Spiti Valley - A Seat with a View

In the land of bullets, we managed to cover one of the most amazing place in this country with our most adorable bike-Yamaha FZ-S (FZee). Yes Spiti Valley it was!!!

FZee was loaded in Rajdhani Express to accompany us for the onward journey towards Himachal Pradesh.

As we reached Delhi, we immediately headed towards Shimla. Overall a 9 Hours ride with great roads all the way till Zirakpur giving a good pace to cover up the distance. Followed by the Himalayan Express way, a cherry on the cake!!!

Leaving behind Shimla for the journey ahead, we started enjoying the ride. Soon we entered into Kinnaur Valley, the views just left us speechless. By the way, we were travelling on Hindustan Tibet Road.

Beautiful view of Kinner Kailash from Kalpa made us hate our City life.

Watching the Confluence of Satluj and the Spiti River over the Khab Bridge was a wonderful sight!!!

Nako Lake added beauty to the small hamlet located on Kah Loops.

The ride from Khab Bridge to Nako is one of the best rides, as there is complete desolation here, nothing came to our mind, and it was just us, the roads and our bike.

A 550 year old Mummy located at Giu / Gue Village was definitely worth a detour from the main road. It was so peaceful there on the hill top, that we knew the reason why Mummy was still there embarking it's presence!!!

Monastery at Dhankar was one of its kinds located on the hilltop. It looked like one castle over the hills as we always saw in our childhood story books.

As we reached the Headquarters of Spiti Valley, “Kaza”, it was an immense pleasure to get clicked at the Board located at the entrance of town after riding for 2 days. Since this was the last major town with all the basic amenities, we got our bike checked and also filled up our fuel tank to ensure we reach Manali without a fuel crunch.

As we started from Kaza, it was time to touch a few highest points, which guaranteed a few memorable places for our lifetime... namely:

KOMIC VILLAGE: Highest Motor-able Village in the World.

HIKKIM VILLAGE: A Village where Highest Post Office in the World is located.

LANGZA VILLAGE: Biggest Buddha Statue in Spiti Valley.

'Key Monastery' was a peaceful spot, it is the biggest monastery of Spiti Valley. Bells at the entrance of the monastery gave us wonderful feeling, Monastery overlooked beautiful village of Spiti Valley and road running from Kaza to Losar.

This completed our 70% of the Spiti Valley trip. Well, if you think it’s over, you are mistaken, the drive through Chicham Bridge gave us a proud feeling - it has been quoted that it is the highest bridge in Asia. The architecture of the bridge and views on sides of the bridge helped us in realising that “Yes, India has progressed”.

We were lucky to visit the last, small yet a very beautiful village of 'Losar' located on the foothills of Kunzum Range. It looked even more more beautiful in the evening with a Full Moon in the sky. Infact the view of the moon from there was like a Giant one than the usual.

The ride to mighty Kunzum Pass was an experience of life time. A temple atop Kunzum Pass calmed us after tiring ride. the peace felt there was soothing along with the chilling wind playing with the prayer flags!! the place had its own Aura which is beyond a description.

Ride to Chandrataal Lake completely exhausted us, however once we made it to the lake; we realized it was worth taking the pain to reach this place with horrible roads...(oh sorry no roads)

Ride through the river bed between Batal and Gramphu through numerous treacherous water crossing increased our adrenaline.

Finally, getting clicked at Rohtang Pass after a treacherous day of ride was the best feeling in the world. It gave us a sense of achievement and it was beyond our belief that "YES, WE HAD DONE IT"

Finally the smooth roads welcomed us to Manali followed by never ending ride to plains.

With this we made it to Chandigarh and our FZee was again packed and loaded for journey back home.

A trip that taught us to live RAW in the midst of nature according to its laws left us with great memories! it made us realize life to the best!

The mountains there were so Huge that we felt the problems in our life are too minute to pay attention to!!!

The villagers there lived in such little basic amenities but had the most of happiness, But we living in all the luxuries have little time to search for our own happiness.

At those places, Border Road Organisation (BRO) has built metal roads, infact entire road from Shimla to Kaza is metalled leaving aside few patches in between. BRO guys are always on toes to clear off the land slides and make better roads cutting through the mountains. We saw them with such great respect that we never complained about the road conditions there. With all the amenities here in Metro cities we still do not get better roads. There we could actually feel that YES, India is developing. Hats off to BRO for trying to build better roads at such places where it is very difficult to get workforce even to manage little tasks.

This 7 days trip embarked our mind with a different approach of living and with an adventurous experience!!

For those who wanted to have route and other relevant information:

Mumbai – Delhi: Via Train, FZee was loaded as luggage in Brake Van of Train.

