Kamand to Sainj, 16Jun18: Departure for Spiti from South Campus, 7:25 am 16/6/18
Timothy A. Gonsalves, tagooty@ptag.in
This is a photo essay of our recent trip to the Kaza area of the Spiti Valley. Spiti is a dry high-altitude region of Himachal. It is a cold and arid with the minimum altitude of the valley floor being 11,000'.
In the text are links to the slideshow of pictures taken during each day. A total of 12 slideshows, for 16th to 24th June. Links are also provided for downloading the pictures in the slideshows. These are low resolution for fast loading. In case you would like the high resolution originals of any photos, please send me a request by email.
Photo credits: Most of the images by T.A. Gonsalves, a few by Kartiki Gonsalves http://www.kartikigonsalves.com/, Neha Sharma and Enakshi Bhattacharya.
This online travelogue with slideshows embedded in the text is produced automatically by a Python script written by Manvi Gupta and Divya Gupta, 2nd BTech students at IIT Mandi. They developed this script during their summer vacation.
Instructions: Click on any thumbnail in the text to open a slideshow. In the slideshow, move the mouse over the image to see information about the image, and the “previous” and “next” arrows. Move the mouse out of the image to remove the text overlays. Each set of thumbnails opens a different slideshow.
Note: In June 2016, we visited the Keylong area of Lahaul, the adjacent high-altitude valley of Himachal. See our travelogue at http://www.ptag.in/Travel/Keylong_Lahaul_Jul16.html
Departure Fish Pond, South Campus at 7:25 am in the IIT WagonR with Neha Sharma and driver Shyam Lal. Via Duhaki to join the Mandi-Kullu NH 6 km before Pandoh (~1 hour). 26 km to Aut tunnel, turned right across the Largi Dam to Banjar and Jalori Pass 10,800'). Road with good base but yet to be surfaced. WagonR struggled up the steep climb in 1st and 2nd gear. A large crowd at the temple at the Pass, mostly from the Kullu side. Very good road down into the Satluj River through dense deodar forests. Along the Satluj to Luhri for lunch just before Sainj. Halted for the night at Atul Residency, Sainj at 2:30 pm. ~150 km total.
In the evening, we walked down to the Satluj River. Strong flow of silt laden grey-brown water. Sparse vegetation on the steep valley sides. Fertile fields on the left bank of the Satluj. The right bank mostly steep slopes from craggy peaks down to the river.
Maureen Gonsalves (from Bangalore) and Enakshi Bhattacharya (from IIT Madras) drove up from Chandigarh in a Bolero with driver Kapil, reaching Sainj about 9:30 pm.
Departure 07:45 am. Good 2-lane road winding along the Satluj up to Rampur (30 km). Thereafter, 1½ lane with shoulders. The narrow road with frequent roadwork slowed us down. The road is cut into shear cliffs along narrow gorges in places.
Lunch at 01:15 pm. Police checkpost – foreigners need Inner Line Permits. Overcast with occasional drizzle. Several hydropower projects, ranging from 2KW to the 1,000 KW Nathpa-Jakhri.
Reached the confluence of the Spiti (grey-brown) & the Satluj (light-brown) at 4 pm, about 8,500'. Then, switchbacks up the barren left bank of the Spiti to Nako at 12,000', 5 pm, 220 km. Maximum elevation 12,500' before descending to the Spiti. Signs of seabuck thorn plantations and a few small oases. Along the Spiti left bank, fairly good road, to Tabo, 8 pm, very little traffic. Stayed in Sonam Guest House. Neat, clean, quite good food – barley, noodles, etc.
Clear morning with a few scattered white clouds. Tabo is an oasis on the valley flour with towering barren slopes in either side. It has apple orchards, vegetable fields and a Horticulture University field station. The Tabo monastery built in 996 is said to be the oldest continuously functioning monastery in India. Very dim lighting, difficult to appreciate the old paintings which are deteriorating. Went on a short climb up a paved paths to monks' caves, etc. on the hillside, ~ 50m up.
