Himachal Pradesh – Gramphoo, Batal, Chandratal

Day4:

Now the most wonderful part of the journey began from Gramphoo onwards as we took the left fork and started moving towards Batal via Chatroo and Chotadhara. The mountains and landscape start turning barren gradually as we crossed Chotadhara. Batal is a place infamous for chill and wind. From here after couple of km of road towards Kunzum pass there is a left fork on motorable road that would take you to Chandratal. The interesting part is we stopped at Batal for a cup of tea at chacha chachi’s shop but there incidentally we came across a couple of bikers who told us specifically that there are 4 tents this year in Chandratal, out of which 2 are 4 km away from lake where as other 2 are just 500mtrs away. When we enquired more a gentleman sitting aside told us, he could take us to one such camp which is close to Chandratal. Now when we started chatting, we found he was none other than Jamaica of BCMT who is very active in Spiti forum. So good friends found, we proceeded towards Chandratal through a narrow road keeping Chandra river at your left. You would acknowledge the height when you reach Chandratal as every step would make you feel tired especially if you are not well conditioned in that height. Next what we have seen, experienced couldn’t be expressed in words, at least beyond my vocabulary, so let’s stop talking and put some snaps to share with you all.

Landscape started turning Barren, approaching Spiti:

DSC_0234

Wild Flowers in August:

DSC_0235

Another lovely landscape:

DSC_0245

Unstoppable Chandra River:

DSC_0247

Typical Spiti Scape:

DSC_0249

Road towards Chandratal:

DSC_0255

Loneliness:

DSC_0258

Trek Group coming from Baralacha:

DSC_0259 DSC_0261

First Glimpse of the Magic Lake:

DSC_0263

Meeting the Nomads, they were supposed to start their 2 months long journey to Dharamsala by another couple of days:

DSC_0264

Warm welcome with a cup of hot tea:

DSC_0267

Magic Moments with the Magic Lake:

DSC_0269 DSC_0273 DSC_0274 DSC_0275 DSC_0281

Life is a box of chocolate or a pack of ….. 🙂

DSC_0284 DSC_0288

What an amazing background to have a snap:

DSC_0296

The pretty dog:

DSC_0301 DSC_0313

Magnificent Vista:

DSC_0308

Previous: Himachal Pradesh – Pangi Valley, Pattan Valley, Lahaul Valley, Journey from Killar to Khoksar

Next: Himachal Pradesh – Chandratal, Kunzum Pass, Kungri, Drive Back to Shimla