Manali to Jispa via Rohtang Pass – Manali to Jispa Itinerary

This article is in continuation with a previous one and a part of my Leh Ladakh bike trip travelogue. We arrived in Manali from Delhi on the first two days of the trip. On Day 3, we traveled from Manali to Jispa via Rohtang Pass, details of which are covered in this post. To read the previous part of the travelogue, please click on the link below.

Journey So Far:

• Delhi to Manali via Bilaspur – Day 1 & 2

It was supposed to be a make-or-break day for us. A monster by the name of Rani Nallah lay ahead as the first and the biggest hurdle of the trip ahead.

For the uninitiated, just before Rohtang top exists Rani Nallah, a rider’s and even a driver’s worst nightmare. There is literally no road at the Nallah and the 4 km stretch before it, and one has to ride/ drive on pure slush, especially in the rains. This slush fiesta is at times almost knee-deep.

Many have returned back from this point with burnt clutch plates and hopes of doing the Manali-Leh highway lost somewhere in the slush. Last year, the slush monster made us wait for 9 hours in our Safari, the boys lost their center-stands, foot-pegs, etc. in it and Gunjan and Yeshu lost the entire front bumper of their Ritz.

Also Read: How to Plan a Trip to Leh Ladakh – A Complete Travel Guide

Thus, it was natural for the entire group to be really scared when clouds descended on Manali early that morning and it started to drizzle. The implication was clear, it must be raining cats and dogs up there, adding to the enormity of the slush monster we all so feared.

Day 3: Manali to Jispa

We started on our journey from Manali to Jispa via Rohtang Pass and made an early move out of Vashishta. Carrying all that luggage down from the hotel was a task by itself, and despite the cold drizzle, we were all sweating before the ride began.

With a cry of “Jai Shri Ram”, as always, I disengaged the clutch and WanderB hurtled down Vashisht’s steep descent. The drizzle soon increased and all electronic gear had to be packed securely. The drizzle changed into a downpour by the time we reached Kothi, increasing our anxiety pangs!

Suddenly, out of the blue, on a corner, my bike lost a bit of control, and a thud was heard. The first reaction was to check if Aarti was still behind me, thankfully she was alright. One of the bungee cords had given way and all the luggage from our left carrier had been thrown off some 100 ft behind.

It was a pain to tie it back on in the pelting rain, but thankfully we were carrying spare bungees just for such an occasion. It’s ironic that the bungee broke, given that it was tied too tight just to ensure no luggage movement while ascending the monster.

Also Read: Which is the Best Bike for Leh Ladakh Trip

Marhi

The ride till Marhi had taken us hardly 1.5 hours. The jeeps descending Rohtang were not too filthy, a sign that was heartening. With no jams visible on the road above, we finally relaxed a bit and decided to have a cuppa with something to feed our starving stomachs.

We left soon enough, fearing a traffic build-up. The rain gods relented and the pelting gave way to a light drizzle.

Climbing towards Rohtang top – just before the drizzle changed to a downpour

The boys gearing up mentally for the final assault towards Rohtang Top – at Marhi

​Rohtang Top

To be honest, what we saw was pretty unexpected. Rohtang could not have been better-behaved. As people at Marhi had told us, the pass had seen a bout of dry weather over the past week, drying out most of the slush, barring a few stretches. With overnight rains, it had deteriorated a bit, but it had no resemblance to the monster we had all seen at almost the same time last year.

Nonetheless, it was a monster, all the same, just a bit tamed. WanderB did lose power at quite a few places bringing my heart into my mouth. I tried to minimize using the clutch, with the bike powering through at low RPM with sufficient torque. Burning the clutch plates on the ascent was the last thing I wanted.

The boys, who were riding ahead, too faced little trouble. Jugni (Yeshu’s bike) struggled the most with a 350cc engine, a pillion, and quite a lot of luggage. Poor Gunjan had to walk on some stretches where Jugni was not able to pull through. As we waited for them to catch up on those stretches, we shot.

We finally synced up at a dhaba at Rohtang top. We all cheered, thinking that the worst was behind us, or so we thought.

