Truck rescued from certain disaster at Sangla Bus Stand

A truck was rescued from certain disaster at Sangla Bus Stand in Himachal Pradesh in early September 2025. 

Credit: Jatin Praness 

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* Mishap And Calamity 

Road trip to Lahaul and Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh in October 2019 in Hyundai Creta by Soumala Ghosh

Road trip to Lahaul and Spiti Valley in  Himachal Pradesh:

I (Soumala Ghosh) with husband (Batsayan Das) and son started on 2/10/2019 from Kolkata in own  Hyundai Creta (Diesel) SUV.
Total distance covered:  5000 km+

2/10/2019: Kolkata - Night halt near Varanasi.
3/10/2019: Varanasi - Night halt at Agra.
4/10/2019: Agra - Delhi - Chandigarh - Chail (575km). Road condition is extremely good upto Himalayan Expressway toll plaza. Thereafter it becomes worse. Put up at Koti Forest Rest House, 10 km from Chail towards Kufri.
5/10/2019: Koti - Kufri - Narkanda (62 km). Road condition is quite good. Put up at Gahan Forest Rest House, 20 km from Narkanda.
6/10/2019: Gahan - Rampur - Nichar (129 km). It took more than 6 hours for us as we stopped on the way several times appreciating the lush greenery and snow capped mountains. Roads have been carved out of rocks and  mountains. Put up at Nichar Forest Rest House.
7/10/2019: Nichar - Sangla - Chitkul village (100 km). Chitkul is in Kinnaur district. Road is extremely rough and narrow particularly after Sangla. Put up at final destination, by the River Baspa.
8/10/2019: Chitkul - Kalpa (61km).  In the morning we found thin sheet of snow on the windscreen of the car. Put up at Kalpa Forest Rest House.
9/10/2019: Entered Lahaul and Spiti Valley. The terrain completely changed. From lush greenery it became desert with River Spiti flowing nourishing the growth of cacti and a few plants and trees. We drove past Nako, Tabo and arrived at Dhankar Monastery Guest House (179 km). Extremely helpful caretaker who served with  refreshing honey ginger lemon tea on our arrival. Next morning we  tried to trek upto Dhankar Lake, but it was too difficult for us because of extreme cold and I was having a bit oxygen problem.
10,11,12/10/2019: Kaza.  Dhankar - Kaza (33 km). Kaza is a small town in Lahaul Spiti district. An elderly lama suggested us to take the route via Lallung village, Lingti valley,  Demul village upto Kaza. We followed his advice and really enjoyed our drive through small villages, gossiping with local people over cups of tea, taking a glimpse of their lifestyle. From Kaza we visited several small villages like Langza with a statue of gautama Buddha, Komic, Hikkim villages. We also visited Kye Monastery which is a must visit. We drove upto Chicham bridge constructed at an altitude of 13000 ft, Kibber village,  Gete but could not reach Tashi Gong as we lost the trace of road. There were no human being to ask for direction. Only yaks and more yaks were there.
13/10/2019 - 15/10/2019: Kaza - Manali via Lossar - Kunzum Pass - Batal - Chhotedhara - Chhatru - Gramphu - Leh Manali Highway - Rohtang Pass (202 km). It took 10 hours. There is no road after Lossar. Kunzam Pass was breathtakingly beautiful. The most difficult portion was crossing Chhotedhara. The road is full of rocks and we had to drive on the riverbed with Chandra River accompanying us. At last after Gramphu we took Leh Manali Highway and arrived at Rohtang Pass. But here also in some stretches road condition is very bad upto Manali.
16/10/2019: Manali - Panipat (453 km).
17/10/2019: Panipat - Lucknow (647 km).
18/10/2019: Lucknow - Mohania (Hotel Kaimur Vihar) (372 km).
19/10/2019: I am expected to reach Kolkata.

Road trip to Spiti, Kaza, Chandratal, Manali starting in June 2018 by Sukla Chaki

Travelogue of a road trip in early June 2018 by Indian Roadie Sukla Chaki and five other male friends and a driver in a rented Toyota Innova.

The route was as follows:
New Delhi - Chandigarh - Shimla - Narkanda - Sangla - Chitkul - Kalpa - Mud - Kaza - Kibber - Komik - Hikkim - Langza - Chicham Bridge - Chandratal - Batal - Gramphoo - Rohtang Pass - Manali - Chandigarh - New Delhi.

