Day 8 – Kaza – Manali

I was up at 3.30 am and all raring to go by 4.30 am. I could already hear Hari’s voice in the corridor so I got out and had my luggage put in the Adventure 9 Scorpio. A hot cup of tea felt refreshing at what was 1 degree temperature. All vehicles were started and warmed up. This was the first time we were starting off in the dark. We said our prayers and got into our respective machines. “Headlights on, seat belts on” came the now customary shout out on the radio and we were off at sharp 5 am. Sunrise happened as we drove along and what a beautiful sight that was. The heaters of our vehicles were on full swing as the temperature hovered between 2 and 3 degree Celsius. Friendly barter continued on the radios. Kunzum Pass is located at 15,060 ft which would the highest altitude we would scale on the expedition. We reached Kunzum La where breakfast was already waiting well in advance for us. The breakfast spread was awesome and I had paratha and pickle with my plate resting on the bonnet of the Legend. We were surrounded by hundreds of prayer flags fluttering with the wind and the Chandra mountain range in the background looked just epic. I have never enjoyed breakfast this much before.

The drive continued post breakfast and we took a detour to head 14 kms towards Chandertal lake. The road was extremely narrow and filled with everything from rocks to water puddles etc. but we chugged along. The Advance team was quick to stop oncoming traffic so that our convoy could pass smoothly. We also saw a number of camp sites en route. The camps are set up here because camping around the lake is prohibited. We had to park the cars after 12 kms as that’s the only point till where its motorable. After parking the cars, it was a 2 km trek to the lake and boy it was worth it. The crystal clear water and the surroundings made for a fantastic photo opportunity and we again had a group photo clicked.

It is also amazing to note how the colour of lake changes with the sky colour. The Chandertal lake is also known as the Moon lake due to its crescent shape. After spending an hour at the lake, we headed back the same route towards Batal for lunch at the famous Chacha Chachi dhaba. The Chacha and Chachi who own this dhaba are famous for helping and saving stranded tourists in difficult times of extreme weather. Our lunch orders were taken before hand on the radio so food was ready by the time we reached the place. I had a bowl of hot Maggi noodles with a portion of scrambled egg mixed in and topped that up with ginger honey tea. It was easily the best meal I had on the trip. Post lunch we posed for some pictures with the lovable Chacha Chachi and resumed our drive to Manali.

As we passed Chatru and and Gramphu, we realized that ‘THE DOCTOR’ Valentino Rossi has fans in Himachal as well as we spotted ‘Rossi 46’ engraved on a stone by the road side. We stopped for a final tea break before climbing up to Rohtang and then it was a non stop dash to Manali. The road to Rohtang Pass was in a horrible condition and we had to engage 4×4 low at all times. Add to that, the traffic made it worse. We crossed Rohtang Pass a little after 7 pm and then it was a contest as to who would get network first. I did not win that contest. Airtel finally blessed me with network just before entering Manali and the buzzing of notifications reminded me of the return to civilization. Come to think of it now, I was actually happy without the phone ringing for the past few days. We reached Club Mahindra Manali at 9 pm after which we relaxed over dinner, drinks and chatter. The next day was supposed to be chill day for all of us. Lead informed us that we would head to Martins at 12.30 pm for lunch and as usual pre-orders for the famous Roast Chicken were taken.

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