[dinesha]

(Cont..Day 6)

Final leg of journey for the day. Heading towards Lotey's hotel- The Spiti Sarai. I was getting very lethargic response form wife and Kids. It had been long day today.


Landscape around Rangrik.


Storm clouds above Rangrik. Suddenly it turned very cold.


View of Rangrik across the Spiti river.


Random landscapes..




SH30 Kaza Rangrik section..


Rangrik bridge across Spiti river..


Finally we reached Spiti Sarai around 6:00 in the evening. My GPS nevigator showed 3800meters MSL as the altitude of Rangrik.


We were allotted a first floor room on the rear tower. Room was quite specious and clean. It had an anteroom. Unfortunately there were no TV in the room but they had one in their dinning hall. However the dining hall wa located at the front tower entailing going out in chilly dry wind for a bit. So no TV whatsoever for my son. He was very disappointing and threw some tantrums. We were too tired to deal with him so I reluctantly allowed him to play some games in my laptop. I did not realize that I was leading the tiger to the blood.

We ordered some room service consisting of tea, pakoras and french fries. It was very cold even inside the room so thought of venturing out never once occurred in our mind.

The manager of the Spiti Sarai advised us to have our dinner in our room which was readily heeded by us. The dinner consisting of Dal, Roti and sabzi was quite delicious there. We were all under the layered quilt by 9:30 PM.

I woke up in the middle of the night and it was pitch dark and very cold in the room. I fumbled with my mobile phone it showed the time to be around 11:30 pm. I located my torch with the help of my phone, switched it on and waited for the power supply to be restored.

My kids are very scared of darkness (As mentioned previously), so looked like it was going to be a very long night for me. After some time I started worrying about the battery life of the torch. The hotel manager had kept some candles and matchbox for this kind of eventualities however I did not want to light the candle (and go to sleep) and burn the oxygen from already depleted and thin oxygen environment.

Only option left for me was to switch off the torch and wait wide awake. Any kind of squeak, shrill, cry or movement and I would hastily switch on the torch. I spent the whole night that way. When the dawn light hit the room, I tried to go back to sleep but could not do so.

Wide awake and already tired for the day.

..

Leave Tabo at 8:00 AM
Arrive Rangrik, Kaza at 5:45 PM

Stayed at Spiti Sarai at Rangrik (My Rating 5/5)

Other Staying options
--------------------
Kaza
• HPTDC-Spiti-01906-222752 Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation
• HPTDC-Tourist Lodge--01906-222753
• Hotel Winter White
• Hotel Delek House
• PWD Circuit House-01906-222252, 222202

Rangrik
• Spiti Sarai-Lotey (Ramesh Lal)-9418439247

Kee/Kye Monastary
• Noryang Hotel, Kee Monastary, Kaza-9459022299, 9418844531, 9418924577


(Cont..Day 7: Langza-Hikkim-Komic-Pin Valley-Mane Village-Tabo)

[dinesha]

Day 7: 10-June-2011
Kaza-Hikkim-Komic-Langza-Pin Valley-Mane Village-Tabo

I desperately tried to get some sleep, but harder I tried more difficult it became. I was restless and irritated finally jumped out of bed at around 5:00AM. I grabbed my camera and headed outside the balcony in the cold chilly morning. I clicked some pictures.


Village Stupa at Rangrik.


But it was too cold outside. I went back in the room and waited for the clock to hit 7:00AM so that the family can be woken up. The manager of Spiti Sarai provided us some hot water from the Kitchen for the bathing purpose.

I met-up with Lotey before breakfast. He informed me that last night there was a massive snowfall at around Kunzum. Cutting the path through the glaciers between Batal and Chhota Dhara had already become a herculean task for the HP-PWD and now with the added snowfall it would be near impossible for PWD to clear the Kunzum-Grampho stretch in a day or two as assured by the PWD staff at Kokshar.

