An adventure from the roads less travelled - a motorcycle trip to Spiti - Part 1 of 3

For part 2 click here and for part 3 click here

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S. Thompson

If you have gone past the above, let me tell you a story that left me with an inoperational hand, a sore back, a broken headlamp, that sucked my insides out and left me vibrating for days enough to pleasure an eighty year old.

When I get so stuck up and bored at my work desk or so comfortable on my cozy bed at home, I sometimes try imagining myself in the high mountain passes amidst the raw nature. And when there is this phase where the 10k runs stop working and the bottle of beer stops giving you the desired results, you clearly know that you have to head back to the mountains.

This time it would be to a place less explored, a place which commanded respect, admiration and offered not less than that. Spiti, a part of the Lahul-Spiti district has always fascinated me to the extent that I got tired of it. The harsh and unforgiving terrain, yet the most beautiful landscapes, do invite the adventurous kind.

After a month of planning and as usual last minute hiccups , I found myself ready with a blue colored rented classic 350, a borrowed camouflaged cramster saddle bag and another fellow adventurer.

Rahul, who happens to be a huge traveler, who calls Parvati valley his second home and a big time biking enthusiast had hopped on to the plan just a week before the D day.

That's Rahul a hard core biker with his custom bike. Of course this bike was replaced by a black classic 350 for the trip

Now, there are two routes to reach Spiti. The first one enters through Manali and exits through Shimla. The second and the most preferred one is entry through Shimla and exit through Manali. The preference of the second route is because there is a gradual gain of altitude through Shimla rather than a sudden gain through Manali which triggers AMS (we will come back to this later).

So we took the preferred route that starts and ends at Delhi over a period of 8 days covering a total distance of 1800 odd kms through Shimla, Narkanda, Kalpa, Nako, Kaza and Manali .

Day 1/ New Delhi to Narkanda /415 kms

Although, the journey started at 5:30 am in Delhi, the real adventure kicked in when we reached Shimla at 6 pm and we decided to stick on to our original plan of Narkanda by covering that edgy 63 kms at night.

It was biting cold, it was breezy and there was this dense smoky fog. I put on my warm jacket and changed my city gloves with the windproof ones. 

There were chilly winds that caused a whirling sounds inside the helmet specially when you cut a corner. There was this occasional high beamed vehicle that blinded you from the opposite side in the otherwise isolated and pitch dark road. Yet we moved on without a break.

Now, these were not unusual conditions. The tiredness after the 14 hours drive might have been the reason why everything seemed accentuated. And the last leg of 30 kms from Theog was the straw that broke the biker’s back. 

Narkanda was cold and almost half closed, at 8:30 when we arrived. I was pale dead and my hands were rock solid numb. 

Amid the cluttering sounds of shutters being shut and the sight of lights being switched off, we searched for rooms in the narrow road that houses most of the hotels in the town.

It dawned upon us that the last room was taken up by a group of bikers who arrived a couple of minutes before us.

We saw some guys barbecuing at the side of the road, which seemed like a perfect setting for the evening. Re established the ‘no room’ fact, from these guys and we started to move on.

I was certainly not exhausted, I was not hungry either and it was definitely not a feeling of dejection. I had passed beyond those points. 

“Rahul?” a guy from the group called out as if he wasn't sure.

“Yes,” he replied numbly, unaware of the fact that the tables have turned 180 degrees.  

It happened that, these guys were from Delhi who came to spend the weekend at Narkanda. One of them lived just two blocks away from Rahul’s place in Delhi. 

We were offered everything on the house plus a place to stay!

We felt like the luckiest sperms alive to have invaded the castle! It was definitely not a coincidence. It was something divine. It was designed to be.

And these guys knew how to party! They had the barbeque setup, the homemade green chutney, the electric stove to prepare Maggie and the perfect music setup. Most importantly, they knew how to entertain two hungry bikers.

We cozied in and the party had begun. Rum offered certain warmth and relaxation to the body while I tried barbecuing my right hand to bring some sensation into it. Experiences of LSD, cocaine, meth, drug peddling, myriad adventures in the Parvati valley flowed with impunity while the mutton got barbecued in the slow shimmering coal.

Barbecuing ! I think I was really tired

As if the current happenings were not enough, we were also offered the enticing night trip to the nearby grave yard. Unfortunately, we had to turn that down owing to the reason that we had to wake up early the next day.

I thought loudly, if this was not a fucking adventure, what was? You are struggling to find a place to stay at one moment and the next moment, you are a part of the best party in the valley.

