Saturday, August 4, 2012

Bike Tour - Kalpa to Kaza, Exploring Deserts of Spiti Valley (Day 3)

The road was never expected to be good for Day 3 onward ride. Rather we were heavily dependent on weather conditions now. Starting early from Kalpa was the right decision to move on.

Expecting lot of rain and harsh cold conditions we started the day at 06:00 AM presuming that we will encounter some landslide and road blockage which will eat up few hours.

The haunting terrains and mysterious curves with narrow road continued once we resumed the ride from Powari. The road was extremely rough and downhill for first few kilometers. The speed of our bikes could not exceed 30 kmph.


Some of the terrains were so fascinating that I wanted to stop for a while but the narrow steep downhill tracks did not suggest so.

Finally we got our first stop when we turned sharp left into the cave and there was giant water fall with deafening noise. It was crazily scary waterfall exactly over the head. Thank God, that there was bridge to cross it else this would have surely become a show stopper for us and it would have sent us back.


We gathered some courage to park bikes near the bridge and stop for a while for some beautiful photographs.

The tracks were isolated and there were no habitat places for miles and miles. Roads were cut through rocks and many places rocks were hanging like dragon overhead. We were experiencing the best of the ride on such terrains. The best part was that we did not leave all available opportunities to stop at such places and fetch some memories in e-mode.


After riding approximately 50 kilometers from Kalpa, the vegetation and greenery of the valley had slowely started disappearing and brown colored mountains were smelling an air of arrival of heavenly Spiti Valley. This slow transition from Kinnaur valley to Spiti Valley was soothing with sunrise in different corners of landscapes.


By the time NH 5 was to end at a village named Sumdo which was the last village of Kinnaur District, the vegetation and greenery had disappeared completely. Now we were in Spiti valley of Himachal. I call it the Ladakh of Himachal Pradesh. Similar to Ladakh, this valley was not an exception to anything which happens in Ladakh. One can see colored flags tied over mountains, houses and trees (if any).

The Spiti valley houses also resembles the similarity with houses of Ladakh. From concept to colors, everything was identical. The stunning blue sky was another similarity between Spiti and Ladakh.

While I was lost in comparing landscapes, skies, houses and people of Spiti with Ladakh, an extremely mysterious terrains (rather I would say haunting) took us to the other side of the mountain in couple of minutes. On the other side, we saw curvious road going uphill and disappearing into the sky which clearly reminded me of some of the passes on Leh Manali highway.


After riding uphill, it was Nako village. There is a high altitude Nako Lake which sadly we did not cover just because it was 13 kilometer away from our route.

We kept riding ahead with the hope that next village would be further on a heigh altitude where we will have our lunch. However the road proved us wrong and Nako was the highest point and soon we were riding downhill.

Finally we landed at very small village where we had lunch and moved on. Since we were riding in the middle of deserts the day was quite hot.

The road had become flat, the valleys had become wider, the sky had become clearer and day had grown hot. We parked our bikes in the middle of nowhere,put off all gears and rested for half an hour. The valley was scaring silent and isolated but lying down under sun and blue sky had no comparison.


Unlike the other days, we were heading to finish our day by 02:00 PM itself. We were approaching Kaza town and the view from far looked like a dream or fairy tale village. A village decorated with colord flags all over was spectacular to watch.


After entering the town, we landed at a small Hotel where we decided to stay for a day.

6 comments:

  1. Dear Rahul....GR8 ride man......

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  2. Have never been to this heavenly place. But after reading this my longing to BE THERE has increased manifold. Great Narration. Thanks.

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  3. postingan yang bagus tentang Bike Tour - Kalpa to Kaza, Exploring Deserts of Spiti Valley (Day 3)

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  4. The Travellers Shed kaza - Best places to eat and stay. Reckon a place amidst the cold burr of the Great Spiti Valley which provides you with the warmth like your own house. An abode so bespoke for travellers that it caters to all essential needs from food, comfort,stay and fuel to much need machine repairs. A place where you canrelax, replenish and reactivate your inner self for the journey ahead

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  5. Lakh numbers of people visit this place for tour adventures and gather at proper point of place for creates several activities for people.adventures are the such type of activities which creates interest in the hill-stations tour. https://www.spititravels.com/nashik-to-lahaul-spiti-packages Sometimes the people of lahaul spiti arrange the little fair for amusement.

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