Because, each driver who dares to drive on these roads knows that in the mountains, nothing can ever be taken for granted. At the top of the Kunzum Pass came our next stop of this journey to Spiti. Thanks for sharing. The halt at Losar brought us out of the shock of Kunzum Pass back to reality. Manali to Spiti Valley Distance: The distance from Manali to Kaza in Spiti is 202 kms. The old couple (fondly called uncle and aunty by everyone) at the Chacha-chachi dhaba provided just that. Thankfully, we had booked our tickets the day before and had confirmed seat numbers. 6: Sissuto Tandiat 2,570 m (8,430 ft) elevation 22 km (14 mi). The approximate distances along with the altitude of these places are shown in the chart below. The bus drove into Manali from Kullu, the starting point of this bus route. Was a mountain storm brewing up? But somewhere around a turn, a green patch would announce a village. Really liked it!! Did travel teach us to be better, responsible people? Further down came Chhatru, the first checkpoint of our journey to Spiti. It felt like driving into a white wall. It moved with the bus as it reversed as if stuck to the bus. And when the bus conductor whistled we ran towards the bus. How was all this going to pan out? Roads are found few and far between. You cross two mountain passes – Rohtang Pass at the start and the Kunzum Pass further ahead. Just a kilometre before the Kaza bus stand, there had been a landslide. Earlier, the valley was cut off for about six months each year owing to heavy snowfall. It was not meant for life! ICICI Prudential Credit Risk Fund Direct Plan-Gr.. ICICI Prudential Multicap Fund Direct Plan-Growt.. ICICI Prudential Smallcap Fund Direct Plan-Growt.. ICICI Prudential Asset Allocator Fund (FOF) Dire.. Atal Tunnel: World's longest highway tunnel to reduce distance between Manali, Leh by 46 km. There’s plenty of juice: RAW Pressery gains speed after fire sale to fellow Sequoia firm, As Indian lingerie brands struggle against international biggies, Enamor attempts to hold fort, The jolt from the second wave: how the market caught a whiff of what was coming before others, Choose your reason below and click on the Report button. Distance & Duration: Kaza-Mud nearly 60 Kms ( 2 hrs) … All passengers seemed happy. The scene changed dramatically from here on. The following two tabs change content below. Which is why it is always recommended to have buffer days while making your itinerary for Spiti valley. It was at the Kunzum Mata (Goddess) temple. It connects Manali to Lahaul-Spiti valley throughout the year. ?? Spiti valley has one of the lowest population densities in India, far below the average. Places on Road to Spiti Valley via Manali – Atal Tunnel. Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News. Not that we had much of choice. Fantastic my dear friend… it will help to my kaza trip.. Got to Kaza on the 5th, I think. When the bus finally halted at Batal for lunch, our mind and body were both ready for some tender loving nourishment. Spiti Valley is a cold desert mountain valley located high in the Himalayas in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The 9.02 kilometres long tunnel, built at an altitude of 3000 meters, will connect Manali in Himachal Pradesh to Lahaul-Spiti valley throughout the year. A few river crossings will be involved. Atal tunnel reduces the road distance by 46 Kms between Manali and Leh and the time by about 4 to 5 hours. Twenty years and more ago it was not. At the start of the Rohtang Pass, tall conifers were peeking through the white sheet of fog. The Manali Kaza route is roughly 200 km and takes almost 12 hours to cover (on a good day). Many choose to trek these 13 km. In the mountain? Let's reshape it today, Hunt for the brightest engineers in India. Keep posting this type post. Now, being on the Kunzum Pass in real life, it the enormity of this moment was right in front of our eyes. The nearest petrol pump from Atal Tunnel is at Vashisht (Manali side) and Tandi (Lahaul side). On the contrary, the Manali Kaza route to Spiti is more or less a tourist attraction. The tunnel will provide all-weather access to the Lahaul-Spiti valley, as well as reduce the distance and travel time. The earth shook a little under our feet and it felt like we were swaying. Carry enough non-disposable water bottles with you. Cows mooing. We had entered the high altitude zone of the Himalayas. It will have 18 avalanche protection structures. Then it all feels easy. Day 4: Kaza - Pin valley - Mud village - Kaza. These stoppages on the Manali Kaza route often delay the arrival in Spiti. We were tired. You’re amazing and inspiring.. Glad to read his post. All we knew was, we were in the middle of nature’s unscripted drama. All lies. There were some landmark places that we crossed. It has an overhead clearance of 5.525 Mtrs. Haha .. Yes… That 20 25 minutes of heavy rain had every Kaza resident in a state of shock … An 80 year old Kazaite said he had experienced rain in Kaza only for the 2nd time in his life and the first instance happened 10 12 years ago… Talk about