Mud/Pin Valley: The drive towards Mud village was extremely scenic. The place looks beautiful from every angle. We stopped for lunch/snacks at Tara Cafe. We had the famous closed pizza there along with the usual maggi and tea. We met a group of friends there, aged between 40 and 50 probably. They were alumni of Symbiosis Pune and were on the Pin-Baba trek. They had reached Pin just that day. I absolutely loved the spirit of these men. For a year or two, this group of friends had made it a ritual to get together and do a memorable trek at the Himalayas. We chatted with them while we were waiting for our food. After soaking in the beauty of the place for more than an hour, we started our drive to Phukchung and Kaa, a small, peaceful village with hardly any population. We soon started our drive to Kaza, it was almost 6 PM by then. Into Pin Valley           The famous Tara cafe  Day 7 continued in the following post.. Last edited by navsjab : 15th December 2019 at 16:16. |
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1st December 2019, 16:57
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| BHPian | Re: Bangalore to Spiti Valley in our Mahindra Thar Some more beautiful scenes    And then comes a little bit of off-roading on the Pin river bed   The main bridge from the river bed  The Thar moved to a bit more challenging section cause it wanted itself to be clicked well      While we were still on the Pin Valley road it started getting dark. We used the auxiliary lights and drove to Kaza. By the time we reached our hotel at Kaza, it was 8:30 PM. Finally, sunsets, covers off, lights on  Driving at night We freshened up and went to the dining hall for the dinner that had been prepared for us. The food was well made and had a homely touch to it. After eating, strolling around at night, we finally called it a day and went to sleep. The Spiti Valley Hotel was a nice place, the owner Jamica is also the owner of the Jamica Camp at Chandrataal where we would stay after a couple of days. The food at Spiti Valley hotel was good and the place was neat, clean and simple. No flashiness and over decoration. The staff was courteous and helped make the stay pleasant. Spiti Valley Hotel - Overall Rating: 4.0/5 Total distance driven: 146 km Total expense on toll: NA Day 8 - 20th July: Kaza - Langza - Hikkim - Komic - Demul - Kaza We were ready by 8. We were still thinking about whether to move out of this accommodation or not. We ordered breakfast and were thinking about the pros and cons of shifting to another place for the next two nights. We liked the location of this place, the staff was courteous and the accommodation was decent. Once we were served breakfast and tasted it, we were sure to stay back. Apart from the quality of tea, the meals were great. We finalised for the amounts on the next two nights and got a good deal with only breakfast included. This was only because we would be out during lunchtime and we wanted to try different places for dinner. Outside view from our balcony    A short film on the roads while travelling around Kaza We left at 9:30 AM for the journey of the day. The first stop was to tank up. Spent 30 minutes at the fuel station since there was an issue with their system. Once done, we headed to a tyre repair shop to get the WRV tyre fixed. We found out that they would be open till pretty late in the evening and therefore thought we would get it fixed once back from the journey of the day. We moved to Langza. On the Way to Langza     Lanzga: As we were heading to Lanzga we could spot the Buddha statue from a distance with a few houses around it. That was the size of the village. We took the vehicles all the way to the statue and clicked a few pictures. Maintenance work was in progress. There was a man serving tea at the top. We had a cup and stayed there until other travelers reached there. We started our drive to Hikkim and made a few stops to take pictures of the beautiful landscape. The Buddha statue on the left, that is Langza  Here is a closeup   Chai at Lanzga from this cafe   Some pictures with the statue     Day 8 continued in the following post.. Last edited by navsjab : 15th December 2019 at 16:49. |
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1st December 2019, 20:16
| #10 |
