“No one can take you away from your destiny, no matter what.“
Overcoming Obstacles: The Kinnaur Landslide Challenge
Stuck at Jeori due to heavy landslides
Like the previous day, we were quite stuck at Jejuri due to heavy landslides and roadblocks at Kinnaur Valley, which was just 30 minutes from here. This morning brings some hope in us all.
The nail-biting wait for road clearance
From 5 am onwards, I kept a close watch on the road leading towards the mountain to monitor any traffic movements. I saw a few vehicles coming from the mountain, which gave me a sense of relief that maybe the road was cleared and we could go ahead to our next destination.
But that’s not true; the road was not open, and people from two days were already there in the queue waiting for the road to open.
Seeking blessings at Shree Bhima Kaliji Temple
So we all planned to visit a famous temple on the mountaintop near Jeori. It is Shree Bhima Kaliji Temple, our last hope to get blessed from there to continue our journey without any obstructions.
The temple was in a quite high place from where the beautiful view of Kinnaur Valley is seen and gives a very relaxing sense of happiness.
We all bikers reached the parking lot and entered the temple. Due to the landslide, the temple was quite crowded with travelers and bikers like us.
All temples in the Himachal have a quite unique style of architecture, which not only helps to clear the snow in winter but also gives a beautiful frame for photographers to capture with a mountainous background.
The courtyard of the temple was huge, but we were not allowed to enter the temple with mobiles or cameras. I agree with their policy, as cameras at the temple will create lots of havoc for selfie lovers.
The unexpected message: Road cleared!
Soon after a few floors, we reached the main goddess room to receive some blessings and returned to the courtyard.
But I thought maybe the goddess wanted all of us to visit her, as when we were just coming out of the temple, the phone message blinked, and it was a message from Gautam that the road had been cleared and we needed to move fast.
Navigating downhill to the hotel
Everyone was so happy, and we thanked the mata for supporting us.
We just boarded our ride and started to descend towards our hotel to pack our luggage to move ahead. But there were always some issues with my life; the bike currently I am riding is Sharath’s, and its brake was very moody. Till the time I ascended, there was no issue with the brakes, but while descending, the rear brake stopped working.
And the downhill always depends 90% on good braking only. As my wife was at the pillion, it was not a good choice to speed up, but to carefully ride so that I could use the gear braking system to control the bike. Quite a tough task, but I didn’t have any options now.
The Journey Begins: From Kinnaur to Kalpa
Crossing the famous Kinnaur cave
Everyone was pleased and wanted to reach the hotel as fast as they could. In the next 45 minutes, we were ready to start our journey ahead.
Soon we crossed the check-post from where yesterday we came back with disappointment.
In the next 15 minutes, we were just in front of the famous Kinnaur cave, which is a landmark for the Spiti trip. So we took some wonderful captures to make our travel memorable.
We were all happy that we were now moving towards our destination, but the main obstruction still lay ahead of us, for which we were not ready.
The endless queue of vehicles
The landslide location was still 3 to 4 kilometers ahead of us, and before that, there was an infinite queue of vehicles. The bikers with us were only 500 meters ahead of us, but they were also stuck in the queue.
By nearby people, we came to know that the landslide is cleared, but the path is allowing only one vehicle at a time. The road is very muddy and soft, which is having issues for heavy trucks to cross.
We started to wait for the next 2 hours, in which our vehicle just moved by 10 m. The whole excitement changed to disappointment, as maybe there was a chance that we could not make it through the landslide today.
Walking across the landslide zone
Suddenly at 4 pm, we came to know that bikers had crossed the landslide location. They suggested us to cross the landslide location on foot and then by biker would catch us from there for the journey ahead.
The idea was good, so me and my wife started to walk on the road; we carried our raincoats also, just in case if there was rain we could protect ourselves.
After around 20 minutes of walking, we were about to reach the landslide location. As we were approaching, by looking at the queue, it looked impossible for our cars to cross the landslide by tonight.
Soon we were in front of the heavy, muddy road; there was around 100 m of stretch that was affected by the landslide. Full of muddy roads, and when I tried to look towards the mountain, it was like, at any moment, the heavy stone could fall from there. Looks creepy.
So we crossed it on foot, and we were quiet in shock after crossing the landslide location, as the number of vehicles was much more on the other side than it was on my side from where I came.
The queue was never-ending. After around 10 minutes of walking, we were with Gautam on his bikes towards the rendezvous point.
Quiet sight of relief as we successfully crossed the major obstruction. And with some snacks, we moved towards Kalpa, which was our next destination.
