[mayankk]

Before anything else, let’s get the characters in place. The senior Citizen in question is my 2005 Tucson, or Tooky, as she goes by in these halls (Ownership here . The two blokes in question are yours truly, and a college friend of his.

Prologue:

A long drive has been in mind for my college group, well, since college. At one point, 5 penniless people sat munching 2 samosas between them in a college canteen in Delhi, planning to buy a beater safari or some such to travel around. One, how? Two? Run it with what??? But yes, it planted the seed for a long drive in all of our minds, but in 2012, only 3 of us were still in Delhi. Since 2012, every time we met, the discussion eventually turned to going off to leh ladakh, and when I got the Tooky, the plan looked on, provided the calendars could be coordinated. However, all of us had liabilities on our time, and things did not pan out for some time.
Then, the infamous attack on the CRV in leh happened, and the destination lost its charm entirely. Additionally, every week a new thread seemed to come up for Leh on the forum, and I could see that the whole place was turning into a big tourist pot. The flights etc had made it easily accessible, which meant that it was slowly turning into a mainstream destination. Definitely not an attractive getaway. However, in the same instances when I was looking at Leh, I was also searching for Spiti, and threads were few and far between. Hmmmm. I saw the pictures, and it was goooood.
The plan was put on hold contingent on when I would be changing jobs, which happened in July, 2017. Once I was able to coordinate my joining up elsewhere, I got in touch with my friends that the trip was finally on. One fellow backed out, but the second one was all for it.

Planning:

In the first week of July, I booked stays at Narkand, Kalpa, Kaza, Chandrataal and Manali, encompassing a week's trip. We were set to leave on the 23rd, but had to postpone the whole thing by 4 days, so we left on the 27th. This was a blessing in disguise, because were able to avoid driving to Shimla and coming back from Manali on weekends. That’s the worst time to drive up to any popular place, especially in the hills. Kalpa and Manali were both homestays, while the rest turned out to be hotels which had been listed on Airbnb. We were not really concerned since we would only be spending the nights at the places. Here is how the final itinerary firmed up:
27th: Morning Head out to Narkand
28th: Head out to Kalpa
29th: Head out Kaza
31st : Head out to Chandrataal
1st : Head out to Manali
2nd Head back to Delhi

On paper, this looks to be hectic, since in the mountains, you’re looking at driving most of the day, even when the distances are under 200 kilometres. However, as it turned out, and as we imagined, it was the driving that was the best part of the whole trip rather than arriving at any place. We also made some basic purchases such as a tow rope, tire repair kit, an inflator etc.
Fasten your seatbelts and don up your oxygen cylinders, because it was literally a breathtaking journey.

[mayankk]

Day 1:



On the dot at 7 minutes past 630 in the morning, I picked up my friend, Tarun, from his home and we headed towards Narkand. This is a known journey for everyone, head towards Shimla, stop at haveli for breakfast, and go past Shimla. However, as we neared Zirakpur, the rains hit. Till the turnoff to the Himalayan Expressway, there must have been about 2 feet of water on the road, and huge numbers of vehicles were sloshing it around like mad. With waves hitting the car repeatedly, we went off the shoulder behind a tempo, hearts in mouth. We were worried that the water was too much, and COULD NOT WAIT to get to the mountains, where there would be no jams and water logging (Ha, bloody ha!!).



We stopped at Barog, at the hotel pinewood for some sort of dinner at about 3 in the noon. It was quite foggy by this time around, and both of us were in the initial euphoria that one gets when getting into the mountains after a long time. Once food was done with, we headed out and it started to get dark very soon. Around 7 PM, the fog hit, or rather, the clouds. Visibility came down to about 5 metres, and reference points became non-existent due to their being no street or ambient lighting. Luckily, we met a fan of Chinese lights driving a Mahindra pickup. He had flashing pointers in his rear brake lamps, and he knew the road, as was to be expected. From then on, it was a follow-the-leader for the next 40 kms. He landed us in Narkand around 930 pm, and we never even got a chance to thank him. Narkand is more of a mainstream place, kinda like how the bigger places used to be earlier.