I had a hunch since the beginning of this trip that I may not be able to do the Kunzum-Manali stretch and hence planned the itinerary as such. The plan was that if luck favored us and we could make it through the Kunum-Batal stretch then we would halt at Rangrik for 2 nights and do Pin Valley by making Rangrik as our base if not then visit to those places would be a part of our return leg.

So the plan for the day in consultation with Lotey is to do Komic and Pin valley circuit and return to Tabo for the night. Lotey cautions us against going beyond Sagnam in Pin Valley. He advises me to not to go to Mudh as most of the glaciers between Sagnam and Mudh was yet to melt completely and could be too risky for us.

Lotey- He is a very helpful person. Don't hesitate to call him even if the plan is not to stay at his property.


View from Spiti Sarai- Kye monastery and the village.


Lotey informed me that last year he took a Frenchman for Skiing on these slopes located around 5500meters. The gentleman had gone there just to Ski on those slopes.


Random view from Spiti Sarai.


After delicious breakfast we were ready to head out. We bid our goodbyes and head out. Vinkal had some important business at Kaza so we went there before proceeding to Langza Valley.

While Vinkal finishes off his meeting we visited the Kaza monastery.


Kaza Gompa


Row of Stupa across the Kaza Gompa


Heap of inscribed prayer stones adjacent to the Stupa..


Vinkal soon came out and we were back on road towards the Langza Valley..



(Cont .. Day 7)

[Fauji]

Hi Dinesh,

Kudos for such a nice and detailed travelogue with excellent pictures. We felt as if we were travelling with you.

Some of the pictures are fabulous, specialy the one immediatley after the horses in post 121. It takes the cake.

[dinesha]

Originally Posted by Fauji

Hi Dinesh,

Kudos for such a nice and detailed travelogue with excellent pictures. We felt as if we were travelling with you.

Some of the pictures are fabulous, specialy the one immediatley after the horses in post 121. It takes the cake.

Thanks for the appreciation.
You yourself is the master traveler. Thank you for taking us along through your travelogues.

I hope my travelogue serves all those planing to travel this region.

[dinesha]

(Cont .. Day 7)

The narrow langza-Komic road also bifurcates from SH30 near the right bifurcation for Kye monastery located at about 2KMs from Kaza near Rangrik bridge. This road was as usual - remote, isolated, semi-dirt-trek with perpetual mud slides down on to the road. By then we were used to all those and also to the chilled dry wind and the altitude.

I had not slept the entire previous night but that had not deterred my high spirits as this day's drive was going to be the high point of the entire trip for me and also for the family members in unique ways and they were oblivious of this waiting excitements.

We were soon on this road and steadily gaining altitude..


View from the Langza-komic road: Spiti river and the himalayan white slopes that the Frenchman skied last year.


View from the top: Two buildings of Lotey's Spiti Sarai on the rear right of SH30. The curved room in the foreground is the new hotel nearing completion. This new hotel designed by an architect from Britain is expected to be fairly luxurious.


View from the top: SH30 connecting Kaza with Manali


View from the top: Rangrik village across Serpentine Spiti river. Spiti Sarai and the new hotel on the left edge.


View from the top: Closeup of (Frenchman's) White slopes..


We continue our ascend through the narrow road towards the land of prehistoric significance.


This day's drive was on the mountains facing opposite to the previous day's drive through the Kibber-Tashigang stretch. On previous day our Innova was unable to cross the steep slushy slopes to the Tashigang village and I had hiked upto the highest point on that road, which has caused me some dissapointment. However from this road we had a clear view of Tashigang village across the Kaza Nallah.


Close-up of Tashigang Village. Please note the shelter caves and parked Tata Sumo.


We continue our ascend through the breathtaking landscapes..


Soon the huge Langza Buddha statue welcomed us indicating that we have arrived near ..


..the Langza village located at 4200 meters MSL with population of 148 living human souls.


