Day 6 : Trip 867 km
Chandertaal - Lossar-Kazaa ; 11.09.08
Morning light came as welcome change to the freezing environs of Chandertaal. Everyone woke up lazy and piled out of the tents to soak in the warmth of the morning sun. It was actually war
mer outside the tents than it was inside. Jill was still down and out with AMS, while the rest of groggily tried to dismantle the tents and pack up for the rest of the journey.We all tried to wash our faces from the water of the rivulet - it looked sparkling clean anyway. At first it was just too cold to the touch, however after the sun was up for an hour, the temperature of the water slowly climbed to what must have been around 1 degree Celsius. After getting done with that we all looked at the cliff side in dismay, wondering how we'd ever scale it to reach our bikes. It was fairly easy to throw our stuff down, but now we'd have to carry it all the way up and the way we were stricken with AMS, it had to be one long, torturous job!! When asked if anyone else had felt extremely cold the previous night , they all replied in the affirmative and I was glad I wasn't the abnormal one! Then to prove his point, Gyan brought me the water bottle we had kept outside our tents throughout the night - the water had frozen into ice! It was a solid block of ice inside the water bottle. We figured it might have been around -2 degrees Celsius in the night. Not bad at all!!
mer outside the tents than it was inside. Jill was still down and out with AMS, while the rest of groggily tried to dismantle the tents and pack up for the rest of the journey.We all tried to wash our faces from the water of the rivulet - it looked sparkling clean anyway. At first it was just too cold to the touch, however after the sun was up for an hour, the temperature of the water slowly climbed to what must have been around 1 degree Celsius. After getting done with that we all looked at the cliff side in dismay, wondering how we'd ever scale it to reach our bikes. It was fairly easy to throw our stuff down, but now we'd have to carry it all the way up and the way we were stricken with AMS, it had to be one long, torturous job!! When asked if anyone else had felt extremely cold the previous night , they all replied in the affirmative and I was glad I wasn't the abnormal one! Then to prove his point, Gyan brought me the water bottle we had kept outside our tents throughout the night - the water had frozen into ice! It was a solid block of ice inside the water bottle. We figured it might have been around -2 degrees Celsius in the night. Not bad at all!!It took us 2 hours and well into early mid-day, but we were all done packing a
nd mounting our bags onto our bikes. We munched on some chocolates for energy, that was our breakfast for the day, and some glucose that Vikram so handily offered us all. Before the effects of the glucose wore out, we decided to hit the trail and blast off from Chandertaal. But that was all easier said than done.
nd mounting our bags onto our bikes. We munched on some chocolates for energy, that was our breakfast for the day, and some glucose that Vikram so handily offered us all. Before the effects of the glucose wore out, we decided to hit the trail and blast off from Chandertaal. But that was all easier said than done.It took quite some struggling on the Enfields' part to make it out of the cliff side. Not surprising since they were the most heavily loaded and the steep climb also took toll on the pulsars and the karizma. Then came the tricky inclines on the narrow ledge of a road. Anshu had some 2-3 falls en-route and it took 3 of us to get his bike up. But like Anshu likes to put it, he never falls, only the bike falls!!! One was a particularly hilarious fall. At at downhill hairpin, Anshu took a fall - ahem! I meant Anshu's bike took a fall. It took Anshu, me and Kenny to get it up. It was at an awkward angle , he had fallen in the middle of the hairpin; So the bike's front was still facing the cliff end of the road. Anshu started fiddling with the gear shift of his bike once it was up. Kenny and I both shouted to Anshu not to put the bike on neutral. Snap came Anshu's reply " I put in in neutral". WHAM!! Anshu's bike fell like a log split second later!!! Another heave-ho from the three of us and the bike was up, Anshu wiser for the same!
