[AnandB]

How We Got Here

Planning:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/assem...ml#post5455708

Day 1 & 2: Raipur to Gwalior to Shimla -
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/assem...ml#post5455958

Day 3: Shimla to Sarahan -
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/assem...ml#post5456448

Day 4: Sarahan to Chitkul -
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/assem...ml#post5457643

Day 5: Chitkul to Kalpa -
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/assem...ml#post5457721

Day 6: Kalpa to Sumdo -
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/assem...ml#post5457924

Day 6 continued: Sumdo to Gue Monastery to Dhankar -
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/assem...ml#post5457970

Day 7: Dhankar to Mud, Pin Valley -
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/assem...ml#post5458223

Day 8: Mud to Kaza & Hikkim/Komic/Langza -
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/assem...ml#post5458406

Day 9: Visiting Key & Kibber -
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/assem...ml#post5458494

Day 10: Kaza to Chicham -
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/assem...ml#post5458585

Day 11: Exploring Chicham, Kee & Kibber -
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/assem...ml#post5458837

Day 12: C̶h̶i̶c̶h̶a̶m̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶C̶h̶a̶n̶d̶r̶a̶t̶a̶l Snow Leopard Excursion
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/assem...ml#post5458964

Day 13: Chicham to Chandratal to Manali
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/assem...ml#post5458998

Day 14 & 15: Manali to Raipur + Closing Thoughts
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/assem...ml#post5459275

[AnandB]

Planning

After my first experience with our Milky Way and the stars on my Sep-21 Ladakh trip (Almost a two-year wait for Ladakh | 16 day & 5740 km road-trip in a Skoda Kodiaq), I was itching to have another go. This time I wanted to be better prepared and do more of astro and timelapse photography than I could last time.

It's the end of April, I am learning Photoshop/Davinci to edit and post pictures, videos on my instagram @astro.landscapes. I couldn't control myself and on a whim ask my cousin and brother-in-law (BiL) if they want to do a trip again this Sep.

TL: Should we go to Spiti or Sikkim this year?

My initial choice was visiting Sikkim because it would be a different experience compared to Ladakh. Last year I didn't plan my dates according to the moon phase so this time I wanted to be there +/- 5 days of new moon. The less illuminated the moon is, the more clearly visible objects in the night sky are. Upon research new moon would be on night of 25th Sep and I thought it's perfect as the dates would be similar to last year but with new moon. September is a good time as most of the rains are gone by mid-September and tourists are usually less compared to peak of May and June. To the uninitiated the galactic core/center of our Milky Way is visible above the horizon for a limited amount of time during certain months of the year and depending on your location (southern hemisphere have it a bit better than us). The months from March to Sep are considered the Milky Way season. I used Capture the Atlas's Milky Way calendar to plan as its really helpful to know how much the moon is illuminated and how long the core is visible around those particular dates.

As I observed last Sep in Ladakh the core is visible for just over 3 hours. Then I noticed months of May/June have core visibility for more than 7 hours around new moon. This tempted me as at high altitude locations clouds can play spoilsport and you might not even be able to picture anything in the night sky. At the same time while Sikkim is a great place you can't spend the night at highest altitude locations like Gurdongmar Lake, Zero Point, and Spiti has lot more locations and stay options that suited for my objective of astro-photography. So changed my plans to visit Spiti at the end of May (new moon on 30th May). The roads are fully open by May and tourist season would have started.

I again ask my previous partners in crime about this but my cousin drops out as he had other plans and it was too short notice (leave within 3-4 weeks). My BiL was ready but we needed another member. None of our friends were ready so I started asking on popular Ladakh/Himalayas groups if anyone was interested specially with interest in photography. After about 10 days a moderator of one of the groups posted looking to join members who were visiting Spiti end of May. I got in touch with him; he is a 70-year old retired IAF fighter pilot who travels to Ladakh/Spiti multiple times every year. He also has a passion for photography, especially astro so it felt like a perfect match. We spoke over the phone and he agreed to join us. He was from Pune but he would fly to Gurugram and could join us at Western Peripheral Expressway on the way. (He is an adventurous person and not at all how you would imagine a 70-year old. Since this trip he has done a 31 day, 57 passes Ladakh trip in October and currently doing another trip to Sethan, near Manali. I do wish to be able to do all this when I am 70 ).

