Drive over Rohtang la pass
Pass called as Pile of corpses
Leh – Manali road V.part: After driving through the beautiful valley of Lahaul there is the last obstacle in front of you before you end your way in Manali – crossing of Rohtang pass (3 978 m asl) located on the ridge of mountain range Pir Panjal. It forms a major rain shadow and captures most of the clouds. So the valleys of Lahaul and Spiti are relatively dry and Kullu valley on the other side of the mountains is humid with lots of rainfall. A lot of people died here in the old days due to the bad weather lasting here almost throughout the year and as the result it was named Pile of corpses. Even today is the ride over the pass tricky as there are frequent landslides, snow storms and incredible crowds of Indians from the lowlands wanting to touch the snow for the first time in their lives. Therefore, the longest tunnel of India is under construction. It should be higher than 8 km and is to be completed in 2016. It will shorten the journey by 60 kilometers and several hours.
Landscape around Khoksar
Before you set out to the drive up to the pass, you have some time to look around the tops surrounding Khoksar (3 122 m asl).
Views on the way to the pass
In fine weather are visible on the horizon five thousand high mountains.
Mountain meadows
Herds of sheep and goats are grazing on the green mountain meadows each year.
Clearing the landslide
However, the most typical picture during the crossing of this pass is waiting for the bulldozers to clear the landslides. Just a little water on the steep slopes from loose material and large loose boulders and they are going down. Locals passing here regularly cannot wait for the tunnel, which will free them from these hardships.
Muddy road
Passionate and adrenaline-searching cyclists quite often try to ride through this road, mostly from the direction from Manali. I think that Rohtang pass will discourage some of them right at the beginning.
Rohtang pass (3 978 m asl)
The pass itself is more than a kilometer wide and is extremely interesting. Shops operate here in virtually any weather thanks to the exponential increase in Indian tourists.
Drifts in the pass Rohtang la
There are still quite high snowdrifts at the beginning of the season. The pass is generally passable only four months a year.
Marhi
Base for tourists just below the pass is the village Marhi (3 335 m asl).
Endless winding road
Endless twists begin below Marhi. If you are coming here in the evening and in the addition in bad weather, you have the feeling that you must surely fall into the gorge. In fine weather during the day you can enjoy the green scenery around.
Area above Manali
If you spent a longer period of time in arid Ladakh, this green landscape will literally be balm for your soul. You will get to Manali after about 20 hours of driving from Leh, so you will probably be very tired.
Articles nearby
Article: Along the road from Leh to Manali
Long road between Leh and Manali overcomes five very high passes. The highest of them – Taglang la (5 328 m asl) is also one of… continue reading