Langza village is one of the most picturesque villages in Spiti located on the Himalayan highland meadows.
Lagnza village as well as the entire valley is known for its rich reserve of Ammonites fossils which inhabited Tethys Sea in the pre-historic era of about 250 million years ago. These fossils were formed when the northern Eurasian land mass (called Angara) and the southern Indian and African land mass (called Gondwana) collided resulting in amongst many other things, the emergence of Himalayan ranges.


However we bypassed Langza village (to be done on descend) and continue our ascend towards Komic-the Highest Motorable village in the World..


Little ahead we saw this lone local villager (Photographed here with Vinkal) hiking on the road. I asked Vinkal to stop the vehicle and offered this man a ride. He was also going to the Komic village.

The lift to the local guy was one of the wisest and luckiest decision of mine.


(Cont .. Day 7)

[dushmish]

Fantastic journal! Bible for anyone planning to do Spiti and Kinnaur. Loved the pics. Which cam do you use? How accurate was the MMI GPS? And why the silence for so many days? I read the entire thread in one go. Only to reach a point where you have created suspense by mentioning the wisest decision of the trip. Waiting with bated breath. Honestly, I am surprised, none has asked you to update yet.

cheers!
D

[parsh]

Thanks a tons Dinesh. You can't understand how much your travelogue has helped us, my bro with his family (wife and 2 kids) planning on drive in his Innova on this circuit. HVK sir and vivek_vt had also given superb directions on the same route for my queries in another thread. A big vote of thanks to all of you.

We have never been to Kaza though been to lower parts of the circuit before.

As of tonight he has reached Kalpa from Chitkul and camped at Shangrilla as Kinner Kailash and Kinner Villa did not have acco available. All acco is being planned and made on the fly while he is on drive and I busy in my work in Mumbai. This is one superb travelogue and it has still not ended. Your given information is immensely valuable and great guidance points and I am sure it is going to help a lot of people going forward due to its finer details. Even since before my bro began his drive from Noida on Sun 2 Oct, we have been constantly discussing your details and how to plan. Me and my family was not able to accompany them this time but we plan to do bigger trip to Leh next year hopefully. Lets see how my bro finds the situation now. He may have to turn back from kaza, if Manali route is gauged to take longer than it will take to reach Kaza, due to lack of time on hand.

[dinesha]

Originally Posted by dushmish

Fantastic journal! Bible for anyone planning to do Spiti and Kinnaur. Loved the pics. Which cam do you use? How accurate was the MMI GPS? And why the silence for so many days? I read the entire thread in one go. Only to reach a point where you have created suspense by mentioning the wisest decision of the trip. Waiting with bated breath. Honestly, I am surprised, none has asked you to update yet.

cheers!
D

Thank you very much for all the appreciations.
MMI was fairly accurate and I had used Canon super-zoom SX10IS in this trip..

Originally Posted by parsh

Thanks a tons Dinesh. You can't understand how much your travelogue has helped us, my bro with his family (wife and 2 kids) planning on drive in his Innova on this circuit. HVK sir and vivek_vt had also given superb directions on the same route for my queries in another thread. A big vote of thanks to all of you.

We have never been to Kaza though been to lower parts of the circuit before.

As of tonight he has reached Kalpa from Chitkul and camped at Shangrilla as Kinner Kailash and Kinner Villa did not have acco available. All acco is being planned and made on the fly while he is on drive and I busy in my work in Mumbai. This is one superb travelogue and it has still not ended. Your given information is immensely valuable and great guidance points and I am sure it is going to help a lot of people going forward due to its finer details. Even since before my bro began his drive from Noida on Sun 2 Oct, we have been constantly discussing your details and how to plan. Me and my family was not able to accompany them this time but we plan to do bigger trip to Leh next year hopefully. Lets see how my bro finds the situation now. He may have to turn back from kaza, if Manali route is gauged to take longer than it will take to reach Kaza, due to lack of time on hand.

