The Journey so far-

Day 4 – June 06, 2009 | Battal to Manali

We reached Rohtang Pass around after enjoying the nature throughout the journey and the bumps were adding the ever wanted joy to the ride… :D… a bumpy ride of around 4 hours :)…meanwhile the cousin’s fever was on increasing its tempo and his condition was not looking good. Now we are welcomed by the Jam at Rohtang, it was a big one again. This gave a chance to step out of the car and get a Crocin out of the bag packed at the top of the car. This would surely help him for next 5-6 hours and may be reaching manali we could find some doctor for him. Also, we got a chance to shoot some photos as well…

Reaching Rohtang Pass
Views at Rohtang Pass
Rohtang Pass
Views at Rohtang Pass
Rohtang Pass…covered in clouds
Views at Rohtang Pass
It’s been 2 hours and we are still stuck at JAM…in the middle of so much of crowd…everyone was peeking into the car so as to know why someone is wrapped into the blanket as after all they have come here to beat the scorching heat…. :D…..meanwhile I was busy trying to shoot some wildlife…and luckily I got a few captures correctly of them….
Flying high and alone… @ Rohtang Pass…
Views at Rohtang Pass
Flying high and alone and moving away… @ Rohtang Pass…
Views at Rohtang Pass
Somehow we were able to crawl the busy strret of Rohtang only to find ourselves in much more deep shit…JAM is too long our expectations…and it was consuming a lot of time….but in this panoramic view you can see how amazing it looks from the top….
Beauty and desperation meets…..
Views at Rohtang Pass
Moving non-stop apart from the JAM, finally we reached manali @ 5.30 PM ….It was raining heavily and ohh boy… I tell you feeling was extremely great to witness such rain in the high hills…he weather was so pleasant…and when the weather is pleasant it was just a bonanza for all those newly married love birds to beat the heat…they were out like anything….
Raining Clouds @ Manali….
Views Manali
Night 4 + Day 5 – June 06 + 07, 2009 | Manali to Delhi

This was not the end of the day for us…although it did end the photo shoot of the trip. Reaching manali was a big relief. We got to office of the person who arranged the entire trip from there on and with whom I left my car. It was the first time I had given keys of my car to some stranger but the instincts told he was an honest man with well established tour and travel business. Deep inside I had this as well in my mind as well :).. He did really well to securely park the car at his place, thanks to him but getting from there was difficult as the tyres were slipping [I think they need a change] and locales drivers are ready to fight anytime you are on their way :snipe:, so I asked my driver to get us to the cottage in old manali, which again was arranged by Jagdish [tour organizer].

Getting to old manali took ages [I think] due to such hectic traffic with so much frustrated people and oh god! when we reached there was no parking. First day where we parked the car was filled with water/ditches and since we had the plan to leave early in the morning, 🙁 I thought we could get stuck into that with no one out to rescue. Moreover I wanted to leave the place and feel a bit closer to home :-). Don’t know what happened and I got too much frustrated that I decided that we will leave from here right then…we will get down to mandi or kullu or even few kilometers of this place and stay overnight but not here anymore. Suddenly love for my car and its tension seeped deep into me and I was like f***** a*******, if I talk in terms of my friend and cousins :lol:… a devil in the making…but they all know me….i am such an “A-TYPE’…… We had a little fight but throwing some helping verbs at me they decided to move finally. Apologies and thanks to all them for the inconvenience caused. I hope they understand :D….. it was 6.30 PM

We called jagdish and told him about the situation and he asked us to have dinner with him at least before leaving. So, we went to his office again and just adjacent to his office there was a place where you can have homemade food cooked for you. Two aunties run it… the entire group was there…we had some tea and then we thanked all of them for their exemplary help and support. They all left and finally we had dinner and thanked jagdish as well and we did left from there on towards Delhi…it was 7.45 PM

With our tummies filled up and four frustrated and angry faces :lol:…DRESSING-DOWN ME BEING THE DEVIL OF THE NIGHT I drove back towards some peaceful place to rest ourselves with entire day almost spend TRAVELING. We move and moved…many peaceful places came by and it was comfortable yet again driving at night… seeing some cooled down faces I kept driving…kullu came by and gone…then it was the turn of the mandi. BTW in between we got an open medical store to get the medicine for my cousin…everyone is happy now 😀 😀 😀 ….”i prefer you ask them ;)”…. Since driving in the night was cool [temperature wise]yet it demanded more caution and concentration and due to reflection you find yourself in no man’s land. Mandi came by and I finally stopped the car.