| BHPian | Re: Bangalore to Spiti Valley in our Mahindra Thar Hikkim: You realise you are in Hikkim when you see a few shops selling fridge magnets with the Hikkim post office on it. We parked when we realised that we had reached Hikkim and asked for postcards at one of the shops there. The shopkeeper showed us a variety of cards, magnets, stickers etc. We took a few of each and started writing the messages to send to near and dear ones that included - Kolkata, Dubai, Bhopal, Canada, and Bangalore. We also asked for some maggi and tea while the messages were being written on the postcards. Once done, we asked for the direction of the post office and headed towards the path. We were not able to figure out the way amidst the houses that all looked alike. After some hit and trial, we located the famous Post Office. There is a cafe just opposite the post office which looked welcoming but we were already too full for that :(. There was a cool guy near the post office with a Batman t-shirt who was apparently the postmaster. Very unlike a postmaster. He had a good sense of humor and was friendly. He handed over the stamps required based on the national and international addresses (Rs. 6 for national and Rs. 25 for international). The stamps were pasted on to the postcards and were then dropped into the post box. A nice feeling doing this after ages. We walked back to our vehicles and then headed to Komic. Note: The post cards reached Dubai and Canada in 21 days and Kolkata in 15 day. They never reached us, here in Bangalore or Gurveer, back in Bhopal. Steps to do once at Hikkim Reach this village  Park at Hikkim  At this shop  To purchase the postcards  Write the posts   Purchase a sticker for your Thar  Walk down to the post office  This post office  Pose with the post cards  Get them stamped  Get a shot of the cool post master  Have a look at the Cafe opposite the post office  Drop your posts  Click yourself with the post office  Shoot a panorama from Hikkim  Then leave the village and click few pictures before reaching the next   Komic: Langza, Hikkim and Komic are not too far from each other. The views that you get while driving on this route is beautiful. One would feel like stopping at every turn to capture what the eyes saw. We made a number of stops since there was no race against time and we slowly reached Komic. Komic has a monastery and a building with a board reading "World Highest restaurant" The colour is eye-catching. We visited the monastery but not the highest restaurant as our team members were still feeling full from the maggi they had more than an hour back. Our next target was Demul and we did not know if on should visit it or not as there were not too many people talking about it during our journey. We asked a few people working outside the monastery and they suggested we go to Demul. To that, we had this exchange: Me: Why? What is there to visit? Them: It is a beautiful place. Pleasant and great views. Me: Ok. By the way, where are you guys from? Them: With a grin. Demul  We were already going to go there, this was a sweet exchange that made us continue to Demul. Komic Village Signified with this blue building  And this parking  A click from Komic  Visited the Monastery     Met this heard of sheep and Bharals while on the move   A bharal flyby  Day 8 continued in the following post.. Last edited by navsjab : 15th December 2019 at 17:08. |
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2nd December 2019, 09:25
| #11 |
| BHPian | Re: Bangalore to Spiti Valley in our Mahindra Thar Demul: A few kilometers away from the little village, you can see a bunch of houses beautifully set in the midst of a clean landscape. It was just like a painting. Demul Village looked beautiful. We continued toward the Demul welcome gate, there was some road work going on there. We got into the village and there seemed to be a lot of work going on with regard to house and road construction. We asked a few people if there was a place to find tea. None of us could understand the language they spoke. We soon continued our journey back. We took a short drive on our route back and saw a few off-road tracks. We had to go through them A kilometer or two and we halted for a snack break. In the midst of nowhere, with a breathtaking view all around, we parked our cars and took some snack items and started filling our selves. A nice 30 minutes break and we started off again. While driving to Demul  Shots en-route     Demul village from a distance   Finally there  While returning through the tracks  The view around  Saw this naturally well-formed landscape on our return to Kaza  We had planned to go to the tyre repair shop on our way to the hotel to repair the WRV's punctured tyre. We reached the tyre repair shop in the evening and got the puncture fixed, replaced the tyre and went back to the hotel. We planned to have dinner at Deyzor Hotel and were there by 8 PM. There used to be 2 dogs at this hotel when our friends Sumitro and Rajsri visited two years back. The number had now grown to 6. Ambar was at our service and suggested an excellent menu for the evening. We