Announcement

**The Monk** · 08-19-2016, 12:02 PM

Re: Extreme but Beautiful Spiti valley Ride 2016

Travelogue Approved

**krishna77** · 08-20-2016, 07:21 PM

Re: Extreme but Beautiful Spiti valley Ride 2016

Interesting start!
Waiting for the rest.

**vkclick** · 09-07-2016, 08:29 PM

Re: Extreme but Beautiful Spiti valley Ride 2016

Originally posted by The Monk View Post

Travelogue Approved

Thank u Monk Sir for the approval

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Originally posted by krishna77 View Post

Interesting start!
Waiting for the rest.

Thank U Krishna

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Spiti Valley DAY 1 - Ambala to Shimla

Our plan was ready, so we decided to go by train and come back by flight [ cost cutting

] We booked tickets of Amritsar express as this was the only train which will start by Friday night .
Two days before we transported our bikes, so we will get the bikes on time. Agent took 4500 for one bike to parcel from Mumbai to Chandigarh which was far more than we expected.

Bike is getting ready at CST

We commenced our journey at 11:30 from Thane. The 31 hrs train journey seemed to be never ending, and there was nothing note worthy to write about.

The train was suppose to reach Ambala at 9:00 AM, as per the Indian tradition Train reached 2 hrs late. After getting down from train the first thought which came in my mind was "have our bikes reached ? ". We went to the Parcel office, and I enquired about our bikes and the reply was, "Go and search by yourself if bikes are reached then let me know and if not then it will be coming in Next train" and we were like WTF. But I didn't have any other option as I had to reach Shimla by end of the day.

So we decided to search for the bikes, we left our belongings in the parcel office and started to search our bikes on Ambala railway platforms. After Searching for half an hour I finally found my bike as it had delivered yesterday, sigh of relief. But my friend was still struggling to find his bike. meanwhile I started to push my bike so I can reach the parcel office.

While I was dragging my bike to the Parcel office, a Railway employee stopped me in my tracks and forbid me from proceeding without the Railway Gate pass. As I was already running late, so I took out Mr. Franklin from my pocket and handed over to him to speed up the process.

After spending more than 1.5 hrs, we reached the Parcel office and completed formalities. We removed the plastic wraps, and cleaned our bikes and mounted our saddle bag. meanwhile one local guy offered us 1 litre petrol which helped us to reach to the nearest petrol pump. what a saviour

Ready to go at Ambala station

Finally struggling for more than an hour we started our journey towards Shimla by 2.30 Pm, our plan was to start our ride by 12 PM but we were 2 hrs behind our scheduled due to the pathetic service of Railway staff.

We fuelled the tank, started our journey and my god what a road it was....smooth tarmac with continuous straights. My R15 was easily managing triple digit speed but my colleague which was on a Passion+ was struggling to go beyond 70 So I had to take it easy.

There are two ways to go to Shimla, one way is from Chandigarh city and another one bypasses the city. To avoid the city traffic, We chose to bypass the city to save our already scarce time. We decide to take a lunch break after riding for more than 50Km, had some dal chawal and again commenced our journey.

After some straights its time for some curvy road which indicated the start of Shimla. The beautiful road was accompanied by equally beautiful landscapes, but the enjoyment didn't last for that long. After crossing Kalka we encountered heavy traffic and we were frustrated to see the never ending car queues. The road was narrow and it was impossible to manoeuvre our bikes through the traffic. After the start stop traffic we managed to find some vacant road.

Beautiful view at Kalpa

Photo time near Kalpa

Finally at 7:30 PM we reached Shimla, it took more than 5 hrs to just complete 150 Kms. It was peak season in Shimla and all the hotels were booked and for normal hotels they were asking for more than 1000Rs. What a bad luck...! we were already frustrated due to the traffics and we needed some good rest. searching for more than an hour finally we got hold of some decent rooms but the asking price was 1600 Rs.