I am glad that this TL helped. The purpose of this thread was to help others in planing..
I have been in some tight situation and real bad jam hence unable to complete this journal. I hope to soon continue and finish this TL.

Thanks again..

[suhaas307]

I have one word for this travelogue: WOW!

The photographs of the views are simply stunning. I'm sure the view from the NH and the passes were simply spectacular and breathtaking! What i would give if I could just put up a tent and sit there, and gaze at that wonderful view, as i watch the clouds hover over me and the snow melt around me!

Simply phenomenal!

You've made me want to visit this place. And I shall bookmark this travelogue and even take some print-outs. I'm definitely going to travel India, and the World, in the coming years, and Kinnaur & Spiti will be on the list!

[callmetarantula]

Originally Posted by dinesha

Thank you very much for all the appreciations.
MMI was fairly accurate and I had used Canon super-zoom SX10IS in this trip..



I am glad that this TL helped. The purpose of this thread was to help others in planing..
I have been in some tight situation and real bad jam hence unable to complete this journal. I hope to soon continue and finish this TL.

Thanks again..

Dinesh,


Lovely pics you have put up here. I too had made this trip in Apr this year in a Zen. Had gone up till Kibber. The Kunzum Pass had not opened, so had turned back.

Hope you make many more enjoyable trips around our beautiful country.

[dushmish]

Dinesha, we are still waiting for the next update. Hope all is well at your end.

[dinesha]

Originally Posted by callmetarantula

Dinesh,


Lovely pics you have put up here. I too had made this trip in Apr this year in a Zen. Had gone up till Kibber. The Kunzum Pass had not opened, so had turned back.

Hope you make many more enjoyable trips around our beautiful country.

Thank a lot.

Originally Posted by dushmish

Dinesha, we are still waiting for the next update. Hope all is well at your end.

Thank you for concern. I will finish this travelogue as soon as some of the things are sorted out. Thank you for liking it.

Regards..

[aashishbc]

Originally Posted by dinesha

(Cont .. Day 7)

The lift to the local guy was one of the wisest and luckiest decision of mine.
Attachment 608938

(Cont .. Day 7)

hello dinesh .. amazing write up ... i was on the same route until puh only though this last december just before the snow fell. amazing drive. reading your TL has brought some nice memories of the route which i wanna do again since i left it and came back.

eagerly waiting for you to complete the TL. its been an awesome journey until now.

[pravdr]

Originally Posted by dinesha

Thanks a lot.



Unless somebody is taking Baggi-Dharangati-Sarahan route, one will have to descend to hot and humid Rampur. The only way to avoid it would be go via Dharangati.

I don't think any functional direct route exist between Rampur and Sarahan. When I was at Rampur My MMI Navigator told me turn right towards Sarahan. But the road on the right looked non-motorable and non-functional with old uncleared landslides on it.
If there is any other alternate route I am not aware of it. Please share the details if you have taken the direct route.

no i dont think a direct between rampur and sarahan exists.

while returning from sarahan in may2012 i took a route which at that time was not showing on google maps. it went from badrash to sungri and sungri to rohru. from sungri to rohru.then rohru patsari through hair raising district road to kharapatthar as main highway has been destroyed by nature and is being repaired.
to date iam still unable to make whether i came from sumerkot or dhwana to rohru.
roads were not in good shape.
bootomline the natural beauty on these inner roads is awe inspiring. facilities are minimum.and the air quality pristine.

praveen

[archangelvishal]

Originally Posted by dinesha

Thank a lot.


Thank you for concern. I will finish this travelogue as soon as some of the things are sorted out. Thank you for liking it.

Regards..

Hi Dinesh,

I was so engrossed reading this T-Log that it never struck me that this was done in 2012, untill this last post from you.

I sincerely hope that you resume and complete this amazing log. I always thought TLogs on Leh were the best, but you have upped the ante.

complete this log. thanks.