relished the food (mainly chicken) and topped it with ice cream and sea buckthorn tea (I wanted to taste it). The tea was not something I would have again most probably. During the billing process, we were talking to Karan, the owner, when I spoke about Sumitro. He recollected their visit to Deyzor in no time and immediately asked if I would carry a gift for them. I agreed and planned to give it to them whenever they plan to return from UK and I plan to visit Kolkata. Deyzor     Us at Deyzor  The food  Karan, with the gift to Sumitro and Rajsri, which they have not received till date  Not being a dog person, Bhavneet was not comfortable staying there for long after we were done with our meal and we were back to our hotel by around 10 PM. The day closed at that. Spiti Valley Hotel - Overall Rating: 4.0/5 Total distance driven: 82 km Total expense on toll: NA Day 9 - 21st July: Kaza - Key Monastery - Tashigang - Kibber - Chicham Bridge - Kaza Another day in Kaza and another set of places to visit. We got up and as usual, had a lavish breakfast. The best part about Spiti Valley Hotel was that they would prepare anything you would request for. We had fried eggs, aalu paratha and poha. We set off for the day at around 10. We went to the place near the bus stop to get the vehicles pressure washed. While our cars were being washed, two other cars joined the queue whose owners were locals. We were chit chatting about driving in hills and highways, modifications on the Thar, life in Kaza and other similar topics. it was enjoyable talking to them. While chatting, I asked them to suggest places to visit for dinner and one of them, named Singha, suggested Zomsa. He owned the property we got to know. We started towards Key Monastery once the cleaning was done. Car wash  A bridge on the way, you take this one to go towards Losar  Key Monastery: The roads to Key were pretty good. We parked and walked up to the monastery. There was a lot of work going on with regard to road construction at the monastery entrance and building maintenance. We entered and were welcomed by the monks. One of them guided us, showed us the new and old building. We also visited their kitchen and had the special tea there while having a nice conversation with the monk about Buddhism. We were leaving the monastery when I realised that the signature monastery view is from a specific point to which you need to hike. We asked one of the lamas and he directed us to the trail. It was not a very long trail but some points were tricky. We got the pictures I wanted and we were back at the parking lot in an hour or two. We ran across the Postman from the previous day who was there since Sunday is a post office holiday. We exchanged greeting as we recognised each other. There were little lamas playing at the parking lot, Bhavneet decided to intervene and play along but they were very serious about their game and could not allow of other members joining it. However, they had time for a shot with the Thar Key Monastery at a distance  After the turn to the Monastery  The inside   This was the route we trekked  The view from the top      Day 9 continued in the following post.. Last edited by navsjab : 15th December 2019 at 17:16. |
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3rd December 2019, 09:01
| #12 |
| BHPian | Re: Bangalore to Spiti Valley in our Mahindra Thar At the parking  Sports at the parking lot    A goodbye picture  Tashigang: From Key we took the road up to Kibber and then moved on towards Tashigang. The road quality started deteriorating. We had missed the road toward Tanshigang. It took us a while to realise as the route was not heavily populated. We realised it from the offline maps and routed to Tashigang. The village was really small, marked by only a few houses. There was no man outside and we parked our vehicles randomly near a few houses. We were now hungry and planning to explore our snack box when we heard a voice say 'chai? chai?' For a moment I thought it was God.  