Day 2:



Now this is when I believe our journey began in earnest. We left Narkand to head out to Kalpa. Kalpa is just a small village of sorts, with a winding road running through it. We were booked at a place called Little Heaven, and what an experience it was. First of all, there was no marking or any board to direct us to it. Moreover, the locals were not even aware of such a place. However, we were able to get in touch with the caretaker fellow, who came out and led us into the bushes to get to a lovely little 2 storey wooden cottage in an apple orchard(with apples growing).



Getting to Kalpa gave us the first taste of what was to come, though we were not aware of it. You drive through a barren area, and in some spots you will see the road being worked upon, and the river is rushing by sometimes 10 feet from you, sometimes a 100 feet below. Once we started driving next to the river, the road disintegrated into rocks and dust. After many hours of treading carefully over the broken surface, we finally turned off the road, and started heading up the mountain. Thankfully, this was paved, but it was extremely narrow with many many hairpins. Most of it had to be taken in 1st or 2nd gear. That being said, it was one of the most beautiful green patches to drive through. There were just trees all around us, till we hit the town proper.









The caretaker was a local and the property typically hosted French people, so he was fluent in French. Not much use to me, but still, kudos. When we arrived, a middle aged French couple came along as well. We thought we’d be sharing the cottage, but they were there only for the food and the conversation. The conversation was good, but the food, unfortunately was, ordinary. Typical Indian vegetarian fare, but these guys loved it! The guy was a hypno-therapist, an occupation he had taken up after long years being a desk jockey in some mundane function. The lady was an economist, and they were having their typical 45 day French vacation.......Lucky sods. Where we had thought 8 days was a long period, these guys were planning on covering the whole circuit till Kaza in 30 days!!!! Yowza!

Anyway, the cottage was amazing, all wood. Had hot water, and a view you could die for. Look down, and you would see apple on trees, look up and there are the snow covered peaks. We were finally close to some peaks, finally!! Yay! And a rainbow thrown in there too!

[mayankk]

Day 3:



Day 3 began at about 10 am, and we started driving towards Kaza. The distance on the map was about 200 kilometres odd, but this was the last time we trusted Google for giving an accurate prediction for arriving anywhere in this trip.

The views went from green to brown to barren very soon. We drove down to the river again, and onto the broken roads. Throughout the route, the road runs with river right next to it, and it is violent. Boy, is it violent. The water was absolutely brown, and owing to the rains somewhere above, probably, it was gushing through! That being said, though the road broken, it was never narrow except in parts. However, this was about when the sense of isolation truly dawned on us. There was nobody behind us for miles, and no one ahead of us either. It was already dusk by the time we had covered 100 kms, and we were well and truly in what can be described as the loneliest either of us had ever been. Only in the physical sense, ie. The mountains alongside were absolutely barren by this time, with mica like slabs. And they were huge!! Across the river, we could see the diagonal lines on the huge chunks, and it was tremendous. No photos can capture the sheer enormity of these mountains. A mountain with tree cover, it looks welcoming. These, though, they were absolutely menacing.

Soon enough, night started falling. We crossed a couple of more villages enroute, but they were really tiny, more like a hamlet of 5-6 huts/buildings, and as it became darker, the isolation came through even more. In the mountains, if the roads are good, at night the driving becomes easier, since you are able to spot cars coming from a long way off. Here, if we turned off the lights on the car, first, it was pitch black like nothing we had ever seen before. Second, there was not even a hint of a 4300k lamp anywhere behind or ahead of us. Luckily, we had downloaded the maps for the entire journey beforehand, and knew that we were only some kilometres from Kaza. We met some trucks on the way, which involved some manoeuvring as we mostly came across them when the roads were narrow. We finally hit Kaza, which in any other circumstance would have been bypassed as a small town. To us, however, it was New York, New York!!

