Awesome Road Trip Manali - Himachal Pradesh to Leh - Jammu and Kashmir
{Marhi;Koksar;Sissu;Ghondala;Tandi;Keylong;Gemur;Jispa}
After
spending some time in Manali it was
time to head out to Leh, we inquired
with a few travel agents about the expenses to Leh, most of them quoted INR
1200 per head for a shared bus, that left at 1:30 am and reached Leh by 9:00 pm
there was also a 2 day bus that cost INR 2400, it included one night stay in
Sissu.
Private
vehicle to Leh cost about INR 15,000 in most places which was a two day
journey, after inquiring with a few other agents we spoke to “NorthFace” a
travel agency just off the mall road, they quoted INR 10.5 K for 2-3 nights and
they had contacts in Leh, it was the obvious choice.
We started
our journey on the 4th of
August after a nice breakfast at Mount View, the drivers name
was Bittu a 42 yr old man with oiled hair, we started our journey at 10:30 am, the
first stop was at Marhi ; a
shanty town of roadside restaurants situated at an altitude of 3,360 m (11,020
ft), we were served Kheer on the house, it was the Bhole Nath festival, which
marks the start of Shravan, the way to Rohtang
pass was completely covered in mist, later we passed through Khosar situated at 3,140 m; in winter
this is the coldest inhabited place in Lahul, it is a small settlement with
mostly eateries, after travelling for about 14 kms we reached Sissu situated at 3,120 m (10,235 ft) above sea level, it’s very similar
to Koksar but has a PWD Rest house, High School and Health care Facilities.
After
about 11 kms we reached Ghondala
situated at 3,160 m, Bittu suggested we have lunch here, the Dabha was a
regular roadside one, the food on the other hand was fresh, tasty and extremely
economical, Lunch for 2 people was INR 100, it included two bowls of yellow Dal
and lots of Rotis; tea INR 10, the shop
owner and the locals we friendly, some of them had worked in Mumbai for a few
years, but prefer Himachal, I do too.
After
lunch it was time to feed the vehicle, the next stop was Tandi, the next gas station was about 350 kms away directly in Leh,
Tandi was a lush green place, even with all the vehicles clogging up the road
waiting for their turn to drink, it was still peaceful, Keylong situated
at 3,080 m (10,100 ft) was next which was a big mountain town,
similar to Sissu but larger, this is usually the stop over for most buses after
Manali, after about 37 kms we reached Gemur an extremely
tiny village famous for its ancient Monastery.
Navigating
through mountains is extremely stressful for man and machine it was time to
relax, we reached Jispa at
about 4:49 pm, Searched for rooms and tents but they we all expensive between INR
900 and INR 1200, drove about 1.5 kms from the camping grounds we got a room
for INR 480 at the PWD
Rest House. Watch
the Review of the Rest House - Jispa
Below.
Jispa
situated at 3,200 m
(10,500 ft) is a small but beautiful river bank settlement; it has a post
office, monastery, folk museum and a Helipad. The moon was particularly
beautiful that evening; it illuminated the mountain top very well, unfortunately
my camera was out of juice, after relaxing a bit we went to have dinner at
Jispa Inn, food was on the expensive side as compared to Ghondala, with each
Roti at INR 10 and Dal at INR 80, but the cold weather made it worth it.
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