Travelling in Himachal in June – 2007
Shimla >> Manali >> Rohtang >> Chandratal >> Ki/Kibber/Tabo >> Kalpa >> Shimla
+ Previous: Batal and Chandratal
+ Next: Tabo Monastery and Nako Village
+ Go to beginning of the story or index page
We continued eastward from Chandratal. Roads improved considerably as the day progressed. My friend who looked worried on the road to Chandratal was now sitting relaxed. ‘Don’t you think it will be nice to trek on this road?’ he had asked me on the way to Chandratal, and then admitted that he was a bit worried about sitting in the jeep.
At Kunzum La. All the information you would be looking for.. Kunzum La – 4551m, Kaza – 76km – 3600m, Losar – 19km – 4079m, Kibber – 90km – 4205m, Sagnam – 118km – 3650m, Tabo – 123km – 3050m. The blue sign belongs to BSNL and lists their telephone exchanges ahead on the road. Incredible folks they are, having managed to connect such places.
Kunzum La or Kunzum Pass was our next point and the highest altitude that we went through in our journey. The place hosts a small temple for Kunzum Devi. Whether the pass derived its name from the temple or the other way is not known. At least there was no one there to tell us about it and neither did our driver Mangal know. Walking barefoot on the cold ground was not exactly my idea of fun, but I could not resist going inside. There was some evidence of worshiping by both Hindus and Buddhists, but it is unlikely a priest would visit everyday to perform pooja.
Kunzum Devi Temple
Landscape of Spiti is remarkably different from Lahaul. Lahaul region had perfectly blue skies as if someone chose the precise shade and painted it permanently, but a tiny clouds or two popped up as we progressed eastward. The floor of Spiti valley is wide and has a lot more vegetation. Asphalted straight roads took us through Losar, the first village in Spiti and then to Kaza; it was not very different from being in the plains except for the views of the mountains on both sides. Villages appeared on the road every now and then, and there were a few people waiting on the road for transport to Kaza. Losar, with a population no more than a few hundreds even has a branch of State Bank of India. They probably had a mobile network too – we spotted towers in Kaza which was not too far away. Villages have irrigation facilities and people were out working in the fields. From the uninhabitable terrains of Lahaul, this was a complete change.
A Yak grazes in Spiti Valley
We stopped at Losar for lunch and reached Kaza around 4pm. We wanted to refuel in Kaza, but it was Sunday and the only government owned fuel station was closed. Mangal explained that they only work from 9 to 5 on weekdays, true to the style of a state owned business. But some begging seemed to work, and the operator came down to bail us out.
Ki Monastery is only a short drive from Kaza town, but its location gives it a distinction from its neighbourhood. Placed on a hillock, it stands apart from rest of the valley, with construction crowding the hill.
Grandeur setup of Ki Monastery
We entered the monastery and stood in the inner courtyard, confused and wondering which way to go. A door that seemed to lead a sanctum was closed, and so was another door in the opposite direction. A small wooden staircase lead into a dark arena and we pondered on taking it. Just then we heard a monk speaking with a feeble voice behind us, offering his assistance.
The friendly monk opened the doors of the prayer hall and lead us inside. He had a typical round Mongoloid face with small blood-shot eyes and bugling cheeks. His ochre robe clung to his body in a manner not very different from a sari. He spoke with a deep high pitch voice that seemed to be coming from the bottom of his larynx.
Ki Monastery is 800 years old, but most of the buildings are new and there is no visible evidence of its past. The buildings that stand today are made of white washed mud plaster and wood to support the roof. More buildings, built with cement, are coming up in the periphery to accommodate more students as well as tourists. Dalai Lama had given a visit to the monastery some time ago, and the chair where he sat and the bed he slept on have been preserved neatly. ‘Dalai Lama used to sit here, he used to sleep in this room,’ explained our guide as he took us through the monastery.
The monastery was spread around a prayer hall where the monks assembled. A few deities of worship, a kitchen and smaller prayer rooms surrounded the prayer hall. An old kitchen built many centuries ago still existed though not used anymore. Our monk escort showed us the utensils of yesteryears and asked to take a seat on a bench in the center. ‘We now use this room to honour the guests,’ he said and poured us tea from a pot. Over the tea, I questioned in him length about the past and present of the monastery.
‘Life was much difficult before,’ he explained and spoke in length, ‘it was not easy to procure food and other daily needs. Now we are helped by the government. Procuring fuel and wood was a big problem, since there are no trees here. Things are much better these days, we are well connected and well provided. There is a problem of good teachers though, Tibetans don’t get visa(permits?) very easily and we will have to manage with local teachers.’
