My travelogue (location chandrataal, Spiti, Trip Date:2008-08-21 - 2008-08-26) photos:http://www.trekearth.com/trip.php?tid=3059
About Chandra Taal:
Chandra Taal (meaning the Lake of the Moon) is situated at an altitude of about 4300 meters in the Himalayas. Mountains of scree overlook the lake on one side, and a magnificent cirque presents a breath-taking view on the other. The name of the lake originates from its crescent shape. Situated in the Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh (India), Chandra Taal is a popular destination for trekkers and campers. The lake is accessible on foot only for few months in a year, May to August. A clear stream of water flows out of the lake. During the day the lake appears prussian blue in color, and a greenish tinge appears towards the evening. The lake is situated on a plateau(Samudra Tapu) overlooking the Chandra River which originates from a glacier near Bara-lacha-la. More details about Chandrataal at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandra_Taal
Our adventure:
We started from Delhi (India) at 12PM by road on 21st August, 2008 by road. We chose wrong time as monsoons (rains) have caused havoc along the hilly roads to Manali. There was landslides in Swarghat, Himachal Pradesh. Our tour operator suggested not to go but we were determined. Alternative was to take longer route. So we took a longer route via a short cut close to Shimla. It was raining througout the route. Roads were in bad condition. We travelled in tavera car which has good ground clearance otherwise we could have been in trouble. It took 18 hours from Delhi to Manali. The tour operator that we took was a dissappointment. Please ensure that you have explicitly conveyed your expectations to your tour operator. He selected a hotel which was far from main market in Manali, which we didnt like. We checked-in the hotel and took rest. It was raining in Manali but we liked clouds all over the place.
Next day, We started at 10AM for Chandrataal from Manali. We wanted to start earlier but tour operator objected :-( So we got stuck in heavy traffic jam on the uphill to Rohtang pass. Took a break at Marhi for some snacks. Weather was cold and cloudy with light to heavy drizzle. a waterproof cap is very useful. We started again. Rohtang pass was not pleasant sight. It was dirty with horse shit and smoky with lot of taxi fumes. We didnt stop there and kept on forward. We descended from Rohtang pass and then took right from one turn towards spiti valley. it started raining again. There were lot of water springs falling down the mountains due to rains. These looked awesome. I wish to climb these someday. This was one advantage to come to this area in peak raining season.
Road was in bad condition. There was no charcaol left on the road due to rains. On the way we had to remove big stones from the road in order to go ahead. Be aware of landslides in rainy season in this area. We were going along the river Chandra which is usually green but during this season its muddy and slightly yellow. River was in full flow due to heavy rains and it was impossible to enter water or you will be washed away in no time.
The landscpae changed from green mountains to barren brown shaded rocky mountains with few icy peaks in background. It was somewhat similar to Leh. Most of the mountains were rocky and you will sea rock streams (small rocks coming down mountain). There is an awe in the scenary. Road winded along with chandra river valley in brown barren mountains.
On the way there are few breakpoints. Best way is to take breaks in journey. There is one beautiful himachal government rest house around 3 hours before chandra. I suggest to have a night stay there. One can see glacier on high mountains from this place. As we were short of time, we kept running. Soon we hit a puncture. Car's front right tyre got punctured. Its was dusky at that time and temperature dropped down dramatically. After car got repaired we started further.
Its a steep road just before lake. Road is not concrete one, and has sharp bends. Many times car was reversed on these bends to take the turn.
It was dark around 9PM when we lost the road. Our tour organiser went on foot to find out the way. He took about half an hour and came back. We got out of the car and went on foot for around 5 minutes to reach the camp side. There were many camps, mainly one eating camp and other sleeping ones. In the dark we could see that there was a stream flowing along side camps. We had our dinner and went to sleep. Sky was clear and stars lit bright. We were told that there was no toilet camp and we had to go in open to shit. This was a shock as we had a deal with our tour organiser about this that there would be definitly toilet camps there. Make sure about this when you go there.
Next morning I got up early around 5 AM. There was little light as sun light takes longer to come from behind the mountains. There were 2 ducks that came near camping areas to feed on left overs of the camps.
I can now see clearly the stream flowing along the camps. It was nice view but it was sad that camps used this stream water for all sorts of things and it was quite dirty at places.
I was eager to walk upto lake. I assumed that lake for far away and we have to climb some mountain to see it. But soon I realised that camps are on the edge of it. This somewhat dissappointed me. I was expecting some trekking and was expecting solitude at the lake.
We went to the lake around 6AM. It was very calm and sky reflection made it look blue. TWe have been to pangong lake (leh) and were comparing this lake with that. It was very calm, water was still, which made it misterious. We took a walk around the lake for around 2km and came back for breakfast. Its around 4 km overall around the Lake. There is proper path prepared to walk around the lake.
Weather was cold. Luckily there was clear sky and subshine on that day. We took a walk around the area. About 4 kms from the camp beyond lake, there is very good view of Chandra valley. Its a must see thing. If you have time you must do a long trekking into this valley. On the other end of the lake there is a large plain covered with grass and horses feeding on it. We came back around afternoon. Sun was shining bright so we laid down on the ground and enjoyed the sun bath near our camps. Lunch was good. As we were tried from we took a quick nap in the camp. BTW, camps were small, big enough for 2 to sleep only.
Next morning we started back for Manali. This time it was not raining so travelling was bit faster. We started around 8:00AM, reached Rohtang around 2 PM. Took a break there, enjoyed eating maggie noodles as lunch there. Next break was at Marhi to get the punctured tyre repaired. While car wa repaired, I took a walk doen the road. I took a shortcut to the winding roads downhill alongside a water stream. It was fun. One can do this easily around Rohtang and down upto Marhi. You will be amazed how fast one can descend like this. At Marhi, paragliding can be done. Its around 15 minutes flight with beutiful view of Manali valley. We reached Manali around 5PM.
While coming back to Manali, just when one enters valley, before the iron bridge (near mililtary area), i saw deep gorges with mountain stream flowing between it. I decided to went back from hotel to this area (i dont remember the name now) but auto-rickshaw was too costly. They were demanding 200 rupees. I decided to walk. It was around 10 km from main bazaar. I took walk for 4 km but was too tired, so came back :-(. But the walk was nice. If one has nothing to do in Manali, one can walk from Manali towards Solang valley.
We started next day morning for Delhi. The direct route to Delhi was clear this time and we made it to Delhi around 12'o clock in night.