Shimla hotel not worth of 1600 Rs

After an exhausting but adventures day we agreed to that amount without any second thought. We parked our bikes, kept the luggage and went for some well deserved rest.

**vkclick** · 09-08-2016, 08:25 PM

Re: Extreme but Beautiful Spiti valley Ride 2016

Spiti Valley Day 2 - Shimla to Tapri

DAY 1

So its day 2, and The plan was to wake up at 6AM and be on road by 8, but due to the tiring first day we woke up at 8 AM and went out to click some beautiful Shimla city pics.

Its me

Beautiful Shimla City

After clicking few shots we started by 10. But this turned out to be a big mistake which we realised when we passed Rampur.

Shimla to Rampur had some beutiful views and good curves, I was enjoying every bit of riding on that roads.

Curvy roads of Shimla

I assumed that weather will be pleasant when we left from Shimla, but to my disappointment it was very hot, riding in that hot weather with jacket turned out to be a nightmare. After riding for an about 50Km we stopped for fuel. we top up our tanks and ate Aloo paratha for breakfast and commenced our journey.

Selfie

Shimla to Rampur Road

Petrol halt

Selfie with Modiji

Rampur which lies between Shimla -> Tapri (196 KM), the roads after Rampur were in disastrous condition and it was very difficult to sustain decent speed .

The scenic views compelled us to halt and try to capture some of in my lens.

Mountain View

We started riding again and decided to have lunch when we see a dhaba on the road. When we reached near Jabli we found one Dhaba so decided to stop and have some food. The exterior of the Dhaba was not that promising so we were in dilemma wether to proceed or look for another one, but our hunger gave us the push.

Highway Dhaba

We ordered veg thali which was worth 70 Rs and the obvious assumption was to get Roti and vegetable. But what arrived in front of us was mind boggling.

Lunch time

After having some stomach full of delicious food, we again started to ride. Continueing with the nighmare of a road, we encounterd some narrow roads with nothing but gravel. We were going with a speed of mere 30Km/hr and the extra 2 hours of nap in the morning had cost us heavily.

We took a much needed break, my palms and back were paining due to R15 seating position.

Much needed Rest

It was already 5:30 pm and we had reached wangtu, from there tapri was another 10 kms ,I was relived.

Wangtu Dam

As soon as we thought it couldn't get any worse, we were greeted by the worst road of my ride as of now. It took us more than 1 hour to cover that 10 Kms.

Worst roads

Selfie Time

Finally at 6:45 we reached to Tapri, There is a petrol pump at start of the village, if you want you can top up your petrol for further journeys there is no petrol pump till KAZA which is approx 231 KM

There are only few hotels in tapri, we asked around, and finally setteled in a room which costed us 700 Rs for one night. We had a awesome chicken Rara and roti and retired to our beds.

Chicken Rara

Night selfie Tapri

**vkclick** · 09-10-2016, 08:46 PM

Re: Extreme but Beautiful Spiti valley Ride 2016

Spiti Valley Day 3 - Tapri to Nako

Day 2

Its day 3, today we are riding towards Nako, we started our ride by 8:30 AM as the distance between Tapri to Nako is 135 Km

Beautiful view of Tapri

Before we began the ride we asked around wether there is air pump near by ? but to our surprise we found out that Nako market is closed on tuesdays. do keep this in mind while planning your journey.

Bad Road at Tapri

Beautiful Road

Narrow roads

without wasting our time we started the ride but our bad luck, the main road was closed due to the landslide, so we had to go via another road which was 22 km longer hence it took up more than 2 hours more.

After crossing that 22 kms of bad road, we decided to stop and have Maggie in the breakfast. We enquired about the road ahead and came to know about its poor condition . So we mentally prepared ourselves and started to ride .

While riding we encountered waterfall in between so decided to stop for some pics

Halt near to waterfall

Photo Time

After crossing some odd kms the good tarmac started to appear, and continue till Pooh village which is around 30Kms.