Overall, Tabo is a prosperous town, kept clean and attractive to tourists. Sonam is a good guest house, good food, friendly, helpful staff. Paid Rs. 2,200 including breakfast and dinner.
Departed 01:30 pm. Drove to the hidden village, Mane in a crater ~500' above the Spiti. Well fed by a stream. Lush green fields. 6 km off the NH.
Mudh is 34 km off the NH in Pin Valley NP. The way is mostly a mud road along the Pin River. Took about 1h 40 m. Reached Tara Homestay ~ 6pm. Went for a walk up a stream at dusk. Saw herds of domesticated yaks, dzo and tiny cows that look like sheep.
Walked down the road through fields of peas, etc. with quite a few songbirds. After breakfast drove beyond Mudh on the left bank of the Pin for ~4 km. Walked for ~3 km to a big stream across the road. Pin Valley has no trees but has plentiful grassy slopes even 2-3,000 ft up the screes. With bands of red and purple rock scree. The towering valley sides up to 18-20,000 feet had snow and a few small glaciers at the top. The grass and the wild flowers support many birds. Much more attractive than the barren landscape of the rest of Spiti.
Birds: Black redstart, Brandt's mountain finch, yellow-billed chough, assorted sparrows, Hume's groundpecker.
Priscilla awoke with high-altitude sickness – headache, nausea, diarrhea, sleeplessness, with heart palpitating. A very competent doctor in the Kaza Community Health Centre confirmed the problem. P decided to head back to lower altitudes. After a light lunch at Kaza she left with Kartiki and Shyam Lal in the WagonR, at 1 pm, immediate destination Tapri on the Satluj at 8,000'. The rest of us continued on in the Bolero with Kapil (driver) to Kibber.
The Spiti valley was probably a high plateau of sedimentary rock and sand. The Spiti and Pin have cut deep, flat valleys with stark, bare, sharply rising sides. Tributaries have cut deep gorges. With little rain and sparse vegetation there is little weathering. The Spiti and Pin at this time of year have many channels wandering along the broad riverbed. The Spiti riverbed is 100s of metres wide in places.
The road to Kibber climbs steeply up the side of a deep defile cut by the Samba Lamba Nullah. The Kee Monastary is perched on a rocky outcrop ~200' above the road. Kibber is in a broad rolling plateau, completely devoid of trees. Sparse grass and wild flowers support blue sheep, ibex, snow leopards and red fox (none that we saw). Roads and trails connect 3-4 villages. Many fields with small pea seedlings. Temperature: Warm in the sun, cool in the wind. Lots of livestock – cows, sheep, donkeys.
Stayed in Norling Homestay. Friendly staff, neat rooms, good local food. For the first night we had small rooms on the ground floor with a single toilet in the hall.
Mudh (12,500') – NH: 34 km; NH – Kaza (11,980'): 14 km; Kaza – Kibber (14,000'): 17 km.
Woke to full overcast morning. Not very cold at night. Shifted to upstairs rooms with views on 2 sides and en-suite toilet.
09:30 am (~ 5 km walk): Walked slowly along the road towards Chicham village, stopping often to soak in the views, the birds, wildflowers and fields of peas and barley (?). Glorious views with the blue skies and bright white clouds. After Chicham bridge (120m suspension with stiffened truss deck, completed 2017, Rs. 4.8 cr, over the Samba Lamba Nallah) the road climbed through switchbacks to Chicham. With full sun it was hot and dry.
In Chicham, had tea. The local houses has wooden roofs with 2-3' of sticks for waterproofing and insulation. Sparrows and other songbirds make their nests in the insulation. Also hay is dried on the roof. Many houses have small solar panels and water heaters. Returned by Bolero.
Walked around the village in the afternoon - no visible shops. One PHC, a Post Office, a School. Strong wind from the NW during the afternoon cleared the clouds and tempered the heat of the sun.
In the evening, we drove up a dirt road above the Kaza-Kibber road. Reached a viewpoint above the confluence of the Samba Lamba Nallah with the Spiti. Right bank of the Nallah has vast scree slopes about 1,000'-3,000' high with practically no vegetation.