None of them step outside to get the room checked apart from that fever down saint’s soul :D…but there were some sparking words from behind…”ab itna aa gaye hain to chalte hain ghar hi”…. 😆 [since we have come so far, why drive straight to reach home now]…. Words were enough to put the ignition on and shift the gear-up… we moved 😡 Seems everyone was enjoying night cool breeze coming from the window…or each one of us had reached the height of some shock or madnees..it had been more than 15 hours we were traveling + driving on and on…sitting in the car..and we are aiming to do so for the next 10 hour or so I felt… there was a complete “NO” for driving if I get a little slip of eyes even, bcz of sleep and we planned to sleep in the car in that case.

We did some circling as we missed the turn just before the bridge at mandi, thrice, towards Chandigarh….hmm it was confusing….or we made it so ;)…We reached bilaspur and about to enter the hills en-route shimla-chandigarh, as shown by the board…we had some tea at a dhabha and then started again. It was 3.00 A.M., if I am not wrong…this stretch was very busy with lots of trucks…running all over the highway and it required a lot of concentration to pull it off….as some drive like crazy nuts and are ready to come onto you and run over in the madness of over taking their counter parts….and just as I say I did happen almost to us..one of the trucks was overtaking the other one on the blind curve, coming from opposite side, we did use so much dipper, horn everything to wake him up and fall back…but I am sure guy was very stubborn like us :lol:…since nothing was visible due to its light directly into our eyes..i decided to move towards the end of the mountain and let him pass somehow..And it finally did pass…and everyone was awake now … 🙂 …

we even saw a Volvo stuck with its left rear wheels into the ditch aside the road..the base was touching the road, this deep the hole was…we reached roop nagar I think and from there on road was again with lots of diversion making you concentrate all the time….this reminded me of the haridwar highway troubles…but thankfully this time there was no fog… We reached Chandigarh around 6.00 AM approx, and it was a long nite…finally we changed the driver and my cousin took the steering control as there would be no hills to negotiate ;)…we had breakfast at Neelkanth dhabha before finally reaching delhi around 10 AM [almost 14 hr after we left manali and 25 hours we had left battal.. and by the time I dropped my friend his home, all four brother finally reached home around 11.30 AM. This was the end to the far most the best of the best outing I had in my life…..

I hope there are more to come but better be the safer ones 😉 :)… An end to the Remarkable Journey of my life…

Last words…

Hope you all enjoyed reading the travelogue, about the remarkable journey which means so much to me. Before I post my listing of learning’s of the trip I would like to share these 3, best [IMHO]of the pictures for me at least…as there is a saying…”beauty lies in the eyes which sees it”..so other might find some other picture to be best…

On a special note and request from my friend and cousins I would like to quote the exact words I was murmuring just after when that “MOMENT OF EXCAPE” happened, “Saale, maaut dikh rahi thi mujhe…”[I was able to see death] 😀 ……

Now here are the best three pictures starting from third…

What a waterfall!!!! [Chattru]
A waterfall at Chattru
A Perfect Postcard!!! [Rohtang Pass]
Mules at Rohtang Pass
Did I shoot it!!!! [Rohtang Pass] I would never believe it… I have this to be printed in 6X4…feet not inch 😉 replacing the GOD OF WAR in my room…
A Raven at Rohtang Pass

This trip is something I would never forget 😀 … Thanks all of you for following, appreciating, concerning and blessing and most importantly letting me share with you. God keeps the grace and blessings with all you guyz.

