The tireless trio: Have wheels, will travel Photo: Gaurav Malik

Too often, a short break in the mountains has turned into a jaunt in the malls of well-known hill stations with crowds milling about. So, when a friend suggested we visit the valleys of Lahaul and Spiti in the upper reaches of mountainous Himachal Pradesh, it sounded like the perfect getaway.

We chose the most adventurous way to get there — on our motorbikes. And three of us got set for an exciting journey to the small towns of Keylong in the Lahaul Valley and Kaza in the Spiti Valley. These sparsely-inhabited places are open to tourists only in the summer, from June till October.

We set off from Delhi at dawn. The road from Delhi to Manali is almost perfect for motorbiking. The four-lane highway, that passes through Chandigarh, makes it safe and conducive to high-speed riding. One can take the risk of riding after dark with well-spaced out breaks to comfortably reach Kullu for dinner and the night halt.

Day two saw us reaching Manali via Naggar by evening after setting off from Kullu by the road less taken – and therefore the ideal one for adventurers! This route from Kullu to Manali includes a treat — a chance to see the Roerich Art Gallery at Naggar. Manali is an easy town to negotiate early in the morning. By 7 am, after breakfast for us and refuelling for our engines, we were ready for the long ride to Kaza. (It’s advisable to carry along extra fuel in jerrycans for the bikes as fuel stations are not aplenty in these parts.)

From Manali, the road heads uphill to Rohtang Pass (3980 m). The climb is steep. In about 50 km, one ascends close to 2000 m. It took around three hours to reach Rohtang. Though the sun was shining on the pass, there was a chill in the air. After an early lunch, a half-hour’s ride took us to Gramphoo (3200 m, situated about 13 km on from the pass on the other side).

The road bifurcates after Gramphoo with one road going up towards Leh and the other turning right for Kaza. Keylong is 52 km from Gramphoo on the Leh route. We decided to go to Kaza and visit Keylong on the way back. The road seemed a little too rough, but we were to find out that this would be the last patch of pukka road for the next 135 km that would take us to Kaza. The first settlement was 17 km on, at Chattru (3560 m) — consisting of two dhabas operating from tents and a resthouse. (One can hire individual tents at a nominal rate of Rs 30 per night.)

Nine kilometres further is Chota Drara (3690 m). After a quick tea-break, we rode off for Losar. This is an incredibly picturesque village. Setting off from there, one reaches the majestic Kunzum pass by noon. Surprisingly, though Kunzum sits at just over 4550 m above sea level, the climb is not as steep as on the way to Rohtang. And then came our wee brush with adventure. It’s astonishing how fast the natural light fades in these places. Gaping for a few minutes at the glorious snowladen mountains all around, we moved ahead a few paces only to see a major landslide blocking the entire road. We realised that, with not much time left before nightfall, we had no option but to turn back and go to the resthouse in Chota Dara. We reached just as darkness fell. Riding through this patch was torture, as we had to literally ride over boulders as big as the largest watermelons.

The next destination would be Keylong. The road is reasonably good and one encounters quite a few streams running right across the road which makes crossing them a great deal of fun. Once in Keylong, one must visit the Khardong Gompa (monastery) which takes about an hour on foot to reach from the main market area. Keylong also boasts of a market and a few hotels as well as a Himachal Pradesh tourism hotel. STD booths, medical facilities and sweetshops are all there in the biggest town of Lahaul valley. After a relaxing time in Keylong, including an evening out with the locals, we decided to head back to Manali. We reached after a four-hour ride. We had earned a rest day at Manali and oodles of delicious momos at Chopsticks, a restaurant on the Mall. We also visited the famous Hadimba Devi temple and the hot water spring at Vashist.

Our bikes too deserved servicing after the rough terrain they had negotiated. This complete, we headed back to Delhi, already planning our next adventure destination.

FACTFILE

Places to stay

Kullu: Hotel Valleyview. Rs 450 for a double bedroom.

Manali: Hotel New Shivalik, the Mall. Rs 400 for a double bedroom. Authentic Chinese and Tibetan food at Chopsticks, the Mall.

Manali-Kaza road: No hotels till Kaza. Only PWD rest house at Chota Dara. Just 2 rooms with no electricity or water.

Keylong: HPTDC’s Tourist Complex. Rs 400 plus taxes.

Fuel stations

Manali: Tandi (8 km before Keylong, 125 km from Manali).

Next pump at Leh (330 km from Tandi).

Bike servicing

Raju Mechanic near Mall, Manali.

Ravi Mechanic near Bus Stand, Manali.

Spares are not easily available so it makes sense to carry a spark plug, set of clutch and accelerator wires, headlight bulb, etc.

Fuel cost

Approximately Rs 1,400 per bike (1800 km).