[turboNath]

Quick Question
Q1. What's better than one Thar going on a Winter Spiti Expedition?
A1. 36 Thars going on a Winter Spiti Expedition!

Here's a sneak peek !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o967inYslY

Prelude

It was back in July 2022 when I first drove down to Bangalore from Kolkata. My office was finally opening up after the pandemic and we were asked to visit the workplace at least one/two days in a week. I was looking for excuses to drive our newly acquired 'Fern' (Thar P/MT/HT) and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to explore its onroad manners. My father and I cramped all our luggage in the back of the Thar and we just started our journey from Kolkata (both nervous and excited at the same time). After landing in the Garden City, I got in touch with a few bhpians and Robi connected me with Vasthav from the Thar Bengaluru Group. The group comprises some amazing people who can cook up brilliant offroading plans at the drop of a hat. And just like that I saw a message to put down out our names on a list for Winter Spiti Expedition. The dates were not finalized back then and yet people were just going on adding names at a rapid pace. Within the next couple of hours or so, the list exploded with over 60 entries and I was really surprised to see this kind of enthusiasm for a trip which seemed as distant as the Himalayan range itself.

Time flies by in this city and soon we were in October (and things were starting to heat up). By then, I had clocked around 7k kms and I was starting to get used to this car that drove and handled like a boat and still managed to put a big smile on my face every damn time. When the dates were finally announced, I still couldn't believe that we were just two months away from this trip of a lifetime ! And with the dates came the extensive planning (and shopping part). A quick weather check on Google revealed that we were going to face temperatures in the mid 20s in Kaza (prefixed with a '-' sign) and this meant frequent trips (both online and offline) to Decathlon & Columbia stores were on the horizon. The expedition partner 'Blue Mountain Expeditions' came onboard during this time and it finally felt like we were about to step into the execution phase of this monumental plan ! While most of the members from the group were going to drive down to Chandigarh from Bangalore(via Gwalior-Nagpur route), I thought of starting early and taking a 'strategic' pit stop in Kolkata before driving down to Chandigarh.

The drive from Bangalore to Kolkata was mostly mile munching and Fern chugged along happily, gulping down poor million year old fossils like a thirsty traveler in the Sahara (or should I say Thar) desert ! I took 6 fuel stops to cover this 1893km long journey and Vaidya (Indian Oil's mascot Rhino) was winking at me from every single IOCL billboard !

Back in Kolkata, I got the 10k servicing done from Royal Motors (at the 9k kms mark) and we were finally ready to hit the road.

Our plan was something like this -

Day 1 (23rd Dec 2022) : Kolkata to Chandigarh
Day 2 : Vehicle check up & coolant replacement at Chandigarh
Day 3 : Chandigarh to Theog
Day 4 : Theog to Kalpa
Day 5 : Kalpa to Kaza
Day 6 : Kaza
Day 7 : Kaza to Tabo
Day 8 : Tabo to Chitkul/Rakcham
Day 9 : Rakcham to Theog
Day 10 : Theog to Pench National Park
Day 11 : Pench to Bangalore

The calm before the storm

We started our drive from Kolkata at 5pm on 23rd December and Fern seemed to be brimming with excitement on her maiden trip to the Himalayas.
For those who enjoy their music during long drives, having a perfectly curated playlist is very important. And when I am travelling with my father riding shotgun, I have a playlist that covers an insanely wide spectrum of songs from our favorite artists. The silent mStallion was revving along smoothly and we had just crossed the now-infamous Dankuni toll plaza (traffic was lighter than usual). While we were busy singing 'Turn the Page' along with Bob Seger (completely out of tune but never mind that), IT cropped up.

The dashboard blinked for a moment and a message flashed across the MID - 'Check Engine System' and that cute little 'Engine!' icon lit up. Kudos to whoever designed that icon because that person was straight to the point. No drama, no greek icons, just pure 'Engine!' complete with an exclamation mark to further enhance the criticality !

