The drive after Sumdo was pretty picturesque with brown sugar slopes culminating into crystal clear icy waters. Spiti River kept on becoming shallower as we moved on, both due to river bed opening up and our move along its upstream direction. At one point, we saw two SUVs parked in the river bed but dangerously close to water where folks had pitched tents. Caution is a virtue of adventure seekers but many of us tend to take things granted. Water level in snow-fed rivers and streams is neither consistent nor predictable. And then there are events- very short and quick like a flash flood or a cloud burst- that may create a havoc without any warning. Having grown up and lived in mountains, one has seen incidents where an innocent looking stream turned a monster in no time with sun bathing picnickers just able to move aside, losing some assets in the process. Camping, esp, must be at a higher/safer place....just an advice from a greyhead!
Muddh is the favourite destination these days and even though we gave a lift to a couple till Muddh Bridge, we had no time to spend a night there. Tabo, for the reasons not known, appears frozen in a time wrap and thankfully so. While local shops and some guesthouses have been added over the years, the place has no market that is typical of hill stations. And actually, it is not a bad thing! A camp site, next to the road itself, greeted us at Shego, about 10 Kms short of Kaza. The place looked nice and cozy, esp when there was hardly any traffic on the road. We, by that time, had moved into the network zone and a room had been waiting for us at the Circuit House at Kaza. So, we pushed on!
The circuit house at Kaza is the first thing that greets you as you touch the township and is about half a km short of the bus stand-cum-main market. That area is actually called Kaza Khaas. A nice building with local staff less the main caretaker who was from Simla. And then came the news - some high powered delegation had moved in and all rooms had been blocked for them. We were given an option to move to another guest house (PWD) somewhere in Old Kaza but we decided to try our luck in the town. The first noticeable property as we touched the town, Zostel Spiti (rooms and tents) was all booked and so were many others around the periphery of the town.
Once sleepy and not too active a village, Kaza is a sprawling township now. We found a big parking enclosure inside the market and on checking up, got a room for 900. With hot water, clean sheets and an antique TV, it was a good bargain, esp so since Pearlie would be parked in front of the property. But the room had to be vacated the next morning since it had been booked. The owner, however, promised to arrange a similar room in the guesthouse next door. We checked in, freshened up a bit and went to the market for some grub since we had not had any meal since breakfast. Himalayan Cafe was full and packed but since they have seating options indoors as well as outdoors, we managed to find a table outside. It was getting windy and nip had suddenly come in. We had some really well made snacks and decided to take a walk to some other place for a cup of coffee. Sol Cafe was packed as well and finally, we found a small cafe in the corner of the main market complex. A youngster from Delhi had leased it and had started the bakery-cum-cafe a couple of days back. His staff was competent but he appeared to be struggling with the menu. Coffee and chocolate desserts, however, were pretty well made (this cafe is next to a small jewelry shop and close to the showroom selling adventure clothing and accessories in the new complex)
As we walked around, we realised the stress that was building up on the resources there. Bus and taxi loads of tourists and travellers had begun to descend as the Sun went down. Apparently, there was a change in the demand-supply equation and there were not enough rooms left for everyone. As we sat munching eats at the cafe (pic below), a cousin of the lease owner came around, distributing leaflets for a live music evening at his (leased) restaurant a short distance away. Plan for the dinner was, thus, frozen then and there but with enough time at hand, we walked around and covered whole of Kaza town before heading back to our guesthouse.
Post some rest and calls to folks back home, we wandered off to the restaurant at the first floor in the far corner of the main market (sorry, I am forgetting the name). It turned out to be a spacious, clean and new property. With both chairs and ground seating options available, we chose the ground one. The power went off suddenly while guys were trying to fix music system. It turned out that the guy distributing the leaflets a little while earlier, was a singer-composer-event manager and was now running the place on lease.
The service was slow and atmosphere was laid-back kind. But it was nice and cool. Our pizza took a long to arrive even though all other items on the order had been served and consumed. And then finally the pizza arrived with the input that the one made earlier for us, had fallen off the plate and they had to cook a fresh one! Rates were OK but I protested when he billed us 30 bucks for a bottle of the water. When asked about MRP concept, he claimed to have bought the bottle for 25 Rupees even though, as we all know, the wholesale price of such bottles is about Rs 10. We came down, saw an open grocery store and bought two bottles for the night. We were charged Rs 20 (MRP) by the shopkeeper!
In a bid to cater for increasing rush, Kaza has expanded beyond Spiti River. Rangrik and 'New Kaza' are hugging each other and the best or the most expensive property, Hotel Grand Dewachen Earth Retreat, is actually across the river.
The line at the only (and govt run) gas station was long. Service by the lone guy from Keylong, was slow and then some unruly behaviour of the local taxi and govt drivers only made the things worse. Had to finally step out and Czia actually stood in front of a taxi to block it from jumping the queue. The ceiling for the diesel sale was Rs 1000/- that would see us through all the way to Manali in addition to local sight seeing and a detour to Chandertal.
The first stop for the day was to be the famous gompa at Key. We did it at a leisure and over a couple of hours till the time our stomachs began to churn. The cafe is reasonably OK and gompa is like any other monastery but offers great views around. Lot of construction work inside the complex was on during that time in June. Views from the Monastery...
After a chilled out time there at Key, we drove up another five Kms to Kibber. Enroute, we met a lady from Kullu. She owns/runs a guesthouse at Kibber and was taking her guests to the hospital at Kaza since those guys had fallen prey to AMS.
