Is Sangla overhyped?

hitanshu

I don't know about you - but its honestly a waste of time in most cases.

Motion sickness is:
a. more an issue to be dealt with in the hills/twisties.
b. If its an issue even in plains, then even going to sangla and all will be quite taxing on your kid.

Also, some people here will kill me for it. But choose a good vehicle. Hire a safari > bolero=innova > scorpio.

more than speed/distance its about the vehicle as well.

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tsk1979

Agree with hitanshu, motion sickness will manifest itself more in the hills. Till you reach Kalka, the road is arrow straight 4 lane, actually no difference from train.
As for taxi, the most comfortable vehicle you can rent is the innova.
Give some over the counter medicine for motion sickness once you hit the hills.

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hitanshu

I must add, 7 seater innova with middle row captain seats - NOT the bench seating.

smnray

hitanshu, tsk1979,
sorry I could not reply earlier. I left before I saw your replies.
I have come back from the trip. Sangla was great! Chitkul was out of the world! Weather was great!
I initially planned to take Howrah-Kalka mail to save time. Could not get it. Other factor was getting a driver from himachal. So as a whole I planned for train joueney!
I shall write the detail trip report latter and also upload photos in weekend. But some quick information.

- We traveled in hired Indica. Initially I was skeptical, latter found that indica can easily and comfortably go to sangla/chitkul. Though if anyone is planning for Tabo/Kaza etc. then indica is not recommended. But till Chitkul, no problem at all! (I was traveling with wife and 5 yr old son. They also had no complain about journey by car)

- Roads are not scary! There are bad patch between Wangtu and Sangla due to construction work. But it is ok and drivable! After all buses/trucks goes to Sangla! So not much problem for car/jeep. Only thing is one should apply their brain and avoid stones etc in the ground. Possibly should go with car with little higher ground clearance. For indica we did not found problem.

- Sangla to Chitkul road is also easily manageable in Indica. This road is very beautiful and not at all scary. Some years ago, huge amount of water used to flow through this road during afternoon when ice melts due to sun. Now small bridge has been constructed, so it is not a problem now! We comfortably went to Chitkul in indica in the morning, walk till ITBP post, took lunch in Chitkul and came back comfortably in the afternoon. Road was ok!

- In sangla we stayed in Banjara camp. It is approx 6 k.m. ahead of Sangla market towards Chitkul. The whole area of Banjara camp is on a totally flat land, so it is very good for kids. They are pricey but their food and services are very good. They have now constructed rooms also (permanent structure) in the same area. I personally prefer tents though.

- Though I have not done it (my son was tired) but banjara camp was highly recommending a walk from Rackcham to Banjara camp/Batseri village (with guide). (In fact as per the guide in this walk you can get the best view of this region, though I can not confirm) You can also do the walk from Batseri to Rackcham but then it will be walk upwards. So it is better to drive till Rackcham (if you have a hired car) then do the walk from there! Note that Rackcham to Batseri/Banjara camp walk is approx 11 k.m. And from Batseri to Sangla is another 6/7 k.m. So it is possibly better to terminate the walk in Batseri and take the car again.

- Till now Vodafone (except postpaid Mumbai Vodafone) is not working in Sangla/Banjara area, but Airtel/BSNL works (As per guide, postpaid connection of Mumbai vodafone works (through Airtel roaming, I guess)). For other networks I have no idea!

I started this thread with a question. Now I can happily say that even if the dam work may have reduced the green area, sangla/chitkul area is really beautiful (though note that the dam is before sangla city, while traveling from shimla. So in sangla and towards chitkul the river has still enough water) !

mantru

glad to know you liked that part of Himachal.

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Mantru
http://www.indiamike.com/photopost/m...0489&protype=1

http://mytravelpage.6te.net

smnray

Thanks Mantru! Yes it really beautiful!! After I came back, I am just dreaming about when should I go back there again (:-)

smnray

I have just uploaded some photos of the trip in member gallery section.

ashwinnaagar

Reallly beautiful pics..loved your thanedar pic the most.

smnray

Thanks ashwinnaagar!

fleur08

This post was really helpful! Loads of practical insight. And pics are lovely... did you get to see apples by the way??

amdtraveller

I saw some Apples trees blossom in Sangla when i went in early May, but flowering was generally over - for the apple harvest, I believe September-October will be the time.

I attach a photo of a flowering apple tree in an orchard near Rakcham (at least, i was informed that it was an apple tree) But I have seen other pictures of trees with many more flowers.

Attached Thumbnails

 

smnray

Nice photo, amdtraveller.
Thanks fleur08! I saw apple but they were very small. In lower altitude, harvesting time is September. I guess in Sangla, it will be end of September/October.

I also want to add some more points

- Note: we got this advice from local guide and I have not confirmed it from any Doctor.
While driving from Sangla to Chitkul, my son was seating next to car window and the window was fully open( he has motion sickness problem). Speedy cold wind (with low oxygen) made him uncomfortable and he complained about mild headache when we reached Chitkul. Though he was ok within 10 minutes after reaching Chitkul and did a long walk. The local guide told us child should not sit next to a fully open window while driving at high altitude and we should keep the window partially open to avoid speedy wind.

- If you are going by Kalka mail to Kalka and you have not hired a taxi from kalka shimla union, then that hired taxi will not be allowed to pick you up from kalka station (Problem only for commercial vehicle ). In that case either you have to go to shimla or some near places, or you can tell your taxi driver to pick you up from chandi mandir station ( station before kalka). Kalka mail stops at chandi mandir. Shatabdi does not stop there. We took shatabdi, so taxi driver picked us up from Chandigarh.

hitanshu

Umm. I have a slightly different tack. What works with my passengers so far has been an advance dose of avomine, ever so slightly open windows with AC on full blast so that the air does not get stuffy.

But yes I agree - very open windows can be quite draining - esp for people who wear contact lenses!

fleur08

Good one amdtraveller! I had seen something like this is Manali sometime in November! But that was just like a solo tree... I wish to see the orchards full of apples, but I guess July is not the right time. I would have to visit sometime in August-October for that!

In my opinion, speedy high altitude winds are really suffocating, even when you are not inside a moving vehicle. I had experienced some while visiting Rohtang... It was exhausting. And I won't club that with motion sickness. It IS a different ball-game altogether. Thanks smnray for the information.