The storm

I was half expecting the car to go into a limp mode but nothing of that sort happened. I pulled over to the shoulder and dropped a note in our WhatsApp Group about the observation. Immediately I got a call back from Mr.Prahlad Kulkarni (Head of Customer Care M&M Karnataka). He asked me turn off and turn the vehicle on again and also suggested getting it checked at the nearest service station. After turning it back on the light vanished and we continued our journey with a tiny dark cloud over our heads. The engine temperature gauge was at its usual level and there was absolutely no performance degradation. Fern seemed as eager as before and this seemed to allay our fears a bit. But as soon as we crossed Asansol that light came back on. I immediately contacted Prahlad and he reassured us that he will get the vehicle diagnosed asap. By this time it was already around 8:30pm and all the service centres were closed. We received a call back from Prahlad and he informed us that he was co-ordinating with Mr.Anshuman (CCM) to set up a team at the nearest Dhanbad dealership to get the vehicle checked on priority. We reached the M&M dealership (Model Fuels) in Dhanbad at 8:00pm and Prahlad's team was ready to receive our vehicle. We couldn't believe that someone would actually go this far to set up a team at such a short notice (and that too outside regular workshop hours) to solve the issue. The technicians at Model fuels hooked up their laptop and the error code received was - 'Engine Oil Pressure Negative Deviation Error'.

After multiple diagnosis and trial runs, the possible solution came up to be the replacement of the oil pressure sensor and (or) the oil pump, both of which were not in stock at the dealership.

The team at Model Fuels led by Mr. Ajay Singh was super hospitable and they even arranged for our dinner while this troubleshooting was in progress. At this point the technical team gave us two options - i)Stay the night at Dhanbad and they will get the parts replaced by the following day and ii)Continue to Chandigarh with a reduced speed (< 100kmph) taking breaks of 15-30 minutes after every 300kms and then get those parts replaced during the scheduled coolant change at Chandigarh. Meanwhile they would also keep the RSA teams along the route updated incase the vehicle needed to get towed.
We decided to opt for the second option and hit the road again at 11:30pm. While the issue was not resolved, our faith in Mahindra's customer support got multiplied tenfold.

Chandigarh was still some 1550kms away and we were constantly driving at 80-90kmph. With this drastically reduced paced, the journey seemed never ending but we soldiered on. Throughout the drive, the light would go off whenever we shut down the engine and then come back again after 20-30kms of running. Prahlad and his team were constantly checking in on us throughout the drive and that was a huge mental support for Fern and her occupants. Also a huge shoutout to Kolkata bhpians Samba, ABHI_1512, dip27in, mountain_deep for calling up at regular intervals (in the middle of the night) and encouraging us to fight it out!

We finally reached Chandigarh at 10pm on the following day. Total time taken to cover those 1800 odd kms : 29 hours (driving time was ~ 24 hours).

The storm continues


Mahindra had allocated two service centres on Sunday to get our vehicles checked up and change the coolant to a different grade for handling extremely low temperatures. We dropped off Fern at Harbir Service Centre in Chandigarh and proceeded towards Sukhna lake for birding. The afternoon was spent in the company of our favourite winged friends which included Brahminy Ducks, Grey Herons, Egyptian Vulture and few hyper active warblers. It was almost 5pm by the time we reached the service centre. Much to our surprise, the service centre folks had only changed the coolant till then and the critical check engine issue was still not resolved. After few followups they changed the oil pressure sensor and the vehicle went for a test drive. By this time it was well past 6:30 pm and most of the mechanics were signing out for the day. The car came back and the check engine light was still on. The next action item on their checklist was to replace the oil pump which is a pretty time consuming process. Prahlad worked his magic yet again , this time with the CCM Mr.Shankar Mishra and assembled a team of ‘avengers’ to save the day. Four technicians worked at a lightning pace and got the job done within 1.5 hours. By this time it was almost 10pm and there was pin drop silence all around.