We suddenly saw a man at the window of a house (on the 1st/2nd floor). We asked if there would be maggi as well and he said yes. We walked to the house, entered and figured out from which room he would have been calling us and went in the direction. We were amused to see the kitchen so well kept and having such a warm and welcoming feel to it. There was a 'bethak'(low-level seating) around the room and we took our seats. The man was a senior citizen, in his 60s or 70s along with his grandson. We had a wonderful time talking to him and understanding his way of life. He also took us to his terrace where we saw home-prepared yak milk panner being dried under the sun. I was offered a piece and did not like it much. Uncle showed us Langza town from his house and we understood that on spotting the Buddha statue. Before we left we asked uncle for the amount to be paid for the items we had to which he replied: "As you wish". Four of us were taken aback for a moment since we never expected such a reply. We insisted on an amount to which he replied in a similar fashion. I paid him an amount I felt suitable. We loved the time we spent at Tashigang for all the moments, talk and learning we gained from that visit. En-route Tashiganag    The stop at Tashigang  Lanzga as seen from Tashigang  Kibber and Chicham Bridge: We drove from Tashigang to Kibber. The drive was scenic but the roads were not great. We could see Chicham village as we approached Kibber. We took a short halt at the viewpoint at Kibber and moved on toward the Chicham bridge. The bridge looked like a beautiful work of design and labour. A few quick pictures and we started our journey back to the Hotel. Entry to Kibber  On the way, more bharals  At Kibber  Chicham village as seen from Kibber     Reaching the Chicham bridge  At the bridge   We reached in the evening when we thought of making a visit to the souvenir shop. We did some shopping and returned to the Hotel where we had tea and pakodas. Our dinner was planned at the suggestion from the morning chit chat - Cafe Zomsa. The return to Kaza  The Famous I Love Spiti sign with the plastic bottles   The souvenir shop  Cafe Zomsa: We took the WRV to the restaurant. The road went through the market area and was a little congested. We found a parking spot just beside the restaurant's entry. The place was very lively and beautifully set up by the owner, Bhavesh. The cafe was being taken over by his sister as he was trying to concentrate on his other passion, music. We ordered food as per her suggestion along with some cocktails. We were expecting some live music playing, for which the cafe is famous, but to our sorry luck, that night there was no live music since there were back to back parties hosted at the cafe since the last few nights and the staff had been having a tight schedule for which they were taking it easy on a Sunday. The food, the drinks, and the ambiance were great and for two hours we did not realise where the time flew. We got back to our hotel and Bhavneet and I went to the terrace to capture few star shots. The sky was a little cloudy but the stars looked bright and in abundance. That was the last activity for the day. Cafe Zomsa    The night sky   Spiti Valley Hotel - Overall Rating: 4.0/5 Total distance driven: 72 km. Total expense on toll: NA Last edited by navsjab : 15th December 2019 at 17:24. |
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3rd December 2019, 09:21
| #13 |
| BHPian | Re: Bangalore to Spiti Valley in our Mahindra Thar Day 10 - 22nd July: Kaza - ChandraTaal We were told by Jamica (the owner of Spiti Valley Hotel and Jamica' Camp) about the bad road to Chandrataal and expect it to take around 6 hours. We had breakfast had left at around 10 AM. We first paid a visit to the Kaza Monastery after which we tanked up and then set off for Chandrataal. The road till Rangrik was good, mostly plains. Our first stop was at Losar, for lunch. We had 'rajma chawal' and 'momos' at the restaurant there. There were many riders groups going along towards Chandrataal. A short film on the roads from Kaza to ChandraTaal The Kaza Monastery   En-route Losar     A stop for lunch at Losar  Roads started getting bad as we moved towards Kunzum Pass. We saw a few offroad short-cuts while going uphill. I did not miss the opportunity to take them. At one of the stretches the WRV tried to follow and got stuck, fortunately it backed out of the trail and took the normal route. We reached Kunzum pass and stopped there for some photos. We were about to leave when a guy walked up to me and asked if I was Manjeet. I confirmed that I was not, but asked why? We said that he had seen my Thar, Bhavneet and me on TeamBHP. He was talking about the Ladakh and North Bengal/Sikkim TLs. It was really good to feel recognised in that way. He was Shubham from Amristar. He and his friends had started the Spiti circuit from the Manali side and were coming from Chandrataal. They were on Motorcycles and had a tough time negotiating the water crossings on the way because of which they had lost a good amount of time. He suggested that we leave for Chandrataal soon so that the level of water does not become a problem for us. We obeyed and moved. We found snow along the roadsides after we drove off from the pass and took a few photographs. Entry to Kunzum Pass  Few Photographs there     With Shubham (the one on my left) and