[Jajabor]

Expedition Members : Yours truly, Nomi (My better half), Anaya (Our 8 years old Daughter)
Dr.Hrishikesh Bora Tbhp handle pyrodrive, Jiny (Hrishi’s wife)


Vehicle: Nissan Kicks XV 1.5 NA


Total Kms Covered: 6000


Itinerary:
Guwahati > Darbhanga > Varanasi > Lucknow > Agra > Delhi > Narkanda > Kalpa > Nako > Tabo > Kaza > Lhanza > Komic > Hikkim > Kaza > Chitkul > Sangla > Zirakpur > Delhi > Lucknow > Darbhanga > Guwahati

Dates: 07/04 to 22/04


Since I did my Leh Ladakh Expedition in 2021 on my Mahindra Thar CRDE I wanted to do the Spiti circuit specially the winter Spiti getting motivated by the various Expedition companies on their winter Spiti 4WD Expeditions but for that I would need to take my Thar again but I was pretty sure that Thar CRDE would struggle in winter Spiti specially in the mornings and cold start would be a huge problem in -25 to -35 temperatures and on top of that Hrishi was not keen on doing Spiti through some expedition company so we decided to do Spiti in April with my Nissan Kicks purchased on 03/01/22 as 4WD not required at that time.

So, now preparations started as late as March’24 and dates finalized accordingly as my father passed away in January ’24 and my family decided to do the Asthi visarjan in Varanasi in the holy Ganges in april. It was decided that me, Nomi and Anaya will drive down to Delhi via Varanasi from Guwahati and Hrishi and Jiny will fly down to Delhi on 14/04 and join us from Delhi.

Vehicle Preparation: Post second service vehicle had done only about 2000 Kms so a general checkup was done in Binod Nissan the only Nissan ASC in Guwahati and I carried the usual stuffs like tyre inflator, puncture repair kit, coolant, jump start cable, etc.


Self Preparation: Warm clothes, warm head gear, essential medicines (Diamox), extra pair of shoes, Crocs, Gum Boots, Food bag, water, etc.

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Kicks at Nissan ASC for Checkup

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[Jajabor]

Day 1: 07/04 Guwahati to Darbhanga (765 Kms)

Started from home at 3:40 am as have learnt in the last few years one can cover a lot of distance if started early we crossed Siliguri by 12:30pm after that took the other shorter route through Bagdogra, Thakurganj to enter Bihar where 4 lane construction was going on and a lot of mess due to a lot of diversions took 4 hours to cover 125 Kms finally to check-in to a great property on the highway 32 Kms before Darbhanga The Great Mithila with a huge compound and safe parking with a multicuisine restaurant with good food.

Day 2 : 08/04 Darbhanga to Varanasi (380 Kms)

Started by 7:30 am had packed our breakfast to have it on the way this time again Gmap took us through a inner road through Chapra and we got stuck in huge truck and tractor trolley pileup which were hauling sand on a bridge over the Ganga river, I have never seen such a huge line up of trucks somehow we managed to squeezed out in 2 hrs and entered UP through Buxar border where again I took the old highway to Varanasi by mistake instead of the new Purvanchal Expressway which could have saved a lot of time. Well after a hectic day we reached Varanasi by 5:30 pm and checked in at our AirBnb.
We were gonna be in Varanasi for the next 2 days till 10/04 as we had to do asthi visarjan of my father my mother, sister & brother in-law flew down to Varanasi from Guwahati.

On the outskirts of Varanasi




In front of BHU




Morning Aarti in Assi Ghat



Breakfast in the famous Terracota Cafe near Assi Ghat













Evening Aarti Scenes at Assi Ghat

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Day 3: Varanasi to Agra via Lucknow 10/04 (650 kms)/

Started by 11:30 am after performing my father’s Asthi Visarjan and having brunch, this time took the Purvanchal Expressway after exiting Varanasi Bypass we were able to cover a lot of distance in a short time reached Lucknow by 3pm to have lunch at the famous Tunday Kababi and some shopping by wifey of the famous Lucknowi chikan kari work kurta. Post this we continued our onwards journey and checked in at our treebo hotel in Agra by 11:30pm taking the Taj Expressway.