On my Ladakh trip we had decided to not pre-book and while it went okay, this time would be peak tourist season in May and we couldn't risk not having our stays planned. It took hours last time to find a proper stays. He was experienced and knew lots of people/places from his previous trips so was able to book most of the stays for us. Also this trip I wanted to take my time and enjoy each stop and not rush through. Spiti is easier for this compared to Ladakh because the distances are much shorter overall between stops. After much deliberations this was our finalized plan:

Chicham was not a place I had originally planned to stay. Uncle told us how its a great place to photograph wildlife around the area and if lucky we could spot a snow leopard. He knew a local guy who would help us around. Its the end of May, summer has started and snow has receded, the smaller wildlife move up the mountains because of availability of food and the leopard follows them up higher in the mountains thus making it harder to spot one. The chance was probably less than 5% but both of us would take any odds.

Preparations:
Having done Ladakh trip last year, it was relatively easier to prepare this time. There was no need to get permits or carrying jerrycans for fuel. Network connectivity was good except a couple of places (Mud, Chandratal) so we were not out of coverage for multiple days. My camera setup was the same as before with addition of more memory cards (Sony A7C + lenses along with S21 Ultra). We didn't have AMS issues in Ladakh but took the meds anyway. Uncle wanted to play it even safer and got a 10ltr oxygen cylinder. Luckily 4 days before the trip brake pads sign came up on the infotainment display and I immediately got all 4 pads changed next day at Skoda along with general check-up. Not someplace where you want to drive with bad brake pads.

Both of my rear tyres got big cuts in Ladakh which were replaced with new ones when I got back. I put the new ones in front. Still to be better prepared I got one of the cut trye patched up to be able to work as tubeless along with the space-saver of the car. I also installed JK Treel (Treel (by JK Tyres) launches internal TPMS sensors with Bluetooth) internal bluetooth TPMS sensors on all 4 of the tyres. Not having TPMS is atrocious on a car like Kodiaq regardless of the variant. It could have saved my tyres in Ladakh and Treel sensors turned out to be very useful on this trip.

My BiL arrived on 19th and we started our trip on 21st early morning.

[AnandB]

Day 1 & 2: Raipur to Gwalior to Shimla

The route was pretty much what I used last year:

Raipur -> Lakhnadon -> Gwalior

Near Chilpi

We stayed at Fort Gurudwara for the night. We left early around 7am next morning and spotted a visiting Rubicon.

Gwalior -> Western Peripheral Expressway -> Pick-up our 3rd member at Panchgaon near Gurugram -> Panipat -> Chandigarh -> Shimla

Roads of UP were very good unlike last year probably because of recent elections. Our first scare happened just as we got off the expressway. I felt something was wrong with the handling and true enough the rear left tyre was fully deflated. I was dejected and memories of Ladakh came flooding and we hadn't even reached Himachal. Thankfully there was repair shop close by and it was small puncture that was easily patched. I usually drive with 36 psi and upon checking the Treel app the temps were above 42. The heat and high speed probably caused the old tyre to easily get punctured I think. I reduced the pressure of all tyres to 32psi. The rest of the journey was uneventful and we reached Shimla around 10pm. We hadn't booked a stay and hoped to get one on the cheap and easy but it was almost all booked. We asked around some places before we found a decent sized one that could accommodate all 3. I was tired but happy that majority of distance was covered and now our real trip could start.

[AnandB]

Day 3: Shimla to Sarahan

The hotel we stayed was called Firhill. They only had one room that the manager didn't plan to allot to anyone but my BiL was able to convince him. Next morning we could see why because it was their corner room that had big windows on left and front which gave us a great view. It had rained overnight and the town was covered in clouds. I was not expecting much from Shimla but this small stop turned out to be beautiful morning.

My BiL the subject most of the time as I am behind the camera

https://youtube.com/watch?v=dgUGouICqvY?feature=share

We took our time and had breakfast at the hotel's nice restaurant called Cafe 103. It was past 10am when we left and the small roads were already filled with traffic. It took us more than 1.5 hours to exit the town but the weather was pleasant and driving around Himachal is a delight.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=oiDKZ2ofJ2Y?feature=share

I topped up the tank at a unique Indian Oil pump which might have opened up recently. At Narkanda we stopped at Negi The New Himalayan Dhaba for lunch.

