Bhilai - Spiti - Bhilai in Maruti Ritz in September 2019 by Anurag Raghuwanshi

CHATTISGRAH TO SPITI
Ever since driving to Ladakh in May 2018, I was dreaming to drive to Spiti. Finally took off on 15th of September 2019. Car was my 2015 model Maruti Ritz. And my companion for the drive was as usual my mother. Both of us were very excited for the trip.

Day 1: Bhilai-Sadak Arjuni-Gondia-Seoni-Sagar (590 km)(5.30am-7pm)
Left at 5:00AM. NH6 was a breeze . Took a diversion from NH6 near Sadak Arjuni towards towards Gondia and connected to Srinagar Kanyakumari highway at Seoni . Last time when I drove on Sadak Arjuni – Gondia-Seoni  route it was smooth but this time it was bad. Specially 20km of patch leading up to Gondia was dug up due to road widening. Also the rest of the route till Seoni had some rough patches in between. Once I touched K-K highway roads were smooth till Sagar.

Day 2: Sagar-Jhansi-Gwalior-Agra-Noida(672km)(5.50am-8pm)
Entire roads were smooth barring Gwalior-Jhansi stretch which continues to remain the biggest pain. Crossing the town of Dabra was the worst. The road that goes around Dabra is closed. Highway traffic passes right through the middle of the town where a concrete road is being laid. The main intersection was a complete mess. Cycles,Bikes,E-rickshwas,Tempos were flying in from all directions. There were 4 traffic cops stationed at the intersection and all of them were trying hard to make sure that traffic kept moving. Took me almost half an hour to cross the city. The town of Morena is also in bad shape as an overpass is being constructed. YEH was as usual smooth. Reached Noida and crashed in my bed.

Day 3: Noida-Panipat-Zikarpur-Solan-Chail-Narkanda(451km)(6.00am-8.00pm)
The road from Delhi to Panipat has some diversions. Sailed till Himalayan expressway comfortably. Four-laning of the ghat section was complete at many places but some sections were closed due to landslides. Hence the route had many diversions. Took the road towards Chail from Kandaghat. The Kandaghat-Kufri road was very narrow which required careful driving. Ended the day in Narkanda.

Day 4: Narkanda-Chitkul (7.00am-5.00pm)(189km)
I wanted to reach Chitkul by noon so that I could explore Chitkul and leave early next morning. But the conditions of the roads started degrading ahead of Rampur. Final Hike up to Chitkul was very bumpy. Checked-in a hotel and then headed straight for the Baspa river bed.

Day 5: Chitkul stay
My mother was suffering with a head ache. So decided to rest in Chitkul for a day and leave next morning.

Day 6: Chitkul-Nako(157km)(8.30am-6.30pm)
Started at 8.30 and reached Karcham by 11.30. Karcham to Powari was smooth. From Powari till Spello roads were average and Traffic was stopped at many places due to blasting by BRO. Was at standstill for almost 3 hours in between. I talked to a local who said that Tue and Fri, 11.30 to 2.30 was the new time assigned by DC for blasting. Had my lunch in Spello and then headed towards Nako. Roads were a mix bag. The final 20km leading up to Nako was butter smooth. Reahced Nako by 6.30pm.

Day 7 Nako-Tabo(91.3km)(10.00am-3.00pm)
Was finally going to enter Spiti valley today. Visited Nako lake,monastery and had a walk around Nako town. Started at 10.00am towards Tabo. In between took the diversion towards Giu village to visit the 500 year old mummy. Nako-Tabo stretch was a mix of ok and good roads. Visited Tabo monastery the day itself.

Day 8: Tabo-Dhankar-Mud(82km)(9.00am-3.00pm)
The stretch from Tabo till the diversion towards Dhankar was smooth. After the diversion initial 300 meters was in terrible shape. Rest was smooth till Dhankar monastery. Dhankar monastery has no official parking and all cars were parked on the road leading up to the monastery. Had a tough time finding a place to park. Explored the monastery and then headed towards Mud. Two-thirds of the road from NH-5 towards Mud village was a kaccha road. Although not very bumpy but still the drive took time. Also the stretch was very isolated.  Explored Mud village and trekked along the mountains for almost a km.

Day 9: Mud-Kaza-Komik-Hikkim-Langza-Kaza(109km)(7.30am-6.20pm)
Headed towards Kaza and refueled. This was the only pump before Manali. We were going to reach at high altitudes. Komik was almost at a height of 15000ft. We wanted to cover the circuit by 3:00pm. So First we headed straight to komik which has the highest motorable monastery,then to Hikkim(highest post office) and then to Langza(Buddha statue).When we start from kaza, Langza is the nearest but a diversion just before Langza heads towards Hikkim and Komik. Road till Langza was good but ahead of Langza leading up to komik and Hikkim all were gravel roads But still was able to cover the circuit quite comfortably. Was back in Kaza by 6.00pm.

