Manali, Himachal Pradesh, Incredible India

Manali, Himachal Pradesh, Incredible India

Manali, Himachal Pradesh, Incredible India

Manali, Himachal Pradesh, Incredible India

Untouched, Virgin Beauty of Himalayas.... Chitkul, Sangla Valley

Himalayan peaks, Snow, Glacier, River Baspa...... what else do you want ???

one of THE BEST moments of my life... enjoying the beauty of Chitkul ...stretching myself atop a big rock

Snow Clad Himalayas..... Chitkul, Incredible India

The Hindustan Tibet Road

National Highway No. 22, also known as the Hindustan Tibet Road, is undoubtedly one of the most difficult and toughest roads in this world. After Rampur, the road turns very rough & very tough. Below are some of the pics showing the beauty & the toughness of the road.

A Picturesque Bridge : The Hindustan Tibet Road, NH22, Incredible India

Road... find the road... see the line cutting through the himalayas ? It's the : The Hindustan Tibet Road, NH22, Incredible India

"The Line" as seen in above picture, this is how it looks from inside : The Hindustan Tibet Road, NH22, Incredible India

The Kinner Kailash Peak -Abode of Lord Shiva

During our journey, many local people told us that only lucky people can have the glimpse of The Kinner Kailash Peak. Assumed to be one of the abodes of Lord Shiva, this peak is almost always hidden in clouds. Once we settled down in the Hotel at Kalpa, We had to target our cameras towards the Kinner Kailash Mountains for almost an hour & took almost 50 shots (that takes into account my amateur skills & my amateur camera)...  before we could capture these pictures, where the Shivalinga atop the mountain became clearly visible to us.
As the folklore goes, we definitely felt blessed & the lucky ones to get these pictures. So, will be all devotees of Hinduism if they happen to see these pictures. May Lord Shiva bless us all.

The Kinner Kailash:View from Kalpa, Kinnaur District, Himachal Pradesh, Incredible India

The Kinner Kailash - The Shivlinga on the peak of mountain

HPTDC Hotel Kinner Kailash - Kalpa, A Nature Lover's Paradise

HPTDC Hotel Kinner Kailash, Kalpa, Himachal Pradesh, Incredible India

An Inside View of HPTDC Hotel Kinner Kailash, Kalpa, Himachal Pradesh, Incredible India

Kalpa, Old Capital of Kinnaur District

After a night stay at Sarahan, next morning we resumed our journey on the Hindstan Tibet Road.  After a travel of 3-4 hours on one of the most toughest terrains, one of the most difficult roads not only in India, but in the world,  just when we thought our journey is about to close, came this signboard : Wecome to District Kinnour. It had actually just begun !!!

We'll share some of the pictures of the tough road in next post, I'm skipping some of the photos of Incredible India  to take you directly to the old capital of Kinnour district- Kalpa.

Breathtaking views of Kinnour Kailash Peak, a beautiful small town, an excellent place to stay- HPTDC's Hotel Kinnour Kailash , pure air, pure nature, pure beauty mark this place. Here are a few pics :  

 

View from HPTDC Kinnour Kailash Hotel, Kalpa, District Kinnour, Himachal Pradesh, Incredible India

Village Roghi, Kalpa, District Kinnour, Himachal Pradesh, Incredible India

Kalpa, District Kinnour, Himachal Pradesh, Incredible India

View of snow filled Kinner Kailash range from Kalpa, District Kinnour, Himachal Pradesh, Incredible India

Shrikhand Mahadev

Bhimakali Temple, Sarahan : Brass Carvings on the Gate

Lord Hanuman - Brass Carvings on Gates, Bhimakali Temple, Sarahan, Himachal, Incredible India

Lord Shiva, Parvati & Bal Ganesh - Brass Carvings on Gates, Bhimakali Temple, Sarahan, Himachal, Incredible India

Radha Krishna - Brass Carvings on Gates, Bhimakali Temple, Sarahan, Himachal, Incredible India

Lord Ganesh - Brass Carvings on Gates, Bhimakali Temple, Sarahan, Himachal, Incredible India

Unexplored India - Kinnaur Kailash / Sangla Valley

Now we start towards some unknown/unexplored corners of Incredible India.


Again, Himalayas...Himachal... hills... mountains...valleys... snow... nature... beauty... beauty... beauty... Incredible beauty of Incredible India !

The basepoint is again Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh.  In case you like pure nature, you would like to avoid this crowded city. But if you want to store essentials for your journey, this is the best place to get it all as chances for luxuries or even necessities get slimmer by every kilometer you cross from here. 
As we told in our earlier series of Giri Ganga Temple,  from Shimla, crossing Kufri, we reach Fagu, from where the road divereges. One goes toawards Kotkhai, Khara Pathar,  Hatkoti, Jubbal, Rohru,and further onwards to Chanshal Range. 

The other one goes towards Tibet and is also known as Hindustan Tibet road. This is the road we take this time for our journey towards Kinnaur Kailash & Sangla Valley. 


Here are a few pics on the way :

First View of River Satluj :

 An Artistic Rock in the River Satluj

 Mile Stone for the last point on Indian side. 246 kilometers from Ambala, 200 Kilometers from Chandigarh already and still 254 kilometers away....