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Day 4 : Agra to Delhi 11/04 (212 Kms)

It was ID and we decided to visit the Taj Mahal early morning to avoid the rush so, we took a auto from our hotel and reached the Taj by 8:30 am due to ID a lot of people had come to offer the morning Namaz so we took a quick tour and clicked all the customary pics with the Taj and returned to our hotel and had breakfast, after that we started for Delhi by 10:30 am and took the Yamuna Expressway and reached Delhi by 1Pm. We wanted to have lunch at one of my favorite eatery AL BAKE in New Friends Colony, South Delhi where the Shawrma Rolls are to die for, post lunch we checked in at our AirBnb in Vasant Enclave. We will be staying in Delhi for the next 3 days till 14/04 as I had some work and Hrishi and Jiny will be reaching on 13/04.

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Day 7 : Delhi to Narkanda 14/04 (417 Kms)

We started from Delhi by 9am after picking up Hrishi and Jiny from Assam House, Chanakyapuri and took a pit stop in Murthal Amrik Sukhdev for breakfast as usual it was very crowded, we quickly gulped down the parathas and lassi and resumed in our journey when crossing Panipat Hrishi told me that the Great Khali has opened a dhaba and he is often found there so, we stopped by at the dhaba hoping to meet him but he was not present. Alas we continued and entered Himachal Pradesh by 3pm were lucky to not encounter any traffic jam in Shimla and by 10:00 pm we checked in at our hotel in Narkanda.

In Amrik Sukhdev, Murthal with Hrishi Tbhp handle pyrodrive



At the Great Khali's Dhaba in Panipat



At at cafe after we crossed Shimla coffee was great



Hrishi & Jiny

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Day 8 : Narkanda to Kalpa 15/04 (170 Kms)

We casually started by 10am as it was a relaxing day and we all were happy to reach the hills and get respite from the heat, first we decided on exploring the Hatu Peak ( Highest point in Narkanda) found the road leading to Hatu Peak to be scenic and post that we carried forwarded to take a lunch break in Rampur at HPDCL café wherein the food was awesome. After that we reached Kalpa by 5pm and found a hotel overlooking the majestic Kinnaur Kailash range we were mesmerized by the views.

Hatu Peak







First view of Kinnaur Kailash

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Day 9 : Kalpa to Kaza 16/04 (216 Kms)

Kalpa is a beautiful town blessed by the Kinnaur Kailash range which is pristine and totally unexplored by trekkers and one of Lord Shiva’s abode we soaked in the beauty of this majestic mountain all throughout the morning clicking pictures and making videos and timelapses, after which we started for Kaza by 9am to stop at an awesome café by the road Hot Spring Café run by a great guy Raabchic who was a Budhist Monk the food was great too. We were enjoying the road and the awesome views offered on the way to Kaza of the stone cut mountains and occasional small water crossings and waterfalls, we visiyed the Gue Monastery after crossing Tabo to see the Mummy of the Budhist Monk finally to reach Kaza by 5;30 pm and checked in at the Zostel which was a great place in Kaza to stay with proper parking and a huge compound. Next day our plan was to explore Lhanza, Komic, Hikkim and stay in Kaza.

Kinnaur Kailash Views from our hotel in Kalpa

























With Rabchic who runs this great cafe after crossing Reckong Peo

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Day 10 : 17/04 Kaza to Lhanza, Komic, Hikkim (50 Kms)

We woke up leisurely and had our breakfast in the Zostel in Kaza and then headed to explore the World’s Highest Village, Post Office and Buddha statue, after fueling up in the World’s Highest Petrol Pump in Kaza. There was still good amount of snow all around and enough for Hrishi & Jiny to do Skiing on the way to Lhanza.
We send post cards from Hikkim PO to our home and family, but those post cards have still not arrived . Nevertheless, we reached Kaza by 4pm and headed to the market to have some late lunch in one of the cafe’s and do some shopping after which we return to our Zostel.

