That is exactly what I was wondering. But trusting the Men, I am sure their knuckles had enough life left to beat the pulp out of me, if I dared to mess with any of them.

-10 or lower, Mates, did you urinate of was it frozen too before it hit the ground. tak tak tak!!!

A big thank you from my side...for bringing some part of the experience here!

Please, someone find me a job in Delhi

Wow! The sight of these places makes me wonder how there can be snow&sweltering heat at the same time in the same country!
Wish I were there with you guys...Kudos to all for the memorable trip. I'm sure you will love to go there, no matter how many times you have been there in the past!

classic BWs! gr8 job!

Awesome, spellbound, speechless... few of the feelings and words doing round in my head.
true heaven for any biker(can be seen without dying )
honestly wish to go on a trip with you all. would be a great learning experience.

@Anshul... B & W pics are class!!

My side of the story!

Special things need special handling. Going by this 'recently invented' logic, we've decided to put up three different stories of this 'White and Frozen' ride - each rider brings in his own unique perspective. So here goes with mine.

Ever since my return from Spiti last October and experiencing a snow-storm while crossing Kunzum, I was keen on seeing this land the way it is for most of the year. Snow covered that is. Having talked to people there over the years, I knew that mid-march would be the only window of opportunity. Before that, the roads would be BIG trouble for a two-wheeler, after that, the snow would majorly have melted. And peak-winter travel, even by bus or car is dicey on all counts - roads, weather, accommodation and the physiological limitations of our urban-environment pampered bodies. It was this chain of facts that actually decided the dates for us.

Initially there we were to be a group of 6 riders, a number that gradually got whittled down to the inauspicious 3 . Two of my old riding companions couldn't get leave from their respective offices and Aryan fell sick. The dates were immovable going by the reasons cited above. And so we 3 decided to carry on. Over the years now, I have developed a tendency of making my rides more leisurely than an exploration of my endurance envelope. Probably age has to do with it. And so is the awareness of the actual futility of pushing hours and miles on the road when I have more than enough time at hand. (That's one BIG advantage of being my own master at work ). These days, I prefer a maximum of 10-12 hrs on the saddle days. No more. Our plans were drawn accordingly. The two other poor souls hardly had a choice as seniority in both age and experience pulls the hardest at hierarchy.



The ride from Delhi to Naldehra was routine, a kind of stretching of our limbs before stepping up of the pace. The figures in the table above don't really tell the entire story as after entering Kinnaur, distances start becoming meaningful in terms of 'time' rather than 'length'. Its more about hours of travel than kilometers. Add a penchant for photography to this concoction and what you get is full usage of daylight hours for travel even if it happens to be a measly 50 kms .

On this route, things start to get interesting from Naldehra onwards. We rode to Puh/Pooh taking the Basantpur-Sunni-Luhri-Sainj-Rampur-Powari route. The first part till Sainj is narrow and twisty state highways that are not in the best of condition right now. Distance becomes time here. Sainj-Rampur is fast, follows the Sutlej and the tarmac is disturbingly smooth. Distance is distance here. Rampur onwards distance again becomes time and it gets worse the farther one gets. Wangtu-Karcham-Tapri is a slush-fest, courtesy the on-going work for the Sutlej-Baspa Hydel Project. Trucks trailing spray-pipes keep spraying water on the muddy highway to keep dust down, much to the detriment of bi-wheelers. Speed comes down as both the front and rear wheels dance a jig each time the slush gets more than a few inches deep. Which it does without warning and often. Gradually one learns to glean more from the character of the slush than about world affairs from BBC News. Education.

Naldehra - Pooh was a long day made longer by more road-widening beyond Powari. A 60ft wide twisty pack-track spread out with billions of low-friction pebbles is not really a good idea in the Himalayas. But then when you gotta go...you gotta go. It got dark by the time we got to this part and it was fun trundling along on a road that felt more like a motorized treadmill beneath our wheels. The bike hunts its own path between the gravel and pebbles and it actually becomes fun to let it do so...as long as you don't have to take a turn. then its gentle downshifting for engine braking, keep her upright, take a wide sweeping turn and a gentle roll on the throttle again to maintain the crawl.

