In search of the elusive Snow in Spiti Valley | 6800 km, 24 day road-trip in a Fortuner

 Last few years with our travel restricted to India , long road trips has been a pressure relieving system from the monotonous routine , Team BHP travelogues has been my treasure trove. This travelogue is an altruistic act to give back to this community.

Place Like these



Yes we did see snow



Solitude

The Plan: KA-AP-TS-MH-MP-UP-HR-PB-HP - A nine state trip to see snow in Spiti HP. It was in Dec 2021 we did the 4800KM road trip to Rajasthan with the Covid situation improving for the better we knew it was a matter of time before the offices open and life goes back to the grind. Before that we wanted to login another trip.



For the kids snow has been elusive they had only read about it or seen it in the movies, for us the adults we have had our fill of snow when we worked/stayed in other countries and we thank every day for the tropical weather of our country! We decided to make a trip to Spiti, read up all the travelogues on TeamBHP on this subject from a decade back. Also with the advent of Vlogs you can put together the plan very easily. Now we needed sufficient time to drive at the same time work cannot be ignored so we decided to make it a workcation, kids had summer vacation so for them it was easy. The plan was we will drive during the weekends , weekdays we will take up AirBnB with good broadband and work , also short visits to must see spots in the afternoons and evenings. For Spiti we took an entire week off.



Kaza dhoor nahin

Elder daughter had started with history in her school she was keen on visiting Jalianwala Bagh so we decide to bring Punjab into the fold. Amritsar was a natural stop now we had Golden temple and Attari-Wagha border also added to the itinerary. Shahabad we wanted to give kids a genuine farm stay experience so added that as another pitstop. Chandigarh was included to visit some friends and the Rock Garden, also I grew up there in the late 70's but have no memories as I was very young. Financial Year end and Shimla stay coincided , we had some deliverables so we needed a place with two rooms and a steady broadband, AirBnB was a boon we got good places to dwell and work.

The Preparation:

1. Car serviced though it wasn’t due for another 1500km I got the 10K service done prior to the journey
2. Ad Blue topped up ( it lasted for 8K in the first fill).
3. Bought Mi Air Compressor 1S ( did a few trial runs on my cycle, didn’t get time to test it out on cars)
4. Dug up our winter clothes ( in BLR they go for deep hibernation given that we never get to use them)
5. Spotify offline music
6. Gifts for kids we will meet in Spiti (Crayons/Pencils/Sharpener/Coloring books etc. It's always appreciated, we have been doing this for our travel to the mountains from the Andes, Sierra Madre, Himalayas….would encourage others also, the more remote the place the more appreciation for the gifts)

The Machine: Toyota Fortuner 2021 4x2 AT Diesel



The People: Me , Wife, 2 Daughters

The Toilets: ( during road journey) A clean toilet is an oxymoron , it's also my pet peeve but nothing to be done especially when it comes to the female gender. Some of the restaurants/dhabas along the way did have a clean option but they are very few and far between. We did consider a dome tent but that was close to our travel dates so skipped it. We continue to look for a solution.

DPF: We had no issues with DPF through our journey. Once thing I noticed the DPF was auto triggered usually between 150-170KM in the plains. In the hills it was triggered every 100KM that was also because of the road ( or no road) conditions where it was all stones/rocks /mud roads. Also the DPF usually lasted 5-7min but in the hills it took a good 15min to complete. (less Oxygen?).

Some numbers to digest upon :


There are many travelogues in this forum which detail the places you should visit at each location, I don’t plan to describe them here in great detail, the fun in such road trips also include the planning -reading up the travels of others. I will list all the places we visited and some tips so it's helpful to others .

Onward Drive BLR to PUNJAB - This is a fairly easy and straightforward one . We took 2 nights stay as we wanted the kids to have enough break and enjoy rather than it be an ordeal. The onward and return route were the same. BLR-HYD-NGP-SAGAR-JHANSI-GWALIOR-AGRA-DELHI-KURUKSHETRA-AMRITSAR . For Onward we took Agra Expressway. We could start only by afternoon from BLR due to some work engagements, so we decided to stay in Hyd for the first night. From HYD our idea was to stop at Sagar but we realized we could easily reach Jhansi by 10PM so we decided to push ahead . From Jhansi we stopped at our first pre-determined stay at the farm house in Shahabad. From there we went to Amritsar-Chandigarh and finally to Shimla.