Delhi – Panipat – Ambala – Zirakpur – Himalayan Expressway – Parwanoo – Solan – Shimla – Narkanda – Rampur – Jeori – Wangtu – Karcham – Tapri – Recong Peo – Kalpa – Recong Peo – Pooh – Nako – Chango – Sumdo – Gue Mummy – Tabo – Dhankar – Kaza – Langza – Komic – Hikkim – Kaza – Key Monastery – Chicham Bridge – Kiato – Losar – Kunzum Pass – Chandrataal Lake – Batal – Chottadara – Chattru – Gramphu – Rohtang Pass – Manali – Mandi – Bilaspur – Kiratpur Sahib – Chandigarh.

Chandigarh – Mumbai: Via Train, FZee was loaded in train as parcel.

The entire Circuit is 1500 kilometres approximately, out of which 75% part has metaled roads.

Make sure, you fill up your fuel tank at Powari, because next Fuel Pump is at Kaza, if you are not going to Recong Peo. Recong Peo has a petrol pump.

Make sure, you fill up your fuel tank at Kaza, because next Fuel Pump is at Tandi, if you are going towards Leh / Killar / Sach Pass / Kishtwar) and Manali, if you are going towards plains.

For Kaza to Losar, it is recommended to take the route via Chicham Bridge, avoiding the Rangrik – Pangmo Route.

Road to Chandrataal remains one of the most difficult section due to narrowness of the road, numerous water crossing and steep incline and declines. So be careful here.

Batal to Gramphu: this section would be test for you as well as your machine. (June / July / August, this patch is seriously difficult and takes twice the time than anticipated. September / October, the water crossing are tamed)

Tools to be carried:

Panna (All Sizes from 6 to 18)

Pakkad

Screw Driver

Spark Plug

Extra Fuse

Clutch Cable

Accelerator Cable

Puncture Repair Kit

Air Pump

Steel Wire

Tape

Chain Linkages

Lubricants for chain cleaning

Anything specific to your motorcycle.

No parts would be available post Rampur upto Manali.

Ensure you get your bike serviced thoroughly before the trip.

Bike mechanic is available at Kaza.

Keep Drinking water at regular intervals.

AMS can hit you at high altitude places like Komic / Hikkim / Chandrataal / Kunzum Pass, the best way to counter it is descend to lower altitude.

Luggage / Parcel of Bike: The entire process seems difficult, but actually it’s simple and best mode for transporting the bike. Only thing you need to ensure is packing of bike is properly done, Use of thermocoal at various places on bike, it will save your bike in case of fall during transit, remove rear view mirrors as well.

Step 1: Go to Railway (Mumbai Central Station’s) Parcel Office Gate, you will find people sitting there and they themselves will approach you for packing. Ask them only for packing. Charges: Rs. 800 to Rs. 1,000. (Kindly ensure fuel tank is completely empty, Officers are strict for this thing)

Step 2: While the bike is getting packed, you go to Parcel Office and collect the Forms that needs to be filled in.

Step 3: Once the bike is packed, take it to the Parcel Office, NOC is required for “No Petrol” from Officer, once this process is complete, submit the filled up forms and pay the requisite charges. Receipt would be given to you, please preserve it carefully, it is mandatory document for collecting the bike at destination station. Charges: Rs. 2,200 to Rs. 2,500 along with insurance.

Step 4: Train Arrives an hour before the departure time, arrange for some porter who will load the bike in the Brake Van of the train. Charges: Rs. 50 to Rs. 100

This entire process can be done by the packing guys, if you pay Rs. 200 extra. Remember, if you are booking the bike as luggage, it will come along with you in the same train so you need to have confirmed ticket for it.

For parcel booking follow Step 1 to 3. However just ensure that Parcel is accepted at the departing station. For example, New Delhi, doesn’t accept bike as parcel. Only luggage is accepted.

Collecting of Bike at Destination Station: Once bike is unloaded, you will have to take the bike at parcel office. A gate pass will be prepared and you would be good to go. I would recommend arranging someone for this process as well, as it will save lot of time and energy. Charges: Rs. 200 maximum.

Believe me the entire system is very efficient.

Officially Road from Kaza to Losar to Kunzum Pass to Chandrataal to Batal to Gramphu to Manali closes down by end of October.

Places where we stayed:

Shimla: Ridge View Home Stay

Kalpa: Kotyong Home Stay

Dhankar: Dhankar Monastery Guest House

Losar: Local Home Stay

Manali: Ride Inn

Swarghat: HPTDC Swarghat

You can post here or ping us, for any other information.

Till than Keep Riding...