Road Building in Spiti Valley

Start from Khoksar

We had an early morning start from Khoksar – planning to reach inside Spiti valley before evening so that we have some time to relax before commencing on our week long cycling tour. As the bus travels on a rickety road, our driver Sharmaji continues his rambling on the bad infrastructure in the valley.

A few kilometers ahead the road was blocked by a small landslide – we had received news about this yesterday while crossing Rohtang so we decided to stay overnight in Khoksar. Now as we approach the pass there is still an apprehension.  A sudden long line of Vehicles ahead is an indication that things may not have improved. As I get down to explore with Sush, the others prefer to stay in the warmth of the bus. There is a slight drizzle – the weather has remained damp for the past 2 days and people are longing for the Sun to come out.  As we approach the site of the landslide we can see a handful of locals pushing at a huge boulder which is blocking the route. 

But things took a turn for the worst suddenly. The drizzle which had loosened many a huge boulder on the hills, caused an entire hillock to collapse before us. The vehicles which had been parked close-by suddenly had their drivers rushing back to remove them to safety.  And we in turn rushed back to the Bus as Sharmaji maneuvered it to a safe place. And then started an ordeal which lasted from 8am to 6pm.

The offending boulder had been pushed out of the road by the collapsing hill but in its place it had created a huge crater on the road, a seemingly difficult task for us to overcome. A couple of locals went towards Khoksar to check if a JCB could be hired to close out the crater. A small crowd had started gathering to take stock, we had few Indian tourists and a small group from Israel. Nearby there was only a small tourist lodge which could offer comfort but all the rooms were booked and no source of food. And by noon the situation in the bus had worsened – no Food, Bad Weather, no Entertainment and no sign of the JCB. Our guide managed to cook up some trivia from the local lodge which sufficed for a few hours.

The Maggie Lodge

A long queue of vehicles had now built up on both sides of the crater and people were on the verge of panic when a Driver from the other side decided to close things out. Due to some exigency he wanted to reach Manali by evening so he started asking people from both sides to start building the road. The drizzle and cold of the climate was making it difficult to move around but we yet plunged our hands in the icy cold waters to gather and push stones. Slowly and steadily the road began to take shape. Finally after a few chilly hours we managed to build a bouldered path

The Driver who took the initiative

Sharmaji at wheels

And then the driver who had initiated this was given the initial chance to drive his vehicle over the road. It was a tense moment as people pushed and finally we managed to get this vehicle across. There was jubilation on either side for a small victory. Slowly and steadily we started guiding vehicles on either side till the last one was through. And with Sharmaji at wheels we were the last to get across, but then this was still not the end of our troubles.

The Mud Slide in Twilight zone

A few kilometers journey and we found ourselves in the middle of a Mud slide. The thick sludge was making it difficult for the tyres to move and try as we could the vehicle just did not budge. We finally got out and started pushing it in the night, but despite the effort and getting the muck right up to our ankles there was no movement.  As luck would have it there was a JCB just ahead who gave us a helping hand. His initial effort in pulling the vehicle by tying a thick rope around it did not work and after some tries the rope broke. He then went around and gave a big push from behind and we were free again, though the vehicles tail light was damaged in the process.  We finally were on our way a good few hours behind and managed to reach our destination only in the early hours of morning 

The Night journey to Spiti