Enjoying some good roads

Near to Karchham Dam

Bad Roads

We encountered our first bridge on the trip so naturally we stopped for some photos.

Bridge

You will see some wooden bridges during your spiti valley ride, please ensure that only one vehicle is allowed at a time.

wooden bridge

It is recommended that you register your vehicle number at every check post. there may be a circumstance where someone from the group is left behind, so it would be helpful to locate the person. While going to Nako you will cross 2 Check posts.

While riding towards Nako you can see a beautiful confluence of Spiti an Sutlej Rivers

confluence of Spiti and Sultej

Mountain View

This Road reminds me of gata loops of ladakh

Around 5 or 5:30 Pm we reached Nako, what a beautiful village it was . Nako is very small village but it was not short of necessory amenities.

Beautiful View

Beautiful Sunset

Bike and sunset

We stayed at a Hotel which costs us just 600 bucks for the night and the kind of view from balcony, it was worth the every penny .Let the photos talk.

View from hotel room

Photo time

It was already late so we decided to visit Nako lake and Nako Helipad in the morning. We had Chicken Momos and Chaomeen for dinner. The Temperature falls sharply at Night in Nako , so people coming from the warmer regions of India should be prepared.

Chicken momo

Note: Spiti valley has no network other than that of BSNL.

**saikarthik** · 09-11-2016, 11:53 AM

Re: Extreme but Beautiful Spiti valley Ride 2016

Great pics.. Tells the story themselves, but expecting few more words too..

**sajalsheth** · 09-11-2016, 02:32 PM

Re: Extreme but Beautiful Spiti valley Ride 2016

nice journey

**vkclick** · 09-12-2016, 12:27 PM

Re: Extreme but Beautiful Spiti valley Ride 2016

Originally posted by saikarthik View Post

Great pics.. Tells the story themselves, but expecting few more words too..

Thanks Sai, but i m not good at expressing my thoughts

trying my best

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Originally posted by sajalsheth View Post

[ATTACH]218494[/ATTACH]
nice journey

Thank u Sajal

**vkclick** · 09-13-2016, 02:00 PM

Re: Extreme but Beautiful Spiti valley Ride 2016

Spiti Valley DAY 4 - Nako to Kaza

Day 3

Its day 4, we woke up at 5 Am to get a head start as we had a big plan for the day.To my surprise there was sufficient light, and the climate was very pleasant. Just like any other good photographer I started my day by clicking some beautiful snaps of the picturesque view.

Nako mountain view

The plan was to reach Kaza by end of the day, and take halt at a Pin valley as it was on the same route. We wanted to reach KAZA before dark to avoid riding at night as it was already dangerous enough to ride during day.

we visited Nako Lake in the morning, as we were unable to that yesterday because of exhaustion. clicked few pics, and after spending another 30 minutes we went back to our hotel to pack our bags, get something to eat and commence our journey towards KAZA.

me and my partner

Nako Lake

Nako helipad was on the way so stopped there for another Photo session.

Nako Helipad

Midway through our journey, low on power passion found it difficult to climb on steep roads. This was evident because of the black smoke coming out of the exhaust.We cleaned the spark plug, but that didnt resolved the problem. Due to high altitude,engine was not getting enough air to churn out enough power.

We asked around for some mechanic but there was no one available till KAZA and as if the things couldnt get any worse, there was news of landslide ahead so we had no other option but to wait for more than 2 hrs.

After the road was cleared, we continued our journey, the road didnt had any steep hills so we managed to pull the passion across.

We stopped at Tabo Village to have something to eat. To our dismay the hotel didnt have anything other than Fried Rice. After having our lunch we visited the Tabo Monastery. Visited the Beautiful Tabo Monastery clicked some shots and started to our journey to Pin valley.