Scenic ride to Karcham Dam
At first, I was with Kaushal on his Himalayan; after some time, I switched to the riding mode to feel the cold breeze on my face. But while riding, it was very tough to capture beautiful locations on the way, so I returned the riding authority to Kaushal.
Soon after some of life’s most precious memories were captured with my camera, we reached Karcham Dam, where we took a break for a few moments to just straighten our waists.
The beauty at this place is something not to be explained in words but just can be felt with your own eyes.
This was the point where on a day before we were expecting to turn towards Sangla and Chitkul, but those places will still stay on our bucket list due to a day delay of the Kinnaur landslide of 2024.
The adrenaline-pumping narrow road to Recong Peo
Now it’s time to move ahead to our next destination, Recong Peo. It was a simple highway, but Gautam, our trip leader, gave us another option of some adrenaline path from a narrow and quiet scary road to the destination.
We were all here to do some sort of adventure; one adventure of experiencing landslides is done, and now it’s time for the next one.
So we started towards an alternate path towards Recong Peo. And by God, this was the most beautiful road I have ever ridden a bike on.
The path was just 2 meters wide with space for only one four-wheeler to pass on. On one side, there was a tall wall of mountains, and on the other side, there was just a 90-degree cliff to 300 to unimaginable depths.
The turns just rejuvenate the inner soul of an adventure biker to excite at its peak. The most important tip for riding here is to coordinate with each other and not showcase any stunts. Obviously, we are on one of the dangerous roads in India, which itself is an act of stunt but still no more overtaking or unnecessary speeding, as there is no scope for escaping death if you miss the road edge.
We were all fully responsible and aware of the worst consequences, so we rode in a well-disciplined way, and literally, riding in a disciplined way is so satisfying to the inner self.
After lots of elevation and 180-degree turns, we finally reached Recong Peo by 7 p.m.; it was quite dark this time, with only a little hint of light to the west. Recong Peo is a small town in the northern Himachal region.
Arrival at Kalpa: A town shrouded in darkness
As our backup van was stuck at the landslide location, all our luggage was still there, so we all started shopping for some clothes to wear and some regular toiletries. As we have seen, the huge line of vehicles at Kinnaur made it quite impossible for our cars to reach Kalpa by the next morning, so shopping was necessary at this point in time.
After a good shopping, we started our ride towards Kalpa, which is again at a good elevation, and now the darkness started to cover our sky to let us feel the reduction of temperature.
While riding suddenly I saw to my right side, where small visible hints of mountains with white caps were seen, and this was the first time we were looking at snow-capped mountains in this whole trip, which was a different dimensional experience.
The dark took over the whole sky, and we were still riding and moving towards more height kilometer by kilometer.
After around 45 minutes, we finally reached our stay hotel at Kalpa. All sides were so dark that we couldn’t even imagine the lovely aura of nature’s beauty around us.
It was quiet last night; dinner had been served, and we just jumped on it with all our will. Everyone was so hungry and tired due to the experience we had with Kinnaur.
After dinner, we just sat in the hallway, sharing our captures with each other and showcasing our experiences.
The surprise: Backup van cleared the landslide
Our Gujarati brothers had done a lot of shopping from Recong Peo due to all the luggage in the backup van, which was stuck at Kinnaur, but then there was news that shook all but made us happy too: our backup van had cleared from the landslide location and will be reached at our hotel in the next 15 minutes. Many of us who had done a lot of shopping from Recong Peo were quite confused about whether to be happy that the backup van came or to cry as they had spent a lot of money on that unnecessary shopping.
But this thought now had to place to just celebrate our excitement of having our luggage.
Soon Dharam and Ganesh arrived, and then they started telling their stories of how they had done lots of Jugad to get ahead of other vehicles and crossed the landslide location at just the right moment, as after them the area turned dark and no one was allowed to cross it till next morning.
Imagine all the adventurous lives we are living; we all fall asleep in our rooms, expecting to have some more adventures the next day.
Kalpa: Where Heaven Meets Earth
Waking up to panoramic views of Kinnar Kailash
I didn’t feel sleepy much in the morning because I was expecting some good views from our location on the mountaintop at Kalpa, so I woke up at 5 a.m.
At this time there was a small tint of the morning just showing its effects at a faraway mountain, which fascinates me from my room window, so I started taking time-lapses and wanted to capture the mountain from darkness to the mighty bright blue sky.
The mesmerizing timelapse of mountains at dawn
However, my imagination had no place here; my thoughts were very small, and the views from the hotel were much higher than my imagination.
The view of Kinnar Kailash and the trees and moving clouds here and there with a backdrop of glaciers was just like a dreamy scene. It was like I was looking at a live 360-degree wallpaper on my laptop.