We were booked at the old monk hotel which, according to the map, was up a narrow alleyway right through the centre of the town. We arrived in Kaza at around 9 or 10 at night, and carried on straight through the alley, which was barely about as wide as the Tucson, twisty, and steep. Expectedly, we soon got stuck, and as Tarun tried to reverse the car, he brushed against an iron outcropping, and the front right tyre let go of the rim at one point and promptly deflated. The jack in the proper slot did nothing to raise the car. It raised enough for the punctured wheel to come off, but the inflated tyre could not go on. Changed the position of the jack to one of the suspension components, and the tyre went on easy enough. However, this required doing the whole process twice, which is the moment when the altitude really hit us. Each turn of the tyre iron and the jack rod meant stopping and taking a few breaths. More on that later.
Throughout this ordeal, a lot of cars came up behind us and waited, since we were, effectively, blocking the centre of the town. Luckily for us, the road had been closed further up, and these guys turned around as soon as the locals told them of this. To the hotel then. We had booked through Airbnb, and there was no mention that the actual place was the old monk hotel. We had no mobile network, and the guy who coordinated the Airbnb account was in New Jersey. Serendipity struck, however, and one of the locals recognized the room in the picture on the app, and directed us to the old monk hotel. We finally checked into a very nicely appointed room with a fantastic view at around 1030. It had been scenic, but gruelling, 12 hour journey through absolutely overwhelming and difficult terrain.

















































Attachment 1667793









Day 4:

On the 4th day, we decided to head to the Key monastery and Komic village. The key monastery was absolutely beatific. Quiet, small, and if possible, even more isolated. On the way over, a local lady flagged us down, asking for a lift till the monastery. We obliged, and after a 100 or so meters, we came across a hitch hiker who asked for a lift as well. We obliged yet again. Now, this guy was quite interesting. A student, I believe, and he had been hiking for about 5 days, and had spent the night at Chandrataal the day before. Now, he was on his way to the monastery as he had been told by some other people that he could stay the night over there. Ah, the bravado of youth. I cannot imagine doing something like that now. So, full points to him.

Post this, I was feeling extremely sleepy, and wanted t go back to the hotel. However, Tarun told about a village nearby which he had to see. Given a choice at that point in time, I would have gone back to the hotel, but he insisted, so we decided we would go there. However, as soon as we climbed down to the parking at the monastery, we witnessed a fallen warrior bleeding on the parking floor. Yes, the Tooky had sprung a leak. A joint in the cooling system had shaken off the mounting point on the firewall, and there was coolant all over under her. Luckily, there was mechanic fella we had seen nearby, and we headed off straight to him, keeping an ever watchful eye on the temperature gauge. When we reached the shop, the culprit piece of piping was indentified, which was a half inch diameter 5 inch section. There was no possibility of repairing this. A jugad fix was quickly fashioned out of a very rigid plastic tube. I had my doubts about it not going soft with hot coolant passing through it, but after trying to burn it in an open flame, these were put to rest. Somewhat. FYI, it survived till a few days ago when I gave the car to Raj mechanic for fixing it.

Anyhoo. Komic. Yes.
Post this transplant, I still wanted a good sleep, but I was bypassed, and we started driving towards the highest village in the world. By far, this drive, and this place has to be the highlight of my driving and travelling life. The road is “kaccha” throughout, and I think that should be taken as a given in these regions unless mentioned explicitly otherwise. The road to the village began like any other in these parts, sand and rocks. We hit a plateau of sorts after climbing about a 1000 feet in 5-6 kilometres. And then came the rains. It seemed we had gone from the leeward to the windward side. After a long time we saw some sort of vegetation around us. And the massive rains!!! At full chat, the wipers were just not able to keep up. This was followed very soon by the jolting comfort of hail. Yes. Not too big, maybe the size of 4-5 sugar crystals stuck together, but big enough to cause a massive amount of plinking from all over the roof. This abated soon enough and we stopped to comprehend the absolute peace of the utter isolation.