Return Drive from KAZA to BLR - We took 3 nights stay for the return journey. The stretch from Kaza till Zirakpur was a bit of a stress as its mountain roads. After that its again the super highways and a smooth journey. For return we skirted Agra via Mathura/Brindavan and not the Yamuna expressway. For onward and return we were booking hotels on the fly based on the distance we were covering. Next stop was the same hotel in Jhansi as we liked the food at Lemon Tree. From Jhansi the plan was to stay in HYD but it was late when we started so decided to stay in Adilabad. It’s a small city/town and finding a decent place is tough. We stayed at a place called Kakaku clean and small rooms. Next day we stopped at HYD for lunch and some shopping at Ikea . By 9PM we were back home in Bangalore.



Trip Meter

The executed plan:



The restaurants we visited and worth a mention:

• Halidirams Nagpur (inside the city will lose an hour or two as it’s a diversion if you are not staying you should skip this )
• Virasat-e-Punjab Rairu-Dabra Bypass Rd, Madhya Pradesh
• Gulshan Dabha , Sonipat
• Kesar Da Dabha , Amritsar (skip next time?)
• Novelty Sweets and Restaurants, Amritsar
• Lassi near Golden temple non-descript hole in the wall type restaurant
• Himalayan Rasoi ,Shimla
• Asli Pappu Dabha on NH19
• Café 1082, Pooh, Himachal Pradesh

Places and Elevation we visited :

SHAHBAD

I had spent my early childhood in Adampur , Punjab we used to have a field day (literally!) everyday as our house was abutting a farm. We do get nostalgic about our carefree years ,wanted kids to experience that. We found this serene little place inside a village with farms surrounding it on all sides. Now for city dwellers this lifestyle in intriguing. Visit to the Ponds, a machan for some bird watching, Water pouring out from the pump sets, Channels being dug on the farms, Seeing the use of Tractors and farm equipment's. Overall a great stay with real life experience on farm.



Father Daughter Moment



A field run

AMRITSAR/CHANDIGARH

• The regular places first, we had dinner at Kesar Da Dabha not to be a spoilsport but in my opinion a bit over hyped cleanliness is questionable, need to skip some of the must do experiences that I have read about in future travels.
  
• Golden temple was crowded. Tip was to come by 4AM/5AM when the crowd will be sparse, check with locals they will know the best.
  
• Jalianwala bagh in its new avatar has taken away the sanctity of the place again my opinion, the entrance had they left it as what it was during the dreadful day the event happened, it would have had a better impact on the future generations rather than the new cheerful murals and statues ( again this is my opinion in a democracy we can all have one!). This is my third visit 1995/2004/2022 over the decades.
  
  
  
  The New Entrace
  
  
• Attari border post ( Wagha is on the Pakistan side so let's use Attari) the nationalistic fervor was oozing out of the crowd assembled there, BSF MC does a good job in whipping up patriotic passions. Parking is available right next to the border post, don’t park anywhere else, even if civilians/local cops tell you otherwise. At the parking lot you have the option to go for valet (INR 120/-) which will let you take your vehicle out easily from the parking lot.
  
  
  
  BSF Master of Ceremony
  
  
• Don’t miss the Punjab State War Heroes Memorial & Museum on the way to the border post , it has 7 halls and detailed war history, 7D show was also good especially the tank in the snowy mountain effects. Would suggest you keep 2-3 hours for the entire place.
  
• A new discovery was Sada Pind. It gives a glimpse of the rural life, folk dance, rural Olympic sporting events etc. Its worth a visit the entry ticket included a meal ( lunch/dinner)
  
  
  
  Maut Ka kuan
  
  
• Gobindgarh fort is also a good place to spend a few hours. Some of the museums inside have additional tickets would highly recommend that you buy and visit those. Both kids and adults will enjoy it. The 7D show though in Punjabi was easily understood by all of us. The sound and light show was just OK would not suggest it if you have already seen the 7D show. We left early from the Sound and Light show as the kids got bored after a while.
  
  
  
  Bangra Show at the Fort
  
  
• Gurudwara Tarn Taran sahib should be a must visit if you are in this part of the town. We reached there early morning 7AM and it was a tranquil setting.
  
• Transport we used for Golden Temple and Jalianwala Bagh was the electric auto. Find out the approximate rate from some local and negotiate with the drivers. Expect to pay a premium for the tourist that you are.
• Yes we did buy some jootis from the market, hopefully they last.

SHIMLA

• Mall road Parking place- there is a Govt. Parking lot from where you have both the lift and stairs to walk to the mall road. Would highly recommend you use that.
  
• We stayed 8KM away from the mall road purposefully. That gave us a huge backyard to hike every day. We came to the Mall road for dinner twice during our stay.
  