I mean, this was the reality of life. We all have been guided by our elders to go to the mountains to get peace, and really this is peace, which just flows like a current in the body.
Preparing for the 200km journey to Kaza
After lots of photos and videos, it’s time to give the eyes some rest and get prepared for the next ride ahead.
By 9 am, we were all ready for our next destination, Kaza, which is around 200 kilometers from here, and the roads were not very friendly. So we had our breakfast and started our trip.
The Road to Spiti: A Landscape Transformed
Descending to meet the Sutlej River
The elevation that we covered at night and are now experiencing during the day was mouth-watering, especially to people like me who always want to capture the world to its fullest.
The road on the downhill with huge mountains all around and a sunny sky was just a once-in-a-life achievement to experience.
We arrived at Recong Peo and continued on to Kalpa. This time we were moving downhill to meet the river Sutlej.
The plain road, with water flowing in the river on one side and rocky and cave-type mountains on the other side, is just a trademark of the road to Spiti Valley. It feels like this road should never end, and we can watch these views for a lifetime.
The thrust for the nature views was just started, as we still have not reached Spiti Valley. If the view before that was so beautiful, then what would be Spiti Valley was a surprise to come.
Experiencing the Raabchic waterfall
Our next destination was then Raabchic waterfall, which sounds quite unique in terms of the name, but the moment we reached there was another level of experience.
The faces paced water from this fall and in front of the small bridge, which is currently for showcase only. I got a few clicks over there and then moved ahead; it’s a long way to go today.
This pathway of serenity under the half-caved road is a new experience. At the start, when this pattern of the half-caved road started at Kinnaur, it just fascinated us, but as soon as we looked at it at every moment, it tried to be quite boring, but still a capturable place.
The changing terrain: From lush green to desertlike landscapes
Soon the vegetation started to degrade, and there were rocky and mud-filled mountains ahead, and beyond that, huge empty glaciers were visible.
It’s time when our cellphone networks are going to be blank and we are of our own.
The whole serene vegetation-filled mountains changed to desertified stone and mud-filled mountains, but it still maintained its serenity, which was a point to appreciate.
Pit stop at Somang Cafe: A riverside retreat
Now all of us were quite tired, so it was time again to take some rest. We landed at Somang cafe, for which I can appreciate its venue, especially the fast-flowing Sutlej water with a bridge at one side and a wall of mountains on the other. This is a no-drone zone, so Kaushal can’t be able to fly drones here.
Navigating the rocky, landslide-prone stretches
We had some tea and, with some good clicks, moved ahead, and from here the initial ritual of the Spiti Valley road trip started. As we still have not entered the Spiti Valley, the pathways were filled with rocks, and as our driver said, there was a huge landslide here a few days ago, so the condition of the road was unexpectedly bad.
But soon after around an hour of a bumpy ride, the road regained its condition, but this was a bit scary as we were on the roads of the mountains, but on the on the sides there was a steep cliff, and it was much more dangerous looking than our path to Recong Peo.
Till now on these roads, I haven’t remembered how many road turns I have faced, but the feel of those turns only makes our trip enjoyable, adventurous, and memorable.
In this deserted area, in some places, there was vegetation that was obviously man-made for small villages, and if we look closer, this vegetation is only greenery from far away but apple gardens when we reach near to it.
Lunch at Nako: A midway retreat village
Soon for lunch, we reached Nako, a small midway retreat village for us, but this is a very important destination for travelers. This place is equipped with some restaurants to have some refreshments. We didn’t have much time to explore Nako, so we just filled our Nako memories with the food only.
With food, we gathered some energy and gave our body some rest too. But our eyes get more pleasant rest by watching the dry mountains with blue skies and partially cloudy skies.
Entering Spiti Valley: A Dream Realized
The confluence of Sutlej and Spiti rivers
After this location, when we started our journey ahead, it was a road of multiple sharp U-shaped turns.
I can say approximately for an hour we were just crossing the pin turns back to back and also at the downhill condition. And when these pin turns ended, there was our beautiful Sutlej river, but the water color is quite black and muddy. This spot, equipped with fresh sunlight and a river breeze in front of us, was open apple farms.
Under the bright sun, we satisfied our little appetite with this fruity dessert.
Anyhow, we were continuously on our ride to witness more scenic views and more memories.
The speciality of the Sutlej River here is that its water is totally black, not like the color of water, but I think the mud here is due to degradation of black rock from mountains, so the output color is quite similar to cemented water.
With all these geological thought processes, we finally reached the point that everyone was waiting for: the entry at Spiti Valley.
This is where the Sutlej River says goodbye to us, and the Spiti River welcomes us. The sangam of these two rivers were like a lion and lioness.
