Adventures of Gramphu – Batal Road – DoW Mega Meet 2014

The night was quite cold up there at Chandratal and in fact the thought of just peeing out at night was

giving jitters down the spine … Somehow, with some courage I was able to go out after 3-4

attempts. The morning first rays made us awake and it was time to go to Chandratal (read travel

guide here).

Ripples in Chandratal Lake

The journey so far…

Day 1 | Delhi to Fagu

Day 2 | Fagu to Kalpa

Day 3 | Kalpa – Geyu – Tabo

Day 4 | Tabo – Dhangkar Lake – Mane

Day 5 | Mane Village – Sopona Lake – Lhalung

Day 6,7 | Lhalung – Langza – Komik – Hikkim

Day 7 | Spreading Smiles in Kaza

Day 8 | Kaza – Kunzum Pass – Chandratal

Day 9 | Chandratal – Gramphu – Batal

We started in Pawan sir car and then walked the last 600-700 mtrs after parking the car up there and as

usual the first sight of Chandratal is always so heavenly. It was a bit disappointment as the little breeze

had created the ripples in the Chandratal Lake. The best time to see reflections in general is 8 AM to

10.30 AM types when the lake is quite calm and reflecting the surroundings magically in it. After spending

sometime up there at the lake we started back for home and cover the most enthralling part of the journey

from Batal to Gramphu

Early morning walk to Chandratal

Camping site of Chandratal

Chandratal Lake – First View

We started for Bataldhabha after bidding adieus to Nawangbhai, Bishanbhai from Parsol Camps and

motubhai. The drive in the morning was does offering some adventure as now we could see the gorge

aside but it went un-adventurous … We reached Batal and then had some tea plus some paranthas

to kick off the last leg toManali.

The valley view on the way to Chandratal

Devils getting ready at Batal

Beautiful view at Batal

The hell just broke out on the road as we left Batal and small cars like mine were running painfully slow.

One after another the adventurous water crossings were coming and some how we were dodging the big

boulders. The heart was pumping and praying with each such water crossings not to enforce a deep hole

in car’s underbelly

Finally, came the dorninalla and the gramphunalla, WOW !! Water was gushing, heart was pounding, all

were screaming — in one GO, in one GO !! And then I saw, XUV was stuck at the end. It cannot get

better than this… He HeHe… Finally, it was my turn and with in seconds of blood rush in veins I

accelerated to get stuck in last stage and then a push from devils from behind and car was through… Uff I

do not have words to explain it but yes that was it, the adventure of a life time to drive

from Batal toGramphu in a small car …

Glaciers on Batal – Gramphu road

Devils on Recce

Struggling through it

Views – As heavenly as it can get

Cruising on Batal – Gramphu road

Its all that easy for Thar

Then it was just a smooth drive to the top of Rohtang Pass. At the top, we bid adieus to Tapan da and

his friends with a promise to meet for yet another adventure after an year … Then, as we were

rolling down I was looking back at my cousin and misjudged a gap between a big rock and tempo

standing in the middle of the road. The rock hit the car rail and toppled down beneath the car …

My heart was in the mouth and I was feeling gutted as after crossing the entire hell of a roads, this

happened on a well tarred road !! Thankfully, no damage was done though the rock was stuck

underneath. We had devils with us so they lifted the car and I removed the stone. We went to Kothi,

stopped for lunch there which was not so good along with high cost and pathetic service.

We decided then to directly drive home as it was 3.30 PM only instead of resting in Manali. Pawanji, Vipin

and my car was traveling together home. It was just a normal drive on Manali – Delhi Highway and only at

12.30 AM we came to know about a massive traffic jam near Bilaspur and since I was almost feeling

sleepy, we decided to crash in some hotel to start afresh in next morning. We stayed at Bilaspur at night

and left next morning for Delhi. We reached Delhi in afternoon and ended this LifeMeinBaarBaar MEGA

ADVENTURE from Devil On Wheels !!!

I hope you enjoyed the tale of Mega Meet 2014 and coming Friday, we will commence our DoW Mega

Meet 2015 – Zanskar Valley &Changthang in Ladakh for 11 days of yet another mega adventure…

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