As Fern roared back to life, the chief mechanic suspected that the engine was sounding different. No one had heard the mstallion engine’s idling noise at such a silent setting before and that added to the already sky high levels of anxiety. There weren’t any petrol thars in the service centre to cross check and I called up Vasthav for help. He immediately agreed to send over his vehicle with Anil & John (Senior Mahindra Technicians) and thus began yet another wait for the second mstallion’s voice. As Anil was pulling up to the main entrance, the mechanics shouted out in delight since the sound was perfectly matching with Fern’s four cylinder symphony. They immediately went for a long test drive and 30 anxious minutes later came back with the news that we have been waiting for the last 24 hours. Fern was fine atlast. The clock was nearing 11:30 pm and we were 9 hours away from the flag off ! We thanked the team profusely and proceeded towards Pal Dhaba to celebrate the occasion over a round of hot chicken tandoori.

Spiti now seemed closer than ever before !

The expedition begins

The convoy finally started for Theog around 10am from our hotel (Golden Palms) in Zirakpur and the very first stop was at a petrol bunk in Solan. Traffic was moderate to heavy but the road condition was splendid barring few under construction stretches. Fearing a traffic jam in Shimla, we took the Chail road and finally merged with NH-5 at Kufri. While the road was a bit narrow, Fern seemed to enjoy the corners as she powered on through the winding tarmac, floating like a boat and yet still managing to stick to the line. We reached our hotel(De Exotica Crest) at around 1:30pm and were instantly blown away by the sight of it.

It seemed like a lite version of the Overlook hotel which ‘starred’ in one of my favourite movies - ‘The Shining’. The entire hotel is located at the top of a hill overlooking the Taj. It offers amazing views of the surrounding valley covered with a thick green forest and if you’re lucky you might also get to witness a stunning sunset sequence.

Being the very first day of our expedition, we didn't have too many plans for 26th December. The team from Blue Mountain Expeditions (Dheeraj, DJ & Rajiv) joined us post lunch and we had a quick briefing session before dinner. Some of the key points discussed revolved around maintaining the convoy, planning for fuel stops and basic do's and don'ts for a snow drive.

The very next morning as I came out of our room, I was awestruck by the sheer presence of so many Thars which had gobbled up the entire parking space of the hotel !

[turboNath]

Day 1 - Theog to Kalpa

After a roller coaster drive from Kolkata to Theog, D-Day had finally arrived. As we lined up for the flag off, our hearts were beating faster in anticipation of the adventure that lay in front of us. Our walkie-talkie crackled back into life as Dheeraj gave us the 'Go-ahead !' and we rolled forward towards Kalpa ! It felt spectacular to see so many Thars taking those winding roads in a convoy which stretched for more than a kilometer in length. We stopped for a quick photoshoot near Narkanda and that gave us the first glimpse of the snow clad peaks which seemed to lure us to explore those dizzying heights.

While I normally prefer to drive with minimal stops, I couldn't help but stop at multiple places to take in the beauty of Himachal. At one time, we passed through an arch shaped bridge which definitely warranted a drone shot.

We also encountered a small cliff hanger section on this route and didn't want to miss a photo-op.

Apart from these, there were multiple other pitstops along the Sutlej river which further delayed us(happily).

Fern seemed to be in her natural habitat and thus looked extremely photogenic amongst the lofty peaks.

Thanks to all the breaks, it was late in the evening by the time we reached Kalpa. The narrow lane in front of our hotel lit up with the headlight beams and the entire neighborhood bore a festive look.

Located at an altitude of ~10k feet, the small town of Kalpa, nestled between the Kinnaur Kailash range, is mostly famous for its delicious Kinnauri apples and stunning views of the Shivling peak. We were lucky to experience both of them on the following day as we prepared to depart for our next destination - Kaza.

[turboNath]

Day 2 - Kalpa to Kaza

Kaza is located around 220kms away from Kalpa and it takes less than 6 hours to cover this beautiful stretch thanks to the excellent roads. However we wanted to take time out and soak in all the sights and sounds and thus decided to depart early at 9am. We tanked up near Reckong Peo once again and drove down straight towards Nako.

By this time the landscape had changed dramatically with the lush green forests giving way to barren and rugged terrain with snow-capped peaks in the background.

Our first meet up point was near the confluence of the Sutlej & Spiti rivers.

