A casual conversation with my son on Diwali Day (31st October) led to a spontaneous plan: with three days off, why not head to the mountains? And just like that, on 1st November, around 1 pm, my son and I set off to enjoy the early winter in the hills. It was a simple plan:

Itinerary:

• Nov 1st - Reach Narkanda by evening (relax)
• Nov 2nd - Enjoy the mountains, drive till 6 pm with plenty of scenic stops, then settle down for the night
• Nov 3rd - Return home

Day 1 Mohali - Narkanda (180 Kms)
Start Time: 1:10 pm - End Time: 6:48 pm - Total Duration: 5 hrs 38 mins

We started as planned. Being festival time, traffic was surprisingly light. Our first stop was Starbucks, just after the Dharampur Toll Plaza, with clean washrooms and a refreshing coffee break. We resumed our journey, taking a scenic break before Kufri since it’s usually crowded up to Shimla. After Kufri, the road conditions weren’t as good as they used to be.

Our stay for the night was at Greenberry Hotel, a new, beautifully designed hotel but not fully operational yet. Though we faced minor issues, like a limited hot water supply, the staff was proactive in resolving them. Dinner was on the pricey side, and the hotel serves only vegetarian food. By the time we arrived, the temperature had dropped to 11°C, dipping further to around 6°C by morning. Parking space is fine and hotel was neat and clean.

Pooh to Nako was an uphill stretch with barren mountains; the top at Malling was especially stunning. There are lot of dhabas on the road but go inside town to find the best momos. After Nako, the downhill road to Chango was newly constructed, making for another smooth drive. This is the first time I found a complete road. Last time 2 years back it was under construction, and 3 years back a big rock fell down destroying the complete road. However, the stretch from Chango to Tabo was narrow and required cautious driving. The road is really narrow, and even if your heart says to pick speed, never do that on this stretch. And the vehicle coming from opposite direction is visible from far away. Do stop at a broad point and give space to other vehichle. Rest is easy.

We reached Tabo at 4 and called few hotels. Majority of them have closed down there operations and very few are operational. Infact the best restaurant is run by Tabo Monastery is also closed. We were fortunate to get Mud House space and the host was amazing. Many hotels have cleared the drainage (water at low temperatures break the water pipes, so they drain the water from pipes), so they provide water in buckets only. A warm cup of tea was excellent and we went into Monastery. It is always pleasing to talk to local Lama's. Sitting and watching the Sun set from Monastery is worth an experience. We had amazing time and my Son wanted to click the milky way and shooting stars. So he fixed a time and place on helipad of Tabo.

After dinner around 9:10 we were at helipad. Temperature has dipped to 6 degrees and dipping further. Son started to fix his camera for amazing shots. As I was sitting in my car maintaining a 20 degree temperature, the car started to breathe heavily. It is Fortuner BS VI and has DPF generation process. RPM of idle vehicle was around 1100 and taking precaution I called roadside helpline number. According to them it is quite fine. The Ad Blue sign has already blinked.

At around 10pm, we finished capturing shooting stars and galaxy photos. We went back to our hut, Mud huts are cosy huts, even a simple blanket will be warm enough. Temperature kept on dipping and the last temperature I saw was 1 degree celsius. We went sleep, it was so quite that we can hear the Spiti River flowing. The host was amazing, Son ordered chicken (I wanted him to learn, never to order non-veg at remote places, I kept quite). Chicken was frozen and old, so eating and consuming it is not wise. Thankfully we have ordered Dal as well and it was tasty.

Note: The host was gracious. Watching the sunset from the monastery was an unforgettable experience. Later, my son set up his camera at the Tabo helipad to capture the Milky Way and shooting stars, an experience made even more memorable by the 1°C temperature. That night, we enjoyed a cozy sleep in our mud hut, the only sound being the Spiti River’s gentle flow.

Day 3 Tabo - Mohali Home (503 Kms)
Start Time: 7:30 am - End Time: 9:01 pm - 13 hrs 31 mins

We began our return journey at 7:30 am, with the temperature at 3°C. My car, a Fortuner BS VI, was showing signs of DPF regeneration, so I kept the RPMs high to prevent carbon choking. The first stretch to Chango was narrow, requiring caution to yield to oncoming vehicles. Temperature was 3 degrees and Car shown us another warning sign, it was drive carefully as roads might have ice on it. This icon remained as long as outside temperature didnot reach 5 degrees. Extreme conditions and extreme precautions, temperature again dipped to 3 degree and sign came back again.

We had breakfast at Nako, enjoying delicious aloo parathas, then continued the scenic drive from Nako through Spillow to Karcham. Acceleration is tempting but we should not always follow the heart. Let brain control the nerves on this road. Nako - Tabo - Spillow (you can get best Kinauri Apples in this market) - Karcham drive is again mesmerizing. Breaking at all beautiful points to capture the beauty of Satluj river and nearby places. I found interesting places and good guest houses near Spillow and would like to spend a day or two some day there as well. Being wedding season, traffic picked up after Karcham, but we continued with our mix of Hindi, English, and Punjabi songs on loud volume—a must with a teenager!

By the time we reached Fagu, we hit a major traffic jam. To avoid further delays, I took the Kufri-Chail-Kandaghat road, a narrow but empty jungle route.

Although it’s changed significantly since I last traveled on it in the 1990s—with plenty of construction replacing the once-empty jungle, the drive was still peaceful. I was short on fuel but found a petrol pump after 20 kms only. We kept on driving the narrow road, no jams infact no traffic at all. It used to be an empty road with clear view of Jungle and in 1998-1999, we even spoted a panther crossing the road. But this is no longer the same Jungle. Lots and lots of construction. It was dark now, Chail - Sadhupul - Kandaghat is very small road (not bad not good, average road conditions). As we reached Kandhaghat, we were welcomed by Police Force from Solan (Alcohol check), though the roads were tempting, but as I was the only driver, I didnot had a single sip of Alcohol. We were clear. We finally arrived home around 9:01 pm.