Surrounded by huge snow covered peak on one side, brown barren mountain faces on another, and a road going god knew where. It was tremendous. It was vast and capable of wiping out EVERY thought in your mind. Each and Every. Business loss, the joy of a new born, the loss of a loved one, anything at all. In my mind, my jaw had dropped right down to Delhi. It was a bit dusky and dark now with the clouds just above us, so we decided to move on. The road changed soon, to a sort of powdery black surface. With the rains, this had become like absolute ice. This was first time that I used the Tucson’s 4wd in anger. However, before that we had a few massively fun tail outs. Once the 4wd kicked in, however, absolutely no fuss and the old girl trundled up and forward like she was heading home. It was a fantastically fun drive, and with a slight drizzle to tow. When we finally reached Komic, it was a sight to behold.

After spending the most reasonable amount of time as my chilled bones permitted, we decided to head down. Did I mention that even driving at this altitude caused shortness of breath? Never mind, I just mentioned it again. As we were driving down, we met with a traveller van that was making a U turn. These guys were from our hotel, and the driver was just not able to navigate on the slippery surface, that’s how bad it was. We met with him at the hotel later that night, and he told us that they had driven over from Manali side, and midway his group had wanted to turn around since the road was so bad. We were telling him that it’s worse from Kalpa, and he was telling us it was the other way round. Turned out he was right-er than us. Anyhoo, we returned to a nice enough dinner of veggies again at the old monk that night.

[mayankk]

Pictures from Key and Komic:

[mayankk]

Day 5:

Chandrataal.



We left from Kaza at around 9-10 AM after a thorough check of the car and tyres. One thing you guys really should not forget to take is a portable inflator. I bought one just before leaving and it was a godsend. The constant pounding meant that one of the valves had developed a very slight leak. It is very possible in any other car as well, so just carry one.

Anyway, we were told by the guy who arranged our stay that the journey would take about 5-6 hours. We scoffed. It was under a 100 kilometres, how could it take so long. PFFT. We have an SUV. PFFT. 4WD, big tyres...PFFFTT. Guess what went PFFT over the next, er, 6 hours.
We drove over about 4-5 mountains, up and down, and we were wondering where the hell is this lake? Previous disclaimer still stands about the road, that there was not one. We were soon to realize that things CAN turn worse. Soon enough, we came to a turn off. The map showed that we should have only 10 kilometres left, and the road to the right looked like a “pagdandi”. We hit a very slightly bumpy piece of road, and started seeing some houses, and the road kept going down. Asked a local, and he said this is going towards Baatal, not Chandrataal. The “Pagdandi”.

Turned around and soon we arrived at the fork, and had to do a double take to realize that yes this was actually a path for motorized vehicles. The car had to hug the mountain side in order to scrape over the road at points. At one point, there was a drop that was about 35 degrees, and immediately after that, there was a nala. The two preyed on my mind till the next day. Anyway, the rest of the road levelled out soon after and we hit our camp. Blowy as hell!!! And cold. Had at least 3-4 cups of tea while roaming, gave the old girl a good pat on the snout for coming through yet again, and waited for night. Rotten bit of luck here. It was cloudy. The guys at the camp told us that they turn off the lights at around 10 pm, and the moon and stars shine down. No such luck. Lights were still turned off at 10 though. That made for an interesting night. Pitch black and the wind pounding against the tent. Eye opening in a manner, especially when visiting the attached loos which also howled and flapped!! However, no literal stars and moon for us.

[mayankk]

Day 6:

The next morning, we were told to get to the lake before 930-10, since the wind starts disturbing the surface of the water after that. This was a good instruction. Getting to Chandrataal involved driving through many many hairpins, with the “U”s having at least a 25degree gradient. This was all 1st gear territory, and in places, even that felt a bit tall. We parked about a kilometre from the lake, and walked off huffing and puffing to an amazing place.

