[reply2ab]

Put seven adults and three children -- including one not-yet-one-year-old -- into two cars. Drive almost 2,000 km over some of the most back-breaking roads in the country. (Some of them don’t even deserve the title of roads -- it’s all just rocks, mud and often, flowing water on the trails!) Add landslides, collapsed bridges, broken roads and diesel shortages. Include a bumper-to-bumper crawl down from a mountain pass, wheels spinning in the slush, thick fog hiding everything but the car lights in front of you -- a 40 km drive that took a loooong seven hours. Throw in no less than five punctures which leave the whole party stranded in the middle of nowhere -- in the middle of the night -- forcing an unscheduled halt, sleeping out in the grounds of a temple, baby and all.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster?












Ah, but then I forgot some important ingredients: the picture postcard scenery that makes you want to stop the car every two minutes for a new photograph. Snow-capped peaks, bubbling rivers, gushing waterfalls, carpets of wildflowers, starkly magnificent canyons, awe-inspiring rock formations, centuries-old monasteries, and villages perched on the most inaccessible crags. Add in the friendly people, whether the eager boys who helped us cook, the shy children who played with our own kids reaching beyond the language barrier, or the landlord who helped start our cold Bolero by burning a fire beneath it. The moment of priceless satisfaction when you finally glimpse the sheer blue of the Chandrataal lake after a gruelling hike. The camaraderie of sharing worries and joy, heart-stopping crises and heart-warming laughter, with a group of good friends.

Suffice it to say the recipe was a grand success.












More details coming up on our week-long trip from Delhi to the tiny village of Lossar in the Spiti Valley (just a few days before the Leh cloudburst closed off the road!) -- it was truly a vacation living on the edge.

[deky]

Bring on the adventure dude. Waiting for more of the lovely pics and the report!!!
Regards.

[v&v]

Nice startup. Spiti Valley is in my radar too. I am hooked to this thread.

[tsk1979]

I am totally hooked! This area is on my radar, and hopefully we will do it this year!
Bring it on!

[Indian Ranger]

Superb teasers there...I am hooked to this thread.

[aargee]

First it was Leh, now its Spiti Valley. Wow!!! So finally you decided to go to Spiti after a confusion prevailed over Leh & Spiti? BTW, when did you do this? After Mori trip?

[hvkumar]

Looks like the roads to Spiti have really broken up into smithereens!
You had 2 cars - the Bolero from Madras and the Innova taxi from Delhi?

[CrankShaft05]

This truly is an adventure! And this shows your passion towards driving...Pics are too scenic and I would surely consider visiting Spiti Valley in near future...have fun n take care

[rkbharat]

wonderful, can you please mention the location of those bad patches. Specially the place where Bolero crossing the stoned road

[wanderernomad]

@rk the locations can be one too many, haha. The roads are littered with such spots. However the slush and fog and the tame water crossing are definitly the up and down drives either side of Rohtang La. The stone crossing would be some Kilometers from Khoksar towards Losar. Please confirm.

This is one of the more grueling stretches and I must say you took quite an adventure with kids being on board too. Bravo. Bring it on.

[tsk1979]

Yup, agree with nomad, this looks like the stretch right before batal. Roads vanish there, and all you get are rocks.
When we did this stretch, it was end october, so no water, just some ice and mild snowfall

[Souvik]

Oh. The Bolero-on-the-rocks! Now I am wondering (and not too sure) if my Swift will be able to take that later in Sept.

Souvik

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by Souvik

Oh. The Bolero-on-the-rocks! Now I am wondering (and not too sure) if my Swift will be able to take that later in Sept.

Souvik

The roads in Lahaul Valley (Manali-Gramphoo-Kunzum la) are mostly like this only, may not see any major improvement in September, just be careful and negotiate the rocks with care.

[sami316]

To me it looks like one Big Adventure. Really good start to the TL. Looking forward to more.

[manolin]

the last but one snap is too good!