The Rohtang pass

It was late morning by the time we left the small West Himalayan mountain town of Manali behind as we made our way up the winding road leading up to the Rohtang pass in our little alto car. We passed by an european girl pedalling away on her cycle. She was on her way to Leh through the Rohtang pass.She had her backpack on while her sleeping bag and other provisions trailed behind on a third wheel attached to the cycle. It seemed like an amazing adventure and I wondered long and hard if I would have been able to do it.

Our destination itself was the Rohtang pass situated at 13,050 feet above sea level and about 51 kms from Manali. For the first few kilometres of our journey out of Manali we could see apple trees laden with green apples lining up the side of the road. And there were numerous numbered shacks doting the roadside that rented warm clothing to tourists. Soon thereafter though the apple trees gave way to tall pine trees. We passed by army supply trucks laden with diesel or other supplies headed to Leh and Ladakh. Our driver told u that during the Kargil war this road was heavily used to ferry supplies. In the near distance we could see the towering snow clad mountains, with the Beas river flowing down by the side of the road swollen from the melting glaciers. We weren't the only few ones on the road though. We shared the road with folks in SUV's, groups of Royal Enfields, even some 110cc bikes carrying couples dressed like they were going to a Mall in Mumbai during the rains. The road to Rohtang pass seemed like it had already got commercialised and you have to travel further if you like a little bit of solitude like me. Luckily for us it was July and the end of the peak tourist season.

As we made our way higher the vegetation got sparse, until there was practically none at all except for some grass and moss. Then suddenly we had to come to a grinding halt. The Border road patrol was double laning the road in some places and a huge boulder had rolled onto the road. It was almost an hours wait before a guy manning a caterpillar cleared the boulder off the road. And then it started raining. Before long the rain turned to hail beating down hard against the windshield. The road became muddier and it got dangerous as the car made the dangerous climb through the slush. The glacial ice at the side of the road was brownish white with the rain and slush. We passed by a wall of ice on both sides of the road made famous by Kareena Kapoor in the Hindi movie "Jab we met". Seemed like our driver(he had a rather long name which i now forget) knew exactly where each movie was shot :) Soon we were at the Rohtang pass itself. There were a few shacks here selling "maggi" noodles and warm cups of "chai". A little bit of haggling over prices and a short horse ride away we were soon standing on a white expanse of snow. We soon realised why we were the only few people out there. We weren't really prepared for the foul weather and soon we were shivering, trying to warm ourselves around a fire setup by a couple of locals from the village we had passed by earlier. I have always wanted to go to Rohtang pass as a child and though it was not as spectacular as I had imagined it, it was still a wonderful feeling to spend some moments there among the mountains with Su far away from
the daily grind. I knew then I had to travel further to Ladakh.