Manali to Leh – the Trans Himalayan Safari





Hadimba Temple, Manali

 


Our journey was a little complicated. We flew from Pune to Delhi, and then got on a bus to Manali around 6:00 PM. It took us 16 hours to reach Manali. It was sunny and actually quite hot, when we reached Manali at about 10:00 AM the next day. We were doing the Trans Himalayan road Safari from Manali to Leh.  We were to start for Leh early morning on 14th August, but it was raining incessantly from 12th evening. The Rohtang pass closed down on 13th due to snowfall and landslides. Due to the heavy rains, the Delhi-Manali road also was closed.  We were stuck in Manali! However, if we had started for Leh from Manali on 13th, we would be stuck at Rohtang; if we had tried to reach Manali a day later than when we did, we would have been stuck on the road from Delhi and not reached Manali. So if we looked at it from the right perspective, our timing was perfect!

So, whether we would start on 14th morning for Manali was something we were going to be able to decide only on 14th morning. On 14th morning we were all packed but as it turned out, on 14th morning, the pass had not yet opened so we definitely were not starting on that morning. Around noon we decided to start from Manali at about 3:00 PM and drive to Rohtang. If the pass had opened we would go across, if not we would come back to Manali. 

As we made our way to Rohtang, we were going close to the snow clad mountains, the sky started opening up and with all the tall trees and the clouds that we were driving through was creating just the perfect atmosphere. I couldn’t help thinking about Shammi Kapoor, my favorite actor who had passed away just that morning. I couldn’t help but imagine him going “Yahoo” in that place – the setting seemed like out of one of his movies from 60s.

We made a stop at Marhi, the last place before Rohtang, where one can get good, water etc. After our drivers discussed the situation with many other drivers, it was decided to drive to Rohtang. It meant that if the pass didn’t open up, we will have to stay put in our vehicles close to the pass for the night. As we got closer and closer to the pass, the road became gradually worse. There were large patches where we were driving in feet deep mud. The fear of having a vehicle stuck in that slush or slipping on it and going over the edge was on everyone’s mind.

As it turned out, the wonderful people of BRO had managed to work on the patch where the landslides had taken place, and though the road could not be cleared, they had managed to make an alternate road and light vehicles were able to drive over it to make way to Rohtang after about 6:00 PM. So we were able to cross that patch around 6:30 PM and make our way towards Rohtang pass.  But it was now getting dark and the road was pretty bad – and very narrow. Finally we crossed the Rohtang pass at about 8:15 PM that night. Watching all the snow in the dark of the night was a different kind of magic!

We kept driving through the night and reached a town called Keylong, around 11:00 PM. But we could not find any accommodation and so we decided to drive over to Jispa; as per our original plan we were supposed to drive to Jispa that day and had a booking in a good place there.  Driving another hour through the night on another patch of bad road, we reached Jispa around midnight and went over to the hotel where we thought we had confirmed accommodation for the night. Since Rohtang was closed and so was Barlacha, the pass on the other side, the people who were to have moved ahead, had been stuck in Jispa and so there was no rooms available for us. So it was past midnight, extremely cold and we didn’t have any place to stay… So we drove on… went to a place called Darcha – about a few kilometers from Jispa. Here, we found place to sleep on cot basis in two Dhabas. We, four women took four available beds in one dhaba. The three men in our group and our two drivers took 5 available beds in another Dhaba. 





The dhaba we stayed at in Darcha




The accommodation was really very basic – there were about 10 people sleeping in one room in the Dhaba where we slept. The toilet was outside and basically was just a small enclosure with 3 walls and one curtain. But we all were very tired and it felt awesome to lie down and relax for a while. By this time it was past 1 AM. The next morning we woke up around 6:30 AM and after having some tea at these Dhabas went back to the hotel where we were supposed to have stayed the night. We thought we could freshen up there and have a good breakfast.

When we went over the hotel they gave us a good breakfast and couple of rooms to freshen up. While freshening up we realized that the place where we were supposed to stay was really good. Where we ended up staying was the most basic of accommodations, even in these remote areas. Two things struck me – one, that people stay is such basic conditions and seem quite happy. And two, even our basic needs are very simple. We complicate our lives and think that all these things we have - our houses, cars, computers, TVs, Fridges, phones and so many other things are “essential” – but they are definitely not! While I have trekked many times and staying in tents on the trek seemed right. But to live in a dhaba, with the family who runs the dhaba, to see how they lived is something that I learnt a lot from.

After having a good breakfast, we started ahead.  It was a wondrous journey from that point onwards – the vast open spaces, snowed in valleys in places, the painted mountains in others and no trees as this complete journey is above the tree line. 

We kept passing through changing landscape – and kept looking at the mountains, the valleys, the moor planes and various birds and animals that we came across, quite mesmerized. It was long drive, but it seemed to get over too soon – we wanted to spend more time going through that terrain – looking at the valleys and mountains.

We definitely wanted to spend more time looking for the animals we were hoping to see – Bharal (mountain goat) and Tibetan wild ass.  But we didn’t see them. The weather that had changed unexpectedly – the untimely rains and snow must have been the culprits.

This was quite an adventurous journey – it turned out to be a lot more adventurous than what was planned, thanks to the weather - but it was an amazing journey. It turned out to be the most memorable journey of my life so far!!