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Go for the moon... in a lake!
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Poetry without words, soul drenched in beauty, Chandratal brings the poet out of a trekker, feels SONIA KATARIA
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MIRROR REFLECTION One gets awesome reflections of the surrounding mountains in the Chandratal lake PHOTO: HEMANT KATARIA
Rohtang Pass is the farthest point visited by most tourists to Manali, and it took intrepid travellers like us to venture beyond the beaten path. Turning right at Gramphoo meant leaving the well-maintained Manali-Leh highway and driving along the wild course of Chandra river.
A dazzling panoramic landscape was unfolding before us, with mountains in various hues ranging from dingy brown and dull mauve to pink and pastel slate blue, beige to brick red, and the incidental light giving them a different look every moment.
Kunjum Pass at a height of 14,790 feet, marked the entry to the Spiti Valley, the fast chilly winds here caught us unawares. The Gompa at the summit was adorned with cloth flags fluttering with the wind against the backdrop of snow-clad peaks - this was our first-ever glimpse of the Buddhism practised in this land.
Arriving at Losar, we heard that the 14th Dalai Lama visits Kunjum Pass every year to perform annual religious rituals. Losar is a picturesque hamlet set amidst the barren wilderness of Spiti Valley. The sunset at Losar silhouetted the surrounding mountains against blue sky, reminding me that God created sunset for us to have poetry without words.
The route
What lay ahead was a long journey to Darcha, after a detour to Chandratal lake via Kunjum Pass. We managed to leave Losar at 4 a.m. to head towards Chandratal - the source of the Chandra river.
The unmetalled gravel road was narrow, damaged due to landslides and just adequate for one vehicle at a time, half up on the slope and other half tilting towards the deep gorge. Eroded protrusions were twisted into weird gullies in bands of sharply contrasted colours, and it seemed that they were waiting to fall with the smallest movement.
Some of the group members chose to stay on in the jeeps, as they did not feel prepared for the four-kilometre each-way trek that we proposed to undertake to reach the lake. It seemed to be a long trail with each successive footstep becoming more and more difficult leaving us breathless.
Breathtaking was not the word to describe the lake. The view of its green waters, rich in minerals, was wonderful.
The water of the lake was enchantingly crystal clear reflecting an image, underneath its calm surface, of brown slopes of mountain with white clouds on deep blue sky.
Nothing had prepared us for the beauty that lay before us. Chandratal is quite unsung - I don't seem to have seen many pictures, nor read much about this priceless jewel.
The lake is in the form of a crescent. The walk along its periphery is the best thing you can do here unless you decide to pitch tents and stay overnight. However, just sitting on the banks and soaking in the sun and the lavish sight of the reflections on the lake surface could be quite an experience by itself.
The small gutter like stream flowing westwards from this lake turned into the feisty Chandra river.
Don't throw
It was a blessing that the group had many like-minded souls keen on photography. Someone realised early on, and forbade everyone from throwing pebbles into the lake. Had the still surface been disturbed by ripples, no one would have got the awesome reflections of the surrounding mountains in the deep blue waters.
It was only when the developed prints were in hand that the stragglers realised what they had missed.
It would be interesting to trek in the region, starting from Manali, going to Chandratal via Chhatru and Batal. One can even go further to Baralacha la in Lahaul valley and trace the origin of Bhaga river in Surajtaal Lake.
On this trip, it seemed as if poetry of Le Bernica came true "....the soul dives into the joyful beauty of this graceful world, and feels herself bird, flower, living water, light; she takes on your robe, primal purity, and rests, silently, in God."
And this part of India has been hiding the most beauteous secret of a landscape under bright, azure heaven.
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