his friends  Some ice on the road   As we went off the national highway toward Chandrataal, the road quality got worse. It was around 6 - 8 kms of a rocky drive. There were a couple of water crossings en route which was not an issue for the Thar. Monica and Bhavneet did a great job spotting bumps for the WRV though. The signboard for directions to Losar and Chandrataal  Entry to Chandrataal  The first major water-crossing towards Chandrataal   WRV doing the water crossing Pictures after the crossing   And the camps are within sight  We reached our camp at 5:45 PM. We stayed at Jamica's camp which was decent. It had an attached toilet. The only downside was the lack of hospitality as guests came in. We were carrying food and other necessities for the camp as Jamica loaded them in our car back in Kaza. We, therefore, had to walk into random tents amongst the 6 - 7 tents there to look for someone to unload their ration. They started unloading it from the Thar and we helped them to expedite the process as one of the staff members asked us to make a visit to the lake before the entry got restricted, which was in the next few minutes. Traffic towards the lake is not allowed beyond 6 PM. The guy also suggested we take the Thar instead of both the vehicles. We made enough room in the Thar for Monica and Gurveer and took the route to the lake. It was a 2 km stretch and we realised why the Thar was suggested soon after we started. The road was pathetic and had many loose, huge boulders. After a couple of kilometers travelled at a slow pace, we had to trek for a kilometer more. It was getting cooler as the Sun started to set. We soon saw the first view of the lake. It looked beautiful. We took a number of pictures and then went down to the lake where we took few more pictures and then started our walk back. The sun had set by now and we realised there was no one apart from us in the vicinity. As we walked to the Thar we saw a man. We spoke to him and learned that he resides there during the 4-5 months when the area is free of snow cover. He worked by the lake side, to collect stones for road work around Kaza. Kudos to such people living and working in extreme conditions. The sights as we walk towards the lake    Day 10 continued in the following post.. Last edited by navsjab : 15th December 2019 at 18:22. |
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5th December 2019, 09:41
| #14 |
| BHPian | Re: Bangalore to Spiti Valley in our Mahindra Thar First look of the lake  The way the water forms  By Chandrataal - pictures galore           The board as we walked back to the Thar  All alone in the dark  By the time we reached the Thar it was completely dark. LEDs at work and we drove down to the camp. Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) started to hit me as we reached the camp. We decided to take a nap at the camp before dinner. My health was getting worse and irritation started peaking along with the heavy head. I took some medicine and laid for a while. Once we were called for dinner I somehow pulled myself to the dining camp where the others were already seated. I had just a little bit food and got back to our camp. As I walked to the camp I took a look at the night sky, and boy! there are no words to describe the sky entirely filled with stars. It looked heavenly. However, I was just not in good health and could not gather the strength to assemble the tripod and shoot the night sky. I feel really bad at this point but what is done is done. I walked into the camp and fell straight into bed. Jamaica's Camp - Overall Rating: 3.6/5 Total distance driven: 102 km Total expense on toll: NA Day 11 - 23rd July: ChandraTaal - Ambala Our plan was to start at 4 AM to pass the water crossings at the earliest hours so that the melting snow would be at the minimum and we would negotiate the water crossings with ease. Our plan was delayed by an hour due to difficulty in getting up that early, but the good part was that my health was now better. The drive on those roads immediately shook off any sleep that was left in us. Chotta Dhara is supposed to be the worst stretch of road on the circuit and I was waiting for the encounter. We reached Batal and had tea at Chacha Chachi Dhaba. We went along as other tourist Innovas went along. There were many parts on the way where we had ro slow down for sheep, goats, and horses that crossed our path. The road quality was poor and we soon reached Chotta Dhara. There were rocks and a lot of water flowing. The main passage for the vehicle was blocked by a Tempo Traveller that had buried its rear tyres in the water. The traveller was abandoned by the driver and the passenger (if any) and there was a