[mayankk]

Some more from the day of Chandrataal:

A pickup that had crashed some months before:



This was the best "road" on the way over:



This dhaba/camp was slap bang in the middle of nowhere! They had set up some single occupancy tents which travellers used when it got too tough to venture. we met a few interesting people here. The first was a pair of european men who were cycling all the way from Kaza. The second was a french couple.
Who were 70+ years old.
Who were driving to Chandrataal, and onwards to Manali and Delhi.
From Paris.
In their LC motor home!!!!!



The Tucson at Kunjum.





The roads:





Random stuff en route:

[mayankk]

Day 6 Cont'd:



After devouring this absolutely amazing sight for the next few hours, we decided to head back to the camp, pack up and push for Manali. The dread of the incline and the nala I mentioned earlier came rushing back, and I was extremely worried about them. However, once we reached them, our minds had been so primed by the Chandrataal road, we managed to get through without a blink. Onwards and onwards we went till we reached “Chacha Chachi” dhaba. Met this fellow there:



The roads were good till this point. What I mean is that there was no tar, but there no rocks either. Had a sumptuous meal of rajma chawal and their very spicy chutney, and then moved off towards Manali.
Oh horror!!!









This was THE WORST ROAD EVER!!It was just a collection of rocks, arranged in a random pattern for about 100+ kilometres. It was soon discovered that the Tooky will float over most of the road in 2nd gear at about 30kmph. Because I had taken science in class Xth, I was quick to realize that this was going to take a VERRRRRY long drive.

Soon we hit our first nala. Water must have been about 1 foot deep, with very slippery and rounded rocks under. Went through it easily enough. Next up was the Pagal nala, as it is called. It was basically, for us, a 200 metre 30 degree incline submerged in fast flowing water. The rocks were big and there a huge jam at both ends of the place. We got off the car, and were immediately greeted by a river roaring like we had never heard before. Rocks as big as buildings had fallen ages ago in it, and the water made a terrific racket as it fought against them. Breathtaking, it was.

Anyway, there was another group who we had been trailing for some time. These were kids who had borrowed their dad’s Innova and driver to travel to the place. The driver was supremely mad, because he had to do all the driving himself, and it was “just not proper that kids want to come to such a bad place!!!” Anyway, the jam was due to a safari, of all vehicles, which was stuck in the middle of the water. This really deflated my spirits. Further wariness arrived when I saw that it was a local car. I was petrified, that the Tooky is going to get into trouble for certain. At certain points, the rocks were basically slabs with longer drops that the Tooky could clear. It took 15 guys half an hour to free the safari after constant rocking to dislodge it from whatever it was stuck on.



Next, it was the turn of a fortuner which wanted to climb down. I followed it throughout. I could see it bottoming out repeatedly, and the driver’s hands dancing on the steering wheel. It got stuck at one point, but this was a determined driver. He powered through, and the car actually raised the rock it was stuck and rode over, falling down with a sickening thud of rocks meeting sump/suspension. This was the most worried I had ever felt since the trip began. Note that I have not mentioned the rest of the trip.

Now, I had been sitting in or close to the car. Tarun, meantime, had been keeping a watch on the traffic movement. The Innova guys with us had already moved ahead, and Tarun said we need to barge in else it will take another hour. We had already been stuck for about 2 hours now. So I went off and parked behind the Innova. Soon it was his turn, and he moved off gingerly, cursing the world in general, and the parents of the kids in particular. He immediately got stuck at the same spot as the safari had, and I could see the terror in his eyes. No amount of effort produced any movement. I was carrying a tow rope, but I was not sure if it would help in any manner right now. However, the decision was taken out of my hand as a 407 came by me, and parked right behind the Innova. The Innova people were asked to sacrifice their rear bulbar, as the truck started nudging the Innova from behind. Soon enough result. The Innova jumped in the air, and was free, quickly moving through the water.

