Spiti – VAGABOND IMAGES

Aren’t you preparing for a trip to Leh already!

Upendra SwamiApril 7, 20191210 Views4

Beauty of trip to Ladakh is that each time you go, you have entirely a new experience waiting for you, even if you are going to same place in same weather or a different one in different weather. You can always expect something unexplored, Its also because, you just can't experience the whole diversity of this amazing place in one trip. You need many-many trips for this. The desert with white snow, green poplars and Indus river! View on outskirts of Leh. Window to the peace... nature! Saucer at the roof top! View of Leh valley surrounded by Himalayan ranges. Way to leh! Read: Reaching climax- On the top of the Manali-Leh route So, this is the time when you need to put your plans for this years Ladakh trip in place and start preparations. An extraordinary place like Ladakh c...

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Reaching climax: On the top of the Manali-Leh route

Upendra SwamiMay 5, 20181733 Views5

To sum up the rides before and after Pang, I can just say that while it was all thrill before Pang, it was sheer joy after that. In a hindsight, one can say that all troubles are marked just to reach Pang, Leh is a cakewalk after that. But having said that, Pang to Leh is also about the climax of a astonishing journey and crossing milestones, one after another. Reaching Pang! Read: Where whisky and brandy are ferocious nallahs! After the restaurants and dhabas at Pang, as you move ahead, we leave the army transit camp on one side (Read: Thrill of being at highest transit camp in the world). Although Pang itself is over 15000 feet in altitude, we immediately gain height further for around five kilometres. That's when we reach More plains, a plateau of enormous proportion at ...

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Journey to the roof top: Five of the highest mountain passes in the world

Upendra SwamiJanuary 26, 20182322 Views1

This is more of a vlog post. For the ordinary, the road from Manali to Rohtang Pass is quite thrilling, but for all those who seek the heights it is just a prelude of things to come. After all, at an altitude of 13,050 feet, it is quite less (more than 4500 ft) than what one achieves in this jaw-dropping journey from Manali to Leh. Rohtang is more fun, a sort of picnic spot. But it gives a fair idea of what to expect next while moving to greater heights. One of the most dangerous but still one of the most beautiful road journeys on the planet takes you through five high altitude mountain passes- Rohtang La (13,050 ft), Baralacha La (16,040 ft), NakeeLa (15,547 ft), Lachung La (16,616 ft) and the highest one of the route Tanglang La (17,582 ft). Its a challeng...

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Where Whisky and Brandy are ferocious nallahs!

Upendra SwamiNovember 25, 20172405 Views6

I consider the stretch from Bharatpur to Pang to be the most eventful in the entire route from Manali to Leh. Eventful in the sense that it has got most fantastic variations in the landscape than any other stretch. Although Pang to Leh is also again a wonderful stretch but it is more of a leisure part and has less the challenges that Bharatpur-Pang stretch has to offer. That is precisely the reason that although I covered entire stretch from Bharatpur to Leh in a single day, but while writing about it, I have divided into two parts. That was only way to do some justice to it, as one single part would have been either too long or I would have to sacrifice some details. Bharatpur was an unscheduled halt for me because of the landslide an evening before. But it was always worth...

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Lonely at mighty Baralacha La pass!

Upendra SwamiSeptember 27, 20172753 Views6

It's September. Seemingly best month to travel to Leh through this treacherous Manali-Leh highway. Best because of weather and the road conditions. Snow has melted around. But roadsides without snow also snatches away some of the thrills of this route, that one can experience in the months of June and July. But reaching here is never a mean task, more so if you have decided to travel all alone. So, here I am at mighty Baralacha La pass, all alone. How it feels to be here standing lonely with not a living being in sight at an altitude more than half of the Mount Everest, with just your faithful bike to company! Journey so far has been fascinating to say the least. At every step you keep feeling that how you have been longing to be here, inevitably. I already had a share ...

