Stuck in Chango: Day 3

next morning when i got up, i slowly took out my head from the sleeping bag, just hoping that it had not started snowing again.. thankfully our luck had not worn out.. it was still bright and sunny and the snow was still melting.. how ever it wasn't melting as fast as i had expected it to.. even now the layer of ice was thick and still not drivable.. melt fast you bloody snow!!! when we went out we saw our hosts were cutting the wood..

it was almost 12 and the breakfast had been cleared. so we made the Maggie which we had bought.. the kitchen..

some piping hot noodles..

or i should say smoking hot..

there were more people around today.. infact we saw the labor digging out dirt from under the snow and putting on the snow.. we also got the news that BRO people had also started working on clearing the road.. this was a good news.. this meant we would be free from this entrapment soon. then came even better news.. although the road ahead was still snowed out, the road on the other side till the village called Sumdo was now open and the big cars were now coming from there. in Sumdo we could find a telephone. so finally we will be able to get through to our parents.. this gave us some relief. the people we were with said we will go there in the evening.. this was a real relief.. it was as if a huge load had been lifted from my head.. now i actually felt like having fun.. and what could be more fun in a snow washed place than building a snowman.. so we went out started making one.. Manik's duty was to collect the raw material and mine was to do the construction.. and so our snow man was ready.. then i added some accessories..

so finally meet mr. chill..

we felt like scientists who had just completed a robot.. if only we could make it clear the road for us..

then we called our hosts also for a group photographs..

after photo session was over me realized that we had made the snowman right behind our car and till it was there, we could not move the car.. what idiots we were!!

so mr. chill was brutally murdered..

as we were building our snowman, people were clearing the snow from the roof.. what made me wonder was that why was the roof in such a place which gets so much snow, flat..

a beautiful shot by manik

this is the ice on the car..
After lunch we went to Sumdo to call home.. the road still had some snow but the cars had now made tire tracks on it on which we were getting some traction. some parts were totally dry also. we drove very very slowly (mostly in second gear). when ever we breaked hard, the car skidded a but before the ABS kicked in. during those few moments, the hearts of people accompanying us were literally in their mouth. as we neared Sumdo we were stopped by the next big potential threat.. landslide!!.. now when the snow was melting, there was increased chance of it causing landslides.. and in our country clearing of landslides is not quick. i immediately prayed to god that there be no landslides once the road opens. there the whole road was totally covered with rocks and the car could not go forward.. since we were just a kilometre away, we decided part the car at a safe distance and walk the rest of the way.. as we were going, a JCB arrived to clear the road.. finally we reached Sumdo and to our delight the phones were working.. we were talking to our parents after 4 days and i cant even describe how relieved they were to hear our voices.. Now were also at peace. Even if we had to stay there for a few more days now, it would not be a problem. i also realized that we had absolutely lost track of time. that was the last day of my vacations and the next day people in office would be expecting me. so i called up my office also. then we started walking back to our car. Sumdo is right on the border of Spiti and Kinnaur districts.. so we can say we actually went to Spiti from Kinnaur to make a phone call.. :)
Kinnaur on one side..

Spiti on the other..

still lot of snow.. if you see carefully you will also see a small blue car in the picture..

the sun had started to set..

we reached Chango and stopped for a chat with some locals.. there were also some people on election duty who were stranded there like us (well not exactly like us because they had proper accommodations with many servants to cook food, cleanup etc).. they said they will be leaving the next day and their's would be a group of 5-6 cars.. for us it would be good to go with such a big group because we would have lot of help if we needed it. Manik told them to also take us along..

then we returned to our "home" as the sun was setting.. what i liked about this pic was the even the last rays of the sun were melting the ice..

some kitchen photography while the dinner was being prepared..

at night again i tried my hand at star trials.. again the problem was that due to the cold, the battery dint last very long..

so hence ended another day in Chango with hope that this would be the last one here.. hopefully tomorrow the road will open and we would be able to go home..

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