Saturday, March 24, 2012

Manali - Journey,Lahauli Wedding ,Et cetera .

The Journey:

It was an almost sleepless night with dogs barking outside the inhabitable room. Dot 5 O’clock I was at the bus stop with few strays staring at me. I wanted to run from there, it reminded me of the scene from “Waltz with Bashir”, only here the canines were not in a mood to move. Soon a taxi guy offered me a seat for Rs. 900, little bargaining and he was ready for 500:D. But then the bus arrived and it was cheaper by Rs. 200. Taang to the taxi guy and I boarded the bus and window seat again. I was into sleep mode soon and woke up after a dream of full-length football match. It was PWD Shour, which marked the end of Pangi Valley.

That place was awesome, but unfortunately the camera was still sleeping inside the back till then. If there was one thing that I missed in this trip then it was the beauty of Pangi, thanks to the excitement of Sach Pass. Of what little I saw of Pangi, it was much beautiful than Raavi or Baes Valley and more forests than the Lahaul valley.

At Udaipur, the bus had two flat tires. Both the rear inner tires were the victim of the Pangi roads. There was an option of shifting to another bus to keylong which was already full. I took one hour for the tire to be fixed and ready to roll. In the mean time the taxi guy passed me with a troll-face. Lahaul valley ride till Keylong was smooth and a visual treat for this first time visitor to Himachal. There were these nullahs hidden behind the mountains which would be visible only for a moment which were delightful to watch.

The ride to Keylong was amazing. There is a problem now; my bus wouldn’t go to Manali as there were hardly 4-5 people on board and we were asked to move to another bus which was packed. With no other choice, I had to travel standing. By now I had mastered the art of occupying the window seat and I was just waiting for someone to get up. Three men, two rows behind where I was standing stood up to get down at Sissu. I threw my small bag and yay! Window seat was mine. Luckily no one was hurt. Then came the Rohtang moment, which can be aptly described as a dud compared to Sach. It was nothing but a bad climb with a worse descend. Had the sickest coffee in Marhi, the only coffee I had in the entire trip. Being a Tambrahm and heavily addicted to strong filter coffee, I don’t have coffee outside. The Keylong Manali bus was half filled with Tibetans’/Napalms. They were very much annoying and it was a ride to forget. It was not only me but many passengers had a poker face due to their behavior. Two guys almost got into a physical tussle with a bunch of Tibs, as they were passing some unnecessary comments. There was a point when a kid sitting ahead of me yelled “Oye salon, chup karo”; only to be slapped by his mother, but the entire bus broke into laughter.

Now, there was some problem with the front suspension. Here I met Doc Vikram, from Mandi, who was going home from a week long assignment in Leh. Soon the suspension problem was sorted out and we set sailing to Manali. We met again at the bus stand. Doc’s friend, who stays at Manali, was out of town and if asked him if he would like to share room to cut costs, he agreed and we settled for Mahadev GH bang opposite to the bus stand for Rs. 200.

The Lahauli Wedding:

After dumping our bags we went for a stroll and banged into a lahauli wedding baraat. Surprise Surprise, It was doc’s senior’s weeding. Lahauli’s have a dress code and a badge to distinguish the guests from the uninvited ones. The invited guests sport a cap with three badges and a badge in the heart. We soon got the badge, and man I felt proud. Unlike other baraats I have seen, the lahauli baarat had only dhols and flutes. The Baraat entered the wedding hall and we made a quick exit to the hotel room were party was full-on with beer bottles rolling. I was invited for a stay with them, but had to decline because I was hungry and the beer taps were still flowing. Doc and I walked to our room, he picked up his bags and joined the gang and I left for dinner and then bed.


Et cetera:

Woke up late and vacated the room by 1 PM. It was time for some shopping for my sisters back home to be accepted into the family again. Then the usual touristy places like the Gompa, Hidimba temple were done by foot. After lunch, met up with the Maruti factory team for Raid on their SX-4. A quick chat and wished them luck as they filled fuel. Picked my bags from the GH and left for the world famous Kullu ki Dusshera.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Sach Passed

Crossing Sach Pass cant be that easy. There has to be much more to it. Its for something that Sach Pass is considered tough.

Hurdle 1: Satrundi Post

The Police men was adamant on not letting us go beyond. The had only one reason, fresh heavy snowfall since afternoon. Somehow none of us were convinced about that. The whether looked perfectly OK. Rajinikant and his friends got into light arguments with the constables. Mr.Om Pal appeared out of nowhere. He introduced me to the Sub Inspector, the seniormost guy currently posted there. Mr. Om knew how desperate I was to see the Sach Pass, he conveyed the same to his senior. After sometime me and Om bhaisahab somehow convinced the Sub inspector to let us through. He would let us through on one condition,only if any vehicles showup from the Pangi side. Another jeep, the one with 14 passengers was waiting to go . The driver of that didn't even bother to speak after a NO from the policemen and was prepared to turnback.