We reached Sarahan around 6pm. Our stop for the night was at Vasu Mansion Homestay. Its a family run homestay with spacious rooms, splendid views and the food served was yum. We craved for some pakodas with tea and enjoyed the sunset.

We tried some Milky Way photography from our balcony but the results weren't great so we called it a night.

[AnandB]

Day 4: Sarahan to Chitkul

It was cloudy in the morning but now some were at the same height as us so it was a good opportunity to capture them. The homestay had an open roof where we could this.

https://youtu.be/TkL7q0eFsnQ

We left around 10am and visited Bhima Kali temple before proceeding to Chitkul. It was raining on and off that day but it made the weather perfect.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=KJ0jNL7rSWA?feature=share

We took the turn towards Chitkul at Karcham Bridge. The roads were not great but not too bad either.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=yx1zx1fnj5g?feature=share

We reached Chitkul just past 5pm. This meant we could check-in at our hotel Samaa Resorts and go down to the Baspa river and enjoy the sunset.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=3eqsMKvmNko?feature=share

We got back to the hotel and had our dinner. The day wasn't over yet. We had booked the room with balcony so we could shoot the Milky Way and the peaks. It had started rising over the horizon around 10pm and the core would be visible a bit late in the night as it was hidden behind the mountains. Spent the next 4 hours or so taking multiple shots and here are the outcomes:

https://youtu.be/8Q_99UkKlTM

Went to bed happy as this is what I came for.

[AnandB]

Day 5: Chitkul to Kalpa

It was close to freezing during the night. Got up early morning to watch the sunrise.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=COaEHbXjiZA?feature=share

We left the hotel around 9am and went as far we could towards the mountains.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=u361nUfu38M?feature=share

Looking back towards Chitkul

We turned back towards our destination for the day: Hotel Apple Pie, Kalpa. This distance was only about 60 kms and we reached there around 2pm. Even the pics and videos don't do justice how majestic the views are of Kinnaur Kailash and other peaks.

We rested till the evening and got the cameras out before sunset. It remained cloudy on the peaks with rare glimpses. Still was able to make a nice timelapse:

https://youtu.be/PLKrud8V2o0

At night the Milky Way was right behind the peaks but clouds were constant and could not get satisfactory results. Some places like to install big outdoor lights that throw lot of light upwards which makes long exposure photography problematic. Slept soon as tomorrow we finally enter Lahaul and Spiti.

[AnandB]

Day 6: Kalpa to Sumdo

We got up early at 6 am and left by 7.30. I wanted to get my car washed and it added another hour. We had to reach Dhankar while taking a detour to Gue Monastery. It was going to be a busy day because of the many scenic spots on the way.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=fKf1HvucKPU?feature=share

The first stop was at Khab Sangam Bridge. Its the confluence of Spiti and Sutlej rivers.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=mpzd8hlrS5E?feature=share

Made more stops on the way to Nako where we had lunch at Valley View hotel that's true to its name. After that a stop near Nako Helipad.

Mountain Viewing Point


Valley View Hotel


Nako Helipad

We drove on Nako-Tabo road and it was under repairs, probably as it recently opened up after winters.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=AvNiAN0d75w?feature=share

https://youtube.com/watch?v=AgsbV90L0CI?feature=share

Moonland Spiti

Found a great spot where I could go off-road down to the river.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=RIZP3zlng28?feature=share

https://youtube.com/watch?v=iHvZ4Z3UZ2I?feature=share

Soon we arrived at Sumdo check post. It has a nice informative board about Lahaul & Spiti:

So much useful info, should be distributed as a pamphlet

[AnandB]

Day 6 continued: Sumdo to Gue to Dhankar

After about 3 kms from Sumdo checkpoint you can take a turn towards Gue. Its about 12 kms to reach and the roads were not in good condition but manageable by all vehicles. The monastery houses a 500-year old mummy and because its proximity to China, all Apple devices location and time changes to China.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2cAGfG5FxlM?feature=share

500 year old mummy

We continued back on the main road stopping multiple times.

