Daredevil bikers explore cold deserts of Spiti 

Jaibir Singh Virk, an advocate from Kurukshetra, and Charankamal Singh of Jagroan in Ludhiana, have explored cold deserts of Spiti in Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal on motor cycles.

The eight-day "peace" adventure from Kurukshetra to tribal valleys, covering 1800 km on bikes in rough, rugged and inhospitable terrain with altitude ranging from 1000 feet to 15,000 feet and that too without any logistic support was no mean task for the two daredevils.

The time chosen for the expedition made the adventure more risky and perilous as the minimum temperature stayed between -5°C and -10°C. Moreover, the high mountain passes were officially closed for vehicular traffic.

Jaibir Singh, a Limca Book Record holder for tractor expedition to Ladakh and Charan Kamal Singh, a graphic designer in Advocate Newspaper Australia and also holding the Limca Book Records holder to cover 3227 km stretch to Ladakh in 2007 on a 133cc motor cycle, set out for expedition from Kurukshetra on November 25 and reached Manali the same evening.

They started their onward journey from Manali to Gramphoo next day and reached the Kunzam pass located at an altitude of 4,558 mts on November 27 in freezing cold wave conditions.

This pass, 60 km from Gramphoo on the Gramphoo-Kaza- Sumdo road, is the gateway to the Spiti valley and separates the twin tribal valleys of Lahaul and Spiti. They explored the first inhabitated Losar Village (3,900 mt) and reached the highest village of Kibber (14,000 ft) for onward journey to Hikkim, Langza, Demul, Komic, Gette on November 28.

Gette village, a short distance from Kaza, is the second highest village in the world with a height of 4270 m, famous for breeding surefoot Spiti horses and trade with the nomadic Changpas of Ladakh in exchange for valuable pashmina wool.

The riders visited the famous Kye monastery (13,500 ft), the largest in the valley, holding a powerful sway over the most populous part of the valley around Kaza and reached Dhankar lake on November 29. The fort of Dhankar now lies in ruins, but still is a place worthy visiting.

The expedition had night stay at Kungri Monastery in land-locked Pin valley, famous for its internationally recognised Chaumurti horses sold in Rampur-Bushahar during the Lavi fair

The expedition visited Kaurik on the Tibet border and reached Nako, famous for its natural lake at an altitude of 10,000 ft. The two left for Rohroo the next day.

In the final leg, the expedition reached Rohroo on December 1 and left for Manali to reach Kurukshetra via Chandigarh on December 2.