It was a humbling experience to sit by the confluence of two of the most influential rivers which had helped shape up the Indus Valley Civilization. The lofty peaks surrounding the confluence stood as the only witnesses to the changes that had swept through this historic landscape.

As we continued towards Kaza, our next stop was at Nako to congregate at the Helipad.

Some of went to explore the nearby Nako lake as well. I couldn't resist the urge to take a drone shot of the beautiful frozen lake surrounded by the barren trees, set in the backdrop of snowclad peaks.

Post Nako, we crossed the infamous Malling Nala and proceeded towards Dhankar. The landscape at Dhankar is other-worldly and I would highly encourage everyone to explore the 'Moonland' atleast once while travelling to Spiti. Thanks to the drone we were able to capture the unique landforms which are a direct consequence of perennial erosion that has been going on since millions of years.

The Spiti river takes a serpentine course through this region and the whole landscape looks spectacular.

A little bit ahead of Dhankar, the gravel road runs right next to the river and this provides easy access to the river bed. We didn't need any persuasion to jump in and drive through the freezing cold water as throughout the journey we were hunting for places to engage 'that' lever. I got down from the vehicle and asked my father to drive on, pretending the river was the actual highway to Kaza. Fern trudged along nonchalantly in 4H 1st gear while I took some tracking shots from the river bank.

Few moments later, many Thars joined us and most of us stayed back till late evening, absorbing every bit of that radiant sunset and the color changing mountains.

Right before entering Spiti, we saw a frozen waterfall next to a Bailey bridge which seemed to herald the arrival of Winter in the cold desert. As GoT fans would proclaim, Winter was finally here and boy were we elated !

It was dark by the time we finally reached our homestay in Kaza (after a quick fuel stop at the highest IOCL outlet in the world).
6 months back, when we were buying the Thar, I told my father that I wanted the Petrol version since it will be easy to start in extreme cold weather conditions like Winter Spiti (which was a distant dream back then). We couldn't believe that we were finally standing here at Kaza with our enabler, Fern next to us. It seemed way too surreal to actually believe that we made it in spite of so many challenges along the way!

[turboNath]

Day 3 - Kaza

The sleepy town of Kaza, located at height of ~12k feet is flanked by snowcapped peaks on both sides while the Spiti river gently caresses the town's perimeter.

I woke up at 7am and rushed outside with my drone to capture the stunning views (which we had missed on the previous night). It was freezing cold and I couldn't feel the existence of my fingers after a 10 minute flight but still the panoramic view pushed me to continue flying that noisy little insect !

The day's plan involved exploring some of the local PoIs around Kaza which included Langza Buddha Statue, Komic Monaestery & Hikkim while Kee & Kibber were reserved for the following day.

The drive to Langza Buddha Point was a short one (~20kms) and it took us through some beautiful winding roads with gentle gradient.

Millions of years ago, Langza was submerged under the Tethys Sea and consequently, even to this date plenty of fossils are discovered from that region.

From Langza we headed straight towards Komic, the highest village in the world which is connected by a motorable road. The name Komic is especially endearing to birders as it translates to 'Eye of the snowcock' which is a chunky member of the pheasant family, found in higher altitude regions.

A little bit further away from Komic I came across this frozen waterbody which provided a sharp contrast with the otherwise melancholic brown soil of the cold desert.

If you have managed to read till here, you must be wondering about the elephant in the room. I had started this TL with the promise of a Winter Spiti Expedition but till this point there hasn't been a single mm of precipitation ! When we arrived at Theog, our trustworthy weatherman (Accuweather) informed us about the possibility(~69%) of a snowstorm on 29th December but at that time we had just brushed it off for obvious reasons. Now coming back to Komic, we suddenly noticed that the distant horizon was dotted with dark clouds. Within few minutes it started to snow, one flake at a time and we went absolutely nuts.

Most of us had experienced snowfall previously but this felt completely different. 5-10 minutes later, those little snowflakes had started to gather around Fern and the entire region went through a magical transformation.

The drive to Hikkim from Komic took us through gravel roads which were covered with a fresh white layer of snow. As Fern carved out her tread marks, we got busy with preserving those moments through tiny magical things called pixels.

