A drive to the Valley of the Gods - Kullu and Kangra in Himachal Pradesh - Team-BHP

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A drive to the Valley of the Gods - Kullu and Kangra in Himachal Pradesh - Team-BHP Posted: 07 Nov 2020 12:00 AM PST This is a travelogue about a trip we made to the Kullu and Kangra Valleys of Himachal Pradesh during October 2020, self-driving from Ahmedabad. Yes, we covered other areas of HP too but the bulk of our stay was in these two valleys, known as "The Valley of the Gods". Let me assure you-The description is spot on. Pristine atmosphere, no pollution of any sort- light, air or noise. The stars, the rushing water, the mountains-What more could one ask? The Mission and planning: This year we had originally planned to do the trip during end of March, but the Covid lockdown put a spoke in our plans. Apart from a couple of day trips with a picnic lunch to nearby (~100kms) isolated places, we were mostly confined to our house and the urge to move out became stronger as the lockdown progressed. It became clear that one had to learn to live with Covid-19, till a proven vaccine emerged and the population inoculated. While responsible behavior mandated social distancing and wearing of protection devices, apart from avoiding unnecessary travel; after much debate we decided that we could travel responsibly and God willing ensure that we brought about no harm to fellow citizens or for that matter, to ourselves. Last year, my wife and I had made the trip to Kumaon, but this year we invited a couple of our good friends to join us and they immediately accepted. You can read about the Uttarakhand Trip report here: (Uttarakhand: Abode of the Gods) This was in September 2020 and all four being senior citizens, it was imperative that we do the planning carefully. Stay options needed to be vetted carefully and the route so planned so as to minimise pit stops. All of us underwent health checks and though not mandatory, got ourselves tested for Corona Virus. The normal medicine kit got bigger with two small oxygen cans, oxygen meter, and medicines for treating Corona Virus, though of doubtful therapeutic value. Food became an important issue and two bags stuffed with all kinds of dry nasta, durable theplas and bhakris, precooked dry ingredients, sweets and other stuff. We have stopped using disposable plates and glasses - as far as possible - and stainless-steel quarter plates, spoons and small steel tumblers were also packed. Water bottles have been our bete noire, but in absence of practical alternatives (Last year many members suggested alternatives, but we either found them impractical or uncomfortable) we had no alternative but to carry water bottles. 2 cases - 24 bottles ~ 25 kgs. We figured that we would use these for the long distance travel and also fill them up for reuse whenever feasible. As usual, we carried bed-sheets and thin – but effective – coverlets. No space for pillows this time since there were four travelers instead of the usual two. Apart from our personal stuff, I had my camera bag, tripod and trekking sticks, along with a small backpack for carrying stuff for side trips. We were going to take the GLE and the first issue to be fixed was the (absence of a full size) spare wheel. The GLE has only a baby spare wheel and hence I got a second hand rim for Rs 13,000/-. During 2018 during our visit to the forests of Madhya Pradesh, we had a blow out and we had replaced two Conti stock tires with Michelin Latitude 3 tyres . Though the two remaining Continental Sport tyres were 3 years old and still had useful life left, I had the firm conviction that they were quite soft and prone to punctures. Accordingly, the next order of the day was to replace two old Continental tyres with Michelins. This proved to be easier said than done with most dealers in Ahmedabad stating that they did not have stock. They held the Atmanirbhar Bharat programme responsible since imports of tyres were stopped since late March or so. One dealer did have the requisite tyres but refused to sell two of them, falsely claiming company policy. One would have to buy a set of four. A phone call to the area manager of Michelin soon put that right and soon the GLE was sporting two new Michelins, along with the others about 2 years and 6000 kms old. As debated here in Team-BHP, I asked the dealer to put the new tyres in the rear wheels, much to his annoyance and insistence that it be placed in the front wheels. The best part was that there was a poster by Michelin at his shop stating that it was safer to put new tyres in the rear. He was not convinced, but I had my way. (Later, I took up the matter with the product manager of Michelin based at Gurugram and his point was that they recommended fixing new tyres at the rear to optimize braking efficiency and prevent skid. The point of view of the dealer was that a tyre burst in the front wheel would have far more disastrous effect with the possibility of the vehicle tumbling over. No doubt, our members would be able to put this matter at rest.) One of the old tyres went into the spare rim and the baby spare wheel was chucked out. The problem was that the spare tyre well was molded to fit the baby spare wheel, particularly its tyre width. With the full size spare in the well, the well cover would not fit since the normal size tyre juts out 3 inches. A temporary cover was made out of poly ethylene roof sheeting and the boot top flexible cover was removed so as to provide space for all the luggage. A 4" dia tube used to secure the spare wheel. Note the small oxygen canisters on the right along with the sanitiser spray. The other stuff carried for car maintenance were puncture kit, compressor, duct tape, additional tools, towing rope, jump start leads, spare tube, engine oil. The GLE was due for service and 10 days before our trip, it was fully serviced along with replacement of engine mount bushings, filters and brake pads. Bloody expensive! (That's another story). The route plan was: A'Bad - Jaipur - Kasauli - Tirthan Valley - Kasol - Palampur - and back. The return route would be finalised depending upon our appetite for further meandering, our general mood etc. After doing an exhaustive DD on various home stays, we finalised 5 nights at Tirthan Valley in a homestay right by the Tirthan river; 4 nights in a beautiful homestay right on the banks of Parvati river; and 5 nights at Palampur in a plush resort. There could be pit stops within Himachal and we decided to do that on the fly. In planning the trip, I would like to acknowledge the inputs of a host of members including maheepgupta, Hellzboy, DeepakS, filmaka, singh.saab, and AdityaDeane. Aditya deserves special thanks for making a WhatsApp group of members based in Manali (Eric, Khushal, Ramandeep) who guided me on places to stay and visit. Too bad we could not do the Manali meet up guys. Maybe the next time. The plan was to leave at 0630 hrs on the 11 October and the previous night, we all got together and stuffed the bags, cases, water bottles, food and stuff in the car, taking care to ensure that RVM line of sight was not blocked. I estimate that we must have lugged about 150 kgs. It was overkill definitely. Last edited by earthian : 11th November 2020 at 17:40.

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