A vehicle appeared at the top, which was a Mahindra Maxx. The SI quickly added "Dekho, gaadiyan wapas aa rahi hai"
Me,"Yeh Pangi ki gaadi hai , subah se koi Maxx gayi nahi hai yahan se"


The SI too knew that and he was just pulling my leg there. The driver of Maxx informed that small Vehicles and pick ups can easily crossover to the other side and there was no snowfall in the afternoon. Just as we were video taped another vehicle appeared at the top. It was after two days, vehicles were arriving from Pangi. By 4pm we started from Satrundi. The kid in me had taken control of the body. An hour and half later we reached the top and that was the moment of the trip. Also , it was my first encounter with snow. We did not spend more tha 5 minutes at the top and continued with the journey. A pick up was stuck in snow and its driver was struggling alone. Rajinikant and his male friends got down to help him while I walked towards the Bhoot Ground.

Bhoot Ground: As one descends from the top towards Pangi, one comes across a flat ground where there is a huge cube- rock with a deep cut in the center from the top. The locals believe that the rock comes to life when the the pass is inaccessible. The goddess at Pass transforms the demon back into rock when the pass opens in summer. To support their claim, they say that the rock changes its position every year.

Within few minutes the jeep arrived and at bhoot ground we faces a big, very big hurdle.

Hurdle 2: Bhoot Ground

Since the day before, I've been hearing the news of a tipper being stuck at the bhoot ground and the driver had abandoned it. Another trucker trying to pass the tipper, was also stuck midway. The poor driver and his helper tried everything from their books but the truck just wouldn't start. This incident happened when our guys were helping the pick up driver, had they not stopped there we would have been on our way to Pangi.

"Chalo chalte hai Bogatu"
"Gaadi kaise nikalegi "
"Paidal chalenge"
"Mei nahi aa raha. Mere pass toh Joothe bhi nahi hai."
"Woh toh hai lekin raat toh Jot mei nahi kaat sakte"

The other bolero arrived . Four guys from that jeep picked up their bags started their descend. There was a path just wide enough for a bolero to pass,but even that was snowed . But there was a very narrow section 2 ft in length. Soon few more guys from the other jeep got out with their bags and were about to begin their descend. The trucker came with a idea. What a simple and brilliant one it was !

There were few big stones (1/2 ft.diameter approx). The idea was to place the spare wheel on the ground and place the stones on it and hold using manpower til the vehicles pass.  Not many were convinced including me. An old gentleman in the other jeep convinced all of us with one point. There is not other way, so this is the best way.

Step 1: Clear the snow accumulated at the corners.
Reason : Jeep has to run over the snow. If there is wheel-spin , then there are chances of vehicle getting stuck,closing the pass for rest of season. That done proceed to next step.

Step 2: Build a 2x2x2 road. All 8 men from both the jeeps were out. Spare wheel on the ground , few big stones on it and a wooden plank later the road was ready.

 Step 3: Drive over the road built by us. four people held the road as if their life depended on it. Rajinikant went first and crossed in a hurry . The other driver wasn't willing to take a chance, Rajinikant true to his name, crossed in a hurry again.

Step 4: Dismantle the road we built and put the spare wheel back in the truck.

This process almost lasted an hour.But all was not over,there was another hurdle.

Hurdle 3: One steep climb.

There is a steep ascend after the bhoot ground, now add 3-4 inches of snow to it.
First Attempt: little climb, wheel spinning and skidding.
Reversed and Second Attempt : Same story.
Third Attempt: The ladies in our jeep occupied the last row seats,4 of us hung on to the back of the jeep and with little fishtailing completed that small but steep climb.

No more hurdles. From here onwards reaching Killar was more of a formality. By 7 we were at Bogatu , sipping hot tea made by. Bogatu is a police camp , just 2 tents big . The drive to Killar was bumpy, but that didn't matter. Sach Pass ho gaya. Reached Pangi by 9. I was dropped at this Rs. 20 dorm bang opposite to the bus stand, for which inhabitable is an understatement. Rajinikant and one of his friend came back after half an hour to say that there was no hotel available as the speaker of HP assembly and his guests had occupied all the lodges. With no other option I had to settle for the dorm. The owner was kind enough to give me a new quilt, at least it looked new. Luckily I was carrying blankets (couple of them). Spread them on the ground for a good night and great sleep.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Sach Pass (ed?)