So it’s a quiet, happy feeling that we are entering the place for which we were struggling to reach for such a long time. The moment of happiness is on a different level; this is the place for which I have waited for years to reach here. We have crossed a landslide to reach here.
But this is just the sweet start of many dangers ahead.
First major viewpoint: Towards Tabo
Now we were in a hurry to reach Tabo as soon as possible, as there we have to experience the famous Tabo monestary, which is a unique place to visit if you are on a Spiti trip. And also, this was the first major view point after entering Spiti.
There was no doubt that the government and BRO had made these roads much better and more accessible, so riding here is not a problem for anyone.
The narrowing roads and steepening cliffs
More interestingly, the roads are getting narrower and cliffs are becoming steeper, and more so ever, the side safety rails on the roads are nowhere to be seen.
On a continous basis, the elevation of roads was changing, and as a pillion rider right now, I am enjoying the views and trying to capture all of it.
Nature’s artistry: Mountains sprinkled with crushed stones
The best part of this road to Tabo is that the mountains are not just big rocky mountains but a stock of small rocks, which initially gives an appearance of sandy mountains at first, but as from far away, also the imaginary sand particles were big rocks. It gives a very plain, slant, staring slope of the mountains.
It looks like on a rocky single-stone mountain, God has sprinkled lots of small stones crushed by his fingers for a more aesthetic appearance.
These locations are the proof that we can’t imagine how creative our mother nature can be. So with this vibe of nature’s creativity, we reached Tabo.
Tabo: The Ajanta of the Himalayas
Exploring the ancient Tabo Monastery
It’s a small village, and the main attraction is its Buddhist monastery, which is filled with paintings that are thousands of years old and are called the Ajanta of the Himalayas.
With a camera in hand and man-made beauty in front of me, I can’t be stopped from clicking pictures.
Thousand-year-old paintings and stupas
The feeling of silence at this monastery was top-notch. The stupas and paintings were exceptional.
Since people are much used to using flash lights in dark places, which can harm the colors of these paintings, the light and camera are prohibited inside of them.
The serene atmosphere and local life
The mantras and sound of bells and the local kids playing around give a real peace for the mind.
The stupa, set against a sunny blue sky, creates a deep impression of happiness within all of us.
After having some refreshments and rest, we again continued our journey to the last stop of our today’s ride, the Kaza, which is the center of Spiti.
The Final Stretch to Kaza
Racing against the sunset
Now we have a few hours left for sunset, and we need to reach Kaza as early as possible because riding and driving in these zones are quite dangerous.
These roads are surrounded by mud mountains, engraved with stones, which are just staying temporarily, but with a threshold of vibration or rain, they may come at a very fast pace to close the roads.
The spreading Spiti River and its unique landscapes
As the sun starts to set, the parallel Spiti River starts its spread over multiple branches, giving a glimpse of one of the benchmarks of the Spiti Valley trip.
The mountains beyond the river create quite unique architectural excellence. The rocky mountains, with sides of mud and crushed stones at the bottom, create a 3-level structure that looks like Tiranga (Tri color flag) flowing through our paths.
The mud region, due to rain and erosion, makes unique styled channels, which was a result of lots and lots of years of hard work by rain, or may be snow.
These patterns created on the mountains give us a totally unique view, which was not imaginable if you hadn’t visited this place.
Arrival at Kaza: Lights in the distance
Now the sun is gone beyond the horizon, and we are just focusing on the path towards the direction of the setting sun. It felt like a day will come when we will capture the sun and make it come out of its horizon.
As the Kaza is nearby, the Spiti river spreads throughout the downlands, and we are also racing with the waterflow and trying to be the first to reach Kaza.
As the darkness overcame the light from the horizon, there was a small blinking and sparking ray coming from far away, and the driver said, Finally, we reached Kaza.
Conclusion: A Night Under the Spiti Stars
Camping in Kaza: Rest for weary travelers
The excitement was huge, as now we can provide rest to our body after this long ride of around 200 km. We reached our stay location, which is a camp, and I got allotted tent number 12, lucky for me.
Bonfire celebrations and stargazing
After dinner, we all started singing around the bonfire and dancing as if this day would never come again.
At night I was awake, a need to see the sky filled with stars, especially searching for the Milky Way, which was not quite far from here; at least the visibility was clear from our location when the aura is pitch dark.
Anticipation for more adventures to come
Now its a long day ahead tomorrow, so need some sleep so that there will be more and more energy for us for tomorrow.
Again with this chilled night and tired body, we went to our tents at 2am to have sleep and wait for a more beautiful and serene tomorrow.