  
  
  Our Daily Morning and Evening Hike
  
  
• Jakhoo hill and temple is an easy hike from the Mall road, watch out for those monkeys
• Roads are narrow so one has to be careful. There is parking available at all the tourist locations do your research before you go.
• TIP - top up your vehicles fuel tank in and around Shimla before heading to Kaza.

SPITI

• Tanni Jubbar Lake might seem like a deviation but take it, it will be worth the time. The lake itself will be a welcome break, there are small hikes around the temple/lake. As an additional bonus you will also drive through the Apple farms at Thanedar.
  
  
  
  Hike at Tanni Jubbar Lake
  
  
• There was military training going on at the Khab confluence (Madras Sappers) we were allowed to watch it but no cameras, what made us jump was the blank machine gun firing which we were not expecting ,it shattered the sound of silence in the mountains. I have had my share of firing range during my NCC days but this was something else.
  
• Do stop at Café 1082 the wet canteen run by the BRO at Pooh, we had a friendly chat with the soldiers who runs it and shared notes on our travels and civil life.
  
  Pooh Wet Canteen Cafe1082
  
  
• Kalpa the Rollingrang Hotel team was above and beyond. The view from their balcony of Kinnaur Kailash is worth the stay there
  
  
  
  Kinnaur Kailash Night Photo you can see the snow mountains
  
  
  
  
• Don’t follow google maps blindly it suggests roads where cars cannot go. Check it before and consult locals.
  
  
  
  My Car barely made it through this road it brushed the apple trees
  
  
• Tabo monastery if closed just wait for some time , once the monks see you they will open it. Please keep sufficient time the monks will also explain the paintings. Walk around the Tabo village and appreciate the stine architecture
  
  
  Tabo Village
  
  
• Dhankar lake trek (4140msl) is in the easy-moderate category. We took 45min to climb up ,we do hike regularly so it was an easy one for all of us. Keep at least an hour at the lake and enjoy the beautiful place. There was lot of snow and half the lake was frozen when we visited it in second week of APR 2022. I have seen some folks getting discouraged in doing this hike thinking its difficult I would encourage them to just go for it.
  
  
  
  
  
• Mudh Village don’t miss it, the drive to the place and the majestic view of the snow clad mountains from your hotel makes it worth it. Some of the roads are narrow and my car just fit in . The snow was melting and the roads had washed away at some places.
  
  
  
  Yak Ploughing the Farm
  
  
  
  
  View from our room
  
  
• Make sure you have someone in the car to help you move some stones on the road if needed we needed to do that a few times in the Pin Valley road towards Mudh village.
  
  
  
  
• The Mud Village famous bridge looks very safe but the vertical gaps between the cables to hold is a kept at a distance. Didn’t realize this when the kids walked across on their own, return we made sure the adults were there to accompany them. From my experience with mountain rivers the currents are very strong and even as an expert swimmer I have struggled when we go river rafting. Would suggest you accompany the kids on all the hanging bridges.
  
  
  
  Mudh Bridge See the gap kids can easily pass through
  
  
• Do Kaza-langaza-Komic-Hikkim-Kaza in that order.
  
  
  
  
• One needs time when you are here in Spiti its both about the journey and the destination.
  
  
  
• Driving is easy if you have driven in the hills before . Roads are OK, what gave me confidence was cars like Celerio and Alto easily gliding across the "kachha" roads, they were all driven by locals.
  
  
  
  Celerio Zooming past
  
  
• Keep your ego aside and let the local vehicles pass they have more experience on the local roads. Most of the bigger vehicles trucks/buses/tractors pulled aside to let us pass wherever possible. One honk or appearing in their rear view mirror is sufficient
  
  
  
• Also our idea is to stop frequently and immerse ourselves in the beautiful landscape. Park carefully and don’t hinder the traffic. (Chicham was chaotic so we moved ahead to the village and came back when the crowd had dispersed)
  
  
  
• We didn’t face any roadblock in this entire journey
  

I need to put in BOLD saw some out of state vehicles on the Hill roads that had no clue what they were doing. Always give way to the drivers coming uphill whenever it's possible. If needs be you should reverse until you reach a location where both vehicles have enough room to pass. Locals always followed this rule.

The learning from these trips is a lot both for the adults and children. Will conclude with two snippets:

Elder Daughter to me : Is there a non-combat role in the military? ( This is the first time she has seen so many military folks in the places we traveled from Amritsar to Spiti, Attari-Wagha border was also an inspiration! )



At the Attari Integrated Check Post


Notes from my younger daughters journal see the last line:



Yes we got some snow to put on the car for the snap




And lastly you need to be flexible to travel :-)