Also Read: How to Prepare your Bike for Leh Ladakh

Rohtang to Koksar

A short break and a few cuppas later, we were all set for our journey ahead. The descent was a bit disappointing. As expected, the other side of Rohtang was bone dry!

How can one side of a mountain receive so much rain while the other remains completely dry? Amazing! Should’ve studied geography a bit better back in my school days. Although dry, the descent was more painful than the ascent, with the road ridden with potholes.

We wait for Jugni to climb. And there she is, The blue “tarped” bullet near the Alto – gasping for breath

Pitstop for tea – high fives happening with the monster being tamed by all

The clouds drifted by as we sipped tea and rejoiced. Such views were common all the way from Manali to Jispa via Rohtang Pass.

The quintessential chorten shot at Rohtang Jot

A point to be noted here – beyond Rohtang, people now know that bikers are either heading to Ladakh or Spiti. Either way, a certain camaraderie exists, with each passing vehicle, bike or car, gesturing their best wishes for the journey ahead.

This is a concept unique to riding, one that was new to us. In a car, it is typically just us two exchanging philosophies of life at large. Aarti and I did miss this banter but tried to compensate some by communicating either in sign language or by hollering at the top of our voice.

Also Read: Ladakh Checklist – Things to Pack for Ladakh Trip

Koksar to Keylong

The break at Koksar was routine. A few Maggi and chai were gulped down before we marched on. The boys decided to make use of the lovely tarmac and broke free from the group. The couple riders ambled along trudging comfortably on the delightful tarmac, especially till Gondla.

We tried to catch up with the boys to show them where the Rohtang tunnel exit point was located, but the ever-increasing distance between us ensured that our honks were never heard. At the next scheduled stop, the gas station at Tandi, they were disappointed to know that they’d missed the tunnel, again!

It was now almost noon and we decided to break for lunch at Keylong. Aarti and I broke from the group to get her helmet fixed (a screw from the visor had fallen off). Since it was a jugaad screw with a dozen washers on it, it had to be tightened almost every day.

It did work though. Of course, Aarti had to bear the brunt of several “sar ka screw tight kar le” jokes for the rest of the trip.

There’s a nice restaurant (if you can call it that) near the bus stand at Keylong. The place serves one of the best mutton momos and meat rice I’ve ever had.

While having lunch there, we contemplated riding all the way to Sarchu that day but decided against it eventually. Why rush unnecessarily when we had plenty of time on our itinerary? With Jispa being our scheduled halt for the day, we enjoyed a long, relaxed lunch.

Keylong to Jispa

I caught up on some of my office emails as after this the next two days would be without any form of connection. A couple of urgent calls had to be made to the office, and thus Aarti and I decided to stay back a bit while the others moved on to Jispa.

Jugni moves on wonderful, freshly laid tarmac immediately after Rohtang Pass.

The freshly laid tarmac gives way to old and broken tarmac, which was eventually replaced with rubble to ride upon. Seen also is Chandra meandering down from Batal.

Welcome to Lahaul & Spiti – a world of change after the maddening crowd till Rohtang. It’s amazing how after covering a short distance of only 12 km, one is in pure barrenness.

The wind-bowl that is Koksar makes it the coldest place in Lahaul

Ripping fun between Koksar and Sissu

Sissu waterfall – quite a sight

The green fields at Gondla, Gyanphang peak is shrouded under clouds

Approaching Tandi, look at the enormity of the scale

Guzzling the best brew that Indian oil has to offer

The Fall

A while later, we started on our last leg of the trip from Manali to Jispa via Rohtang Pass. Immediately after Keylong, there’s a small water crossing. It was a bit deep with pebbles completely out of sight and an immediate climb to dry ground. Since morning, I had hung my camera around my neck to enable me to stop and shoot quickly.

Emboldened with my success at Rohtang, I was feeling a bit over-confident and did not read the crossing correctly. The depth was much more than anticipated and worse, the pebbles lying underneath broke my momentum. I did manage to clear the water crossing safely, and climbed onto the dry patch, but lost my momentum at the end.