Images of Incredible India : Chitkul

Sometimes, Images fail to explain... let me try words ... the immense, overwhelming beauty of Kedarnath

If you think that its only a myth or only false stories that Dev-lok or Shiv-lok exist above this Prithvi-lok(mrityu-lok).... its time you travelled to KEDAR NATH. Once you start scaling heights on track to Kedar Nath, you will forget you belong to a mortal earth.... I swear, I swear, I swear !!!

I only wish I could take capture it all in photos... but ... ... aperture of your lens betrays you pathetically,  panoramic views cannot be taken in spherical shape, batteries give up... u replace them with back-up & that too exhausts, the views change by every second, u have got only two eyes to see in only one direction... ... camera, battery, lens.. all give up... You end up saying - " OK.. Let me enjoy in alone & let me print it all in my memory, my brain... all I can do later is to tell the other mortal earthlings who have never been to this place..." ,  praying that words do not betray you this time.

 

...no camera in the world can capture what these two pair of eyes really see....The abode of Gods --Kedar Nath is ethereal...

.... its an out of the world experience... literally !!! its a 14 km trek along Alaknanda River (a branch of Ganga). You cross one huuuuuge mountain only to find a bigger one waiting to be crossed. Clouds remain kilometers beneath your feet.... the best feast for the sight comes in the end... when Sumeru Parvat in its full elegance reveals itself behind the majestic Kedar Nath Temple. The market near the temple does play a spoilsport, but u need to ignore it to savour the time of your life. 

... For a Hindu atleast, it's THE moment... a moment, for which he has waited for so many lives, so many reincarnations, so many births.  For others, it's hard for me to imagine, how others would feel it, because it is so enchanting for me that i cannot even imagine if even a non-hindu will not be touched by this so so immense & so so overwhelming beauty of this abode of Gods... 

KEDARNATH !!!!

Scenic Beauty of the Badrinath/Kedarnath Route

Incredible India, A Scene on the path to Badrinath/Kedarnath


Incredible India, A Scene on the path to Badrinath/Kedarnath


Incredible India, A Scene on the path to Badrinath/Kedarnath


Incredible India, A Scene on the path to Badrinath/Kedarnath


Incredible India, A Scene on the path to Badrinath/Kedarnath

Mana : The Last Indian Village ( Badrinath, Uttarakhand, India)

The Path to Giri Ganga

So, We start moving from Khara Pathar to Giri Ganga. A trekking I'll never forget. Here are a few pics of the path moving up to Giri Ganga Temple, supposedly approx 5000 yrs old.

Road is paved with Silver Dust presenting an amazing view. (The mountain is of Mica stone, the powder form shines no less that Silver).

It takes almost 45 minutes to cover 7-8 Kms of upward journey on a rough road barely wide enough for a single vehicle. You have to drive so slow out of the fear that sometimes you prefer to get down & walk on foot. Going through the jungle is a bad idea... we came to know this when, on the way back, we lost our way in the jungle & had to travel all the way back, wasting an hour or so .

The track itself was enjoyable, the destination all the more so.

Untouched Corners- Reckong Peo, Kinnaur

This is a view on the way to Reckong Peo, District Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh, India. Taken on April 2, 2010.

This is just a glimpse & many more images of breathtakingly beautiful trip to Kinnaur are lined up. Its just awesome... Incredible India !!!

Khara Pathar - Base Camp for Giri Ganga

After Kotkhai, we reach Khara Pathar. It was not less than a shock for us to find Khara Pathar to be just like an ordinary destination.
Local people told us that this place got this name from a Standing Stone at a temple. But that stone is no more & two years ago it gave way to a calamity.
However, sharing some phhotographs of Sunrise & some Misty Mountains at Khara Pathar, District Shimla.

From here, we were advised either to go to Hatkoti or to see the temple of Giri Ganga, atop a hill, a 7 Km long trek.

We decided to go for Giri Ganga.... wait for the next post.

Kangra

Kangra
Originally uploaded by Dainik Batoula

This is the last photograph of our journey towards Kangra, Himachal. Further to Kangra one can visit Dharmshala, Mcleodganj, Baijnath, Palampur. Dhauladhar Range of Himalays is visible in its awesome beauty from here.
We hope to explore all these locations in future.

In our next posts we'll resume our journey on Shimla route. Byepassing Shimla, we'll stop at Fagu.. and then we'll take you to a journey of rather unknown destinations. Untouched by crowd... seen only by some compulsive travellers.. some fanatics of beauty.. some devotees of beauty of Incredible India.

Valley of Peace, Kangra

On way to Kangra from Chandigarh, one has to cross the lush green planes of Punjab, the historic cities of Ropar, Anandpur Saheb & then Nangal Dam to enter Himachal Pradesh. After crossing first major town Una, the uphill journey starts. Somewhere there, while you are engrossed in scenic beauty, suddenly something strikes you... breath stopping peace... tranquility... serenity.
You decide to get down... breathe deeply... you try to store the air in your lungs hoping that the peace & life contained in this air will last forever. Lest memories fade, you also click a few images which you could share with all your loved ones & with all those compulsive travellers.
We don't know exactly what the name of this place was, But we decide to call it ....

Valley of Peace.