Upwards North
Anyone and everyone who has ever ridden a motorbike wearing his heart on his sleeves would have dreamt of riding it to the Disneyland of motorbiking – Spiti. This is story about the ride of a lifetime – Upwards North.
Well every now and then you get into the cobweb of this mundane corporate lifestyle and all you need is a breather. For me the choice was obvious, start the bike and head north, simply ride far out there, just stay out on the roads for a while and see how it goes. This is a tale of ride of a lifetime : Spiti – Disneyland of motorbiking.
While planning the route, I decided to take the highways through central India and head to Agra before heading north and then see the western India on my return journey.
There’s this thing with me that I cant sleep a night before a long ride. With all sorts of excitements and adrenaline flowing in, I started off from Mumbai. With the rain God blessing with heavy showers on my first day, it was pretty eventful as I made in to Indore by evening. The day I headed to Agra.
I will never forget the very first glimpse of Taj, as it gets engraved into your mind. I was blown away by the sheer beauty of this architecture as I simply sat on the lawns. If you get a chance, take a boat ride to see the Taj from the banks of Yamuna river. It’s absolutely beautiful.
Recommendation for stay :- Zostel, Agra
I met my friends who were also heading to Spiti in Delhi and we headed to the mountains. I had decided to stay in home-stays as much as I could this time around so that I could contribute towards the livelihood of people in the mountains.
On the way to Narkanda, I saw this food truck jointly run by a mother-son duo. It brought back all the thoughts of opening a cafe up in the mountains and this was a perfect setup. One can always associate minimalism with the people in the mountains. They arent swayed with materialistic aspirations and find happiness in small things. This is very evident from the smile on their faces, the feeling of contentment from their lives.
I met another gentleman, Mr Suresh, our host at NorthMoon Homestay who approves of the notion that learnings of life comes from beyond the four walls of classroom, one has to venture out to learn the lessons of life
Recommendation for Stay :- NorthMoon Homestay(Suresh : 9816423286)
Behind those mountains in the background lies Tibet. This is Chitkul, the last village on the Indo-Tibet border. I rode late into the evening to reach Chitkul at night. The next morning, I got up early and headed out for a stroll. Imagine being surrounded by lust green gigantic mountains by all sides and you sit on the grass sipping in a fresh brewed cup of tea soaking in all the beauty of the surrounding. The village is cut-off from the mainland during the winters as it gets covered with snow and the roads are blocked. This very thought pushes me to have an experience of winters in Spiti – perhaps sometime soon.
I spent sometime speaking to the shepherds of the region. They mentioned about the culture of Kinnaur and the surrounding regions. These shepherds take their herd of sheep for grazing and spend the entire summer season in the mountains, living like a nomad before reahing back to their village before winter starts.
Recommendation for stay :- Zostel Chitkul
The plan was to head to Nako next morning however the highway was blocked due to a landslide. I headed to Kalpa instead and then decided to stay back for a day and boy-o-boy I wasn’t disappointed.
Kalpa is a small village in Kinnaur district. What you see behind in this pictures is the Kinner Kailash range which turns golden as the sun hit the peaks in the morning. Imagine of this, waking up in the morning to see the Kailash range lit orange with the first rays of the sun as you sip your fresh brewed coffee and simply sit in the balcony, you then walk out to pluck apple from the orchard right in front of you. The locals are very welcoming and one would always be amazed by simplistic living.
Early morning, I headed to explore more of the nearby villages, the roads leading to Roghi, aka Suicide Point is absolutely thrilling.
Recommendation for stay :- Potyan Home Stay / Hotel RollingRang.
For me, the best part about travelling is getting to meet new people, observe their living and take away the learnings. I met this aunty in Nako, who has been running a homestay for over a decade now. Every year she comes across hundreds of riders, enthusiasts who stop by to get her blessings on their way to Spiti. She offered me lunch and told me how she has seen Spiti changing over the years, with the valley becoming more accessible to people from outside. People here believe in their deities and consider almighty nature above everything else. I believe this feeling would naturally sink in as you stay in such harsh conditions and one definitely needs blessings to survive through. However, along those wrinkles on their faces you would always find that there’s a smile, a smile that teaches to learn to live with all the challenges, with inclusivity and togetherness.
With heart filled of joy and mind filled with wisdom, I headed to Dhankar to meet my old friend, Tenzin.
Dhankar has a special place in my heart. Every now and then I close my eyes, recalling the infinite number of stars that I saw lying on the terrace of Tenzin’s homestay. If you ever head to Dhankar, take the detour and sit back at the helipad. Just observe out as you are surrounded by these huge mountains, shed away all your insecurities, your fear, your problems and sorrows, breath deeply and just let go. Mountains are the great equaliser, it doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, you will be infinitely small in front of them – Jimmy Chin
P.S :- Trust me you won’t repent gasping out of breath hiking 45 mins to reach a lake at the top, and see the sun doing its magic as the rays fall upon the lake.
