Wander through India : THE SPITI EXPEDITION ( DAY IX POOH TO KAZA)

DAY IX – POOH TO KAZA ( 173 KM)

DESTINATION : KAZA, HIMACHAL

1.       Early in the morning I was up and was exactly feeling like I was about to appear for my board examinations when I was in school. There were butterflies in my stomach as I so desperately wanted the head mechanic to be at his shop and resolve my problem so that everything could revert back to as how it was before.

2.       I need to thank Lamaji here because the night before he finished for the day he had spoken to head mechanic on phone, one Mr. Shoba Ram and instructed him to come to the hotel itself to have a look and so promptly at 0800 hrs I was pleasantly surprised to see Shoba Ram standing outside the hotel having a cup of hot tea and waiting for me to arrive. I soon guided him to the car and while he was doing his preliminary examination I stood expectantly looking at his face expecting him to perform miracles right then and there.

3.       Anyway after he finished his examination he informed me that the rubber bellow connecting the gear box to the axle had given away and there was no possibility of spare out here and suggested me to get the car to his shop so that he would see what he could do in the present circumstances. By 0915 hrs we were at his road side workshop and the vehicle was jacked up and the sump guard taken off and shoba ram wriggled underneath to see if he could do anything. He informed me that in his opinion the car could sustain till Manali as the leakage was in drops and that he would top up the gear oil right now and maybe I could once again top it up in Kaza and in this way continue the journey. We topped up the gear oil and on an afterthought I suggested binding up the component with rubber tube to bind the cut properly. Though initially he was against the idea he eventually relented and we spent a good amount of time trying to tie the rubber tube in a proper manner. Thereafter we refitted the sump guard and then we were on our way by 0945 hrs.

4.       After around two kms as was my habit I decided to have a look at the quantum of leakage and parked the car to the side. As I looked down what I saw sank my heart down so rapidly that I was close to panic by now , there was a steady tap flow of the gear oil leaking now instead of the droplets that was observed the day before. I looked at my companion and we both agreed that we had to head back to Shoba Ram again. I reversed the car and we headed back again to him, he was not exactly happy to see me I could perceive that. By this time I had realized that the only change that had taken place was the tube that we had bound tightly , somehow that had made the clearance to increase and the oil was flowing more freely now.

5.       I requested him to take off the cycle tube and we re topped the gear oil and then he suggested me to take a test run and come back, I did so and the inspection after that revealed minor leakage of oil amounting to maybe 3-4 drops in 30 sec.Eventually by 1030 hrs we were ready to begin our journey for the day. I drove continuously with the thought of the continuous leakage playing on my mind and kept periodically stopping the car to check the rate of leakage though in hindsight I neither had the gear oil nor the filling pump to fill the oil.

6.       We soon reached Khab Bridge which was 24 kms from Pooh. I wanted to visit Shipki La and I did have the resources to manage my visit to the check post but the thought of the leakage prevented me from taking this detour and I was sorely unhappy over this for I so much wanted to visit the ITBP and army check posts out there. The detour to Shipki la comes before Khab Bridge and one needs to take the right fork which goes up in to the mountains. The first village which is supposed to come on this route is Namgia and there is a substantial army presence on this stretch.Khab bridge presides over the sangam of the Sutlej as it flows down from Shipki La and the Spiti as it comes down from the Spiti Valley. The green waters of the Spiti mingle with the brown muddy waters of the Sutlej and they flow towards Karchcham.I believe the road to Namgia and further is quite deteriorated though I cannot substantiate it.

7.       A few bytes on Shipki La, well it is the mountain pass that connects India and Tibet and is an off shoot of the Old Silk Route. It is rumored that the government is considering opening up the pass as a trade border post after Nathu La and Lipulekh which are the remaining two border trade posts with China. The pass is at an elevation of 5669 mts above sea level and is supposed to have some spectacular switchbacks and hair pin turns.

8.       Anyways I continued straight and soon reached the KA Zigs which are a series of switchbacks , total nine in number that gradually elevate you as one climbs towards Nako , on the SH 48.Nako is famous for the Nako monastery founded by Rinchen Zangpo who was the principal translator ( known as lotasawa) associated with the translation of sacred Sanskrit Buddhist texts in to Tibetan .I was eager to see the Nako lake which is one of the three famous lakes of this region , the other two being Chandrataal and Dhankar but sadly I decided to continue ahead as wanted to reach Kaza as early as possible.

