A journey to Lahaul & Spiti

The journey started with lots of mishappenings, disappointments and losses.  After missing our booked bus, all of us were hopeless for the trip but kehte hai na -  "Agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaaho to puri kayanat usey tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai" and we started our journey at around 9 in nite..at the beginning it was feeling like its gonna be a long  and tiring journey par dost kis liye hote hai, raat kab kat gayi pata hi nahi chala and we reached Bilaspur early in morning from where the beauty of Himachal starts...the Bilaspur lake view from the road was amazing with the dew clouds covering the sky. But the destination was still far away and we moved on…  after approx. 2-3 hrs we entered into Pandoh-Baggi tunnel which was around 2kms long and took us to Mandi… that 2km distance was exhilarating with Bindi shouting "wow AC tunnel"  :-D...all of us wanted this tunnel to never end and continue till Manali… but every thing comes to an end whether good or bad and there were many good things to come our way..

Our bus halted at Mandi for the usual Pee and Tea break ;-)...

then again we started and now the next stop on the map was Manali where we were suppose to change the bus for Keylong..don't know it was our luck or destiny but the Himachal govt started the bus service from the same day itself and we were the lucky ones to get into the first bus as there are many local people who travel between Keylong and Manali for their day to day activities... and since Keylong is disconnected from the rest of the world for six months every year.. the crowd was more as many people were going to meet their relatives after so many months...

And after a break of less than 45 mins we again started our journey in Himachal roadways (since excpet that there were only private taxis which could easily disbalance ur budgeted trip..as they charged 4000 bucks for the 115km distance)

From this point the trip took another turn...there was a big smile on everybody's face and eyes were filled with the view of snow and hills.. 

this is exactly from where the adventure started as the roads were narrow and one way and broken as well...the ride was not less than the ride in the world's longest roller coaster.. after around 24 hrs journey we reached our hotel in Keylong at 9:30 in nite...and the day ended.

Next day, i.e. on Sunday morning we left our hotel at 4 in morning for Baralacha pass...our taxi driver cum guide made  the ride more interesting...it was around 75kms from keylong and took approx 4hrs to reach there..it was still early morning and the only thing we could see was snow and fog...there was no greenery and not even a single soul to spot..since it snowed a couple of days  before the road ahead was blocked and risky as well..so we opted to return to keylong after taking a glance at the picturesque beauty of the pass... 

on our way back as suggested by our driver Giridhar bhaiya we went to Udaipur - home of the Mrikula Devi Temple, which is famous for wood carvings and where the history of Maharbharta was engraved even before it happened..

the next on the list was Triloknath temple which is also famous as the fifth Dham..it inhibits two different religions and is sacred for both Hindus and Buddhist.

after a spiritual upliftment we went to Tandi where the two rivers of Lahaul & spiti meet...Chandra river from Chandra taal situated in Spiti and Bhaga river from Suraj taal stituated in Lahaul  confluence into the Chandra bhaga river which is also known from the name of Chenab in Pakistan.. 

we spent some time on the banks..where Kapsy was the most eager person to get herself clicked on the backdrop of the scenic beauty of the river....

the next morning started even early, we left for Rohtang Pass at 3 in morning and the journey was not as simple as we thought..we encountered our first landslide of the day at Ropsang Nullah..somehow  our driver bhaiya managed to get out from there safely..after a few kms we forded Pagal Nullah which was at the peak of its pagalpanti..aur bhagwan ka naam lekar uss patli gali se nikal paaye (thanks to our driver)..

 the rest of the road till Rohtang was quite safe and we stopped at Rohtang for more than 3 hrs...it was the best part of the whole trip as we trekked and slided and skied and fell down over the soft blanket of snow on the top of Rohtang where most of the tourists dreaded to go..

we were exhausted after all the huppa-hulla we did..then Punu striked the idea of making Snow-man and it seemed like the kid in us splurred out..and we were able to make the most cutest of the snow-man which was appreciated by the crowd around..

since we were exhausted we took tyre-ride to get down from the snow-mount and it was not less than an adventure in itself...and we proceeded to Solang Valley but on way stucked in jam caused by the major landslide in Rani Nullah..

after a wait of over 2hrs the BRO was able to clear the road...and we traveled to Solang Valley where we all did Paragliding.

an exceptional experience in iteself (atleast for me since while boarding the parachute was not opened fully and even before the take off  I crashed in the valley and with my parachute came along Bindi & Punu wrapped in it but all safe...) the funny part of the story was that before going for it I said to Bindi ki ab to meri photo bhi le lo koi and she took out the camera and was so lost in clicking me that she & Punu din't realised  tht they were under my parachute which took all three of us down with it..and we bursted in  laughs...

With Solang Valley we ended our trip and proceeded to Manali from where we took Bus to Delhi...with no network and no connection from the rest of the world, adventurous, spiritual, risky, scenic it was all - an incredible experience..!!