Kibber....who would believe that the small hamlet that could only offer its guest just a cup of home made tea till a few years back, is now a busy village. Touted to be the highest blah blah, it has as many guesthouses as the houses (at least that is what it appears to a casual eye).
The Valley opens up as we travel West
The circuit house at Kaza is the first thing that greets you as you touch the township and is about half a km short of the bus stand-cum-main market. That area is actually called Kaza Khaas. A nice building with local staff less the main caretaker who was from Simla. And then came the news - some high powered delegation had moved in and all rooms had been blocked for them. We were given an option to move to another guest house (PWD) somewhere in Old Kaza but we decided to try our luck in the town. The first noticeable property as we touched the town, Zostel Spiti (rooms and tents) was all booked and so were many others around the periphery of the town.
Once sleepy and not too active a village, Kaza is a sprawling township now. We found a big parking enclosure inside the market and on checking up, got a room for 900. With hot water, clean sheets and an antique TV, it was a good bargain, esp so since Pearlie would be parked in front of the property. But the room had to be vacated the next morning since it had been booked. The owner, however, promised to arrange a similar room in the guesthouse next door. We checked in, freshened up a bit and went to the market for some grub since we had not had any meal since breakfast. Himalayan Cafe was full and packed but since they have seating options indoors as well as outdoors, we managed to find a table outside. It was getting windy and nip had suddenly come in. We had some really well made snacks and decided to take a walk to some other place for a cup of coffee. Sol Cafe was packed as well and finally, we found a small cafe in the corner of the main market complex. A youngster from Delhi had leased it and had started the bakery-cum-cafe a couple of days back. His staff was competent but he appeared to be struggling with the menu. Coffee and chocolate desserts, however, were pretty well made (this cafe is next to a small jewelry shop and close to the showroom selling adventure clothing and accessories in the new complex)
As we walked around, we realised the stress that was building up on the resources there. Bus and taxi loads of tourists and travellers had begun to descend as the Sun went down. Apparently, there was a change in the demand-supply equation and there were not enough rooms left for everyone. As we sat munching eats at the cafe (pic below), a cousin of the lease owner came around, distributing leaflets for a live music evening at his (leased) restaurant a short distance away. Plan for the dinner was, thus, frozen then and there but with enough time at hand, we walked around and covered whole of Kaza town before heading back to our guesthouse.
Post some rest and calls to folks back home, we wandered off to the restaurant at the first floor in the far corner of the main market (sorry, I am forgetting the name). It turned out to be a spacious, clean and new property. With both chairs and ground seating options available, we chose the ground one. The power went off suddenly while guys were trying to fix music system. It turned out that the guy distributing the leaflets a little while earlier, was a singer-composer-event manager and was now running the place on lease.
Singer, Saurabh, was from Delhi and he sang some really nice Hindi songs
In a bid to cater for increasing rush, Kaza has expanded beyond Spiti River. Rangrik and 'New Kaza' are hugging each other and the best or the most expensive property, Hotel Grand Dewachen Earth Retreat, is actually across the river.
The line at the only (and govt run) gas station was long. Service by the lone guy from Keylong, was slow and then some unruly behaviour of the local taxi and govt drivers only made the things worse. Had to finally step out and Czia actually stood in front of a taxi to block it from jumping the queue. The ceiling for the diesel sale was Rs 1000/- that would see us through all the way to Manali in addition to local sight seeing and a detour to Chandertal.
Key Monastery overlooks Key Village and is half way through to Kibber
The first stop for the day was to be the famous gompa at Key. We did it at a leisure and over a couple of hours till the time our stomachs began to churn. The cafe is reasonably OK and gompa is like any other monastery but offers great views around. Lot of construction work inside the complex was on during that time in June. Views from the Monastery...
Kibber....who would believe that the small hamlet that could only offer its guest just a cup of home made tea till a few years back, is now a busy village. Touted to be the highest blah blah, it has as many guesthouses as the houses (at least that is what it appears to a casual eye).
Soldiers always get tested when going gets tough....this is 14,200 ft and someone wants a ride till the car just for fun; daughters are always feather light!
Kibber
Enjoying a bird's eye view
I am a mango crazy soul. We had picked up some really good ones somewhere near Rampur and the fruit had been waiting patiently. Peaches, just because of ease of eating, had already been polished off while driving. A small tributary of Spiti River looked too inviting and we took a break. Mangoes almost froze in the water in no time and then we took the numbed ones without any mercy!
The task of collecting fragrant leaves from across the stream was assigned to a member of the team as two others sat devouring the unsuspecting king of fruits!
Next to the SBI ATM at Kaza, there is a small office of a travel agent who coordinates tent accommodation at Chandertal. The last evening, we had no idea as to how things would go today and, thus, even though our guesthouse owner had offered us a booking at Chandertal, we had not taken the call. As we sat down on the banks of a cold, icy but beautiful stream, we had two options in front of us - go back to Kaza and explore Muddh or Tabo or any other place around OR try our luck and aim to hit Chandertal. It was noon time already and even though we were a bit late, we took the turn and crossed the bridge at Rangrik to sweep across the valley on our way to Chandertal. Implications of a late start and of not taking the call last evening were yet to unfold. The only debate in my mind at that very moment was whether we could have tried Kibber-Chicham-Dumley route to hit the main Kaza-Kunzum La road near Kiato! It was, however, just a silent thought and with time running out, we pressed on!
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