An 18-day journey from Mumbai across the plains, up through Manali, over the Atal Tunnel and Kunzum La, into the lunar landscape of Spiti Valley. Ancient Buddhist monasteries clinging to cliffs, lone mud villages at 4,000+ metres, and roads that test every system in the bike and the rider.
Big start day. Mumbai-Pune Expressway → NH48 to Gujarat. Sleep Vadodara.
NH48 northbound. Enter Rajasthan. Evening at Lake Pichola, Udaipur.
Through Aravalli. Sleep Jaipur. Quick Hawa Mahal stop.
Delhi bypass. Continue to Chandigarh — gateway to Himachal.
First serious climb. NH3 through Mandi → Kullu → Manali. Cool air after 4 days of heat.
Mandatory acclimatisation. Local Mall Road. Hadimba Temple. Bike service check.
The day. Atal Tunnel cuts through. Then over Kunzum La (4,551m). First view of lunar Spiti Valley. Sleep Kaza.
Body adjusts to 3,800m. Key Monastery — one of the most photogenic in India. Local exploration only.
Komic — world's highest motorable village (4,587m). Hikkim — world's highest post office. Send a postcard home from the top of the world.
Tabo Monastery (1,000+ yrs old). Dhankar — clifftop fortress monastery. Spiti at its most surreal.
Spiti to Kinnaur via Nako. Kinnaur Kailash range at sunset from Kalpa. Apple country.
Old Hindustan-Tibet road. Through Recong Peo, Sangla. Sleep Shimla.
Down the hills. Through Chandigarh to Delhi outskirts. Heat hits hard after 8 days in mountains.
NH48 south. Jaipur lunch. Sleep Ajmer.
Long Rajasthan-Gujarat day. Sleep Ahmedabad.
NH48 expressway. Mumbai by evening. 18 days · 5,200 km · Spiti and back complete ✓
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