After getting on to the main stretch of road leading to Kazaa, we trundled al
ong what could barely be called a road. Sandy patches, grit and pebbles, rocks strewn all over. And on the way we came across Kumzum Pass, the highest pass on this route. We paid homage to a temple there, and moved along. The photographer in Anshu was acting us and some splendid shots were captured by him in this stretch. "Shilajit", the wonder drug, was always on his viewfinder's wish list after some pretty persuasive marketing by one peddler at the mall road, Manali. "Gol Gappa" cheeks was what the peddler had promised Anshu had he tried Shilajit for a week or so. It was Anshu and his quest for shilajit, and the butt of all leg pulling from then on for Anshu throughout the trip!!
ong what could barely be called a road. Sandy patches, grit and pebbles, rocks strewn all over. And on the way we came across Kumzum Pass, the highest pass on this route. We paid homage to a temple there, and moved along. The photographer in Anshu was acting us and some splendid shots were captured by him in this stretch. "Shilajit", the wonder drug, was always on his viewfinder's wish list after some pretty persuasive marketing by one peddler at the mall road, Manali. "Gol Gappa" cheeks was what the peddler had promised Anshu had he tried Shilajit for a week or so. It was Anshu and his quest for shilajit, and the butt of all leg pulling from then on for Anshu throughout the trip!! 
Some breathtaking landscapes and some wild roads later, just before Lossar, our tyres abruptly treaded
on asphalted roads - just like that, out of the blue. And a big welcome gate saying "Most Welcome to Spiti Valley". Finding metalled roads after what we've been through was like feeding our bikes 110 octane methanol. After a long long time we were actually able to shift to our fourth and fifth cogs and raced towards Lossar, our planned pit-stop for the day. It was only when we reached Lossar that we found out that the next 57 km to Kazaa were "makkhan" smooth and we'd make it to Kazaa in 2 hrs max. So we decided to have a hasty lunch there and move towards Kazaa before sundown.
on asphalted roads - just like that, out of the blue. And a big welcome gate saying "Most Welcome to Spiti Valley". Finding metalled roads after what we've been through was like feeding our bikes 110 octane methanol. After a long long time we were actually able to shift to our fourth and fifth cogs and raced towards Lossar, our planned pit-stop for the day. It was only when we reached Lossar that we found out that the next 57 km to Kazaa were "makkhan" smooth and we'd make it to Kazaa in 2 hrs max. So we decided to have a hasty lunch there and move towards Kazaa before sundown. Lunch was paranthas, rice-dal-eggs - a king's meal for us then. We hogged proper at what we called the 5-star restaurant of Lossar. We had tables, chairs, metal plates and glasses , a seat overlooking the road - what else do you need to feel like a million bucks ,especially out there in the wild? We met another true blue biker over there - Suresh Rana, who introduced himself to us and informed us of the roads ahead. Thanks to his precise info, we did have a great ride till Kazaa and entered the sleepy town just at dusk, when the lights were just coming on. Some scouting, some negotiations, some bargaining later, we booked 3 rooms at the HPTDC's Hotel Spiti for quite a deal. One room free, breakfast and dinner on the house! In all we managed to save some 3k in the bargain, plus the food was absolutely awesome, absolutely lip smacking good!! Jill was the happiest of the lot - for the fact that he was getting into a resort and not some camping tent!!
After washing off all the grime from our faces and getting fresh, we all sat down in our room and opened up yet another Old Monk for the evening. French fries and Old Monk never tasted so good!! The festivities went on till late night when the hotel receptionist, nice guy he was, reminded us that our dinner was ready down in the dining hall. Warm from the rum , and the comfort of the carpeted rooms, we all marched downstairs to the dining hall. The assortment of dishes there overwhelmed us hungry and tired riders, but we dug into the food like a pack of hungry wolves. But our appetite wasn't enough to finish off the food offered by the very very hospitable hotel staff and in spite of our best efforts, we left some very good egg curry and one dish of aloo dum curry half finished. Maybe it was the rum, maybe it was the tiring ride, maybe it was the fries we had , but we did leave a sizable portion of the meal untouched. Post meal, we all moved into our respective rooms and jumped onto the cozy beds, sleep catching up with us in little time.
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