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Going to Neverland
Saach Pass, commonly referred to as Sach Pass, was a long cherished dream. A dream which began in the year 2012-13. A dream which was shared with Kashish Tandon a.k.a. Mindless Wanderer.
We prepared to achieve this dream of crossing the mighty pass and set out in August 2013 to traverse through Pangi Valley via Rohtang - Keylong and reach on top of Sach Pass.
However, we could not have chosen a more dreadful time to achieve this feat.
It was peak monsoon season with rains lashing over all of the Himachal. More so in Pangi Valley. Our efforts were frustrated with multiple landslides choking the route to Sach Pass as well as the Cliffhanger road.
We had no other option than to return the same way. Even while returning we were stranded and stuck for 10 hours at one place.
Time flew off. We always planned every year to complete this unfulfilled ambition, with or without Kashish. Every year we failed due to cancelled programs due to various reasons beyond our control. Few times we set out on road and changed course midway. It was frustrating times.
Year 2019 was no different.
Again I planned with my old travel partners to travel to our own Xanadu – Sach Pass and Cliffhanger. I had planned it with them in 2018 too.
We planned for mostly in the month of September. This time too it was September albeit the last two days of September. The date we chose to travel was September 27 to October 2 with an evening start on 27th September. Five and a quarter day was sufficient to complete the trip.
Our primary object of the trip was to cross Sach Pass from Chamba side and to cross the Cliffhanger as well. The future of Cliffhanger road is uncertain as it may be closed for public use in the year 2020 as an alternate road will most probably be ready by then. We were not sure whether we would return via Kishtwar or via Manali. We had left this decision to be taken in due course.
Praveer, Rahul and Rakesh were supposed to meet me at my office at Moti Nagar by 4.00 pm. However we were able to start by 5.30 pm only. We were thinking of a night halt at Ludhiana after a drive of about 300 kms. We were already set back by 90 minutes. And we could only make it to Rajpura. It was almost midnight when we checked into a roadside hotel. It was all empty except us. Though the rooms were comfortable, I had a difficult night with sleep hard to come by.
our steed for Sach Pass challenge
dinner at Mayur Dhaba
We prepared to achieve this dream of crossing the mighty pass and set out in August 2013 to traverse through Pangi Valley via Rohtang - Keylong and reach on top of Sach Pass.
However, we could not have chosen a more dreadful time to achieve this feat.
It was peak monsoon season with rains lashing over all of the Himachal. More so in Pangi Valley. Our efforts were frustrated with multiple landslides choking the route to Sach Pass as well as the Cliffhanger road.
We had no other option than to return the same way. Even while returning we were stranded and stuck for 10 hours at one place.
Time flew off. We always planned every year to complete this unfulfilled ambition, with or without Kashish. Every year we failed due to cancelled programs due to various reasons beyond our control. Few times we set out on road and changed course midway. It was frustrating times.
Year 2019 was no different.
Again I planned with my old travel partners to travel to our own Xanadu – Sach Pass and Cliffhanger. I had planned it with them in 2018 too.
We planned for mostly in the month of September. This time too it was September albeit the last two days of September. The date we chose to travel was September 27 to October 2 with an evening start on 27th September. Five and a quarter day was sufficient to complete the trip.
Our primary object of the trip was to cross Sach Pass from Chamba side and to cross the Cliffhanger as well. The future of Cliffhanger road is uncertain as it may be closed for public use in the year 2020 as an alternate road will most probably be ready by then. We were not sure whether we would return via Kishtwar or via Manali. We had left this decision to be taken in due course.
Praveer, Rahul and Rakesh were supposed to meet me at my office at Moti Nagar by 4.00 pm. However we were able to start by 5.30 pm only. We were thinking of a night halt at Ludhiana after a drive of about 300 kms. We were already set back by 90 minutes. And we could only make it to Rajpura. It was almost midnight when we checked into a roadside hotel. It was all empty except us. Though the rooms were comfortable, I had a difficult night with sleep hard to come by.
our steed for Sach Pass challenge
dinner at Mayur Dhaba