Puh was surrounded by white mountains the next morning. And almond trees in full bloom. Things were perking up on the aesthetics and the slush n gravel ordeal was beginning to pay off. Snow was nowhere close to the road yet but a sharp nip in the air told of our progress from the cooler to the freezer. Close to Nako, we encountered the first patch of black ice. And that too next to a 1000ft drop. Careful. The 'adventure' part starts showing up. Hi-five mate!

Nako arrives while following an all-wheel drive PWD truck driven by Schumacher's grandfather. Or so it seemed. Thankfully the trucker was going ahead towards Malling while we planned to stop over at Nako. And Nako was a surprise. How can a lake freeze...an ENTIRE lake freeze...and that too in bright sunshine. It was amazing and beautiful and magnificent all at once. We saw sheep and cows wander across the frozen surface and drink water from the bank of the lake while standing ON the lake!! Crazy. Imran got inspired by those bovine antics and stepped gingerly on the white dance-floor. We obliged by taking pictures, from a distance of course. Didn't want the sound from our camera shutters to judder-open a crack on the lake surface .

Frozen Nako was followed by a thukpa lunch nearby and we saddled up again for the remaining ride to Tabo. Malling Top was again a victim of the freeze ray. Hard blue ice was clinging to any and every rock, again in bright sunshine and long icicles hung upside down, dripping water frozen in a drip. Beautiful. The descent from Malling Top towards Chango is via one of the best stretches of tarmac on this entire route. Twisty, smooth, exposed and with unlimited visibility that we had in bright light then. We had fun - is all I can say here. You all are free to read between the lines .

Tabo was cold..no chilly and exceptionally windy. We checked in at the PWD Rest House near the helipad. There was no other place that had even one flowing tap and one usable toilet. Believe me. This was a very very cold place to stay in actually. A blanket underneath as a bed-sheet and two heavy quilts again with a blanket on top just barely managed to keep us warm through the night. We were glad to get back on our feet and working some warmth by packing and loading the bikes the next morning.

Would like to add here that mostly we didn't start riding before 0930-1000hrs. The roads would usually have lots of frozen patches before this as the sun needed to be out for at least an hour or so for the ice to melt back to water. Just beyond Tabo, I had always seen a wide stream flow under a newly constructed bridge. The freeze ray again. It had frozen mid-flow. No movement. Just frozen solid. Shiver...shiver. The snow and ice started moving in closer to the road we were riding on and by the time we got near Dhankar valley, we were riding through a cleared corridor with a couple of feet of snow piled on either side. Great. The Dhankar Monastery was all the more magnificent with a pristine white background. And the way to Pin Valley seen from high up here seemed totally covered in a white shroud. We hoped the road would be clear at least. We reached Kaza in late afternoon and it was white all over. checked in at the Circuit House, left our bags there and rode over towards Ki Monastery.

This part of Spiti receives the maximum snowfall and it showed. The road was barely clear but rideable till Ki. Things were good enough while the sun shone on us. Some 30 mins later, the God of Warmth dipped behind a mountain shrouding the valley in shadow and a chill. The difference is immediately palpable...even through six layers of clothing. And the slushy icy water on the road started freezing right in front of our eyes. The ride back was through quickly freezing water channels between piles of snow on the road. Both feet out like out-riggers were not at all a matter of shame now. Imran bravely ventured a short distance towards Rangrik but returned....there's no road but snow all over - said he. Night was clear, starlit and very cold again. Thankfully, the Circuit House rooms were better constructed and with double glazing in the windows and so we were comfortable inside.