Day 7, October 9 .

Call it excitement or early to bed, I was awake by 4 Am and was standing at the veranda , staring at the road. Almost a hour later a trucker woke up and instead of a 'Good Morning' I greeted him with 'Bhai Chalein'.

Trucker:"Kidhar bhaisahab, kal raat hi ek tipper wapas aayi hai, raat ko kaafi baraf padi hai jot mei. Ab toh kal hi jayenge"
(Where brother, a dumper returned yesterday night, there was heavy snowfall yesterday night. Now we'll leave only tomorrow)

B*****d was the only thing that I uttered with both hands on my head.

A guy who returned yesterday night with the dumper woke up.

"Bhai upar halat kya hai?"
(How are the conditions up in the pass)
"Bahut kharab,pick-up wahin chod mei truck mei aa gaya"
(Very Bad I left my Pick-up there and returned in the truck.)

I kept asking the same question to every other trucker and pick-up guys expecting some positive reply.

By 10:30 the pic-up guy got news from his driver that they had reached Killar last night itself. Before the joy could spread , he dropped a bomb informing that there was heavy snowfall in at the top yesterday late night.Soon four jeeps arrived from Chamba for Pangi. All the vehicles were full,but one was offering me a seat and already had 10 passengers in the car . This was clearly not happening for me.

I was in a state of mental agony. All the truckers ,seeing my condition offered to drop me the next day, they were sure that the pass would open up for the truck by night , but I wasn't. Even though I was touched by this guesture of theirs,I wasn't ready to take a chance with uncertainty. Another jeep for Pangi with 14 passengers arrived and the driver was still offering me a seat. I was really put off by all this and was ready to take the bus to Chamba and then head to Mcleodganj.

Then magic happenend , Rajinikant arrived with his 5 friends on a bolero. I didn't ask for his name , I simply called named him Rajinikant for his driving skills , goggles and cigarette smoking style . He offered the entire back row for myself and assured me that he wont be taking any other passengers. He also offered me a seat only because Rakesh requested. I couldm't thank Rakesh enough for this gesture. bid goodbyes to all the truckers and Rakesh and moved.

And Hell Yes , I was going to cross the Sach Pass ... Really??????

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Bairagad with Hawaldars

Day 6: October 8,2011

Today was the most awaited day of the travel, but destiny thought otherwise. Sach Pass(ed) not yet. A half-bath and a sprint later, Chamba bus stand arrived. Met a HP Police Hawaldar(Constable) who asked me to rush to ticket counter , as the seats get filled fast.Window seat again Yay! The hawaldar was on his way to Trella, his posting. He was narrating his first day of duty in the region on the New years morning of 2011, when he woke up to waist height of snow. Also he that was the first time he saw snow. Soon the dreaded announcement was made . The bus to Killar(Pangi, local name) was canceled due to a technical snag.
The local taximen took this opportunity to make some money and hiked their tariff from Rs. 500 to Rs. 700. As I didn't want to be the the 15th chicken in a 8 people jeep. I opted for the next best option ,a bus ride to Bairagad which is 30 kms short of Sach Pass. Soon the sun came out bringing the vistas into prominence. Trella came and it was time to bid goodbye to the hawaldar .  Throughout our conversation I called him 'Hawaldar-Sahab' and he called me 'Bhaisahab' . I have this bad habit of ending the conversation even without asking their name. Another guy came to me and struck up a conversation, he too was a hawaldar who was joining office after a leave. He was on his way to Satrundi.he introduced himself as Om Pal, else I would have missed his name too. He too kept calling me Bhaisahab and i responded the same way.
Bhaisahab spoke to few pick up van driver at Bairagad on their way to Pangi to drop me there but they were fully loaded. The truckers were not willing to take a risk because of the snowfall beyond Satrundi post.Also I was turned back from PWD Guest House as some students from chamba have booked all rooms. Without much option I came back to the bus-stop , which also doubles up as the village boundary the other end being the PWD guesthouse. Rakesh Thakur , the man who runs the only Tea-stall cum - Dhaba- Hotel offer me a room for peanuts ,literally . A bakar session with truckers  and Mr. Thakur lasting hours followed.

Trucker: "Chalo chadate hai" (Lets drink)
Me: "kya?" (What?)
Trucker: "Bottle (sign)"
Me: "Mai peeta nahi" (I don't drink)

The truckers left for a drink disappointed with neither me nor Rakesh joining them. Soon raingods arrived with fury. A cup of maggi later I hit the bed as early as 6:30 PM .