Some journeys are like that – the road is equally or even more exciting than the actual destination. And when we decided to take the rather less-frequented road from Gramphoo to Kaza, we had no inkling what the journey had in store for us.
Gramphoo is nothing more than a couple of shanties on the Leh-Manali highway, where the signboard innocuously states the distance to Kaza as 137 km, and that to Keylong as 51km. After ourcustomary Ladakhi lunch of Maggi noodles at a wayside dhaba, we ventured into the rather narrow road to Kaza at 1 p.m. The road disappears after the hamlet of Chhatdu, and it becomes a narrow path on which we drive. It practically runs through the rocky bed of the Chenab River. We drive along it, bouncing over boulders and trying to avoid the deeper holes. At one point, one of our vehicles got stuck in a deep hollow on the bed, and had to be towed out. The rate of our progress could be judged by the fact that we had covered hardly 30 km by 4 p.m. But, even in our tired state of mind, we could not help but admire the stark beauty of the barren landscape, framed by the red-tinged rocks. We had almost given up hope of sleeping on a proper bed that night, but the condition of the road improved marginally after 40 km, and our vehicle trudged into Batal, another small hamlet. As dusk was fast approaching, we did not linger at Batal, but moved on as quickly as the road permitted. We soon reached Kunzum La (15060 ft), where the desolate Buddhist shrine, covered in prayer flags, had us do the customary circumambulation. We began to spot habitation once we passed the village of Losar, which proclaims itself as the gatewayto Spiti Valley.
Finally, we thankfully stumbled into a pitch-dark Kaza town (which did not have electricity for the last two days!), well into the night. However, our host Tsering and his boys quickly put us at ease with their genuine hospitality.
The morning light presented a very pretty picture – something which we had totally failed to notice in our hurry to reach our resting place the previous night. The colourful monastery atop a mound, set against the background of a barren rock face, and a white cloud floating across a deep azure sky – indeed a picture of total serenity. A stream flowed right beneath our windows and the landscape was dotted with houses in typical Ladakhi architecture – squarish with brown-coloured windows. A few hardy trees grew amidst the houses.After breakfast, we headed towards the high-altitude villages of Langzha and Komic. The road climbs at a steep gradient. Shortly, we were high above Kaza. We soon reached Langzha village, which had a good collection of traditional Ladakhi houses spread out in a serene valley, with a massive, rather colourful, statue of Lord Buddha at a high vantage point, overlooking the village. As we were struggling to locate the area of fossils, for which Langzha village is famous, a local young man (another Tsering) appeared in a cowboy hat and we immediately made him our guide. A ten-minute walk took us to a small stream, where our guide helped us identify a number of fossils of sea creatures. We were thrilled to see proof that the Himalayas are a young mountain range created by the collision of continents, right in front of our eyes! However, we also felt a tinge of sadness that these fossils are not being properly preserved, and showcased.
Komic village, at an altitude of approximately 14830 ft (almost 3000 ft higher than Kaza), is regarded as the highest motorable village on earth, and is just a few kilometres away from Langza.
Komic Gompa, which some highlight to be the monastery located at the highest altitude on earth, is a small, unassuming red building, set above the small Komic village. The lone monk at the monastery obliged us, by coming down from his quarters, to open the monastery, and even performed a ritual chanting to the accompaniment of the prayer drum. We took a different route down, through Hikkim village, and were rewarded with a breathtaking view of Kaza town, and the Spiti River deepbelow.
The narrow path to Kaza town from this point was one of the steepest we have ever driven on, enough to make all of us a little jittery.
We found Kaza town to have a quiet charm of its own. It has a rocky terrain and is devoid of trees. A line of beautiful stupas adorn the main street. We later found out that Kaza has a small market place, where we had mutton thukpa from a small restaurant. The Indian Oil petrol pump at Kaza has a small board proclaiming it to be the highest retail petrol outlet on earth.
We were told that Kaza gets isolated from the rest of the globe, for months together, during winter. I have a strong belief that a man’s environment determines his character to a large extent. So, it came as no surprise when our host, Tsering, who was apparently waiting only for us to close down his hotel for the winter, mentioned that he is looking forward to the peace of winter, so that he can pursue his reading undisturbed.
A couple of us hoped to return to Kaza in winter, to experience its utmost tranquillity... only if the roads allow us to.