narrow passage that was approachable in the midst of huge rocks on either side. I saw the passage and thought it would not be a challenge for the Thar. Red Rhino made it easily and I parked on the side (still in the water) to help out the WRV negotiate the path. It was tough and bad. The track was not prepared for a vehicle with low GC. Gurveer drove carefully, thus slowly to save the underbody because of which it lost momentum and thus traction due to the nature of the track. By this time there were a lot of people from other cars that had queued up. Drivers came to check the track before doing through it, they asked the passengers to get off after the obstacle was negotiated. The drivers and people helped push the WRV but it would not budge. Without wasting time I asked Gurveer to take out the front tow hook of the WRV and connected it, then I went up to the Thar and opened up the tow strap, connected it to the rear tow point and towed out the WRV without any difficulty. There was a Tiago behind the WRV for whom I waited before we started moving. People had thrown in more rocks on the track to help the other vehicles pass with ease. It helped and the Tiago went through fine. A few kilometers and we found another Tempo Traveller, coming from the Manali side parked by the road side. The driver was asking passing vehicles for help. He wanted MSeal. The passengers of the vehicle setup a picnic by the stranded vehicle and were enjoying themselves. I had MSeal with me and handed it over. We realised that he was not sure of how to sort the issue he had in hand. The fuel filter of the vehicle had cracked. We advised and helped him out, set the MSeal and asked him to wait for 30 mins to an hour before trying it out. There were few more water crossing which were not as challenging. However, the road continued to stay pathetic. Finally, after 6 hours of 60 km driving, we reached Gramphoo on the Leh Manali Highway, we were thrilled to see the tarred road. We stopped for a few minutes to rejoice the road quality change. Little did we know that it was not long-lasting. The road was bad intermittently. There was rock blasting work in progress due to which we were delayed further. We stopped at Rohtang pass and clicked some pictures. Driving towards Gramphoo The land of better roads - at Gramphoo   Views near Rohtang   The stop at Rohtang      Until we reached Rohtang safely and at a decent time, our target was only to reach Manali and stop for the night. However, with two days to spare (buffer) and reaching Rohtang at a decent time (at noon) we decided to push forward and make it to Bhopal so that we could spend a couple of days there. We went on and planned our lunch somewhere after Manali. We got a lot of traffic at Manali and further got delayed because I forgot to take the right at Beas Bridge (Manali). The WRV had taken the right route and stopped at a Dhaba where we would have lunch. We reached and had our lunch. It was around 2 PM. Hvk sir set our target to Rupnagar. We were, however, in two minds and wanted to stop at such a place that would make our next day's travel, to Bhopal, a possibility. We kept Karnal in our minds. We drove on, stopped for tea after a couple of hours as the hill driving was getting too tiring. Soon after the tea stop, Gurveer started hearing a sound from the front wheels. I sat by the passenger side and we could confirm it was the brake pads that were at the end of life. We started Project: find the nearest Honda service center and book an appointment. We did some search and got one at Mandi. It was 5:45 PM and Google was showing us 30 minutes to reach. The service center closes at 6 PM. I requested the Service Manager for his attention to the vehicle as we had a long run to do. He agreed and asked us to come as soon as we could. By 6:10 PM we were in. I checked with the service center staff and they asked if I was the person with the WRV. On saying yes, they asked me to get the car instead and chit chat later: uncontrol. Four mechanics were waiting for the car. In 10 mins, the brake pads were changed. The billing system was new, and that took 15 minutes. In a total of 30 minutes, we were back on the highway. A big thank you to Ankush (the service manager at Himayalan Honda) and his team. It soon started getting dark and we had a long way to go. We started thinking if Rupnagar was a better idea as the hill driving for more than 12 hours had taken a toll on our system. After discussing, we set our new target to Ambala and made a booking while at the move. Finally, once the hills were over we were happy and stopped for dinner at around 10 PM a few kilometers before Kiratpur Sahib. The humidity after a long span