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Oh on a snow trip this time! Kunzum pass around mid October evokes a kind of respect that is totally missing out at Rhotang, we saw this pass before Rhotang while doing the Spiti Loop around this time only - snow and slides will be remembered for long.


same place photography? last year at Kunzum!


Chandratal is absolutely cut off during mid October, and last year could not even enter it - the snow was huge just at the start and the Batal dhaba looked like it had been bombed.

Anyway all this has now increased the appetite for snow. Enough of greenery have I seen in the recent Chhattisgarh-Orissa journey!


Again great journey and waiting for the next part

ADC, you also go placed. But be glad it was sunny and not much snow on road. When I post my log for tomorrow, you will see what does snow on road do at hairpin bends

The snowfall was getting thicker, and cold harsher.
Infact, the smaller waterfalls which were running earlier were now frozen.
Reminded me of the movie "Day after tomorrow" where the fuel of the helicopter froze mid air and it crashed




But as we descended lower, thankfully, snow had not reached here. It became cold and dry. Just lots of clouds, and fog, but no snow on road


Visibility dropped, but not dangerously




There was still slight snowfall with tiny snowflakes falling.
If was so cold that the radiator grill had started icing up. There was ice on the bumper, and on the windows.
I reckon around -5 degrees, though the temp sensor in the bumper was warmed to a generous 1 degree C


And then we reached the snow fall area which Laluks has posted in his log. Snow was lesser than what they had, but I think this would have changed drastically now


Ice on the bumper, ice everywhere. This was bone freeze time.


I have a Jacket which I got from San Francisco. Its white in color. Whenever I have worn it and gone to a pass, it has snowed. Today not only me, but my wife was also wearing a jacket we bought from there. I guess double effect?


This little fall was still fighting the cold. But it will be frozen soon


Soon the light snow got heavier


This snowstorm was not going to be over anytime soon. Feeble western disturbance eh?


As we moved forward, we got dry patches after Chotta Dharra


The engine kept the bumper insided warm at 3 degree C, the temp was actually going all the way from 3-2-1 types


the dry stretch. This is a national highway


Ice Ice baby. Ice everywhere. Icy cold winds. Luckily I was wearing layers, and the heater kept the safari nice and cozy. IT took big will power to get out and click
And we did not pass a single vehicle towards Kunzum on our return journey. Looked like rohtang was toast




This big waterfall on the opposite bank was all Ice now


the landscape was bleak and desolate, but it had stopped snowing




The River Chandra. It will also freeze when real winter comes, for now, it was blue and violent


As for us, destination was Chattru. PWD rest house guy there also runs a Prem Dhaba. He would be a good source for information on the pass, and hot maggi
It was almost 5pm


The road to Chattru and the scenes






It was around 5:20 we reached Chattru, and it started snowing heavily.
There was a fire inside the Dhaba, and it felt heavenly to sit there, watching the falling snow outside.
We ordered maggi, and I started chatting with the rest house guy

TO BE CONT.........

Tanveer, the travelogue is turning to be as splendid as the 5000kms, 10 Passes thread. Hopefully this thread too like all the creations of TSK would turn out to be a 5 star rated!

The PWD rest house guy was friendly. He told us that Chandertaal landslide had happened just a week ago, and it will now open in June Next year.
Alternate route by foot was around 6kms from the Kunzum.

I asked him about snowfall here, and its effect on Rohtang. He told me, as of now the snow was not so much that Rohtang will close, but you can go right now to Kothi if you are worried.

So we had a choice, Khoksar or Rohtang.
Since night was falling, we decided not to risk Rohtang on ICY heights.
Hopefully it will not close, and we will be able to attempt it at night.

Khoksar was just 22kms away from here, and the PWD rest house there is very good.
As we got out of Chattru, the snow became heavier, and the cold temperature ensured ice on road.

I decided to do one last photosession before the light complately faded


Our tracks, we were the only ones in this wilderness




Finally time to pack the camera


And drive to Khoksar.
We reached there at 7pm. It was pretty dark by now.
Towards the north we saw lightning flashing, and thunder rumbling.

Baralacha La was going to be clobbered tonight, perhaps even Rohtang.
But you cannot do anything about the weather, right?

We had a "buffet" dinner in the market, well it was a sitting buffet for 70rs for both of us. It was a welcome meal after the cold day.

Temperature was falling, the winds were picking up. Tonight, there will be a big storm.

Time to switch on the heater, take out the blankets, and sleep tight, for tomorrow is the day of the Climb. Will we get to Kothi... or will we not?


TO BE CONT..........

Man this is unbelievable stuff...adventure to the core.

Thanks Majic.. BTW it was 12 passes :p
yup, it was quite an adventure. BTW where is your adventure.I hope you have processed the pics!

ahh i guess i was not clear, forgot to complete the sentence:) i was talking about someone near my house has bought a Dicor 2.2VT(4X4) and i see it parked all the time at his parking lot...it hardly gets a chance to roll out.

Awesome Travelouge Tanveer, love your description and breath taking photographs. I could feel the chill travel down my spine, when I saw the pics of the narrow slippery roads. Great Pics, a true wallpaper material I should say.

@tsk1979

Excellent stuff mate.
I'm glued to this thread. Keep'em coming.

terrific stuff tanveer.
Great narration with equally breath taking pics..

I think these stretches will not be possible 2WD, what do you say?

Awesome Tanveer clap: your travelogues are inspiring me to explore all these places. Need to stop taking the safe routes of Rohtang and return types :)

Dude you passed my town on the way! Ropar. Next time you are around you are more than welcome to come,visit, stay and eat home food instead of Dhaba food.

Good to see that the front bull bar / guard is gone. I think the white elephant looks much much better without it.

Also if my memory serves me right after the initial trauma the white elephant has been behaving and has not given you any trouble right?

Excellent stuff tsk ! Hats-off to the man, machine and their escapades :)

Keep them coming !

Sorry about that bro....please:dont remind me of that. Too busy with work yaar, cant upload pics from office and am dead tired by the time i get home from work.

Will surly start posting soon....But i dont think i will be able to/need to(after the wealth of info you have shared with all of usclap:) put in a lot of text.

Thanks Guys. New post coming soon.
As for 2WD, most taxis up there are 2WD Sumo and Xylo. So its quite possible, but with 2WD you have to wait a day or so for the pass to become passable again. Or sometimes you need manual push power
Thanks Bailee! Actually Ropar is a pass through. But next time we stay at Anandpur Sahib will give you a shout out!
New update coming soon
Well every travelogue is unique! Mine was just a little more detailed. Waiting for your log eagerly!