environmental changes and global warming! Wildflowers had painted the mountains yellow and purple. View Photos. Keep your sweater, sunglasses, sunblock – in your day pack. You should be in the Manali bus stand by 5 AM. We had reached the bus stand while it was still dark, and surprisingly not cold at all for that early morning hour. There are a few food stalls (dhabas) set up temporarily in the summer months, at Chhatru and Batal when the Manali Kaza route opens up for traffic. We drank the local water everywhere without facing any stomach problems even once. The altitude clouded our judgement and the thought of walking didn’t occur to us. There is an alternative route to the Spiti valley via Kinnaur, starting from Shimla. On a regular day, you get varied weather on the Manali Kaza route to Spiti valley. Though the Atal Tunnel has hardly reduced the road distance between Manali and Spiti valley by nearly 20km, the drive time between the two places has now been reduced by over 2 hours. The Manali Kaza route to Spiti is not for the faint-hearted. Losar was also where we took our tea break. They do not ply unless they are given a weather clearance and are the safest mode of travel on these rough roads. The 23.8km north portal road will connect the tunnel to Manali-Sarchu road. We had read it led to magical lands. There aren’t any villages here. Exploring Travel as Lifestyle. The 9.02 km-long 'Atal' is the longest highway tunnel in the world, connecting Manali to Lahaul-Spiti valley throughout the year. These can reach faster, but we will always recommend taking the HRTC bus to travel to Spiti by the Manali Kaza route. This was a stormy downpour with swollen raindrops et al. Thanks for the tips to top it! This sounded a bit of a smooth sailing and our journey to Spiti on the Manali Kaza road had been anything but that – even when nothing had gone wrong. was told as the road to kaaza from nanali is still not open even as of today.. will it be open in june 2019? Beautiful photos. - The tunnel reduces the road distance by 46 Kms between Manali and Leh and the time by about 4 to 5 hours.-The South Portal (SP) of Atal Tunnel is located at a distance of 25 Km from Manali at an altitude of 3060 Mtrs, while the North Portal (NP) of the tunnel is located near village Teling, Sissu, in Lahaul Valley at an altitude of 3071 Mtrs. Rome2rio makes travelling from Manali to Spiti Valley easy. The road connecting the south portal of the tunnel to Manali is 2.7km long. Realising that everyone would like to relieve themselves, the driver announced a toilet break. Cover your sacks before putting them in the luggage compartment. You can refill your water at Losar. 12,461 Views. There was a dhaba here and some cars had halted for a break. Just find a sufficiently big rock to get behind and do your thing. A mad mob gathered at the bus doors while the bus was still in motion. We waited patiently letting all the mad drama unravel. If one plans to reach the Lahaul Spiti district from the city of Manali, then he or she needs to make an entry to the district through the valley of Lahaul. Spiti Valley; Spiti: Spiti River upstream of Kaza. All the bags had been dumped in the dusty as a barn luggage compartment. We were happy to crossover on the side of adventure. We were in Spiti. Trucks, as well as the locals, prefer this route via Kinnaur to travel to and from the Spiti valley. Thanks for sharing this fantastic Article, really very informative. Just no! All valid answers. These things are quite common in the Spiti valley. A few locals started to get off the bus now. It was all matter-of-fact. /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. A few sharp turns later we were at the top of the Rohtang Pass. PM Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the all-weather Atal Tunnel in Rohtang, Himachal Pradesh which connects Manali to Lahaul-Spiti valley, lowering the distance together by 46 km and also the travel time by four or five hrs. Foreign nationals also had to note down their passport numbers here. What had been a smooth albeit winding drive till now was starting to become bumpy. At that moment, all of these details were lost on us. This tunnel is the longest highway tunnel worldwide, and the 9.02 km long tunnel will connect Manali to Lahaul-Spiti valley the entire year. You could either be surrounded by the larger than life brown, black and red mountains towering over you or you could drive on well-laid roads. */, Copyright © 2021 SandeepaChetan's Travel Blog, A destination within India that you are planning to travel to. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Atal Tunnel in Himachal Pradesh’s Rohtang. However, the Manali – Kaza route is now also for the faint hearted! Earlier, the valley … Shared taxis leave in the morning from Manali to Kaza. These dhabas are particularly used by the trekkers on their Hampta trek. And before we knew it, every single person of the mob had burst into the bus and jumped into every seat possible. Best article and photographs. Your writing skill is very good, you must keep writing this type of Article. Nice Post with all the details. It’s a steady climb to the lake. Here is the final vlog of our Rohtang trip. We were happy to be seated inside where the heat and the altitude were now starting to show effect. Or maybe, we just wanted to know how landslides in Spiti worked. Thank you so much for sharing a great information! It was barren. Atal Tunnel (also known as Rohtang Tunnel) is a highway tunnel built under the Rohtang Pass in the eastern Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas on the Leh-Manali Highway in Himachal Pradesh, India. But, as if by magic, in a matter of minutes, everything had settled. Why didn’t we just walk, is a question we asked ourselves later. The Manali Kaza route is roughly 200 km and takes almost 12 hours to cover (on a good day). It cuts down on the street distance between Manali and Leh in Ladakh by 46 km and travelling time by four or five hrs. Your Reason has been Reported to the admin. No way could it be called a light drizzle that was the norm in Spiti. ICICI Prudential Midcap Direct Plan-Growth. Please use this space to provide any additional information that you think might help us to design your itinerary. Two more followed. By the time we crossed Kuric and had almost reached Rangrik, just before Kaza, it started to rain. You were in the higher Himalayas, a rare place to be. The Atal Rohtang Tunnel connects Manali to Lahaul-Spiti valley and will also be open to the commuters all year round. On the Manali Kaza route to Spiti? All of this only meant one thing – the Greater Himalayas were welcoming us! The name "Spiti" means "The middle land", i.e. a thick fog had engulfed us as soon as we got out of the Manali bus stand. What a great post and beautiful pictures!!! You will drive over the river beds. We can think of a few answers. Tomorrow is different. Just one word. We hope that through our travel stories we inspire others to make their dream into a reality. Except for the last stretch just before you reach Kaza, you are crossing through some seriously high altitude wilderness (the highest point of the Manali Kaza route comes on the Kunzum Pass, over 4500 meters!). Leading to a major chaos and catastrophic scene! For not more than a few hundred meters, the village would bring with it some action. You will reach Kaza by any time between 5 PM to midnight. We had been on the high altitude Himalayan roads before in an HRTC bus, notably, the Leh Manali road. The mountain slopes were suddenly fully visible. Learn how your comment data is processed. And the rains shocked us! We were there for 3 weeks in August. Suggest a time when we can discuss your trip. The path was narrow, uneven and winding. Smaller vehicles, even SUVs often get stuck on these crossings. Featured by National Geographic, Yahoo. It makes the reader experience the journey and the wonderful sights so beautifully described, Beautiful photos and post. It is off limits in the winter once snowfall starts. The vehicles and the foreign nationals had to register themselves here as well. The tunnel will reduce total road distance by 46 km and the travel time by 4 hours. By Charanpreet Singh | Updated: 03-Oct-20 04:15 PM IST. On the Kunzum Pass? Out of habit, we strolled around to take in the sights. Had it rained for 10 more minutes, the locals said the mud mountain overlooking the bazar would have all flown down into the market/taxi stands etc. That’s what we have experienced, so wrote this keeping our pre-travel state of mind. And that’s all that mattered. Indians. Atal Tunnel is the longest highway tunnel in the world, and the 9.02 km long tunnel connects Manali to Lahaul-Spiti valley throughout the year. We crossed villages like Kiato and Pangmo – names we were hearing for the first time. The tunnel will remain closed between 9 pm to 6 am until December 2020 for maintenance activities. With the open of the Atal Tunnel, you can now bypass Rohtang Pass, the places that fall on this route go like Manali – Atal Tunnel – Khoksar – Gramphu – Chattru – Chota Dhara – Batal – Kunzum Pass – Losar – Kaza. the land between Tibet and India. Get travel stories, tips and offers directly in your inbox #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } And we had been granted the privilege to play a tiny role in it. Specific activities that you would like included, plus transport requirements should be mentioned here. This will alert our moderators to take action. The driver arrived. … Would u b able to share the approximate month/date when u made this trip from Manali to Kaza… I with my 4 friends had gone from Shimla to Kaza and further on to Manali between 2nd and 13TH Aug 2018…The rain and landslide in Kaza happened while we were IN Kaza and they say it never rains in the mountain desert of Spiti! It felt that I was there while reading your article. I am waiting for your next post. Amazing. Tabo is further down at a distance of 249 km from Manali Manali to Spiti Valley Route Map Straight roads were now history. Your sacks will be locked inside the luggage compartment at the back of the bus. Find all the transport options for your trip from