Road to Tabo

Snow

tabo monastery

Tabo

We reached to pin valley around 4, but we decided to return from half way,and skip visiting the MUD village, so that we could reach KAZA on schedule.

pin valley bridge

pin valley

We reached to KAZA at 7:45 Pm , but as it was a big village, this gave us ample amount of time to look around for places to stay during the night.

**vkclick** · 09-15-2016, 10:13 PM

Re: Extreme but Beautiful Spiti valley Ride 2016

Spiti Valley DAY 5 - Stay in Kaza

Day 4

Day 5, it was our rest day, we kept this day as a Local sight seeing in KAZA, and we need a good rest too. Kaza is big village in Spiti valley so you can find some good hotels to stay and most important is Mechanic, so you can check is your bikes before next halt.

KAZA

kaza market

It was lazy day, my friend woke up at 9 and got a ready as he wants to visit mechanic as there was only one mechanic in KAZA.( Passion need some care ) So he left early and I decided to go after some time. Around at 10:30 I reached to mechanic, but mechanic was not there my friend told me he had some work so he gone to other place. we dont have other option than wait he came by 11:20, and he did some work and Passion started. I also lubed my chain and now our bikes are ready.

Now it was time to full our Tanks, we just had some around 2 or 3 litres of petrol left. we gone to petrol pump and Petrol pump guy said petrol is not available, it will come by 1 Pm, so instead of waiting there we decided to have a lunch.

We came to hotel, had a lunch in our hotel. Today we decided to visit the key monastery and Kibber Village so after having our lunch we again visited to Pump for petrol, still he has no clue when will be the petrol available. This time he told us "Sir 6 baje Pakka aa jayega."

kaza petrol pump

line for petrol

Riders waiting for petrol

We had that much of petrol, in which we can visit the Key and Kibber, so we left from there.

mountain view

key monastery

We came back at around 5 pm, freshened up and around 6 pm we reached to petrol pump, there was a huge line for petrol pump. another issue was localites are intruding and filling petrol in Jerry Cans. It was taking lots of time.

We met an Australian Guy in the queue, who was also travelling to Spiti Valley,after having some conversation with him i came to know that he was visiting India from past 19 years, wow what an interesting Man.

Selfie time

Around 11:00 Pm our number came, It took around 5 hrs what a waste of time, Please note that, if you are able to carry petrol in Jerry Cans please have it. The petrol Pump service in KAZA is very pathetic. I have never this kind of problem in my LADAKH Ride.

**vkclick** · 09-24-2016, 10:05 PM

Re: Extreme but Beautiful Spiti valley Ride 2016

Spiti Valley Day 6 - Kaza to Chandratal lake

Day 5

It is Day 6, Thank god we kept rest day in KAZA, petrol issue in KAZA was terrible, if we havent managed petrol then we have wasted one day in spiti valley ride.

Today we will be leaving to Chandratal Lake, which is the most beutiful lake which is situated at an altitude of about 4,300 metre. To reach the Chandratal Lake we have to cross the Kunzum Pass which is also the highest pass in spiti valley.We started at 9 in the morning, as chandrtal lake was just 100 kms from KAZA. After starting from KAZA few kms road patch was good but after that rods were very bad.

We took more break while going to Chandratal Lake bcoz of of bad patches of road.

The main hurdle on that road was yet to come the Kunzum Pass. Most of the riders faces AMS issue on this high passes, but thank god we havent faced an AMS issue this time.

Temperature was going down when we near to Pass, there was mud on the road due to the melting ice and riding in that slush was difficult, but finally we reached to Kunzum Pass.We took a break of half an hour at pass clicked few pics and again started towards the Lake.

Kunjom Top

Kunjom Pass

Bikes at kunjom pass

After Kunzum pass the roads become worst it was very difficult to sustain good speeds.

It was already 5 PM and we saw the board "chandrtal lake was still 12.5 kms" but this 12.5 kms was worst 12 kms of my life. Very narrow roads only vehicle can go at a time, if any SUV comes from your opposite side then even passing to bikes also becomes very difficult.