Lari Buddha Statue (now completed)


River View Point

We reached Needle Rock Formations Viewpoint just when it was golden hour. This was the best sunset on our whole trip.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=xP0jXzw5uW4?feature=share

https://youtube.com/watch?v=htkUsNpVxTk?feature=share

It was 7.15pm and we reached our hotel Dhankar Heights around an hour later. Our room here too was perfectly facing south as the core rises from south-east and moves to south-west. Clouds again covered the sky but was able to get a couple of shots with clear Milky Way.

After a busy day it was easy to fall asleep. Tomorrow we move to Mud village in Pin Valley.

[AnandB]

Day 7: Dhankar to Mud, Pin Valley

It was beautiful morning. We woke up around 8 and was 10am by the time we left.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=_9EB43cB7EY?feature=share

Instead of going back the way we came we took the Dhankar Monastery Ext road. Its a bit worse but it connects to the highway ahead and as such shorter overall. The car had covered almost 550km and even though I could just eek by visiting Mud and then eventually fueling at Kaza, I did not want to take a risk. I should have topped up the tank at Reckong Peo after leaving Kalpa. So decided to go to Kaza and then turn back to Pin Valley. Doing this added around 35kms overall.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vw50p5pl_4Q?feature=share

View of Spiti - Pin River Confluence from Dhankar Monastery Ext Rd.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=OqSOKU_h9XY?feature=share

Lingti Waterfall

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Uwe74AGnOHw?feature=share

Rock formations near Kaza

We reached Kaza around 11.30. The pump was quite busy and took almost half hour to fuel up. Now we turned around to cross Attargo bridge and reach the other side of Spiti river and enter Pin Valley.

We got to see 3 of the 4 animals but around Chicham

After some time we saw few Innovas down on the riverbed of Pin River and I took the opportunity to again do some off-roading.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2AKrB_0p53w?feature=share

Before you reach Mud village, there is a small village called Tailing across the river and you have to reach it using a wobbly wooden bridge.

We reached the village around 4.30pm. There is no network coverage in Mud. Because of this it is not easy to book or stay in touch with people there.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=DALalhnQvZM?feature=share

Met lots of furry friends over the whole trip

Our stay was at Gatuk Homestay. The room we got was quite small but manageable. It had an open roof and unobstructed view of the valley which was perfect. Got the camera setup and had to wait till 2am for the Milky Way to be in right position to take below shot. It was not an issue as i just sat on the roof stargazing.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=5w__iZuVaGk?feature=share

In hindsight this was the best place where i got clear skies and complete view of the core over 4+ hours. Having previously taken so many pictures for time lapse i was saving memory for the one i planned for later.

Very pleased with the results and it was an amazing place to be. Tomorrow we go to Kaza and cover Hikkim, Komic, and Langza.

[AnandB]

Day 8: Mud to Kaza/Hikkim/Komic/Langza

We left around 9.30am for our homestay in Kaza, Spiti River View. We decided to check-in then cover Hikkim/Komic/Langza. We planned to spend 2 nights here and cover Key/Kibber tomorrow. We reached our stay, checked-in, and were already on the way by 12.30pm.

We initially planned to go to Langza followed by Komic and Hikkim. But the direct route to Langza was closed because of landslide and we had to go around to Hikkim and reach Komic and Langza from there.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=V0e2ZTl41Js

View of Kaza at Dhar Lung Wooh Statue Point

Arrived at Hikkim just before 2pm. From here we could go straight to Komic or turn and take the road to Langza. First we stopped and visited the World's Highest Post Office.

Plague of stickers everywhere

There was a postcard/souvenir shop and an adjoining cafe. All 3 of us paid for cards to be posted to our homes. Only uncle from Pune received it after a month or two but my BiL and I haven't till date. We had some maggi at the cafe. On towards Komic Monastery which is only 3kms away.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=LPEFbNL99zI?feature=share

The altitude is around 15000 feet and you feel you are as high as the peaks you see. Uncle and I decided a spot on Komic - Langza road will be perfect and the highest point we could get for astrophotography. We planned to come here late night after 9pm and spend the night till sunrise. We had 2 nights to try and get this right depending on the forecast.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=5RbBfIzFd94

You can go directly to Langza via the Komic-Langza road, its around 10kms from here. It was just past 3pm when we reached Langza.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=BoJTB8XVH8s?feature=share

Langza Buddha Statue

There's a shortcut as you leave and I had to take it.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=8ueRHbsXxq8?feature=share

https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIS8HPkde3M

Breathtaking Vistas

It was past 4pm as we left for Kaza. We would have early dinner and if weather permitted come back up here for shoot before 9pm. It had been overcast the whole day and sadly it didn't improve even at night, so we dropped the plan. Had some catching up to do as we were back in network coverage and went to sleep.