The people are of mixed Tibetan and Himachali descent. When outdoors, they cover their faces with scarfs for protection against the sharp sun, biting wind and extreme dryness.
Dawned clear and sunny. We drove to Tashi Gang, about 14 km from Kibber to SE, on a rolling plateau over Kee-Kaza. A few villages along streams with green fields. The rest of the countryside has sparse vegetation, more than near Kibber. Scat indicates many animals, probably a mix of domestic and wild. Lovely views of a snow capped range to the SE and another across the Spiti valley.
On the way back, at a village of three houses, we walked to a stupa on a cliff ~500' above Kee Monastery. Neha quite fearlessly stood on the verge talking on her cellphone and taking photos at the same time. The rest of us sat behind a small stone wall and leased forward to vertiginous views of Kee and Spiti. Returned to Norling about 2 pm.
In the evening, Neha walked to the three stupas above the new monastery. Maureen and I bore left to reach an overlook point above the upper Samba Lamba Gorge. The hillside has more sparse vegetation (shrubs and plants) than the rest of the Kibber plateau – referred to as “ the jungle” by the locals!
At night, Neha and I tried our hand at star photography. Settings: ISO 800, f/8, 20-30s exposure, noise-reduction turned off, camera on a tripod. Captured a large number of stars but the Milky Way was not visible owing to the half moon. The photo below was taken by Kartiki from Kee Monastery on 13th June just after the new moon.
Departure 08:45 am past Chicham. Joined the Spiti after ~20 km. The river has cut almost vertically downwards in the soft alluvial soil. Above the flat valley floor, scree slopes rise 1000s of feet, with craggy peaks above. With a range of colors, textures and patterns the scene is almost like abstract art. The range of textures, colours and shapes, the daunting immensity of the towering mountains has a breath-taking surreal beauty.
Reached Lohsar in mid-morning. Thereafter the road is unpaved for ~100 km to Koksar in Lahaul. Climbed up to the 15,060' Kunzum La along a tributary to Spiti. Beyond the pass are 3 magnificant peaks with a large glacier.
The road descended steeply from Kunzum La to Batal on the Chandra River. 1 km before Batal, we took a narrow road up the Chandra for 14 km. Than walked 1 km to Chandra Tal. Very peaceful despite some tourists at one end. Some drizzle as we drove back towards Batal, a village of semi-permanent tents and one permanent building, the PWD Resthouse.
After Maggi and tea in Batal, departure at 6 pm. The road was rocky along the Chandra riverbed with rivulets flowing over the road every 2-3 km. Covered the 60 km to Koksar (10,000') in 3hr 15min. Would have been difficult in the WagonR, though not impossible.
The staff at the PWD Rest house prepared a welcome dinner of dal, veggies, chicken curry, curd, rice and chapattis! The rooms were comfortable though missing a few glass panes and hence a bit chill during the night.
The Chandra River and its tributary the Bhagga are the major parts of Lahaul. See our travelogue of Chandra-Bhagga at http://www.ptag.in/Travel/Keylong_Lahaul_Jul16.html
The roads in Spiti and Lahaul are a tribute to the ingenuity and doggedness of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) which maintains the national highways and the HP PWD which takes care of other roads. Building a road in the precipitous, unstable terrain taxes the ingenuity of the engineers. Keeping the road open despite the depredations of Nature especially during winter with snow and avalanches is an annual battle. Despite this, the quality of the roads has improved since our visit to Lahaul 2 years ago.
Departure 8 am. The road winding steeply up to Rohtang (13,056') was mostly smooth with a few bad patches. Likewise, the drive down on the Manali side. Stopped at Marhi for tea, walked to a nearly waterfall (ignored by tourists). Stopped at Cafe Highway 21, Kothi above Manali for lunch. So-so Punjabi food. Continual traffic jams getting into Manali, out of it and all the way to Kullu owing to road widening. Not a pleasant re-entry to civilisation! Reached Kamand at 8 pm.