Day 2/ Narkand to Kalpa/ 162 kms

The all year round cold weather is what draws crowd to Narkanda. There is nothing interesting to do here, except for the 7 kms trek to Hatu Peak which also has a skiing resort. A better idea is to climb up the road to the graveyard and play Ludo which was exactly what these guys had done that morning after we left.

We couldn't thank the hosts enough in the morning. With a semi working right hand (that wasn't even capable of unzipping my pants for a couple of days) and a slightly sore back, we pushed off for Kalpa.

The mission, at hand was to reach Kalpa early to get rooms and adequate rest that seemed to have eluded us for eternity. Accompanied by the Sutlej river at the left, the smooth roads lead you to Kinnaur district.

Somewhere before Kinnaur with the blue classic 350

Beyond that, you could see the roads turn patchy. Cut through mountains, precarious as they may seem, they make out to be the most breathtaking roads in India. But, if you happen to be in one of those HRTC buses, just don't look out of the windows.

The breath taking roads cut through mountains welcoming you to Kinnaur 

When you do hit the small towns and villages on your way, you get to see the ubiquitous green and grey Kinnauri hats, called thepang, equally donned by both women and men. You could also pick up the juiciest famous Kinnauri apple from the orchards on the way. Try asking the people about them and they will tell you with a gleam in their eyes, the history and the variety of the apples the region produces.

Apple orchards of Kinnaur

We had our lunch at a stop over before Jeori. Here we met Raman, a 14-year-old guy who works at the same place we had lunch. Fascinated with our bikes and gears, he tried to steal out time from his working hours to tell about his story of a small village, connected through a wooden bridge near Spello. To support his family which includes 4 younger siblings, at 14 he worked at this place throughout the year. 

A right from Karcham would have taken us to Sangla and Chitkul. I had done Sangla a couple of years back in a trekking trip that started in Uttarakhand and landed us in Sangla among the juiciest Kinnauri apple orchards. Besides, Sangla and Chitkul would have been out of our route. We took a Left from Karcham towards Recong Peo which was just 35 kms from there.

We reached Recong peo at 4 pm, to discover that Kalpa is further up ahead by 10 kms. A left from the prominent traffic signal is the way to Kalpa.  The 2200 feet ascent in 10 kms mostly knocking at first and 2^nd gear, also brought in a sudden dip in temperature.

The isolated and serene route along the pine trees and apple orchards was therapeutic. The sight of Kinner Kailash from the top at sunset is something to behold.

Kinner Kailash Range as seen from Kalpa

“Recong Peo me dekho, Kalpa me koi rooms nahi milega. Sab online booked hai,” was the answer that we got from a dozens of hotels. Some hotels, didn’t even have anyone in the reception to answer. 

It was the season of tourists, and the small hill station refused to accommodate further. It was a butterfly effect! Durga Puja vacations in West Bengal and this sudden rush of tourists over here in this small hill station of Kalpa.

“Tum log kahan se aarahe ho?” a lady tourist from the comfort of a balcony asked.

“Mummy allow kar deti hai itna door bike me ?” she asked with increased curiosity.

Damn amused by that conversation, I couldn’t stop giggling for a while.

The small town of Kalpa amidst the apple orchards

We descended the 10 kms to Recong peo in the pitch dark. After searching for what seemed like ages, we found out that we were again out of luck. But we were not alone that night. We met these two other groups of bikers who were facing the same problem. We had all gathered around the main traffic signal of Recong Peo.

After a long discussion among us, we arrived at two options, either spend the night outside in the sub zero temperature at Recong Peo and die or drive to spello which will take 3 hours in the rough landslide prone roads at night and die.

I preferred the easier middle path of indecisiveness or inaction. I certainly didn't want to choose how i fucking die! I made myself comfortable at the bench near the traffic signal, put off my riding gloves, lit up a smoke ( which I was barely able to hold on between my fingers) and waited for some divine intervention.

This is really the place where all the magic happened!

Here, we met the Youtuber who came to trek the 19,000 feet Kinner Kailash. He offered his camp which we could have setup at the bus stand. We met the nicest policeman who was willing to accommodate 3 people in his house. And there were these other  equally concerned people actively helping us out to find a place.

And finally we met Ravi, a biker who appeared damn animated to have found 2 store rooms in a hotel where fourteen tired and hungry bikers could safely while away the cold night. What followed was a bikers night with stories galore over the pouring rum which we still carried in a Kinley bottle.
For part 2 click here and for part 3 click here