The itinerary .......
Day 1:
Vadodara 7.10am to Delhi 8.00am by flight.
By rented full-time Toyota Innova, Delhi (3pm) to Chandigarh (9pm), 6 hrs including one lunch break for 45 minutes and a short tea break.

Day 2:
Chandigarh to Sangla (312 km/ 10 hrs including breaks for breakfast, lunch, 4 tea breaks) via Shimla, Narkanda, Rampur.
Stayed in Hotel Madhu in Sangla.

Day 3:
Sangla to Kalpa (47 kms) via Chitkul.
Stayed in Chini Bungalow, Kalpa.

Day 4:
Kalpa to Tabo (159 km/ 7 hrs, including breaks for lunch and tea) via Geu Village.
Stay in Namsy Homestay in Tabo.

Day 5:
Tabo to Mud via  Dhankar Monastery and Dhankar Lake.
Visit to the Monastery and back involved a 2 kms trek.

Day 6:
Mud to Kibber (46 kms/ 5 hrs) via Kaza, Tashiganj, Gette.
The highest fuel filling station, an IOC outlet is in Kaza.
Stay in Kibber homestay.

Day 7:
Kibber to Langza (approx 42 kms/ 6 hrs) via Komic Village and Hikkim.
Stayed in PhanDhey Homestay in Hikkim, Komic.
Langza is famous for the huge statue of Buddha.
Hikkim is famous for world's highest Post Office. 

Day 8:
Langza to Chandratal (approx 51 kms) via Chicham Bridge.
Stayed in Tenzing Camp (tent).
Trekked Tenzing Camp to Chandratal (3 kms each way or 6 kms in total).

Day 9:
Stayed in Chandratal.

Day 10:
Chandra Tal to Manali (approx 50 kms) via Pagla Dhara (left early morning at 6am to avoid wide and deep water-crossings, Batal (famous for Chacha Chachi's Dhaba),  Gramphoo, Rohtang Pass.
Stayed in Crazy Pad Hostel in Old Manali.

Day 11:
Stayed in Manali.

Day 12:
Manali to Delhi Airport (578 kms) via Chandigarh.
Checked out of Crazy Pad Hostel in Old Manali at 9am. Exited Manali city limits after lunch at 1pm. 

Day 13
Delhi - Vadodara by flight in the evening. 

Spiti road direction/ condition (as in early June 2016)

Spiti update (road direction/ condition) by Rajiv Kumar, Founder - Yellow Peaks (as on June 4, 2016):

For those wishing to plan a drive trip to Kinnaur and Spiti on a sedan or hatchback, this is the best time in last few years.

Delhi - Shimla : Wonderful road condition.

Shimla - Narkanda : Nice drive.

Narkanda - Rampur Bushahr : Fantastic road, just couple of kms of bad stretch just after Narkanda.

Rampur Bushahr - Wangtu : Decent road with just one bad stretch.

Wangtu - Tapri : Flat track. Rajiv Kumar drove his Maruti Suzuki SX4 at 30-40 km/hr on this stretch.

Tapri - No waiting or oneway timing, just one small tight stretch, with steep ascent and descent. There are two big landslides but bypass to those are all good.

Tapri - Karcham : Road under construction, you can do 50 km/hr in a sedan.

Karcham to Sangla : Mix of good and bad, again doable by any sedan.

Sangla to Chitkul : Mostly broken but easy to drive.

Karcham - Powari : Some usual broken roads near Shongtong Bridge and Powari, rest all good. Good thing is, no slush, its absolutely dry.

Powari - Spillow : Broken under construction road.

Spillow - Nako : Mix of good and bad roads, drive to Kazig is awesome.

Malling Nalla : As of now, you will not even realize when will you cross it, completely tamed.

Nako - Tabo : Ok road.

Tabo - Lingti : Dusty, very very dusty.

Lingti - Mud : Awesome roads, some bad patches between Sagnam and Mud.

Lingti - Kaza : Bad and dusty.

Kaza - Kibber : Super smooth.

In Summary:
As of now in early June 2016, this section is in its best form, compared to last 5 years. Can be done by car with care.
Its dusty, very very dusty.

Beware of tourist rush in Kinnaur, book in advance.