Recommendation for stay :- Contact Tenzin (8988958703)
The next two days I spent exploring more around Kaza. I had to head to Hikkim to send out the post-cards, with the water-mark – sent from highest post office in the world. I still prefer writing letters and postcards are the best way to reach out to someone, all thanks to my polish friend Ola who taught me this.It started raining while on my way to Langza and a lady invited me over to take shelter in her tent that she had pitched in the grasslands. She was accompanied by two brothers who were cycling down from Berlin and were headed to Brisbane. The lady mentioned she has been on the road for almost 2 years and over 1.6L miles. She had been logging a journal of her adventures on the road across the world. With numerous stories to hear and multiple joints to share, I decided to stay back with them.
Recommendations :- Ride to the Pin Valley, stay at mud village. Head to Hikkim, send out postcards, lunch at Comic and then head to Langza in the evening to see the Buddha Stupa. Pitch your tent in the grasslands of Langza of Sonam Homestay in Langza(9418757464/9459420400). Stay back a day in kaza before heading out to Manali.
On way way to Chandrataal, I stopped by at kibber for breakfast. Its packed with wildlife photographers during the winters where in they come to try their luck to with sighting snow leopards. You will come across the Chicham Bridge which is the highest bridge in Asia. The kind of efforts that BRO has put it to make these places connected to the mainland is commendable.
There’s a saying, you meet some of the nicest people riding a motorbike. I would like to mention my friend Danial aka Dany as one of such absolute gentleman. He is someone who lives life in the moment and to its fullest. I had absolute fun riding along with this guy.
Chandrataal is somewhat magical. I would suggest you to walk across to the other side of the lake and sit for a while, dont do anything at all, just sit.
I feel Spiti as a place tests you. It tests your skills as a rider, your mental strength as an individual and empathy towards others to help them out of trouble, as a human. One has to pass it all to claim he has been to Spiti. The roads from Chandrataal to Gramphu are absolutely thrilling. You will be greeted by landslides, rocky patches, knee deep water crossings and what not but then then again, there lies the fun right. This is what we come here for, to challenge ourselves to our limits and at the same time, acknowledge that no matter how experienced or smart you are, nature will teach her lesson and one has to mould himself accordingly.
The ride to Rohtang pass is absolutely phenomenal. Imagine surrounded by 15ft of ice on both sides of the roads as you ride up into the clouds. And you gradually descend into the beautiful Solang Valley. You come out of the barren cold desert Spiti to be surrounded by lush green valley, it feels so refreshing. We stayed at Dany’s friends homestay up in the mountains on the outskirts of Manali. It felt so serene that I decided to stay back for another day. I totally buy the vibe of Old Manali. Imagine sitting in a cafe where you can feel the droplets of water coming onto your face from a river flowing right next to you, dim yellow lights hanging on the trees and Bruce Springsteen playing in the background, I dont know what else one wants, for me that’s all that I would ever need. That’s Cafe 1947 for you my friends in Old Manali.
Recommendation for stay :- Mother Tree Cottage
After riding down from the mountains I decided to take the Western Route of India to head back to Mumbai. I headed to Jaipur the very next morning. I have always loved to stay at hostels for it offers you to meet and greet with fellow travellers. Zostel Jaipur introduced me to Kris, a vlogger in making who stunned me with his videography at such young age. The shots from Amer Fort were simply amazing. Give me a follow guys on Instagram @Kris.tan
In the evening I headed to Padao, restaurant on top of Nahargarh Fort. Alright, to be honest it was the first time in a long time that I felt of having someone by my side at that place. Perhaps that’s how the entire ambience was. Pro tip, this is someplace that you would cherish being with your better half.
Recommendation to stay :- Zostel Jaipur
The next morning I headed to Udaipur and felt in love with road tripping all over again. Udaipur is famous as the city of lakes and Zostel Udaipur has owned a property right in front of one. After a hectic riding on close to 6000kms I chose to relax back. I was contemplating the thought that a day prior to this in Jaipur, I was admiring the beauty of the city from the top of a Fort and the very next day here in Udaipur I was admiring the temples on top of the fort from the city. What you see on top of the mountains is the infamous Karni Maata Temple.
This trip introduced me to the world of long distance solo riding which I absolutely fell in love with. You ride the bike at your pace, you stop wherever you feel like, meet people on the way, have a chai or exchange pleasantries, get to know their lifestyles, share stories.
The world is wide & wonderful and I have got miles to cover.