Unpaved route to Himalayas

Tripoto
3rd Jul 2015
Photo of Unpaved route to Himalayas 1/11 by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Unpaved route to Himalayas 2/11 by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Unpaved route to Himalayas 3/11 by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Unpaved route to Himalayas 4/11 by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Unpaved route to Himalayas 5/11 by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Unpaved route to Himalayas 6/11 by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Unpaved route to Himalayas 7/11 by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Unpaved route to Himalayas 8/11 by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Unpaved route to Himalayas 9/11 by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Unpaved route to Himalayas 10/11 by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Unpaved route to Himalayas 11/11 by Renuka Darshyamkar

1st day: We began our 10 day trip to Unpaved Route to Himalayas from Shimla at noon. As we move up weather has been playing hide&seek, that's sunshine and rainbows, and an picturesque view all along the way. As the day settling down we decided to halt at small Hamlet named, Saharan.

Photo of Shimla by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Shimla by Renuka Darshyamkar

2nd day: Saharan, had welcomed us with farms full of Apple trees and furry dogs. Since it's not a tourist nest but still you can find a good Homestay with free breakfast at reasonable price.
Since next morning we decided to head towards Kinnaur district, we call it a day and rest for the next day.

Photo of Saharan by Renuka Darshyamkar

3rd day: Next to Shimla district we entered Kinnaur district, where as we move up we encountered many Apple cut road blocks. Followed Satluj all through our trip to next destination. As I have mentioned above, these Apple cut roads were surely astonish you with it's civil engineering skills & you might even remembered stress, strain, tension, creep etc kind of terms in your mind just looking at it. And if you are one of my kind you might be even feel proud of having seeing Rock strength by your naked eyes.

Photo of Kinnaur district by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Kinnaur district by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Kinnaur district by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Kinnaur district by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Kinnaur district by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Kinnaur district by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Kinnaur district by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Kinnaur district by Renuka Darshyamkar

4th day: Travelling all throughout the day we called a day off in Chitkul. And you might fall in love with this place at first sight, like I did. This place is located just at the nook of north and slight east of India that is Indo-China border located along the Satluj river surrounded by snowcaps peaks. The mountains here are the boundary which separate us from China. I was overjoyed at the thought of having been in the last village of the country, Chitkul. A small beautiful Hamlet, where you can only observe countable huts, and beautiful flowers sprang out in the springs of month of July. It was village out from any chaos and like a poem that it will make you hers at an instant. We brought our tents with us, so we set up our tents near Satluj, although it was a bad idea. Because it was very cold at night near river, try to avoid it.

Photo of Chitkul by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Chitkul by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Chitkul by Renuka Darshyamkar

5th day: Our next journey was towards Nako. And the view along the road was breathtaking, rocky terrains, serpentine roads, vast stretch of cold desert, Tibetan mastiff, and oh! So mighty mountains.
At end of the day, we conclude our journey at the place called Nako lake, but this place doesn't permit for camping still you can get homestay at reasonable price. This place is located in middle of the cold desert.

Photo of Nako by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Nako by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Nako by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Nako by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Nako by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Nako by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Nako by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Nako by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Nako by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Nako by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Nako by Renuka Darshyamkar

6th day: A small Tibetan village at the lap of dark, giant rocky mountains covered with white clouds is generally famous for it's Tabo monastery that estb. since 996 A.D.
However, desert land with not even a single green hairline you can still locate Apple trees middle of it.

Photo of Tabo by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Tabo by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Tabo by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Tabo by Renuka Darshyamkar

7th day: Kunzum Pass or Kunzum La, as it is called by locals, is one of the highest motorable mountain passes of India, located at an altitude of 4,551m above mean sea level. It serves as a gateway to the beautiful Spiti valley via Kullu and Lahaul. It lies on the eastern Kunzum Range of the Himalayas and is at a distance of 122 km from Manali. Kunzum La offers an incredible 360-degree view of Bara- Shigri Glacier (the second longest glacier in the world), a jaw-dropping vista of Chandrabhaga Range and a spectacular view of the Spiti valley. This enthralling view makes Kunzum Pass a photographer's dream.
It is believed that the visitors have to stop at the temple of Goddess Kunzum Devi, on their way to the pass, to pay their respect and seek the blessing to travel safely through the rugged terrain safely. The tradition is to take a complete circle of the temple in your vehicle. 

Photo of Kunzum Pass by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Kunzum Pass by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Kunzum Pass by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Kunzum Pass by Renuka Darshyamkar

8th day: We moved a little farther and stayed at Batal, Chacha-Chachi's place for a night to explore crescent shape lake next day. There is a 15km trek or motorable road to the famous Chandratal Lake (moon lake) from Batal.
The small lakes nestled within the valley enhance the beauty of Lahaul and Spiti region. The Chandra Taal is located at an elevation of 4,300 meters above sea level and has the Himalayas as the backdrop. The right banks of this lake have vast meadows and are prominent sites for camping. With the onset of summer, brightly colored flowers bloom here offering a stunning sight with white horses grazing at sides.

Photo of Chandartaal by Renuka Darshyamkar

9th day: At journey's end as we come to an end of our 10 days journey we passed through Rohtang Pass. As we were leaving behind the breathtakingly countryside, mountains were bidding good-byes with three rainbows in a row, like inviting us to visit them soon.  As we approached to other side of mountains we were invited in Rohtang with misty mountains and foggy roads. And lastly we terminated our this long journey in Manali.

Photo of Rohtang pass by Renuka Darshyamkar
Photo of Rohtang pass by Renuka Darshyamkar