of excellent weather made us feel so uneasy. We had good Punjabi meals and started at 11 PM. With lack of sleep from the night before and the long hours of driving all four of us felt extremely sleepy. We washed our faces, set the music at high volume and drove for two hours until we reached our Hotel in Ambala. The hotel was well located as it was not too far from the Highway. It was late and the staff had to be woken up to attend to us. I did not like the lack of empathy from the staff when I asked him if parking was safe for the Thar on the open road in front of the hotel. Instead of assuring us regarding the safety either through cctv or security guards he simply said that it was my wish to park it or not. I eventually made him carry extra stuff to the rooms while I transferred some to the WRV. We got our rooms and one of them was neat and tidy but the other was in a complete mess. The staff had to do some cleaning and we finally went to sleep at 2 AM. Treebo Trip Solitaire - Overall Rating: 3.4/5 Total distance driven: 497 km Total expense on toll: NA Day 12 - 24th July: Ambala - Bhopal After the long and tiresome day, we were unable to wake up too early and finally started the trip at 8 AM. The mission for the day was to step foot at our home in Bhopal by the end of the day's run. We stopped at Karnal for breakfast (Neelkanth Star). We availed the car wash service there, and our vehicle were now free from the hilly dust. The road was good for the initial part of the day. We took the Eastern Periphery Expressway (EPE) around Delhi. It was my first time driving there. A very pleasing limit for LMVs there - 120 kmph. Breakfast stop  The EPE and the speed limits   Miss the extreme right sign  We took multiple halts for tea/food and refueling. Once we closed Gwalior things got messy, firstly it was starting to get dark and then there were intermittent bursts of heavy rain. As we continued the rain started being persistent. With some roads having no dividers, the rain combined with the high beam from the vehicle in front in turn complemented with the uncertainty of cattle presence the drive was getting tough. I had to uncover the LEDs and use them as required. We stopped for dinner at a decent Dhaba at around 10 PM which was around 2 to 3 hours from home. We were relaxed thinking the drive was a short one and would be done with ease. A random tea stop  Dinner stop  We started at around 10:45 PM from the Dhaba and reached a turning where we had to part from the highway, this was the state highway also called the Guna-Bhopal road which starts from Janjali. The road looks beautiful and well constructed, the only problem was that it was deserted and we were in MP. I was not sure of this road and was relying on Gurveer for routing inside MP to home. He was leading and as he took the turn at Janjali stopped and asked if it was a safe option to proceed. As I said, the road looked beautiful and it was just 11 PM, I thought it would be safe and said let's continue. After taking the decision to proceed we were continuously wondering if it was the right decision or not. Both, the Thar and the WRV had their auxillary lights switched on and we moved forward. We did not get a single car on our direction of movement. At constant intervals, we were interrupted by cattle stock laying on the road and we carefully maneuvered through them without losing pace. This continued for the next 2 hours with very few cars coming from the opposite side, but whenever we saw a private vehicle we were happy and kept moving thinking it was a safe route. At one point we also saw people going in groups from the opposite side of the road with long bamboo sticks, as if they were people going for a fight. After the longest 2 - 2.5 hours we finally reached a relatively populated location and we breathed a sigh of relief. Made a short bio break knowing that we will be home in the next 15 minutes. Home Total distance driven: 1,072 km (including few km of driving in Bhopal for the next few days) Total expense on toll: Rs. 1305/- Day 13 - 25th July: Bhopal We got up late and just relaxed the entire day at home. Parents were obviously happy that we had all returned safely and for Bhavneet and me, bonus family time was a welcome addition. We sorted our luggage, calculated our expenses till then, got our vehicles cleaned thoroughly etc. All the things we would do at Bangalore were slowly being done at Bhopal so that we could be ready to get back to work once we reached Bangalore. We had planned to leave on 15th, and make it to Bangalore at one go (so that we would have the whole of Sunday at home) though it was a long, 25 hours run. Things did not work out that way, more on it later. continued.. Last edited by navsjab : 15th December 2019 at 20:29. |
