Mudh village, Chandertal and the journey back home.
We caught the evening bus to Mudh, which is a famous village in the Pin valley. The Pin Parvati and the Bhabha trek originate from here. We had been seven nights out on the road, and some exhaustion had started to catch up on us. The journey till Mudh was about three hours, though we had expected it to be only an hour. The road were mostly non-existent, and at one point I even joked that as long as the driver can get us back safely to Kaza, I promise to never come back.
We reached Mudh at around 7:00, when the sun was almost setting. We had driven along a river-bed most of the way. We found ourselves a home-stay here as soon as we arrived. At our home-stay were two other travellers, one of whom had visited almost all places in Himachal and another, a photo journalist who had been in the home-stay for ten days. Both of them were living in the common room, to save money, a trick we learned too late. We were very hungry so we headed for some maggi to a cafe down the road. The sun was almost setting, so we enjoyed the scenery before it turned dark. Back at the home-stay, everyone was watching the cricket match. The owner was a very jovial person. For dinner they served us potato momos, which we learned how to make as we helped his wife prepare dinner. The owner had his own friend who was visiting him, and in the common area, there was now a happy gathering.
The owner and his friend downed a lot of desi Spiti barley daru. The owner soon retired to sleep, while his friend told us about what he saw when he first visited Chandigarh, the furthest places he had been to from his village. It was interesting to hear his perspective. A man who had not seen the heat, the crowds and poverty, experience it for the first time. We asked him some questions and found out how most children go to boarding schools in the region and how the smaller child is generally sent to the monastery. We also discovered from him how a typical Spitian family sustains itself in the winter. The man was content and proud of his community and faith.
The next day, we had to wake up early to catch the 6:30 bus. We caught it just about in time. This is the only bus that connects Kaza and Mudh. On the way, various school going children also boarded the bus. We started conversing with the bus conductor and learned about how the HRTC pulls off the difficult act of connecting villages in Spiti. We learned that the job of the conductor is highly testing, with one leave in 15 days, average pay and almost over 14 hours at work (They sleep where the bus stops for the night). When a bus breaks down, there is little in terms of support that can arrive quickly, so they also act as mechanics, though sometimes illegally. The drivers also sometimes drive with punctured tires. The conductor was immune to the beauty of Spiti. He wondered what drew people to it.
Back at Kaza, we found transportation for Chandertal. We were in a Traveler with about 7 other people. The roads after Chicham is mostly a bed of stones and mud. We passed the last village in Spiti, Lossar. We also passed a grounds where ancient carnivals and trade exchanges were held. In my blog I have previously said that the roads were treacherous so many times that saying it again seems redundant. But this one was the worse of them all with a steep cliff on one side, water crossings, and in 10 feet high cleared snow on both sides in some parts. We took about 5 hours to Chandertal with a break at Lossar and Kunzum Top. The Kunzum pass was perhaps the highest point in our journey at about 16k feet. It was covered with snow. The Kunzum pass also has a temple at its top, that the locals built. They believe that every car that passes through these roads must stop here. We did too. Like most mountain tops, it was extremely windy at Kunzum and the lack of oxygen was highly palpable. After this brief stop at Kunzum we continued to Chandertal. The roads only worsened after that.
The journey seemed never ending, so much so that we wondered if Chandertal would be worth the pain. But I can say very little that would justify the beauty and tranquility of Chandertal. I can even perhaps tell you that it was surrounded by beautiful snow-capped mid-Himalayas and the wind and the colors were all so vibrant and magnificent. But it is really difficult to put even in words what being at Chandertal felt like. What made it bitter-sweet was that the moment was available to us for only a brief time, we had to return to Lossar before the sunset due to the road conditions. I picked two stones from the river as souvenirs to put in my new apartment.
On the return journey, we slept for a while and had a great conversation. When the night sky dawned, we stopped the car to get a picture of the sky. We got to Kaza around 10:00. We had a nice dinner at the famous Himalayan cafe in Kaza, which was about the only place that was open. We then retired to our hotel so that we could wake up early again the next day to get tickets to the bus back to Reckong Peo, which we had heard was packed by 7:00.
And we did experience how packed it was. Almost as bad as the Delhi metro around Rajiv Chowk at peak hours. It was so crowded that after Kaza, the bus conductor could not allow anyone to board on the way. Apart from tourists, there were people who had come for the marathon in Spiti and the locals who were all using the same and the only Bus to Reckong Peo. It was a difficult journey till Sumdho, where some of these people got off. Many of them were from the army but it was very sad to see both the tourists and army personnel openly throwing trash out the windows without thinking of its implications.
We reached Reckong-Peo at 6:00. When we reached, it was raining. Luckily along the way, we did not have to stop for clearing of roads or scheduled blasts. At Reckong-Peo we had two options : obvious (stay the night) or fool-hardy (catch the overnight bus to Shimla at 7:30). I am sure you know which we picked. After a very rough night in the bus, we arrived at Shimla at 6:00 in morning. We had barely slept so we napped at the bus station, waiting for our bus to Delhi at 9:30. We also had breakfast before we boarded. Now while this bus was “Deluxe”, there was no AC in the bus, which was the prime reason we booked it. But again, we already had the tickets. From the rest-stop at the pathetic and unhygienic Punjabi Dhaba to the heat that killed us as we approached Delhi, the journey was not easy. But around 5:00 in the evening we were back at Kashmere gate, suddenly feeling out of place in the heat and the busy roads. I still had to do a 3 hour train journey back home to Hapur. At 7:00 I boarded the local from Shahdara which finally deposited me to my home at 10:00. My phone had no battery, I found the gates locked and had to enter from the side door, which was luckily open. At 10:30, when I hit the bed after 36 hours of non-stop travel, I slept like I fell in a pit. I even woke up once, thirsty, not grasping initially, where I was.
But for all the challenges, Spiti was worth every second. If you every visit, please be very sensitive to the locals there and make sure to not pollute the remaining jewels that we have in India. It pains me to see how we treat our shared resources. If possible, visit for a longer time and do something to give back to the community there. As I mentioned, Ecosphere in Spiti might be one avenue for volunteering opportunities : http://www.spitiecosphere.com/
But for your efforts you will be rewarded with Spiti, a parallel universe within India, so beautiful and vast that it will leave you breathless, quite literally.