Next up was us guys. We had decided that I would do the driving till we get to a proper road, since I had more empathy with the car. As I stood at the edge of the water, I was feeling sick to my stomach thinking of what I was going to put the car through. Midway through the water, there were these bigger slabs that everyone was getting stuck on. I entered the water and it immediately came up to just above the middle of the tyres, which meant that I had to maintain the revs or else it was going to get in the exhaust. The 4wd was engaged, and I covered the first third of the nala gingerly. Just before the slabs, I stopped to ask Tarun which way I should turn to avoid the big pointy rocks. One of the local truck drivers came up to me and said that you can either get stuck or you can break some part on your underbody. Just floor it and rush through. Now this was something I was not very comfortable doing, so I didn’t.

I tried to maintain an even pace, and 10 seconds later I was smiling on the other side of the nala!! The old girl just skipped over everything, and powered through the bigger ones, with nothing touching anything at all on the underside. Tarun came running to sit in the car and we drove off. He told me that he was completely taken aback by how easily the Tucson sailed through, especially since he had been seeing vehicles struggling through for the past few hours. After this we crossed over another nala, before we turned over the mountain into another valley and were met with the most beautiful mountains we had ever seen. Mountains on both sides of us, and plains spread for 200 feet on either side with a road passing dead through the centre. It was beautiful! And it was raining throughout.



I don’t think it stopped raining for the next two day till we reached Delhi. It was more or less late afternoon by now, we had to get to Rohtang still. After a few more hours of banging through broken surfaces, we reached the bridge that crosses over the river. From then on in, it was climbs and drops through innumerable mountains before Rohtang. Things were not done yet. This was the best location to drive in, what with the greenery all around, the sky high mountains just feet from us, and the sheer drops on the other side on a narrow track. The rains meant that there more water on the roads, and soon we reached a steep incline which was just rocks, with depressions made by trucks and other vehicles. These tyre width depressions had water running through them, about a half foot deep.

There was no way we could drive on the central verge, because there was no space to out the other side of the car on. Again, the Tooky just clambered over everything. Soon after, we saw some trucks standing by the side of the road, and learnt that there was an alto stuck in a very huge nala ahead. We had not developed any kind of inflated ego, so we were genuinely curious as to how the alto is managing here. People like us, we would not dare. Turned out that this guy does Kaza/Manali on a regular basis and his car gets stuck everywhere. The solution was just a few hands that effectively lift the car to cross it over. Ah, simple!

Anyway, this nala was deeper than the Pagal one, but without any incline. Again, get to the edge, engage 4wd, and push through! She did bottom out this time around on the front member while entering the water, but surprised us again with the agility and nimbleness with which she kept managing.









After this we kept climbing up and the nalas dropped off. Around this time, it was late dusk, and we wanted to get to the leh-Manali highway before total darkness fell. We thought that we would manage the dark better if we were on good roads at least.
Wrong again!!!!

This time, it was the clouds. Now, for a long time we had been spotting clouds flitting through in between mountains. Turned out, we were heading straight for them!! Our Innova friend had caught by now, and in the failing light, we stopped for 10 minutes to catch our breaths and to see if the fog would abate at all. Did not happen, so we decided to move.



With all headlights on, and yours truly’s head stuck out of the window, we managed to make some progress. However, soon it was completely dark, the clouds were even thicker, and my head was in a cryogenic state. We stopped and I asked Mr Innova to lead. He tried for some time, before he stopped and asked us to lead. Just as were planning to switch places, this Delhi number cab came swinging by and slowed down. Innova guy was faster to react than Tarun who driving now, and went off after him. The cab guy seemed to know the roads and we were able to maintain a constant pace for some time. At a couple of blind turns, though, Innova guy got too scared and backed right off, and neither would he let us pass. The cabbie fellow got impatient by this time and zoomed off.