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7th December 2019, 12:05
| #15 |
| BHPian | Re: Bangalore to Spiti Valley in our Mahindra Thar Day 14 - 26th July: Bhopal Another day at home to relax and spend family time. While getting stuff in and out of the Thar, that night I got a bad nerve pull on my back that hurt for the next 2-3 days. We went for dinner at Minto Hall, Bhopal. A pleasant goodbye dinner, before we were to leave the next day, as early as we could. The vehicle parked outside our home, resting time  Pictures from Minto Hall    Day 15 - 27th July: Bhopal - Hyderabad We did our good-byes and left from home at 4:15 AM. We were covering a good distance with time. It was raining off and on which reduced our speed a little but in spite of that, we were pulling according to google time. The heavy rain had caused floods which we crossed without much of an issue. At 7 AM we reached a small village called Dhar after driving 130 km from home (between Itarsi and Betul) and witnessed a short queue of vehicle. We broke the queue and went ahead to see people restricting the movement of the vehicle since there was a relatively deep and powerful waster crossing ahead. Both Bhavneet and I found that the level would not be a challenge to the Thar, however, the narration from one of the people, saying that a couple of container trucks made it out with a near fall made us believe it was a better idea to just wait. The floods at Dhar  What it looked like as time went by Rains all along  We waited for 2 hours and started getting really restless, the water level was going on rising but the rain had reduced and soon stopped. We were now waiting for the level to subside. 2.5 hours since the stop and we could see the level reducing, now almost close to the level of what it was when we had reached Dhar. 15 mins more and a container truck from the opposite side made a move, just then I thought that we could start as well, I got back and took a seat. My visibility to see the crossing container was restricted and I was not able to judge the level. Some of the people waiting for the level to reduce warned us and asked if it would cross with that kind of water. I had no idea and said yes. To my luck, another container came from in front, and this time I could see the level, almost 50% of the tyres were underwater with a good force to water, but I was confident that the Thar would cross. I engaged 1st gear and started. Some of the viewers skeptical and the others cheering. As we crossed the toughest part of the crossing (towards the end) the people from the other side started clapping and cheering. Once out we had no vehicle in front of us and kept on moving until we reached another similar crossing but with road conditions much worse. There were Bolero pickups crossing at that point and I was therefore sure that we could go as well. We crossed and continued the journey. We were set back by 3 hours and our plan to make it to Bangalore at one go had now started looking far fetched. We crossed Nagpur in the afternoon and continued. We were supposed to take a right at a place called Jamb which would take us via Hinganghat, but since the navigator at that time was taking a nap and I was enjoying the quality of the road, I forgot about that and continued off the track. Another 1.5 to 2 hours of delay to get back to our course and now we were sure that we would need a night halt, preferably at Hyderabad. A stop at a petrol pump  The light covers opened yet again  At 11:45 PM we made it at our Hotel in Hyderabad. We picked this hotel which would not take us way off our route and would also help us by pass the Hyderabad city and would not have to cover it the next day. The hotel was near the Airport. Oyster Airport Hotel - Overall Rating: 4/5 Total distance driven: 1,006 km. Total expense on toll: Rs. 770/- Day 16 - 28th July: Hyderabad - Bangalore We had our breakfast at the Hotel and started with ease at around 10 AM. Nice roads, a good drive, not much rain until we reached Bangalore at around 5 PM. Bangalore police greeted us with an over-speeding ticket as we crossed the Nandi Hills crossing on the Blr-Hyd road since we had forgotten about entering city limits and were marginally above the limit. Seeing this car suddenly was like nostalgia on the return leg  The proud fellow after a long trip  Sipping some more tea  And the final reading  We were home by 6:30 PM. A lovely trip had come to an end. Home Total distance driven: 582 km Total expense on toll: Rs. 725/- Last edited by navsjab : 15th December 2019 at 19:11. |
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