Views from our Zostel in Kaza

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Day 11 : 18/04 Kaza to Sangla Chitkul (257 Kms)

Finally bidding goodbye to Spiti valley to come again in winter Spiti we headed to India’s last village on the Indo Tibet border Chitkul, our plan was to after exploring Chitkul fall back to Sangla as our return leg of the journey home was to start from the next day and we were planning to at least make it to Zirakpur.

Chitkul is a beautiful and picturesque village on the foothills surrounded by huge mountains and a flowing river we reached Chitkul by 5 pm after taking a hotel in Sangla the road to Sangla get’s closed during winters.

The point where Satluj & Spiti rivers merge

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Day 12 : 19/04 Sangla to Zirakpur (322 Kms)

This was going to be a long day distance was not much but will take time as we will be crossing Shimla during peak hours and as predicted we got stuck in traffic jam after reaching Shimla by 5 pm post having lunch in Rampur, we also faced a huge hailstorm in Narkanda which further slowed our progress.

Finally we checked in at our AirBnb by 10:30 pm after starting from Sangla by 8:30 am.

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Day 13 : 20/04 Zirakpur to Lucknow via Delhi (770 Kms)


We started from the stay by 9:30 am without having breakfast as we planned to stop at Karnal, Haveli restaurant. This day we were dropping the ladies in Assam House, Delhi as they were going to take a flight next day to Guwahati while Hrishi & I will be driving down.

We reached Assam House by 2:30 pm and then started from Delhi by 5pm after having lunch, Hrishi wanted to try the famous Tunday Kababs of Lucknow but our arrival time as per Gmaps was 11:30 pm so I came up with the idea of booking our AirBnb stay in Lucknow and then requested the owner to receive the Tunday Kababs we ordered through Zomato, the owner readily agreed and to our delight also offered to warm the kababs once we arrive to which we happily agreed. The Lucknow AirBnb owners were great people.

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Day 14 : 21/04 Lucknow to Darbhanga (573 Kms)

We started by 7 am from Lucknow and took the Purvanchal Expressway I was suppose to meet dear friend A K Sir (A. K Singh) in Gorakhpur he advised us to take the old highway instead of Purvanchal as he said in the exit of Purvanchal near Patna due to road construction there were huge jams and waiting time was going on for 5 hours plus. We exited the Purvanchal 75 Kms before Gorakhpur to take the old Lucknow Gorakhpur highway to reach Gorakhpur by 3 pm A K Sir was waiting for us to have lunch together.

Post lunch we resumed our journey from Gorakhpur by 5 pm to reach Darbhanga by 11pm as we encountered huge traffic jams after entering Bihar due to end no of Marriages on that day, finally we checked in at Hotel Gauriya a great property just on the highway, I had stayed in this same hotel while returning from my Ladakh Expedition in 2021 when this hotel was opened newly.

With A K Sir in Gorakhpur

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Day 15 : 22/04 Darbhanga to Guwahati (765 Kms)

So, the final day arrived when we will be reaching our homes after 16 days on the road, we started by 6:30 am from our hotel without breakfast as it was too early, we stopped just before Purnia to have breakfast in a road side eatery. This time we were taking the route via Purnia Kishanganj as the other highway although short was taking longer time due to four lane construction going on. We reached Siliguri by 3pm and stopped to have lunch.
We entered Assam by 8pm to get stuck in a huge traffic jam mainly of trucks in Baihata Chariali just before entering Guwahati city due to some accident, finally we reached home by 1 pm.

Somewhere after entering Assam




I would like to Thank my family for all the support Vikram Singh Tbhp handle wanderernomad for giving us all the info whenever we called him during the entire trip.