KHILLAR TO CHAMBA SECTOR
If the first 120 kms took us 8 hours +, the next 75 took 6!
Did we take any breaks – well, I guess we took 30 minutes off at Bogotu Check Post to register with the cops & have a cuppa, and another 20 minutes at Satrundi CP too.
For the rest, it was steady driving in second & third gears, slipping into first whenever we had to climb one of those sharp hair pin curves or encountered slush & rocky surfaces.
Having crossed the Alwar Bridge across the River Chandra Bhaga at 245 pm (15 minutes earlier, compared with our IPHE 2011 timings on this same sector), we slipped & ran 30 minutes late by the time we reached Bogotu CP & 45 minutes at Bairavgad.
What was the difference from last year? We were earlier in the summer (last time we did this in end-Aug), but on Jul 24, there was lots of snow all around – but none on the road – and since there had hardly been any rains this year, so conditions were mostly dry, although the flowers were sprouting from the mountain sides in some places – micro climate changes, as Lalu put it.
We knew the total stretch was uninhabited and had to reach “somewhere” for the night’s stay, whether it is the Satrundi CP, Bairavgad or Tissa. I was not keen on going on till Chamba (which is a large town, also has a HPTDC hotel) like last year since the next day, we had to turn off some 30 kms before Chamba, so it was pointless to go & come back just to spend the night.
After the initial cliff hanger sections, and some thickly forested stretches, we started climbing – some slushy places too – encountering first waterfalls on the road & then the glaciers. The
glaciers were huge this time, but none of them blocking the road. Agent VInod tried to throw some snow balls at me, but luckily I survived that onslaught. Lalu tried to climb up one of the caves leading under the glacier, but looks like he found it too cold or warm, so he retreated back to the car.
As usual, we encountered no traffic, not even the customary 2-3 jeep-taxis that ply daily between Chamba & Khillar. The road workers are at their works stations, clearing the roads as they do every day during the summer, one has to sympathise with them for the conditions they have to endure. But thanks to their untiring efforts, this road built some 12 years ago is kept running round the clock during the 4-5 months of the summer before it shuts down in the winter snows (sometime in Nov).
Happily, the
waterfalls on the road were all benign, posing no problems, but the Scorpio & Madam Safari did get some scrubbing as they went under the water. Last years’s “step” point under the water fall was not bad this time, and we easily climbed up.
When I saw the glaciers & snow walls on the road, I heaved a sigh of relief – I had foolishly assured Lalu before the trip that we would see snow during this trip, not being sure of course!
Lalu appeared to be satiated with all the snow walls that we drove through, although I did hear him muttering that he wanted the Scorpio’s Yokos to also crunch some of the snow/ ice on the road!
Bogotu Check Post – that is the only “settlement” between Khillar & Sach Pass, assuming you can call a group of 2-3 cops & 4-5 tea shop guys a settlement! Well, if you run late, I guess you can stay in one of the two tea shops here. But we were not so late, it was only 5 pm, lots of light, no fog & clear weather, although we kept anxiously surveying the black clouds in the Chamba Valley side for signs of rain & trouble.
Somewhere after Bogotu CP, there was this slope where the Scorpio slipped & stalled as it tried to climb up on the rubble & sharp large boulders in the middle of the road. Need not have worried – backed up a little to a slightly less steep ground & started all over again. “Bhooth” Ground came & went, it was snowier than last year.
Sach Pass at
6 pm – place was pleasant, not cold at all, we spent a few minutes clicking the customary photos & then we were off down the mountain sides into the Chamba Valley, saying good bye to Pangi Valley. Now this being no more the rain-shadow area, there was some rain, lots of slush on the road & mild fog. It is always more difficult to climb up from Chamba to Sach Pass than vice versa and we had been the most anxious about the prospective difficulties in this sector.
Satrundi Check Post. Lovely sunset. Registration at this point. Videographed by the cops like what happened in Sansari CP in the morning. Enquired around, can we stay here in the tea shop tent. No positive answer, so we decided to move on. Second cuppa tea. We were luckier this time, there was lots of day light still, hardly any fog & we could see the beautiful green landscapes – contrasting with the brownness of Pangi Valley – as we descended into one of the beautiful regions of Himachal Pradesh. Lots of flowers too. Fragrance of “
thazham poo” (as they call it in Malayalam) plant.
Barivagad at
820 pm. We visited the PWD Rest House first, a lovely building atop the hill, but they did not have a room to spare. Pointed us to Rakesh ji’s “hotel” in the “market”, which turned out to be a tea-shop restaurant a few hundred metres away, surrounded by 3 houses. Rooms were decent, we haggled & decided to stay there. Dinner was good. Mobile connectivity restored after a full day of black-out.
This day was
197 kms in 14.5 hours, very much the target fulfilled.
The next day is going to be another exciting day too....