[AnandB]

Day 9: Visiting Key & Kibber

Every morning before leaving I would check the Treel app and monitor tyre pressure. The rear right tyre was not fully deflated but kept dropping pressure after few hours. Found a repair shop a little past the Indian Oil pump and it was a minor puncture that was fixed. I was happy with the roads of Himachal as compared to Ladakh all were easily traversable by everyone (spoiler: I had yet to take the route to Manali). We left for Key and Kibber past 12pm.

Past the Monastery

Past the monastery, before the above statues, there are couple of paths you can take to hike up the sides of the mountain. I wanted to take the typical Key Monastery pic which you see associated with Spiti everywhere. We could get that if we hiked up those paths. We decided we would come back here just before sunset. We had lunch at the restaurant next to Monastery parking. They also have few rooms they rent out and we decided to pay some amount to rest for couple of hours before evening. After that we visited Kibber which is just 15 mins away.

We were back at Key Monastery before 6.30pm and started our hike up to get the shots.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=u43Iq_c9YqE?feature=share

Happy with the outing it was time to go back to Kaza. It was 7.30pm as we left the monastery parking. Since it was my last night at Kaza I wanted to go back to Komic-Langza road from yesterday and picture whatever possible. My BiL dropped out but uncle wanted to tag along even though it was still cloudy. We came back, had quick dinner, and left the homestay by 8.45pm.

It was completely dark and the Hikkim road wasn't great but we managed to reach up top past 10pm. We scouted around for a spot taking some long exposure shots and found a decent one where were could safely put our tripods with car nearby.

It was still quite cloudy as you can see in the above pic but similar to Tso Moriri last year, the clouds might clear up. We set up the cameras and started the timer. It was quite cold around 5° and uncle went to sleep inside the car. I could not sleep and kept a watch on the sky and our equipment from time to time. When there were no clouds the night sky was majestic. The temp had dropped to around 0° making it harder to stay out. After 3.40am light from the sun had started affecting the pictures as it was astronomical twilight although it was still dark for our eyes. We gathered our equipment and left around 4.15am.

Although I could not know what the outcome would be like I had high hopes. On the way we both got a scare as we saw an old lady(?) walking very slowly on the side of the road in chilly weather. We dared not to slow down and kept looking straight ahead. One mystery we didn't want to solve. We reached Kaza around 5.30am and quickly went to sleep. My main reason for making the trip (astrophotography) was completed and anything from here on would be a bonus.

My camera took its first time-lapse shot at 10.39pm and after more than 1400 shots I stopped it at 3.56am. The sky did clear up around 2.30am (at 33sec in the below video) giving a clear view of the galactic core and the Milky Way towards the end. Suffice to say I am elated with how it turned out.

https://youtu.be/L1v7kWask7U

The Milky Way image in the opening post is a stack of 20 pics from the above set.

[AnandB]

Day 10: Kaza to Chicham

After yesterday night's adventure we left for Chicham around noon. Our reason for spending a couple of nights in Chicham was to photograph the wildlife around Chicham and Kibber. Uncle knew a wonderful guy Gompo who owns the place called The Cold Desert homestay in Chicham where we would be staying. Videographers from NatGeo/Netflix and others have stayed here for months and he helps arrange or takes part himself in tracking wildlife especially snow leopards. You can easily spot snow leopards during winter months.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=dmlQO36vkrM?feature=share

We stopped at Chicham Bridge for around 20 mins and continued to our homestay.

Looking back towards the bridge (center-left)

We checked-in and had lunch. Rested a bit and met Gompo. He took us around in the evening as there were groups of Himalayan Ibex nearby.

