Day 03: Saturday, Aug 15 : MANALI – ROHTANG LA – KHOKSAR - KEYLONG
Having lost a day (we should have been at Keylong yesterday), the revised plan was to make an early start from Manali & reach Jispa. Early start at 10 AM it was!!
Pic 03 | View from our cottage on the outskirts of Manali
Since Jispa is 142Kms from Manali we thought we were reasonably well placed until the first sign of rains, mud, slush, choked traffic & bad visibility gradually started showing up their ugly faces. They all got worse after Marhi with another 12kms to go before Rohtang La. To add to our woes, the Vista went out of the sight and would not turn up even after waiting anxiously for half an hour. That’s when we decided to go back to locate them. Sure, we found them driving up after they have had a hearty break despite the frantic need to keep moving on! C’mon! This is when Yash (in Innova) switched to using BSNL SIM card & Ankush (in Vista) picked up his other phone with MTNL SIM card. Other networks would not work. Oh, by the way, much to our chagrin Yash found out that the second BSNL post-paid SIM card does not work!
Pic 04 | The misty / cloudy morning at Manali
Pic 05 | En route to Rohtang La through extremely adverse driving conditions (though road on the pic looks brilliant!)
Pic 06 | Mountains or clouds - that's all there on this earth!
The frustrating bumper-to-bumber traffic had us driving at a snail’s pace. A lot of returning car drivers rolled down their windows to advise us to return to Manali as Rohtang La was all rainy & cloudy without a trace of snow. I told a couple of such bonhomie advisers that we are bound for Ladakh consequently Rohtang La for us is just a milestone, not a tourist's spot
Besides, most of the gang had been to Rohtang La before.
Anyway, in the middle of all these mess we finally made it to Rohtang La & spent no time in quickly driving ahead & away from the tourists' swarm, to the other side of the mountain. Immediately, we were greeted with clear visibility and streaks of faint sunlight, a lot of space to breathe the chilly & moist but nevertheless, fresh air. It was 4 PM then. It took us 6 hours to cover the 52 kms from Manali to Rohtang La. But we were relieved that we finally managed to leave Rohtang La behind (my friend who was with his wife on delayed honeymoon a few days before could only go as far as Marhi from Manali as the road was closed due to monsoon landslides). We started to regain our energy & spirits back. Therefore, time for a break - for some roasted & salted sweetcorns, & of course a few pictures, albeit under a dimmed sun!
Pic 07 | The other side of the mountain immediately after Rohtang La
Because of the adverse sunlight conditions the evening seemed to descend much earlier than I expected. Fortunately, the road started to get better (though a little narrower) as we descended to Khoksar (or was it Sissu?). We found a cosy roadside restaurant on the valley & ordered hot steaming rice, with dal & rajma; paranthas with butter & omelletes; & teas. We devoured anything that was served regardless of who ordered what! Guess we were a li'l hungry. Although we had initially thought of having a quick tea & continue driving till Jispa where we would have a full-fledged dinner, the lesson learned from yesterday's episode of tyre unavailablity had us eat to our stomach's content & taste buds' delight than having to wait until we reach Jispa. The long stopover for lunch-cum-dinner was based on the experience of not finding Innova tyres whilst Amit Mangal did insist to check ALL tyre shops en-route regardless of whether the shop appeared like an authorised dealer. We did not stop assuming we will get them from an authorised dealer at Manali anyway.
On a side note, at this restaurant is first time I used the greeting: Julley! Soon others got into using this greeting.
Pic 08 | Would remind Simon & Grafunkel of "A hazy shade of winter"
Pic 09 | Stopover for lunch-cum-dinner at Khoksar (or Sissu?). See how low the clouds are
At 7:30 PM we started again & soon it struck us that we should have been early for refuelling at Tandi. As luck would have it the petrol pump there was closed. Upon enquiring we were told it is open between 7 AM to 7 PM. Call for us to review & modify our plan, yet again!
We decided to halt for the night at Keylong instead of Jispa so that we do not retrace a long road in order to refuel next morning (Keylong is closer to Tandi – 8 kms).
Pic 10 | Stream dancing down restlessly as we try to make as much ground before the light fades further. "What is life if, full of care, we have no time to stand and stare …"
Pic 11 | Twilight on the distant horizon soothes our frayed nerves & transports us to a peaceful & timeless world
Pic 12 | Through the car's windscreen. The rains have gone away but the droplets remain like "A tear drop on the cheek of time; Beautiful, pristine & sublime"
At about 9 PM we reached Keylong & asked for the HPTDC's hotel. Me in the Vista (I started driving the Vista from Rohtang La) found the easier entrance to HPTDC’s Hotel Chandra Bhaga (Chandra & Bhaga are two rivers that meet at Tandi) whilst the Innova went around the bus station & crossed a pool of water running across what seemed like no roads exist! We were fortunate to find a family suite in the hotel, the last of the rooms available. By then, I was feeling unwell, maybe the first signs of AMS despite swallowing a Diamox pill in the morning at Manali & one yesterday morning. We moved in to our hotel room & laid our bones to rest a bit. Others made merry sipping the warmth of Old Monk whilst Ankush & I preferred warm milk (a personal precedent for me - that too when I had my preferred choice served generously!). However, milk just by itself tasted unappealing - so I mixed a little of what others were drinking & felt better! Sleeping bags & mats came handy as Yash, Manu Phaaji & me slept on the floor, after deciding who are the guys who gotta get up early in the morning & get the cars refuelled. Fortunately, due to my deteriorating health I was not chosen to be one of them.
Or was I?