Shyamali Basu
Sunday, June 7, 2009

Trip to Keylong : A first hand experience.


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Very recently I visited Keylong along with my family. As I could not gather much information before traveling there, I decided to share my experience in the web for many more who intend to visit the heavenly place.
Our team consisted of six – four adults and two children. The oldest man in the group was my father in law – 62 years and the youngest – my younger son – less than 3 years of age.
We reached Manali on 25th of May,2009. The tourist lodge of Himachal Tourism was reserved for us. It is an economical tourist lodge on the bank of river “Beas” with four dormitory type accommodations in each room with common toilet. The cost of leaving is only Rs 100/- per head per day. We visited the local sight seeing in the next day which included Hadimba Temple, Club House {within three KM from the Mall} and Vashistha Kund {3.5 KM – in the way to Rohtang Pass}.
We were about to visit Kaza and Keylong but unfortunately the road towards Kaza was not clear then. So we had to cancel our trip to Kaza. We hired a Maruti Omni Van for Keylong. We started on 27th morning and returned Manali on 31st May in the afternoon. The whole trip costs Rs 7000/- for the car [All inclusive]. A larger car like Tata Sumo or so will cost Rs 10 to 12000/- for this tour.
Keylong , the HQ of the district Lahaul and Spiti is at a distance of 130 Km from Manali. We started at 9AM and reached Rohtang Pass[13000Ft] in three hours and faced severe traffic jam there. It was full season in manali and tourists from all over India was crowding Manali, and it is a must to visit Rohtang Pass. It took nearly three hours more to cross the snow clad pass which was full of cars and tourists there. It was a shiny day and in the absence of strong wing, it was not very cold there. Everybody in a festive mood there – playing with snow, riding snow scooter [Charges minimum of Rs 500 per couple} etc. At nearly 2 P.M. we crossed the gathering and headed for Keylong – 80 more KMs in a very bad road condition. After the Pass, it comes Garmpho where the road bifurcates for Kaza and Keylong. In the Keylong way, we stopped at Koksar for lunch – the coldest place in Lahaul region. It was nearly four in the afternoon and it was cold with strong breeze. We took simply rice/dal and veg curry – the only available dish there then at the cost of Rs 40/- per head. We again started for two more hours. Again stopped at tandi, just 8 Km before Keylong where the tow rivere – Chandra and Bhaga unites and proceeds towarda the hillocks to reach the neighbouring country of Pakistan. It was a very beautiful place. No still it was not dark – the daylight is available in this region up to 7.30 P.M in this time. We have contacted the state PWD Dept. earlier for accommodation and got it confirmed over phone. The Circuit House [3105 Mtr] near the bus stand was allotted for us. It is a very good accommodation in the best located position from where you can have a very good landscape of the snow clad peaks in the hand shake distance. The rooms are well furnished with lawns, beautiful interiors with all modern amenities. There is another Rest House of PWD in the lower part of Keylong, near the market. There is a hotel of tourism above the circuit house – Hotel Chandra Bhaga, which is expensive enough and it runs between May and November – the accessible part of the year for Keylong. Simple meal of rice/chapatti, dal, veg/egg curry is available with the chowkidar of the circuit house at Rs 60/- per head if ordered earlier. As an Central Govt. employee, I had to pay Rs 250/- per double room[which can easily accommodate three adults] per day. Next day we visited a monestry, nearly 15 Km from there. It was amazing as the monestry was clearly visible from the circuit house in the next hill but the serpentine road to reach there takes nearly 45 minutes. It is a nice place and the whole of Keylong is clearly visible from the hill top.
Next day we headed for Udaipur to visit an ancient temple, 65 KM from Keylong and visited nearby Trilokinath temple. The road condition was very bad indeed but the landscape was picturesque. Keylong has not full of so called tourist spots, only few monestries out of which we visited another on the penultimate day. The other monestries are not accessible by motor and in the shortage of oxygen in the atmosphere, we decided not to take the risk of trekking with the strange composition of our team, 3 to 62 Years. We got climate mostly clear in Keylong with moderate cold not below 7 degree Celsius. The market has a statue of Sri Rashbehari Bose, the freedom fighter who escaped here befor his journey to Japan. Keylong has a very small market with essentials but being the district HQ, several Govt. offices are located here. One afternoon we noticed a small procession on the road with one person with garland and being greeted by the locals with beat of drums. I thought him a local body election winner but after enquiring I got to know the person has just retired from Govt. service that day itself and it is a custom there to greet him such way.
Next day, on 31st May 2009 we started for Manali at 9AM biding goodbye to Lahaul and Spiti, promising myself to come here again.
Tips :-
Try to start from Manali as early as possible to avoid traffic jam in Rohtang Pass.
Contact details for reservation of PWD Circuit House/Rest House :
Deputy Commissioner office Keylong
Ph 01900-222501 Fax 01900 222506.
For more information about Kaza and Keylong visit my earlier blog post.

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