The seniors


The adults


The kids

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Lw1HFKBYeoo?feature=share

https://youtube.com/watch?v=yIx0EuNOf-4?feature=share

We spent around 2 hours here watching the Ibex move and graze while also enjoying the sunset views. Gompo was busy with his binoculars trying to spot a snow leopard on the off chance one is resting/sleeping on the steep sides of the gorge. They can sometimes be found nearby other wildlife but prefer to sleep during the day with movement only in evening or afterwards.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=cx-B0svxMtk?feature=share

It was night as we got back to the homestay. We had dinner and discussed plans for tomorrow. We would leave early around 6am, do lot of hiking, find blue sheep, and maybe a snow leopard too.

[AnandB]

Day 11: Exploring Chicham, Kee, & Kibber

We left around 6.30am with breakfast and lunch packed. We had no idea what exactly we would do but it turned out to be fun day with lot of exploration and hiking. Places you would not normally visit and views that require exploration.

Was a good start to the day taking the Kodiaq around to reach places.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=QWIHjaZzInk?feature=share

First stop was a viewpoint which is right above Key Monastery and takes little bit of hiking.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=m_PHuW6e0c8?feature=share

Gette Chorten

A little north-east we found 2 small ponds. Gompo went ahead in search of Blue Sheep while we had our breakfast by the pond, rested, and took photographs.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=8rybqhUHAi4?feature=share

A wild bear spotted

No other animals spotted so we moved to a different location. After driving around we parked the car here as Gompo had spotted some Blue Sheep up on the mountain so we started the hike up around 10am. We took our time resting every-time we needed to. Over an hour later we finally got to see a group of female Blue Sheep with their kids.

Not Blue

After photographing them we climbed a bit more towards the edges. We could see the whole Spiti Valley from here. The whole experience in a short video:

https://youtu.be/bWZXy81y1Zc

This spot in the background (use satellite layer)

After coming down we drove to another spot where we found group of male Blue Sheep.

You can differentiate the males by their horns

Gompo spotted a pair of Ruddy Shelducks nearby a small pond but were quite far away. This took lot of crop even after 300x zoom.

Sadly no Snow Leopard was spotted either times following the sheep. There are local spotters who inform guides about sightings but Gompo couldn't get any confirmed sightings.

We came back a bit disappointed even though we knew the chances were minuscule. We were tired after all the hiking so quickly dozed off. Before sleeping I jokingly said to guys that if tomorrow on the way to Chandratal we got a call about a confirmed sighting I will turn the car back...

[AnandB]

Day 12:

C̶h̶i̶c̶h̶a̶m̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶C̶h̶a̶n̶d̶r̶a̶t̶a̶l

Snow Leopard Excursion

It was our last day in Spiti with a night stay at Chandratal. Last year I had dropped my plan to visit Chandratal at the end of our Ladakh trip so I was very excited to visit it this time. We woke up around 8am, had breakfast and checked out around 10.30am. We took the turn from Chicham that connects to Losar on NH-505 which meant we would be driving on the right side of the valley. 15kms out Gompo calls on my phone hurriedly asking how far we are out. I ask why and he says a Snow Leopard has been spotted and if we want to see it we need to immediately come back and it will require lot of hiking to reach the spot. What I jokingly said last night actually came true! I asked my companions and they resoundingly said yes. I called back Gompo who said to come back to the homestay where a guide and food will be ready. It took an hour to get back, pick up the guide and food, and be on the way.

The guide told we need to park off the main road and hike from there. He enquired if the car is 4x4 and can go off-road on a track used by tractors as by taking that route will shave more than an hour of hiking. Going off-road and less hiking was an easy decision. This was going to be real challenge for the Kodiaq as its not a true off-road car.

https://youtu.be/3AD364hf2jk

The off-road drive

We reached the point where the car couldn't go any further. It was time to start our hike. Below is the route map we did this day:

Requires zoom in for details

https://youtube.com/watch?v=PCdAYi7Dmmk?feature=share

On the way we met a spotter who was going back but thankfully said a snow leopard is resting up ahead. We were about 5min hike from the final point where we would spend camping and we could 4-5 people already there. Our guide with his binoculars confirmed there was leopard. We quickly took out our cameras with zoom lenses trying to spot it. I could faintly make out something that looked like a leopard.

Can you see it? Shot taken at 2.13pm

We moved closer to the final camping spot excited that we could photograph it head on. But just as we reached the final spot the other guide already there told us that the leopard changed it position. I took another shot of previous spot and it did move away.