Tibetans requiring a visa or permits to get to Spiti was news to me. I asked why is it so. ‘They could come and go easily in the past,’ he said, ‘but people of Spiti were innocent and Tibetans misused us. They would take our sheep and eat them. They would steal things. So they had to be restrained.’
‘Why is your monastery located in such remote place? Why are you so far away from civilization? Why do monasteries tend to be in some far away mountain or top of a hill?’ There were simply too many questions I wanted answers for.
The barrage of questions was probably hard on him, but he was patient. He took some time to think over it and said, ‘it is to escape from the everyday world.’ I waited for him to continue but he did not seem to have more to say on it.
He escorted us back to the entrance after the tea, and humbly welcomed us to visit again. The goodness and hospitality of of the people of hills never ceases to amuse me. ‘We have rooms to stay for tourists,’ he said, ‘next time you come, do stay with us.’
We made a brief visit to Kibber village before returning to Kaza. At more than 4000m, Kibber used to pride itself as the highest inhabited village in the world once, but the credit has now weathered down to highest motorable village. With the expanding road networks, I am sure they will soon become the second, and later third highest and so on in the days to come. They will have to search for other things to fill for highest _____ village in the next few years.
Kibber Village
Kibber is very close to Tibet border, and is mostly inhabited by Tibetan Buddhists. There are just a few dozen houses and all of them look similar. They rely on livestock to make a living, but as tourism is making inroads, a couple
of guest houses have sprung up. Kibber had electricity, and even boasts of a school – a few things which they can probably use with the ‘highest’ tag in the years to come. As we were returning from Kibber, driver Mangal told us in a tone of discomfort and disgust – ‘you know, people here eat beef.’ I think he waited for us to come back strongly in response, but unconcerned that we were, he must have been disappointed. He repeated the words again with a hope that he may not have been heard earlier, even as we continued to gaze through the window, admiring the views of Spiti valley below.
The evening in Kaza was much different. It was a town full of chaos. Guesthouses littered the streets and everyone was offering a room. A few professionally run resorts too had sprung up in the outskirts of the town. But there was no power supply late into evening and most of the guesthouses did not even have water, owing to some temporary problem in water supply. The ever reliable Mangal finally found a guest house with water where we checked in for the night.
Continued at Tabo Monastery and Nako Village
Travelling in Himachal in June – 2007
Shimla >> Manali >> Rohtang >> Chandratal >> Ki/Kibber/Tabo >> Kalpa >> Shimla
+ Previous: Rohtang Pass
+ Next: Batal and Chandratal
+ Go to beginning of the story or index page
Most of my trip to Himachal was planned and arranged with the help of our traveller friends. Mangal, the driver who took us through Lahaul, Spiti and Kinnaur was referred to me by a friend in Delhi.
I called Mangal the day we reached Manali, and we setup a meeting. Until we met, we had no clear plans on our journey beyond Manali, though I had a rough idea. It would be a choice between Leh and Spiti. After discussing for almost an hour, we finally decided that it is going to be Spiti.
Mangal had spent many long years behind the wheel, driving tourists around the mountains of the high Himalayas. His paunch looked like a beer belly, but it was acquired over years of work that required him to burn very few calories. In fact he was a tee-totaller, a variety rare among drivers. When he spoke with his soft voice, he always let out a gentle smile that barely revealed his front teeth under the trimmed moustache. He had an easygoing air that would put people at ease. In a few minutes of talking with him, we were relieved of our anxiety of meeting someone who had every chance to cheat gullible tourists.
Mangal always spoke with an air of authority and a confidence held by the firm belief that he knows what he is speaking. And when it comes to driving and travelling in Spiti, he definitely knew his stuff. He knew people all along the way, and in places where he did not, he would make new friends in no time. He had a charm that opened up people to him easily and held them in his trust. After a long day of driving, we stopped for a cup of tea in the evening somewhere where he seemed to know none. He sneaked his Sumo slowly next to a man standing beside the road and waiting for a bus and characteristically said ‘haanji’ with his usual gentle smile and an air of familiarity. The conversation hence started with a stranger lasted for a good fifteen minutes while we had alighted from the jeep and were already done with our tea!
People were delighted to have him to talk to, and were always willing to lend him an arm of assistance when needed. We were looking to buy tickets to Delhi from Shimla at the end of our journey and it was just a matter of going to a nearby ticket counter and picking them up. But a friend of Mangal who was talking to him eagerly jumped in to help and sent an assistant of his to get it done. He was there to find way even with things a little more complicated. When my fellow-traveller spotted a couple of traditionally dressed Kinnauri girls when we were driving, he wanted a picture. But pahadi women usually dislike being photographed, and he turned to ever-reliable Mangal to intervene. ‘Let us see what we can do,’ said Mangal, drove up to them and started wielding the magic with his ‘haanji’. A minute later, the girls were willing to be photographed even when they were a bit reluctant about it.