I had to stand on my feet to get my balance back. Sadly it was on a lateral incline and pebbles slipped underneath my foot. I lost my balance and the bike started tilting towards the right. I tried to muster all my strength to get the bike back in an upright position but ever so slowly, the bike kept sliding and eventually fell into a puddle on the right.

The camera splashed in the water for a brief moment and I had to let go of the handle and break my fall with my hands. Aarti had ample time to climb off the bike, and thankfully she did not fall. The entire sequence played out in less than 5 seconds, but the details will be sketched in my mind for a long time to come.

I got up on my feet immediately and quickly started to pull the bike back in the upright position. I managed to bring it halfway and with a final push from Aarti, all of us were back on our feet, all but one.

The Camera

The Nikon D3000 was injured. The splash was sufficient to fry the electronics of the camera. A quick check showed that the LCD panel was flickering, the battery seemed dead and nothing was responding. My heart sank. The 3rd day of the trip and catastrophe had hit.

We reached Jispa soon enough and got to know that the others had finalized a homestay at Jispa since both Ibex and Padma were completely booked for the night. It was for a reasonable 800 a night for a room, and was the name of Greenland cafe, Sadly, at that time, I could not have cared less.

My entire energy was fixated on the camera and ways to get it up and running again. It was clear that water had gone inside the camera, and it had to be dried asap. What was needed was a hairdryer.

I should tell you a side-story while I’m at it. Ever since the planning stage had begun for the trip, the couples had been asked to cut down on their luggage. Every minute item was scrutinized and approved by the group, and redundant items were thrown away. In such scrutiny, I had authorized the removal of Gunjan’s hair-dryer from the luggage list.

The decision had not gone down well with Gunjan and I had already heard a lot on that topic from her. The proverbial last laugh, as they say, was hers. If we had that hair dryer on that morbid afternoon, things would have been much easier.

Also Read: How to Plan your Trip to Jispa

The Fix

An idea struck – why not use the air compressor to dry the damn thing? Soon our luggage came out, but we realized that none of us had gotten the cigarette lighter fixed, each having thought that the other must have done it.

This brought the grease monkey, KD, into action and after some hustling and bustling we got the cigarette lighter attached to the battery. But 15 mins later, after overheating, the compressor connector melted and gave away. The camera was still not operational, and I had abandoned all hopes.

I spent the next few hours mostly sulking, thinking of robbing the SBI ATM at Leh City to buy a new camera from the store right opposite. There were other ideas too like stealing a camera from those who were on their way back to Manali, without their memory cards. None of them seemed to be solid enough.

That was when I had a brainwave – all I needed was a hair-dryer. Though no one from our group had it, there were lots of pretty ladies at Ibex who could! I ran out on the pretext of taking a walk before dinner and bugged a lot of pretty girls, ladies, and old women at the hotel for a hairdryer.

Also Read: When is the Best time to visit Manali

The Hair-Dryer

They sympathized with me, but they too were not carrying any. Finally, a lovely angel, a lady from Maharasthra, who cared enough about her hair, was found. She willingly lent it to me with a simple yet effective statement: “This better be back before I sleep, my husband is a Sardar”, followed by a “just kidding”.

The point was well-taken nonetheless. Aarti spoon-fed dinner to me while I dried off the camera for the next hour, and finally, it worked! The camera was alive and kicking again. With a prayer on my lip, I switched it off again, to let it dry a bit more overnight naturally, returned the precious hairdryer, thanked the lady, and retired for the night.

• Journey Ahead: Jispa to Sarchu & Night Stay at Sarchu Camps

The journey from Manali to Jispa via Rohtang Pass had been long and tiring, not so much physically as it was mentally. A new hope had sprung and all our “Jai Shri Rams” were kicking in and they did not disappoint, for tomorrow there will be more pictures to share. Please click on the link above to continue reading the next part of the travelogue.

Manali to Jispa via Rohtang Pass – Conclusion

I hope the travelogue, pictures, and information above on traveling from Manali to Jispa via Rohtang Pass were of help. If you have any questions or need any other details, please feel free to ask in the comments section below or at our Community Forum, and I will be glad to answer.