Solang Nala: A Resort Town

Mountain View Up The Valley

At the Iceland Hotel I had a very good room with a view that looked up to the Northeast and the High Mountains.

This is resort town, Solang Nala, reminds me of Banff in British Columbia, Canada or Jackson Hole in Wyoming, USA.  I'm sure there are various locations in the European Alps of the same type.  I expect that this will be an ever growing destination for the Indian Middle Class and Overseas visitors over the next century. A website that describes Solang Nala from a tourist perspective is HERE 

Usually, this is not the sort of location that I gravitate towards.  Nevertheless, I appreciate it from a business standpoint.  These are the sorts of places which draw in a great deal of money and give opportunity for local individuals and families to improve their lots in life.    

And obviously, these tourist areas provide a form of entertainment for visiting families and individuals.  I won't get on my 'High Horse' and judge nor condescend down on these.  

Defining Poster

Khem Raj Thakur, Former Shepherd

Some of our folks were sitting out on the patio by a table and I came over and sat down and listened to the conversation.  Damon and the Indian gentleman were recalling various interactions they had over the last couple decades.  Khem was the owner of the hotel and Damon was around as the Iceland was being developed.  It turned out that Khem had grown up in a family of shepherds and had walked those high valleys in the late spring and summer with their flocks.  He was relaxed and very well spoken and radiated intelligence and grace. I found this initial story of his origin fascinating and began asking him a series of questions. His answers revealed a great deal about a life of growth. He did a number of different jobs in his late teens and into his mid 20s. This while being discouraged by his family to forsake their traditional way of making a living. He paid close attention to the larger world, taking mental notes, reading, meeting people, trying various business opportunities.  He both failed and succeeded and continued to try different ventures, skills and activities. He became a world class skier. Also a competitive motorcyclist like Damon (I think this is how they may have originally met.).  He also let motorcycling tours as well as back-country treks.   I came away very impressed with this remarkable gentleman.  It was a very pleasant and informative discussion with him.  A little about Khem is HERE  .   

And why did he name the hotel "Iceland"?  Was it associated with the country in the north Atlantic Ocean?  No, he smiled.  Rather, so many people from locations such as Delhi had called him over the years and asked if there was "Ice" (snow) currently at his location. Many Indians have never encountered snow in their lives and so this was a big draw for the people from the south. As a result he decided to name the hotel Iceland to suggest that this was, indeed, a snowy location much of the winter season.   

Original Hotel/Guest House

Beside us in the patio was a smaller guest house. This was the original hospitality venture.  Now, several decades after building it, he's planning to tear it back down in order to open the patio area.  He's not afraid of change.  

I went for a couple walks from the hotel and looked over the local landscape.  I saw vendors promoting bungee-trampolines, short soaring across a soccer field, small dhabas for sitting down.  

Bricks

Back at the hotel, I could look down from my balcony at a assemblage of tents and shelters. There was a large high school group.  In the morning I saw the young girls lined up to wash their long hair.  In the later afternoon the teachers had the kid all assembled and they were playing a game of Duck Duck Goose.

Duck, Duck, Goose!

Zip Line and Bungee-Trampolines

In the evening I watched an group of young adults in the front patio doing a traditional line dance in custom, with reed instruments and large trumpets blaring to the beat of drums.

Group Camping

Khem Conducting a Staff Meeting

All in all, it was a restful day and evening.  At these lower elevations sleep came easier and was much more restful.  Also, bodies eventually acclimate to higher elevations and so 9500 feet didn't feel as challenging as 5-6 days prior.

Crescendo Over the High Pass

This was the BIG day. Climbing dirt and gravel roads over the highest point of the tour, Kunzum Pass, .  A very rugged road with plenty of snow melt waters passing over the road surface.  The road is generally closed to traffic for over 7 months of the year once the snows deepen.

Losar to Manali

T

During the tourist months, the road is often filled with tourist vehicles. Traveller vans, motorcycles, small sedans and the occasional bicycle tourist.

The Main Road Through Losar

Outside of Losar we foreigners had to stop at another checkpoint to be registered.  Then we passed under the arch. The most rugged portion of the trip lay ahead.