Bad roads was not enough, we faced water crossing which is very huge and deep.

water crossing spiti valley

Passion was unable to cross that water crossing so every time i have to go first and i have to come back again to push the passion and that was very irritating and time consuming (very cold water)

you have to cross 2 water crossing to reach to Lake camp, finally we reached to Lake camp at around 7 Pm. In chandrtal tents are the only option available which vary from 800 to 2000.

chandratal camp

We chose to stay in sharing tent which cost us 800 each including food, and that tent no one was there to share our tent.

Mountain view from chandratal

Tent at chandratal

The Mighty R15

Beautiful evening at chandratal

It was already dark so decide to visit Lake in the morning, clicked few beautiful landscapes and mountains.

**krishna77** · 09-24-2016, 11:18 PM

Re: Extreme but Beautiful Spiti valley Ride 2016

Beautiful stuff!

**PravStar** · 09-27-2016, 01:41 AM

Re: Extreme but Beautiful Spiti valley Ride 2016

Awesomeness overloaded. Bring it on

**vkclick** · 09-28-2016, 11:55 PM

Re: Extreme but Beautiful Spiti valley Ride 2016

Originally posted by krishna77 View Post

Beautiful stuff!

Thank u Krishna

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Originally posted by PravStar View Post

Awesomeness overloaded. Bring it on

Thanks a lot PravStar

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Spiti Valley Day 7 - chandratal lake to Manali

Day 6

Its Day 7 and we are at chandratal lake camp, last night was as chilly as it gets, temperature dropped to 4 Celsius. Due to high altitude we were unable to sleep, and we woke up at 5 AM, there was enough light to take some good snaps.

After doing that we had omelette and Paratha for breakfast and we left to see the lake.

The Lake was 6 to 7 kms from where we were staying, we parked our bikes and we had to trek for 2 kms to reach the lake.

chandratal lake trek

chandratal lake

Due to the high altitude it took us 40 minutes to cover the 2 KM trek

. But that effort was worth it, when you see the immense beauty of the chandratal lake. After getting some one on one time with the mother nature, we packed our bags and commenced on our journey towards Manali.

While on our way to Manali some fellow travellers informed us about the water crossing so we were mentally prepared for some turbulence ahead.

passion on bad roads

After driving for some 13 Km we came face to face with the first water crossing , which we negotiated safely, then came another one, then another one after that, the water crossings seems be never ending and it felt like we were driving in circles.

Bad Roads ahead

water crossing spiti valley

Afer spending more than half of our day on stones/water and with the help of short breaks, and after successfully crossing more than 15 water bodies we were exhausted but we some how managed to cover the last few Km's after the last water crossing to reach Gramphu.

In my entire Spiti Valley ride, Chandra Taal lake to manali road was the worst patch i have ever encountered.

The original plan was to reach manali till afternoon but we only managed to reach Gramphu and we still had 60 Kms to cover before we could lay our eyes on beautiful Manali. Our empty stomach didnt allowed us to go any further so we halted for lunch and ate maggie as were nothing else to eat.

lunch break

Maggie

We continued our way to manali, and to our advantage the road seemed to be in good condition as far as our eyes allowed us to see. The curvy road indicated that we were near the Mighty Rohtang Pass.

The last time i was in Rohtang the experience turned out to be not so good, so I was ready for something along the same lines.But to our surprise, we found Tarmac ahead and we were able to maintain some good speed.

As we continued on Rohtang pass, we gained altitude, fog started to appear and we were unable to see more than 4 feet ahead of us, so we slowed down a bit.

After crossing the rohtang pass, the descent from there was equally good.

After this exhausting journey finally around 6 Pm we reached to Manali..

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Extreme but Beautiful Spiti valley Ride 2016

Extreme but Beautiful Spiti valley Ride 2016

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