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Himalayan Rides : Chandratal to Keylong

Upendra SwamiJuly 31, 20172555 Views2

Having completed the Chandratal mission, I had to be back to Leh route. So, it had to be the same route back till Gramphoo. But in place like Himalayas, riding on a same route gives you different feeling every time. Chandratal indeed was an accomplishment, a sort of dream coming true. But still, Leh was my destiny. Chaos at the top! Read: Milestones to Ladakh- Manali to Gramphoo SO here we are, riding back to Gramphoo through same treacherous road alongside river Chandra. Whatever the road condition may be, this beauty around will never let you feel tired. Driving towards Spiti! Read: Himalayan Rides-Gramphoo to Chatru And what a feeling of satisfaction this is when you see a public transport, a Himachal Roadways Bus on such a terrible road at this altitude. Treacher

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Himalayan Rides : Batal to Chandratal

Upendra SwamiJuly 13, 20172210 Views5

We are on a virtual ride to Lahaul & Spiti valley. Every rider or driver or adventurer enthusiast going to Leh or Kaza is very much keen to know about the road conditions on these arguably two of the most fascinating road journeys in the world. Its a journey, everybody would like to embark upon. So, here is a first hand experience of the trip, which I have broken down into different segments, or we may say shorter distances to give a more detailed overview of the trip. Read: Milestones to Ladakh - Manali to Gramphoo In the earlier parts of the journey, we have travelled from Manali to Gramphoo, then Gramphoo to Chatru and Chatru to Batal. Now after spending some time with Chacha-Chachi of Chandra Dhaba at Batal, we move towards Chandratal. Once we cross river Chandra a...

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Himalayan rides : Batal of Chacha-Chachi Dhaba

Upendra SwamiJune 19, 20174578 Views9

Its all about love of nature and adventure that drives you to land unseen. The passion keeps accompanying you in your solo journeys. We have already travelled from Manali to Gramphoo via Rohtang pass. Also See: Milestones to Ladakh: Manali to Gramphoo From Gramphoo, we moved right alongside the Chandra river towards Spiti valley and reached to Chatru. Also See: Hiamalayan Rides: Gramphoo to Chatru I was heading towards Chandratal lake. I had no intention to go towards Kaza as I had already travelled to Kaza some time back. From Chatru I had a very tough ride to Batal. As I said earlier, Batal is a very important stopover. Once you cross the river Chandra at Batal and move uphill, there is a diversion. One road further up takes you to Kunzum top and then to Kaza in Spiti v...

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Himalayan Rides : Chatru to Batal

Upendra SwamiJune 11, 20173577 Views15

In the last episode of Himalayan Rides, we (me and my readers) travelled from Gramphoo to Chatru on way to Chandratal. Now we are travelling from Chatru to Batal. Batal is a very important stopover. Once you move ahead of Batal there is a diversion. A road uphill takes you to Kunzum pass and then to Kaza in Spiti valley and another one moves deep inside the Chandra valley towards Chandratal. Also see: Himalayan Rides : Gramphoo to Chatru Its a very small stretch in terms of the total ride but still I thought to devote a full post to this, as this one was very important in letting me know what to expect on the way ahead and what I need to do to keep myself better prepared. Batal is just 31 kilometres from Chatru. Chhota Dara is 17 kms from Chatru and Batal i

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Himalayan Rides : Gramphoo to Chatru

Upendra SwamiMay 28, 20172715 Views10

Gramphoo is 15 kms downhill from Rohtang top. Gramphoo is the place where roads to Lahaul valley and Spiti valley bifurcate. We have already travelled from Manali to Gramphoo via Rohtang pass. (In case you have missed it, you can read it here- Milestones to Ladakh : Manali to Gramphoo) From Gramphoo one road leads to Keylong and then towards Leh and another one towards Kunzum Pass and then to Kaza. There is also stark difference between roads on the two sides. Keylong-Leh road is the sort of expressway compared to this one. Road from Gramphoo to Chatru passes through narrow valley along the Chandra river. However once you cross the Chatru village, Chandra valley widens up. While moving towards Chatru there are a couple of water falls on the road. They don't pose any proble