Stargazing- Underneath the Stars

“Astronomy compels the soul to look upward, and leads us from this world to another.” — Plato

Away from the hustle bustle, lies this picturesque village, at the base of Ajoba hills with solar powered electricity and clean toilets- Dehne. 

The three of us had booked this trip online with a travel group. We met our co-stargazers at a pre decided location- Asangaon Station and started our journey. We were accompanied by a very knowledgeable astronomer (hobbyist), a photographer and an organiser from the travel group. Food was also part of the deal- evening snacks- bhajiyas with tea, dinner- traditional vegetarian maharashtrian food at a local house, breakfast- poha with tea.

-Nearest Station- Asangaon (Local train station on the central suburbs of Mumbai) (45 km from Dehne)

-Things to Carry- warm shawl, water and snacks for midnight munching (tents, blankets and pillows were provided as it gets nippy!)

Day 1

We reached just before sunset which was a delight to watch through the green fields with bhajiyas and tea.

         

Started with learning to fix tents of all sizes- small, medium and big. As it dawned, the session started with initially low visibility of the stars and planets (obviously). Moon was in a crescent and looked stunning in the telescope. So did Saturn with its rings! Around 9ish we headed for dinner.

Post dinner session had beautiful story telling by our astronomer from Indian and Greek mythologies. Some stories connected the dots or rather the stars and formed the constellations! This went on until around 2 am with rising and setting of various stars and some planets.

         

Star trails with north star at the centre

         

Star trails with north star

         

Star trails

Some of us caught up on some sleep while others chose to lay beneath the bed of stars.

         

         

         

         

Day 2

We woke up just before the sunrise and witnessed another beautiful sight of Sun rising just behind the Ajoba hills.

         

         

Had breakfast and around 8 we were homeward bound.

Spiti: Somewhere In The Middle Land

Make the best use of your cellphones- take photos! 

..there is no 4G, 3G or 1G for that matter..no network..no internet connection ..thus, Spiti promises you a no-nuisance trip..in the lap of Himalayas..the middle land- SPITI!

Our fun road trip started with some strangers we met in Shimla and ended with bidding farewell to buddies in Manali.

We began with Narkanda (acclimatising with the air/surroundings) moving up to Sangla where lies the last inhabited village in Kinnaur district and is on the Indo-China border- Chitkul (breathtaking views of the valley with small streams and waterfalls on the way).

Reached Kalpa- for awe-inspiring views of Kinner-Kailash (from practically anywhere in Kalpa) or how I like to call it The Killer Kailash!

Moving on to Tabo monastery (called the Ajanta of Himalayas) and then to Dhankar monastery (with hike to Dhankar Lake- which we missed).

This part of the country is one of the least populated areas and one can feel that in Mudh, Pin Valley (around 200 people).

Next stop- Key and Kibber monasteries.

Your phone may come back to life and start pinging as you have entered Kaza (sub-divisional headquarters of Lahaul and Spiti). Kaza has cafes and shops and wifi and wine. You can shop for souvenirs and other local stuff. Feels like more people than ever in entire Spiti.

A small trek to wake the senses (if overslept in Kaza)- Chandertal Lake. No words can describe the pleasure at the end of the hike to the lake. (and I have been to Ladakh- Pangong Tso and Tso Moriri- which no doubt are astonishing in their own way).

This 8 day-trip was challenging in terms of bad roads (the toughest part being the last one from Chandertal to Rohtang Pass) and some of us struggled with health issues (altitude/mountain sickness, breathlessness, cold, fever etc.). But as someone said, 'when everything feels like an uphill struggle, just think of the view from the top' ...and the view indeed was awe-striking!