Day 10: Kaza stay
Both me and my mother decided to rest in Kaza for on full day. Took a sound sleep and visited Kaza market. Refueled again in Kaza

Day 11: Kaza-Key monastery-Kibber-Chicham(42km)(8.00am-2.00pm)
There was some kind of preaching scheduled at Key monastery. Hence Key Monastery was crowded with local Buddhist population. Anyhow we didn’t face any problems. Reached Key by 9.30am, explored the monastery and then headed towards Kibber by 11.30am. Kibber is one of the most beautiful settlements in the entire Spiti valley. Enjoyed the view and then headed towards Chicham. Roads were good throughout.

Day 12: Chicham-Kyato-Chandrataal(82km)(8.00am-2.00pm)
The big day had arrived. All three of us-Myself ,my mother and My Ritz were ready for the day. Many people whom I met before had already warned me that the road till Chandrataal and then further up to Manali will be hard for my car to negotiate. Started at 8.00am. The road from Chicham joins Kaza-Manali stretch near Kyato. From Chicham to this point , the road was butter smooth & isolated. Not a single vehicle crossed us till we connected to NH5. From Kyato onwards bad roads started. Crossed Kuzum pass at 12:30pm.Before the diversion towards Chandratal, there were many hairpin bends which reminded me of the Gata loops of Ladakh. Gata loops however had a smooth tarmac. Here it was a kaccha road embedded with stones. Once I was on the Chandrataal road the real test started. It was a narrow stretch and had some very terrible patches in between. Here my Ritz took some underbody hits. The 10km stretch took me almost an hour to negotiate. It was an hour past noon and vehicles returning from Chandrataal also made things tough. Reached the spot where all camps are based by 2.00pm. Booked a camp and then without wasting anytime headed towards Chandrataal. The road from the camp site towards Chandrataal was a muddy road with some very narrow hairpin bends. The tyres of my car started skidding at those edges but somehow managed. From parking till the lake it’s a km hike. Reached chandrataal, admired the views for almost 2 hours and then headed back. Both me and my mother were very happy as we were dreaming of this day for the last one year.

Day 13: Chandrataal-Manali(132km)(6.15am-6.30pm)
Many people had asked to start my vehicle once after midnight to ensure that I don’t face any issues early morning. So I woke up at 2.00am and started the car. The anticipation for the drive ensured that I couldn’t sleep anymore. Woke my mother up at 5.30am and started by 6.15am. Only one vehicle crossed till I connected to NH5. Road was ok till Batal. After crossing Batal the roads got ugly. Water crossings started getter bigger and deeper. The Car took many underbelly hits. Chota dara was my biggest fear. But just kept my cool and negotiated every water crossing inch by inch. The car scarpped many rocks in between. After crossing Chota dara a point came where there was a steep incline and some huge rocks at the end of it. The car finally gave up at the incline and couldn’t move ahead. Before I could even think of my next move there were at least 4-5 people who surrounded the car and started to help. One Innova driver who had already crossed the spot parked his car ahead and came back to help. After a struggle of almost 15 minutes the car finally crossed the hurdle. I thanked all the souls who helped me and moved ahead. Conditions improved after Chattru. It was an adventurous drive filled with fear. Finally crossed Gramphu and connected to Leh-Manali Highway at 1:00pm. It was the same spot where, on my way back from Leh, almost a year back I had dreamed to comeback via Chandrataal. I was relieved to finally drive on a smooth tarmac. The drive till Rohtang pass was more or less smooth. Halted In Rohtang pass for an hour and then headed towards Manali. Checked in a hotel in Manali by 6:00pm.

Day 14: Manali-Ambala(348.2km)(7.00am-9.00pm)
Started to head towards home. The early morning exit from Manali was very soothing. After crossing Mandi the traffic gets Chaotic. The long queue of trucks was frustrating. It turned to be a very long drive. Reached Ambala by 9.00pm.

Day 15:  Ambala-Gwalior(588km)(6.00am-8.00pm)
It was drizzling in Ambala as I left. Took EPE to cross NCR. Wanted to reach Jhansi but by the time I reached Gwalior it was dark and I wasn’t prepared to drive on the notorious Gwalior-Jhansi stretch after dark. Was dead tired after three days of continuous driving. So for the first time slept without setting an alarm.

Day 16: Gwalior-Narsinghpur(472km)(10.00am-8.00pm)
Slept as much as I could and stared at 10.00am. Was welcomed by a huge queen of trucks on the outskirts of Gwalior, created because of a collision between two trucks ahead, which cleared almost after an hour. Dabra was the same story. Reached Narsingpur by 9.00pm.

Day 17: Narsingpur-Ramtek-Mauda-Bhilai(481km)(6.00am-8.00pm)
It was the last day of my Spiti drive. From Ramtek to Mauda it was a single lane smooth road.
Finally reached home at 6:00pm.

Covered a total distance of 4500km in 17 days.
Both me and my mother followed some strict diet plans to ensure that we didn’t face any health problems.
We had packed a large quantity of dry fruits which was our breakfast for every day accompanied by some fruits and raw vegetables. We ate in dhabas ,restaurants etc only once a day preferably around 4:00pm. Also as a rule, I stopped my car every 90 minutes so that we could walk for some time to ensure enough smooth blood circulation resulting in lesser fatigue levels at the end of the day.