Charlie and Paul at the Kunzum Mata Temple, 15,000'

We reached the Kunzum Pass which connects the Spiti and Lahaul Valleys.  This is as high as we got in the Himalaya.  Very impressive.  The road is closed for over 7 months of the year because of the snows and weather that can get over 60 feet deep.  Trying to imagine the travelers who have gone over this pass over the last 10,000 years...  Perhaps with yaks as pack animals.  

Yaks with Packs
(from the web)

The road was incredibly challenging.  There was a series of switchbacks that was jammed with sedans, vans, motorcycles and small trucks. Too rough a ride to photograph.  I saw a motorcycle stuck in a waterfilled pothole with people pushing to get him out.  

The government of India has plans to eventually put in a tunnel under the pass so that traffic can get thru.  But it is understandable why the road is closed for the 7+ months.  Nearly impossible to maintain.

The road is torn up a great deal of the way.  At one point we were on a long series of severe, narrow rocky switchbacks with traffic snarled in both directions.  99% of the people were Indian tourists trying to navigate.  As I wrote above, it was too rough a ride in the truck for me to take photographs.  But I recommend this Youtube video HERE (in Hindi) from 2023 that shows the nutty situation at times along the trail.  Below are two screenshots from the video showing a sedan stuck in a water on the road in what is really just a bunch of small boulders. Traffic quickly backs up when these situations occur. If the weather were to turn bad, this stretch of trail could turn deadly in a hurry.

At some point we stopped for lunch at Batal's Chandra Dhaba. Dhaba is an Indian word for "Roadside Cafe". In this remote spot it is a refuge for bad weather.  There is no roof. Just a tarp pulled over some rafters that are taken down once the snows come.  The road up here is closed for nearly 8 months of the year. Weather can turn bad quickly. The couple that run this are the Batal's and have lived in the area for many years.

Batal's Chandra Dhaba

Neil, Paul and Damon in the Batal's Dhaba

Here is an Interesting Article With Photos by a traveler who lingered here for a bit:  

Continuing on behind the group, we entered a long valley of the Lehaul River and followed the road. we really were just following the rocky bank of the river. The scenery was stunning as is shown in the photos.  Although some sections of the road did not appear that challenging, I was glad to be in the truck since I could photograph so much of this.  On the bike I would not have been able to capture these views.  

Kashmiri Goats Grazing

Pack Horses Roaming and Grazing

Another Dhaba Rest Stop Settlement Further Down the Valley

River Cutting Thru Glacial Till

Shepherds and Pack Horses

Commercial Mountaineering Base Camp

Rains Are Beginning

Sanjay, Robin and Paul Ahead

Checkpoint Stop in the Rain

Sanjay In His Rain Slicker

We entered the Atal Tunnel which is the highest "Single-Tube" tunnel in the world.  5.6 miles long.  There are plans for building a higher tunnel to go under Kunzum Pass.  The pass is covered each year with up to 50 feet of snow.  Such a tunnel would be much higher and longer.  Other tunnels and highways are planned to replace the inadequate 'roads' that currently exist.

Atal Tunnel

The Indians and Chinese had two wars over borders in the 1960s and more recently they've been clashing again. The militaries continue to build roads and infrastructure up into the high mountains.  The Atal and other planned tunnels are partially the result of this military tension.  The soldiers have clashed without fire arms.  Rather, as shown HERE, they've used staffs, axes, rocks and other nasty items. A number have died on both sides. Something to think about.  

Indian and Chinese Soldiers Clash in the Himalayas in 2021

Indian Military Convoy on the Move Near Manali

Roads to the Northern Borders

After passing thru the tunnel, we were magically transported from the nearly barren east side to a warmer, almost tropical landscape.  The tall foothills that the tunnel passes thru is giant fence which can, depending on the season, limit the heat and moisture that can get over it to the other side. Solang (elevation 9500 feet) stills gets plent of snow but nothing like the higher plateau on the other side of the mountain ridge.

Solang was planned to be another stop where we would have a rest day to recover from the higher cold desert.   Very nice.  I was given a single room again. No complaints.

Iceland Hotel in Solang