The next morning dawned bright and clear again. The frosty top-crust of hardening snow sparkled with a fetching brilliance. we moved out towards Pin Valley and back to Puh by around 1000hrs. Pin Valley was astounding. Totally enshrouded in white, pure, glistening and with the flowing emerald waters of the Pin River gently jousting and weaving through its twists and turns, it was ethereal. Close to Guling village I spied a movement on the river-side of the road. it was a Red fox. A very wily animal that can almost read your mind, so strong is its sense of self-preservation. It ran down the slope towards the river flood-plain. only that the flood-plain was white with snow. And so I could catch it on camera at full zoom. Great again.

The ride back to Puh was a reverse of the previous day. The sun set by the time we got across Ka village and the remaining 20 odd kms to Puh were in darkness.

Sangla was a pale reflection to the beauty we'd just experienced. It was more of a 'relaxation' stop-over that a real visit. The moist cool air was a relief for our nostrils though. Puh onwards, the air is very dry owing to the altitude and the total absence of greenery during winter. The mucous lining inside the nostrils dries up, cracks and starts to bleed. So it is with the lips. Not very painful actually but needs to be attended to through lip-guard, vaseline or even good old mustard oil.

Backtracking to Naldehra on friday (we were a day early as the planned 2 day stopover at Kaza wasn't needed as all the roads were snow-bound. Moreover, we did not want to test the patience and magnanimity of the weather gods. A short sharp spell of snowfall in the night would have meant a 2-3 day wait for us.

Naldehra meant the ride was effectively over but for the final run for home. Meaning traffic, heat, noise and the inevitably complex urban life. It had been a wonderful week for all three. Amazing sights, strange sights, fabulous sights and memorable sights. We headed home with a promise, both internalized and externalized, that we MUST return next March. And the next after that.....

Ride on.....

OF

Immaculate piece of write-up, as always!
You took the Sunni-Luhri road, oh boy, that must have an offroad feast as I am sure it would be just as bad as it was last year

And the affinity towards Naldehra. Was it for a purpose or just like that? As on the return you could have taken the Narkanda road. Don't startle me by saying that it's still packed with black ice!

Thanks Vaibhav. Yes, the Sunni-Luhri road was more off-road than on. We opted for the Kingel-Basantpur route on the way back....only to find it way longer though the road and vistas were both superb.

The affinity for Naldehra arises out of a good relationship with a hotelier there. He has a wonderful place where he offers me accommodation at less than half of what he usually charges. And the food is great. Reason enough to detour.

PS: The affinity started with black ice on the Narkanda route though .

Ken: Thanks for the appreciation. Yes, it was 'cold', more so from wind-chill. The knuckles are a trifle darker on our return than they were when we left Delhi. Chill air and UV rich sunlight doing its job I guess.

Sherry: It will be an amazing 'overall' experience.

Sarvajith: No 'number' of visits would be enough I think. Spiti is addictive.

i'm sure it WILL BE amazing "overall" experience

and what a log sir. awesome read and some scray moments as well.
like black ice near 1000 feet fall. and dried up nostrils because of the dry chill.
i would say real test of man and machine.
Honour me to be with you on your next ride to this beautiful place.
will keep on buggin you till bext time.

The Place, the Pics, the Text.... all sooo beautiful !! hats off to the brave riders for this ride and sharing the experiences

@OF sir: What a piece of write-up; thoroughly enjoyed reading through each line. Thanks for this! Now, if only you could share more photographs.

Beautiful write up. Paints a perfect picture.

I so wanna go to Spiti in winters now!

CHACHA i dont know but i strongly feel if we see a photo in Color and then convert it in B&W it looses its charm some how. for me knowing that a photo was converted is a put off but still the photos on the page 8 are amazing. i just hope i could find some black and white films let me see if i can go hunting this weekend

Wonderful write-up Old Fox. Only you can surmise the whole trip in one single post, with as much details included and in such wonderful language. now am lost if I should praise ur photographs or the write-up as such!!!

Man, I need to do Spiti soon....