A new day, an early start. In those early morning hours, Shimla had a magical charm to it. The streets were silent, there was a cool breeze blowing, the view was beautiful. Just what was needed to give the day an amazing start.
Kalpa our target for the day was around 230km away. 230km might seem a very small distance to target for a whole day, but given the absence of roads, poor condition of the small stretches of tarmac, it was a smart target. There was also a big landslide between Tapri and Chooling to worry about.
The winding road from Shimla led us through reasonably decent roads. Curve after curve we rode until we got our first glimpse of the Sutlej river and valley. The view was amazing. A wide deep valley full of greens. I rode back a couple of kms from where the group had stopped to capture this shot of the valley, totally worth it.
We reached the small town of Narkandha by 9.15 and took a break for some breakfast, Aloo parathas, Paneer Parathas and Omelettes. Shimla to Narkandha is exactly 60 kms, but yet it took us 3 hours.
We rode on continuously for another 60kms until we reached the city of Rampur. The Sutlej river entered Rampur along with us on our left, flowing past the city with great speed. The view was exciting, and I could feel the energy from the flowing river. The whole city itself sat on the footsteps of a towering mountain, giving it an even more unique feel. See the video below for a glimpse of Rampur. Unfortunately due to the placement of the camera, the river can not be seen.
70kms from Rampur is Tapri, and just ahead of Tapri was the diversion to Chooling. We had to reach Tapri before 2.30pm to ensure we could get through without delays. Due to the narrow path of the diversion, traffic was allowed on each side in turns, and so it was essential that we cross at the earliest and before it got dark.
The road on this route seemed to have been literally carved out of the face of the mountains. We were awe-struck going through these roads, amazed and astonished at the feat of engineering of creating these roads.
We soon reached the diversion at Tapri, and that too just in time. If we were to have reached there even a minute later, we would have missed the time slot and would have had to wait for atleast 3 hours.
The first bit of challenging roads in our journey started with this diversion. The diversion was through a pass. Narrow roads, steep drops. As we climbed down the pass to reach Chooling, we got only mud, loose sand, stones, and to top it off, close to 45 degree declines. It was a real challenge to keep the bike from skidding and to keep going, but as I got to the end of the diversion, I was thrilled that I had done it without falling down. I felt proud to have been able to challenge myself on such roads, and thought to myself that I had indeed gone through something very few people would experience in their lifetime. If you are one of those people who would, like me, go through that stretch, then this trip is a must do on your checklist. Check out the video of the entire diversion below.
From Chooling to Kalpa was a road filled with stones, gravel and more stones, right up till the climb up to Reckong Peo, from where tarred roads took over. The view of Kinnaur-Kailash was simply stunning, and we had to stop to breathe it all in. The peak was snow capped and had a bluish tint to it. It looked incredible and majestic. We rode till literally the end of the road and occupied the last hotel, Hotel Kinnaur View, which is run by HPTDC, and is a fantastic hotel. The pictures below show the view of the mountain from the road as well as from the hotel.
What a way to end the day, with such a magnificent view. The night at Kalpa was cold with temperatures close to 6-7 c. The rooms had heaters and were well equipped. But still I strolled out in nothing but a sleeveless shirt and a half pant, to enjoy the view, the temperature and the place. The joy of that stroll is inexplicable in words. Just amazing!!
Kalpa our target for the day was around 230km away. 230km might seem a very small distance to target for a whole day, but given the absence of roads, poor condition of the small stretches of tarmac, it was a smart target. There was also a big landslide between Tapri and Chooling to worry about.
The winding road from Shimla led us through reasonably decent roads. Curve after curve we rode until we got our first glimpse of the Sutlej river and valley. The view was amazing. A wide deep valley full of greens. I rode back a couple of kms from where the group had stopped to capture this shot of the valley, totally worth it.
We reached the small town of Narkandha by 9.15 and took a break for some breakfast, Aloo parathas, Paneer Parathas and Omelettes. Shimla to Narkandha is exactly 60 kms, but yet it took us 3 hours.
We rode on continuously for another 60kms until we reached the city of Rampur. The Sutlej river entered Rampur along with us on our left, flowing past the city with great speed. The view was exciting, and I could feel the energy from the flowing river. The whole city itself sat on the footsteps of a towering mountain, giving it an even more unique feel. See the video below for a glimpse of Rampur. Unfortunately due to the placement of the camera, the river can not be seen.
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| View from Rampur |
The road on this route seemed to have been literally carved out of the face of the mountains. We were awe-struck going through these roads, amazed and astonished at the feat of engineering of creating these roads.
We soon reached the diversion at Tapri, and that too just in time. If we were to have reached there even a minute later, we would have missed the time slot and would have had to wait for atleast 3 hours.
 |
| The Landslide at Tapri |
The first bit of challenging roads in our journey started with this diversion. The diversion was through a pass. Narrow roads, steep drops. As we climbed down the pass to reach Chooling, we got only mud, loose sand, stones, and to top it off, close to 45 degree declines. It was a real challenge to keep the bike from skidding and to keep going, but as I got to the end of the diversion, I was thrilled that I had done it without falling down. I felt proud to have been able to challenge myself on such roads, and thought to myself that I had indeed gone through something very few people would experience in their lifetime. If you are one of those people who would, like me, go through that stretch, then this trip is a must do on your checklist. Check out the video of the entire diversion below.
From Chooling to Kalpa was a road filled with stones, gravel and more stones, right up till the climb up to Reckong Peo, from where tarred roads took over. The view of Kinnaur-Kailash was simply stunning, and we had to stop to breathe it all in. The peak was snow capped and had a bluish tint to it. It looked incredible and majestic. We rode till literally the end of the road and occupied the last hotel, Hotel Kinnaur View, which is run by HPTDC, and is a fantastic hotel. The pictures below show the view of the mountain from the road as well as from the hotel.
What a way to end the day, with such a magnificent view. The night at Kalpa was cold with temperatures close to 6-7 c. The rooms had heaters and were well equipped. But still I strolled out in nothing but a sleeveless shirt and a half pant, to enjoy the view, the temperature and the place. The joy of that stroll is inexplicable in words. Just amazing!!
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| Part 1 |
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| Part 3 |
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