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I am Dheeraj Sharma - a traveler, techie, and Himalayan lover. Since 2009, I have been helping thousands of travelers every year plan memorable & budget-friendly trips to the Himalayas - Smartly, Safely, and responsibly.

24 Comments

  1. Ajay Singh Khampa on

    Can you please tell us the name of any shop where we can get the Tracking Accessories like Warm Sleeping Bags and other warm clothing for especially these kind of travelling?

    Also where can I get BULLET bikes on hiring bases in Delhi or Dehradun region?

    • Hi Ajay,

      For Delhi, you can contact Lalli Singh. You can search his name over net and he is a reliable guy. From Dehradun, I know there is one major guy working for bike rental but don’t know his name or company. Sorry on that front.

      Regarding renting, if it is long time travel you are interested, it is better to buy your own accessories else there are some shops in Delhi, Manali may be even in Dehradun or Rishikesh too that will be offering trekking equipments on rent. Sleeping bag is something I will advice you to buy.

      Regards
      Dheeraj

  2. praacheesh on

    Boots and hiking sticks and gloves .wot else is required fr june snow?
    Wt do u sugest?

    • Good Camping gear, good sleeping bag more than -10 deg C comfort limit. Jacket and warm pants. But, still unless you have not done such trekking will not advice you as it is not safe. We were too fool to land up there without anything and it’s god that saved us only.

    • Well, June will be dicey and challenging brother … I will not suggest that time unless you are too much into High altitude Snow treks.

  3. praacheesh on

    So bro can i take my rucksack and tent along the trek from batal to chandratal.and pitch tents somewhere near chandratal lake where it is allowed. Wot wud be the temp ..some say minus 20..my plan is to trek till chndratal then till baralacha la.3 day trek

    • Yes, it is allowed where the trek ends, you can pitch your tents there. About .5 KMs before the lake there is a site where few local vendor pitch small camps. There you can pitch your camp. When are you planning to trek?

  4. praacheesh on

    WHY DIDNT U TAKE THE KUNZUM PASS ..ATLEAST U WUD HAVE VISITED THE CHANDRATAAL LAKE

    • Kunzum does not come on the road to Chandratal. There is a trek that goes ahead of Battal which takes you to Chandratal. The road to Kunzum Pass takes you to Kaza or Spiti Valley.

      • praacheesh on

        bro but we can reach kunzum pass and trek down to chandrataal.
        i think that is possible.

        • There is a trek from Kunzum Pass BUT that is more strenuous and the time we attempted from normal trekking route of Chandratal even it was not in favourable conditions to walk and we had to cross 3-4 snow slopes, check previous parts and still were unable to reach the lake. This all happened when everyone warned us not to attempt the trek during early June because of dangers posed there.

        • praacheesh on

          Y didnt u take tents with u to chandrataal.
          Can i put up tents there for the night instead of returning back…

        • Camping at Chandratal is banned as it comes under Ramsar site. Also, this was my first ever trip to high Himalayas, about 5 years ago. I have never seen camps before 🙂 … Also, since the route was not motorable at that time, the camps at the camp sites about 2.5 KMs before the lake are pitched when road becomes motorable.

  5. great……so amazing…i actually feel the the trip with your story….

    • Hi Aman,

      Indeed it was trip of a lifetime for me as well. This is what started everything for me in terms of traveling but quest to reach there is still on 🙂 … I amglad that you liked the journey 🙂

      Regards
      Dheeraj Sharma

  6. wooooo.. read the whole article in one go. .neva expected Chandratal to be this nasty in June .. but.. one hell of a trip.. one hell of a ride.. and one hell of memories .. the word is "awesomeeee" 😉

    • Hey Zack,

      Thanks alot. O yes, Chandratal was too nasty that time and the whole trip had gone down as a memorable experience which will be there for a long long time 😀 …. Indeed one hell of memories. But it did initiated a zest to travel on and on and on which I am loving a lot.

      Regards
      Dheeraj