And here's Hikkim, the highest post office in the world.

While returning back to Kaza, the Spiti river seemed way too tempting and most of us jumped right back in.

We continued to experience intermittent snowfall till late night at Kaza.

[turboNath]

Day 4 - Kaza to Tabo (via Kee & Kibber)

We were incredibly lucky to arrive in Kaza at an astounding moment. It was that time of the year when Kaza was undergoing its metamorphosis from its usual barren cold desert attire into a winter wonderland. These two images were taken a day apart. See the magic in front of you!

Kaza looked like a fairytale and I wanted to just stand still and gaze at the landscape forever.

The drive from Kaza to Kee was supposed to take us less than 30 minutes but we ended up covering it in 2 hours for all the wrong reasons. I was taking a tracking shot of Fern and the drone suddenly lost connection with the controller and went into auto-RTH mode. Due to the absence of a frontal collision avoidance feature, it crashed against the side of a mountain and got stuck within a shrub.

I tried multiple ways to track it but thanks to the wind noise I was unable to hear the emergency beeping sound. Fortunately it continued to record even after crashing and that helped me to orient myself with the drone, moments before the accident. Tallying it with the location shown on the map, I narrowed down the search area within a 10 feet radius and started climbing up the mountain slope on for wheels (err hands & feet). Loose rocks made the uphill climb extremely difficult but I somehow managed to reach it and immediately sat down gasping for breath. Three propellers were broken but the gimbal and the lens seemed to be absolutely fine (the shrub had acted as a cushion). I put it inside my jacket and slid down the mountain slope desperately hoping to fix it as soon as possible.

On reaching the parking lot of the Kee Monaestery, I immediately replaced the damaged props with the extra ones(which I always carry with me). I couldn't 'see' any other damage to the drone and decided to try out a test flight with a child-like anticipation.

Here's the result -

I was overjoyed to see it take to the skies once again and return back with 4k footages of the magnificent Kee Monaestery. Greatly relieved, we continued our journey towards Kibber, the abode of the Snow Leopards.

We were constantly scanning the mountain side for any sign of the Grey Ghost but its supreme camouflage kept it safely hidden from our peripheral vision. We stopped for a bit to enjoy the view and take a few drone shots of the spectacular landscape.

From Kibber we proceeded towards Chicham, the highest bridge in Asia located at an altitude of ~13.5k feet.

It connects the two villages of Chicham & Kibber and overlooks a deep gorge which is named after our distinguished bhpian - 'Samba' Lamba Nallah !

While coming back, we took a brief stop to refuel Fern and grab a quick lunch, before proceeding towards Tabo.

Right after crossing Kaza, we came across these unique rock formations which seemed to host a healthy population of Chukhar Partridges.

We reached Tabo by late afternoon and decided to visit the historic Tabo Monastery which is often referred to as 'Ajanta of the Himalayas'.

[turboNath]

Day 5 - Tabo to Rakcham/Chitkul

We departed early from Tabo at 7am since Chitkul was almost 220kms away. The road till Karcham Dam was fantastic but the last 50km stretch (Karcham - Rakcham) was in a very bad shape. This pothole-ridden road is a bit narrow in certain sections and there's always a chance of meeting HPTDC buses at the blind turns.

We checked in to our Hotel in Rakcham and then continued towards Chitkul, the last inhabited village near the Indo-China border. Parts of Chitkul were already under a thick blanket of snow and the entire valley looked surreal !

Here's Fern in front of the ITBP checkpost !

And here's why our hearts always want to go back to the Himalayas.

The expedition ends

Bidding adieu to Rakcham, the entire convoy started the downhill drive back to our base in Theog. It was hard to believe that this dream was slowly coming to an end. The exciting mountainous section of this road trip was now behind us and in front lay the mile munching section back to Bangalore. During our drive from Theog to Bangalore, we decided to take a night stop at Pench National Park (and also squeeze in an evening safari).

Here we were blessed with a beautiful leopard sighting .

Curtains

This entire journey has indeed been a humbling experience for Fern and her two passengers.