9.       Post Nako I met Malling Nullah about whom I had read so much and seen so much, who was the destroyer of vehicles and dreams. The road leading to Malling was real bad and there were sufficient sign boards to inform us that we were approaching Malling.The crossing was stable enough and I was lucky that the deep water just at the beginning of the Nullah was calm and I could see the rocks beneath. I took my time gauging the path that I was going to take and with my companion guiding me from ahead was able to negotiate Malling quite safely. Immediately after Malling there was a landslide stretch which was giving problems this year and I could see a JCB clearing boulders even as I was crossing Malling, thankfully I did not have to wait at the unpredictable stretch and was waved through by the BRO team stationed there.Malling was crossed at 1215 hrs and now my target was reaching Sumdo check post which would mark the formal entry to the Spiti Valley and the end of the Kinnaur Valley.

10.   The road condition had deteriorated after Nako with careful driving the need of the hour. I wanted to touch the river Spiti so at one point I just stopped the car and raced down to the river bank, gulped a mouthful of the cold clear water and then decided to race up the river bank. By the time I neared the road my lungs were actually hurting with the lack of oxygen and I realized how difficult it would be out here to indulge in any kind of strenuous activity. I reached Sumdo by 1345 hrs , underwent the customary register entry and then we were through and again I had to give a miss to the opportunity of visiting Kaurik Village which was on the Indo China border though very much abandoned after the 1962 war. I do hope that my next trip to this region would enable me to complete all those points that I missed.

11.   We reached Tabo by 1510 hrs after crossing Hurling and Lari villages. I passed a horse breeding farm at Lari which was my first.Lari has a population of only 235 It is to be understood that every kilometer out here counts especially if one is not driving in super SUVs .I thereafter reached Schling by 1615 hrs from where one has to take the diversion to Dhankar Gompa but more on that in my next post. I was totally in the Buddhist part of India now and crossed numerous Mani stones and Chortens which are intended to drive away evil spirits. The landscape was spectacular to say the least and the Spiti River meandered next to us in slow lazy turns .It was indeed the ABODE OF GODS – a place which was fit for imbibing the teachings of Lord Buddha. Desolate yet beautiful it leaves an everlasting impression on oneself.

12.   By this time I really wanted to reach Kaza as the light was beginning to fade and I was worried on the level of oil left in the sump. I had decided to stop at the Maruti Service Centre that was situated at the beginning of the town. Meanwhile I gave a lift to a local GREF guy who informed me that BRO has taken over this stretch of the road and that soon we would in a couple of years see a marked improvement on the road condition .But I feel that the beauty of this place, the magnetism of it is its difficult terrain and inhospitable terrain which is the lore of this region. The dirt roads are a part of the picture and provide the adventure quotient to the whole canvas.Anyways soon I reached the Attargo Bridge which was the entry to the Pin Valley which I hope to cover later but today my eyes were searching Kaza which is 22 km from Attargo Bridge.

13.   I reached the Maruti service centre by 1715 hrs and met the head mechanic Mr. Chaman who agreed to top up the gear oil and also suggested that he would be able to fix the problem if I could get him the spare at Manali from where he could arrange transportation to Kaza.I took over his phone and from the Mahindra Dealer book called up the Mahindra Service Centre at Mandi (Shimla Automobiles) and spoke to the manager Mr. Praveen who assured me of all help and provided me his mobile number and said that the next day he would arrange delivery of the spare at Manali at the destination of my choice.

14.   This news was so pleasant to hear that I felt buoyant, anywas soon we were on our way to Rangrik which was the place of our stay at Hotel Spiti Sarai.The Kaza market was quaint and we withdrew some cash at the only ATM (SBI) which fortunately was working though we had to wait for over an hour.

15.   In the gathering darkness we headed towards the end of Kaza and then took a left on the bridge which comes which takes us to Rangrik Village and to our destination –The Spiti Sarai.The Spiti Sarai is the second hotel on the right before the village of Rangrik and Mr Ramesh, the proprietor was waiting for me along with his time and I had reached one full day late considering my booking schedule. A hot delicious dinner awaited us and we actually hogged and also met the foreigner group who had turned back and even they had just reached an hour back.The look on their face said it all when they learnt that we had been able to squeeze through the rockslide. I really liked the hospitality of the team at the Spiti Sarai and loved the attention given to us .

16.   Odometer for the day. POOH : 56902 – RANGRIK: 57075