We were now back to trundling along at 5kmph. We were completely blind by this time. So blind that at one point Tarun assumed that the valley was to his right and kept going to the edge of the road thinking that was the mountain side. I finally screamed at him to keep to the right because the valley was on the left. I literally could see the blood drain from his face as he told me what assumption he was driving under. Jeez!!

By this time, the phones came alive, and we received a call from our host, and it was already 9pm. He told us that we should grab food from any restaurant on the way, as we would not be able to reach the place before 1030 pm. He was right. We finally reached his place, and I had my customary 3 cups of tea before dinner and went off to sleep. When we woke up, we realized what a wonderful home stay this was. Absolutely perfect. I just wish we had more time.

Here are some more random pictures from when we coming to Manali:



This guys was sitting on teh rock behind him but jumped off right when I tried to click a picture.



The rest of the trip is something that most of you must have done, the drive from Manali to Delhi. The flies in the ointment were that we had to finish this 500km leg in one day, and that it was raining till the time we neared Delhi. It was a 12 hour long drive, and I reached home that day at about 2 AM. Exhausted and exhilarated by the entire experience.

Now, the whole point of the trip, apart from getting away, and have an adventure was also to take the car to Spiti. I baby this car in the city. But when I reached back home late at night, I looked back at her and had to acknowledge that, “Job well done, madam”.

It was just amazing how this 11 year old beast took at least 700 kms of no-roads completely in her stride and did not make any trouble at all!!! Lovely!! This is mettle, and she has gained so much respect in my eyes. I expected that there would be at least some points where some things may give way, but Wow!! Salut.

Here she is, at the end of the trip:



Will I do it again? Definitely, but not for the next few years at least.

I hope you guys enjoyed this outpouring, but since Spiti threads are few and far in between, I decided to make it as personal as possible!!

I have written about the what I could reminisce as of now. As and when I collate more pictures and narratives, I'll put it up.

[Gannu_1]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[mayankk]

Here are a few more pictures from the Key monastery forwarded by the guy we met enroute, Kshitiz.

[kpzen]

Mayankk,

Congratulations on completing one of the most challenging drives in the country.
Spiti circuit is highly adventurous for the travelers and the machine.

The whole journey will be etched in your memory for years to come.

I did this in 2014 and still I grin with pride everytime I see the pics in my album.

Your travelogue has revived my urge to revisit my album.
Sharing couple of pics from my drive.

[mustang_shelby]

Wonderful travelogue, Mayankk. The pictures are beautiful, especially the Chandrataal ones. Some videos of the nallah crossings, if you have them, would be nice.

[majumon]

Hey that was a thrilling travelogue enjoyed it , the most thrilling part was when you were describing the crossing of the river where most vehicles got stuck. Amazing car to have taken you trouble free where roads are few.

[BlackPearl]

Wonderful travelogue mayankk and lovely pictures. You are lucky to see the still water of Chandrataal! We did Spiti trip from Kolkata in May-June this year, but the travelogue is still in the assembly line :-( This one will give some impetus to complete mine

Not trying to hijack your thread, just posting a short video of our drive in a Mahindra Thar, since my travelogue is very far from seeing the light of the day -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clIsR-56UAI

[mayankk]

Here are some videos that I managed to upload:

This was the first indication of the water woes ahead. This was a small river/major stream which had broken the embankments and was basically flooding all over the road.

https://youtu.be/qbqK0ixV5R0

The winds at the fork leading off to Chandrataal were tremendous!!

https://youtu.be/AslQrL_zp9g

This is the road to Chandrataal, where it was good. Now imagine another vehicle coming up. Geez!

https://youtu.be/Ib11RMWt2w0

Enroute to Manali, there were quite a few water crossings. This one was the scariest, because the pool you see is being fed from water that has decided to make the road its path......

https://youtu.be/omrG9WjIO6s

.......Which was this. It was particularly scary because the rocks under the water are the same as the ones you see on the side. Slippery, round, and big. Oh, and the road was inclined, AND curving.
I miss it....

https://youtu.be/0hkjOg9UpOM