Thanks to this trip, I got a chance to meet the fantastic set of people behind 'Thar Bengaluru' which also included bhpians Robi & Karthik.

This trip would not have been possible without the incredible support from Mahindra in the form of Mr.Prahlad and his excellent team.

A huge shoutout to Blue Mountain Expeditions for managing this trip in such a remarkable way. I am sure the logistics would have been a nightmare but you guys have totally nailed it!

And last but not the least, Fern, you have been an absolute champion through every thick and thin. You have truly been an enabler for us and for that you will always have our heart !

We can't wait to go back. Can you ?

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[thirugata]

Great narration and awesome photographs. Thanks for sharing.
I was hoping to see some photos of birds from this region along with mountains, snow and Thar. (greedy me)

[edunata]

Absolutely amazing travelogue. Breathtaking pictures.

[boniver]

Read this early in the morning, but waited to read it once more later and then reply. Wonderful pictures coupled with a very vivid narration! You're truly living the life that many of us wish for, and I salute you for that. Looking forward to many more such travelogues from you, and hope to travel together some day!

[Samba]

Brilliant! I was waiting for this travelogue to come up. After reading the full travelogue, all I can say is, the wait was worth it. The way you have narrated the story, it clearly portrays your love for the Himalaya.

At the end how can a travelogue from Turbonath be complete without a touch of wildlife! The Leopard from Pench was the icing on the cake.
Rated a well deserved 5*.

In 2018, I visited Spiti in summer, and in 2023 I visited in January. All I can say is, there is a stark difference during summers and winters. One must visit Spiti in summer and winter both!

Sharing the pic of Kee monastery from two different time of the year.

May 2018



Jan 2023



The link of our travelogue from Jan 2023 -
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...now-drive.html (Sailed through Winter Spiti in three Duster AWDs : Snow Drive)

[robimahanta]

Lovely narration and drone images. Relived the entire trip again with your travelogue. Looking forward to many more trips with the group.

Sharing an image from Pin Valley from the drive

[haisaikat]

Are you kidding me? This is not a TL, rather a script of a future episode of BBC Earth series accidentally leaked on TBHP. That cinematic intro I will remember for a long time.

The trip had so many things that were extraordinary, starting from a 24 hr marathon drive with a constrained vehicle ending up covering 1800 KM and stopping directly at Chandigarh (I think its a record on this forum), the Accuweather showing weird temperatures in Theog , the drone getting stuck and you finding it back after a hill climb, you handled all adversities aptly and held the courage to tackle them. Fern gave you more adventure on NH-19 than on Spiti , driving the car at crawling speeds (by your standards) and turning it on and off every 30 Km, that too travelling during night with such uncertainty.

The aerial shots are pure visual treat, the world looks so different from above and such beautiful that we cannot comprehend otherwise. I can sense somewhat the excitement of Fern conquering Spiti with 35 brothers. Kudos to your father too for being the ideal companion in such a long journey, you are lucky to have him. And none of your trip is complete without a glimpse of wildlife these days and a majestic photo of the cat sealed the ending in style. Keep travelling and sharing more such journeys, rated 5 stars.

[gypsygenes]

Thank you for the lovely drone shots, video and the travelogue @turboNath. I am a 4WD enthusiast too. I have been saving up for a 4X4.

I have mixed feelings about fording through the rivers in SUVs if it is not absolutely necessary. There's just so much dependency downstream of every river in India, quality-wise and ecologically that I wouldn't wish to create any unnecessary impact by driving vehicles if I can help it.

The state of our rivers and Himalayan ecology is threadbare right now, in my understanding.

On a different note, loved those Thar shots. Here's a PJ I could think of as I saw those photos -
Q: How did the drivers feel when they arrived in Kaza?
A: Sab thar-thar kaap rahe the.

[Manudon]

What an amazing write up! Beautiful pictures backed by vivid narration.

I had done the same roads back in 2015 on my old std 350, and it was amazing to see that while the roads are ready now (back then they were all under construction), the natural formations remain the same.

This has certainly inspired at least me to start planning for a return trip.