Manali to Spiti Valley right here. Either to seek the blessings of Kunzum Mata for a safe passage or to thank her for them through. If the weather goes bad or landslides occur, it’s possible that the previous day’s bus didn’t return to Manali from Kaza. Revelling in the discomfort, yes but largely in disbelief. The tunnel reduces the road distance by 46 kilometres between Manali and Leh and the time by about four to five hours. It was a perfect plot. We jumped the small streams and bent down to have a closer look at the flowers. On our first long-term travel in the Himalayas, we had heard of the Kunzum Pass like one hears a fable. Not both. This or that. Calling it a road trip is an oxymoron. The bus had to register its crossing here. They do not follow a timetable and leave only when the seats are filled. Great job SandeepaChetan! It was sheer luck that we didn’t have any smaller cars ahead of us and didn’t face any unscheduled, forced stops. Happy to read this from a seasoned traveller! I hope you enjoy it. We crossed several bridges over the Spiti river. A journey from Manali to Lahaul and Spiti Valley would now be covered in a little over 15 minutes. Nice. Nothing to do. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. Married. You cross two mountain passes – Rohtang Pass at the start and the Kunzum Pass further ahead. Copyright © 2021 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved. Rest Stop at Chhatru. We were doing excellent time and expected to be in Kaza by 5 PM. A co-passenger requested the driver to halt for a toilet break. When this happens, the bus doesn’t leave from Manali the next morning. Green was slowly but surely being driven out by brown. Breathtaking views of the journey. What had we done, really, to deserve to be where we were? Hey Sameer, I guess we were in Kaza at the same time then! The initial logistics feel like a lot of work until you find some reliable information. Manali town is one of the two — the second is Shimla — places to start the Spiti valley circuit tour . Everyone with a reservation was seated in their respective seats. The two roads are estimated to cost Rs1.8bn ($38m). Breathtaking pictures and an interesting article to go along with it. White houses made of stone and mud, surrounded by the farm of green peas brought us out of the wilderness. Except for some stretches of wilderness, this route via Kinnaur passes mostly through civilisation. Everyone was waiting for the machine to arrive and clear the landslide. People working on a farm or two, a few children playing on the roads. At a length of 9.02 km, it is the longest tunnel above 10,000 feet (3,048 m) in the world and is named after former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Some facts about the Manali Kaza route to Spiti valley. As we took our seats on the bus, our heads spun and it felt like our hearts were going to burst. This was the second checkpoint of our journey to Spiti on the Manali Kaza route. https://devilonwheels.com/5-reasons-travel-spiti-valley-from-manali-route There’s no way we could’ve competed with the hordes who had miraculously squeezed into the bus. The 9.02 km-long tunnel connects Manali to Lahaul-Spiti valley throughout the year. We now clung to the hope that the bus conductor would act fair and honour our tickets. It covered the mountaintops. Let’s get some things straight before we start. Gramphu was the splitting point. PM Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated the all-weather Atal Tunnel in Rohtang, Himachal Pradesh which connects Manali to Lahaul-Spiti valley, reducing the distance between them by 46 km and the travel time by four to five hours. It starts getting cooler as you climb the Rohtang Pass. There wasn’t a tree in sight, only mountain grass. It was dusty. As if being called for, dark clouds started to appear over the distant horizon across the mountains. Other than Chhatru and Gramphu, there weren’t any “places” that we crossed on our journey to Spiti. Once the tunnel is opened to traffic, the distance between Manali and Keylong (Lahaul-Spiti’s administrative headquarter) is expected to be reduced by around 46 kilometres. When these were replaced by the peeking snow-clad peaks, we knew we had rapidly gained height over the Rohtang Pass. The valley was earlier cut off for about six months every year due to … Muddy paths had taken the place of blacktops at the start of the Manali Kaza route. Nor did we see traces of nomadic camps. Now, at a place named Chotadara, we had to cross the Chenab river. We knew dangerously well that for the next 200 km, which could stretch from anything between 8 to 16 hours, our lives were in the hands of this man. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Somewhere on the Kunzum Pass, the black waters of the Spiti river made an exuberant entry into our lives. Chhatru is around halfway from Manali to Spiti. Rough patches decreased and well-laid blacktops increased. The rest of this Manali Kaza route is mostly nameless. Because right then, there was nowhere to go.
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