I realized I never took a picture of Mangal. Here is his Tata Sumo that took us around
It was not just his people skills that helped us through the trip, but his driving skills too. He was a man committed to his work and to his clients, and was ready to go extra mile to make us go back happy. We were early in the season and some of the roads were still in the process of getting cleared after the winter. The jeep drivers coming from the opposite direction told us that the road to Chandratal Lake–an amazingly beautiful lake that was a short deviation from the main road–was closed, but he kept our hopes alive and was confident of driving up there.
‘These drivers are not honest,’ he would say, ‘sometimes the road will be open but the drivers are uninterested in the extra drive. They will just lie to the tourists. And they can’t tell us the facts because their customers sitting behind would get to know’.
And sure enough he drove us to Chandratal on a road that was just opened, but too painful and dangerous to drive.
He would also extend a helping hand to anyone who would be in need. When he saw a tiny M800 wading through a stream crossing the road, he waited and watched to ensure that they crossed safely. When a Ford Endevour had a punctured tyre on the terrible road to Chandratal, they would never have managed to change the tyres and make their way ahead without Mangal’s help. No wonder people all over the route knew him well and respected him so much. And once he was done with the Endevour, he laughed as we moved on and remarked produly – ‘these big SUVs are useless for really tough terrains. Its the Tata Sumos like mine that really survive’.
Mangal did give us his share of pains too. In his bid to give good value to us, he once negotiated a place to stay for a night, came back to us and told us he had found a good place, inexpensive. It was the last day of our journey and so far we had stayed in nice little clean places. We presumed it is one such place and gave him the green signal without inspecting it. But it turned out to be a dingy, grimy place I would never ever want to stay in. It was too late to get out, so I simply unfolded my sleeping bag and took refuge in it in a corner of the room.
He was also fun to be with, talked a lot and cracked a joke every now and then. The journey to Spiti was memorable for its beautiful landscapes, but being with Mangal made it all the more enjoyable.
Continued at Batal and Chandratal
Auli -> Rishikesh -> Corbett National Park -> Varanasi -> Agra
+Previous: Rishikesh to Auli
+Next: Skiing at Auli
+Go to beginning of the series
I took the cable car to Auli early in the morning. It is a 4 km journey, which takes around 25 minutes. We climb up steeply against the views of the valley below, the mountains on the other side and the town of Joshimath.
I was at Auli a year ago, almost during the same time of the year(See: images, report). This year’s weather was much different to what I had seen then. It was biting cold, with tonnes of snow everywhere last time, but this time it was warm and pleasant. Snow was no-where to be seen in the lower regions and you had to go high up in search of it. While we were wearing layers of sweaters and jackets then, I now walked up to snow line and beyond with a thin cotton T-shirt. It was not exactly that warm, but I love the cold weather and the gentle kiss of the mildly cold wind against my body, and would not mind shivering a bit for the experience.
Lower regions did not have much snow this year
I was here for a seven day skiing course, but the fact that I did not see much snow, I was contemplating staying for just a day or two and go back. I went up to have a look at the snow where people were skiing, and it was too tempting to join them. Skiing is an addictive and irresistible sport and it is just difficult to get away from it. I decided to stay on.
I noticed a few people playing cricket just below the snow line, taking advantage of the warm weather. And some one had already set up a tea stall there! Climb a little higher and the cricket ground gave way to ski slope!
Where-ever you are in India, even high in the mountains, you are never away from a bunch of people plyaing cricket!
Learning to Ski at Auli
There are some good things about not having much snow. Besides skiing, we could manage to climb higher up in the mountains and trek around to see the beautiful Himalayan vistas spread all around Auli. Besides, we did not have to worry about the chill weather of the snowy winters that would keep you shivering through the day. I spent the first day without bothering to wear the skis. I walked around and spent time taking pictures, watching others learn skiing or chatting with instructors whom I knew from last year.
I spent some time taking images of beautiful vistas of mountains across the valley
Next day, I was up to go up with my ski gear and figure out how much did I remember from the last year’s ski lessons.
Also see more about Auli in paintedstork.com
Visit to Auli in 2005
* Images from Auli(plenty of snow)
* Trip report
Visit to Auli in 2006
* Images from Auli(little snow)
* A back-breaking journey: from Rishikesh to Auli
* First Day at Auli
* The days of Skiing
* Spending time in Auli
* Trekking and walking around
* About Auli