Spot the difference with previous pic. Taken at 2.19pm

According to our guide the guys that were already there started moving around in the open which the leopard noticed and moved to another spot nearby to hide itself. It was extremely annoying and disappointing. Thankfully the spotters had kept track of it and it had moved to the right behind some bushes with only small part of its head or body visible. Now we had to wait and watch.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=nHAjuKAr8UY?feature=share

The leopard was at a distance of 300-400m


It was a heavenly place to be. It got windy and chilly as the sun hid behind the clouds.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=TTTrsC-kcI0?feature=share

The leopard teased us from time to time as it shifted around while sleeping. Soon it was evening and leopard was awake and aware of us. It stayed in its spot for some more time watching us.

5.16pm


5.56pm

By 6.15pm it had been 4 hours at this spot and leopard didn't show signs of shifting. The sun would set after 7pm and will be dark after 7.30pm. We decided to wait for half an hour more in hope. After a while one of the spotter exclaimed that the leopard moved! I was already on the camera and tried to find it. It was in full view for less than 30 seconds before it went down behind a crevice. I was able to click a couple of shots. Finally at 6.41pm i took this snap:

We start our hike back to the car. Its a beautiful sunset.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=H5L34qjB3Uk?feature=share

Soon we have to use our flashlights for the rest of the hike. We reach our car and it took a bit of maneuvering to turn it around because of lack of space. Its 8.45pm when we finally are on the main road.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=03260fdyDjs?feature=share

Just before touching the main road

Gompo meets us at the homestay. We thank him for today and share today's adventure. All of us are overjoyed as we did not expect to be able to see a snow leopard in such short time and this time of the year in summer. It was a good night's sleep.

[AnandB]

Day 13: Chicham to Chandratal to Manali

We kept a buffer day for exactly the reason like yesterday. The problem was we had no booking at Chandratal for today. Uncle tried to connect to Jamaica's camp but they were unable to rebook because of full reservations. We tried a couple more but none could confirm and because of no connectivity at Chandratal our only chance was to find one when we get there. We left around 10.30am.

As we descended down there is point where you can go down onto the riverbed. As usual I was not going to miss the chance.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=nGaiWgDbgh0

Soon we joined NH-505 and continued to Kunzum Pass stopping at Losar for lunch. Another viewpoint off the road.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=VGEj-zfb7rk?feature=share

From here you turn towards the pass and soon after all the good paved roads are over.

We reached Kunzum top just past 3pm and started our descent.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=937uqOi38ug?feature=share

https://youtu.be/PGutmnmhJi4

An hour later we took the turn towards Chandratal instead of continuing to Batal. A little bit later the traffic had stopped because a Maruti Ciaz was stuck at a water crossing. It had to be pushed out. I now wonder how much under body damage the car took coming here and hopefully they didn't proceed to Manali.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=6a-W9B8pqN8

The roads aren't great with worse parts yet to come tonight. We reached the camps around 4.45pm and none had vacancies. They said to inquire later in the evening if there are no-shows. We continued ahead to the lake. We reached the lake parking around 5.15pm. You have to walk a little to reach the lake.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Eg9Ay8VX37A?feature=share

I enjoyed the scenery and sunset past 7pm.

It was 7.45pm as we left the parking. We had decided to skip staying the night and plough through and reach Manali. It was going to be trying but I wanted to get it over it and not waste a night. As we crossed the checkpost near camps we got scolded for staying up so late which I wasn't aware was not allowed. We reached the famous Chacha Chachi Dhaba at Batal around 9pm and just in time as they were closing shop. Much needed maggie and omelette for the journey ahead.

We left Batal at 9.45pm and worst roads I have ever seen had just started. It is actually no road. Couple of times had to reverse around as it was hard to figure out the right path at night. There were loads of ice-formations besides the roads and lots of water streams and can understand why the route is so hard to build and maintain. I assume the route is exceptionally beautiful and regret I could have enjoyed it if had stayed at Chandratal. It took us just over 4h30m to cover 63kms from Batal to Atal Tunnel. The speed never went above 10-15km/h on bad roads till Gramphu.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=J3oKWId2bIE?feature=share

It took us another hour to reach Manali and find a hotel to spend the night.