Posted by Shivam Singh
On 31st Jan, 2021
***Kinnaur Roadtrip***
Date: 23rd November 2020
As we woke up to a cloudy morning at our hotel in Reckong Peo, immediately we looked outside the window and boom, what a heavenly sight.!!
The mountains around us were almost touching the sky and we felt like tiny puppets of nature.
After clicking some photographs, we ordered breakfast and got ready. As usual, Sharad was first.
Today’s plan was to visit Kalpa and then towards Sangla for 3 nights stay. But the weather prediction of snowfall in Chitkul tomorrow forced us for a slight change (unaware of what was waiting for us enroute which made Chitkul later impossible today).
So, as of now we decided to go Kalpa first and then straight to Chitkul (24 km ahead of Sangla), spend some time there, and come back to Sangla for stay by evening.
This could be your plan as well in harsh winters. Do not dare for an overnight stay at Chitkul if you do not want to get stuck there for an unknown number of days. Chitkul receives a large amount of snow and there is no provision to clear it fast.
A day’s program from morning to evening is advisable during extreme winters but in summers 1-2 day’s stay is must here for exploring the beauty of the village in and around. Just around 2 km from here is the ITBP border post from where you cannot go further.
Indeed our’s was a brave plan as the roads from Karcham (a village from where we had to exit NH-5) to Sangla and then further towards Chitkul are very narrow and dangerous. They are considered among India’s most dangerous roads.
We were all set to start by 9:00 AM but then came the first hurdle: our car key’s sensor didn’t worked. After opening the door using the secret key, the siren won’t stop as the key’s sensor were not detected. It was an embarrassing situation.
Prabal volunteered to go towards the market 250 metres ahead looking for a watch shop for buying a new cell, while I watched YouTube video on how to replace the battery.
After a struggle of 30-45 mins, we were able to replace the cell with a new one.
Kalpa is at a distance of 8 km further uphill from Reckong Peo and the view en-route was extremely beautiful. We covered the distance in around 20-30 mins.
We had only three plans in Kalpa: a view of Kinner Kailash peak, Suicide Point and enchanting views.
Very few locals were on the road due to harsh weather and as per them: Kinner Kailash peak’s view is not possible today due to clouds. The suicide point was also around 8-10 km from here and we decided to skip it as the weather was not looking good, we could notice tiny snow particles falling from the sky by now. So we thought of going back towards Sangla/Chitkul via Reckong Peo again (the only road downhill from Kalpa is towards Reckong Peo).
* We re-visited Kalpa 3 days later on 27th Nov (covered in another blog), as this visit was not satisfactory.
All of the above pics are from between Kalpa to Karcham Dam.
Kalpa to Sangla
After covering around 30 km from Kalpa, we reached Karcham Dam, from where we had to exit NH-5 and take a left turn towards Sangla. Prabal was waiting for this spot to capture a slow-mo video while crossing the dam (took us additional 15-20 minutes).
Sangla is 19 km after this turn which takes around 1.5 hours. We were excited as we moved further but bit scared as well looking at the size of the road and deep valley. After-all this road comes under: Most Dangerous Roads in India.
We were moving slowly and had to stop after covering around 7-8 km as few big rocks had fallen on the road which was getting cleared by JCB. After waiting for about 45 mins here the JCB was still in action, then only we decided that Chitkul will not be possible today since we had to come back to Sangla by evening for stay.
After a wait of more than an hour, we were finally able to move from here. Fortunately the queue on the opposite side was not long which allowed us to pass this area quickly.
At one spot while we were clicking pics of the view from roadside, a stone fell on top of my car with a loud noise. I remember, we jumped inside car and left that site within fraction of seconds without uttering a word.
We reached another Hydro-plant with the name Baspa Plant and by then snowfall started as we were moving uphill towards Sangla (still 5 km). For me, it was the first experience of snowfall doubling my joy.
Upon Reaching Sangla
Sharad and Prabal both were busy in google for hotels in Sangla but unfortunately all were closed due to Covid lockdown. We were roaming here and there within the town searching for a place to stay.
After struggling for 30-45 minutes, got one guest house: “Madhu Hotel” which was open. The entire guest house was empty, we were the only tourist there. We selected a room on the top floor with a huge open terrace area (which helped in BBQ and exceptional view later).
Madhu Hotel is highly recommended for a budget stay in Sangla due to extremely helpful and polite staff/owner along with the magnificent view of the mountains and river from back side.
The time by now was 3 PM and snowfall was bit heavy but still we decided to go out and explore market for lunch and try some local dish.
Sangla is a very small village town situated at a height of 2621 m above sea level. With just one market to explore, we found a food stall serving lunch till now, but only Rajma-Rice and Chicken-Rice. Ordered tea with less sugar along with lunch, still we got heavily sugared drink.
Suggestion: always ask for sugar separately while ordering Tea in Sangla or you will end up drinking almost a syrup.
After exploring market and buying paneer and vegetables for BBQ, we came back to hotel.
Snowfall was getting heavier and the entire area turned white. Just behind our hotel was the huge apple orchard, we couldn’t resist ourselves going inside the orchard even in snowfall. It was indeed a beautiful experience, along with apples many vegetables were also planted there.
We later came to know it belonged to our hotel owners from where we got many kilos of apples as gift before leaving 2 days later 🙂
As it was getting darker, our most energetic partner Sharad started the marination process for barbeque. The BBQ followed by light dinner and music went on till 10:30 PM.
Snowfall was still On and our chances for visiting Chitkul tomorrow was getting lesser. Even the hotel staff told us its impossible, still we asked to arrange a 4 wheel drive taxi tomorrow morning.
The entire trip was planned with Chitkul as the main destination and in no way we were ready to let it go by just 24 km.
Soon we went to sleep covering ourselves with 2 blankets even after wearing woolen inners/caps and heater powered-on.
Reason: temperature was -2 degrees and we opted for a room on the windy top floor as it was having a big open area.
That’s all for today, tomorrow’s journey is going to be a memorable one.
See you in the next blog, till then Happy Travelling.
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