Reaching Kunzum La:
- There are buses plying to Kunzum from both sides - Manali as well as from Kinnaur.
- From Manali: The only option is taking the 5AM bus heading to Kaza. You can count yourself lucky if you find a place to sit since it starts from Kullu and arrives almost entirely occupied at Manali. This bus reaches Batal at around 12PM and Kunzum La around 1.20 PM.
- From Kinnaur: If you started your trip from Shimla, you would take a couple of days to reach Kaza, from where you can take an early morning bus heading towards Manali and get down at Kunzum La. This shouldn't take as long as the bus starting from Manali since Kunzum is around 60-70 kms from Kaza. So around 4 hours.
Kunzum La to Chandrataal (trek only- not motor-able):
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For unfit urban folks (image 2.1) just like myself, this can be quite a taxing trek. Especially since it starts and remains at an altitude of over 4000m. I know, going by the map above you could swear the lake seems just a couple of inches from Kunzum La. But trust me its not! Its at least 12 kms if not 14km.
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| Unfit Urban folks |
Food & Booze & Ciggies:
You need not carry your own food since there are 2 camp sites just around 1km before Chandrataal. Those guys are expensive though. Be prepared to pay around Rs. 600 per person per day (2012 rates), for a tent and 2 simple meals.
If you are one of those "booze makes you move" people, you can buy some Rum (old monk) at a slightly premium rate. It cost me Rs. 400 for the bottle (about the same as the Retail Price in Mumbai). Same goes for cigarettes. You won't find the imported brands but Goldflakes and Four Square won't be a problem.
Facilities for Tapping or Draining your kidney or Opening the dam walls/Giving birth to brown babies or Dropping the kids off at the pool:
Feel free to do any of these things anywhere you choose to (not too close to your tent).
Now if you are not the kinds who enjoys squatting in the open, I got bad news for you, hold it in till you return to civilization or soil your pants. This is what I was told to do (i chose option 1, being the gentleman that I am), but there's no need for that. One of the 2 camp sites has a little tent with a western commode fit in. Go! Live your life!
Returning from Chandrataal (trek and motor-able):
The sub-heading explains most of it.
- Either trek back the same way you arrived (from Kunzum la) or trek the slightly longer route to Batal.
- The Batal route is motor-able. So, "Into your batmobile". Or hitchhike.
Hitchhiking tips:
1) Expose as much thigh as possible, but don't show the bikini region.
2) Bite your lower lip suggestively when asking for a lift.
What the hell! I'll start over
1) Approach the person(s) who rented the car for a lift; not the driver of the vehicle.
2) Do it yourself! Don't depend on the camp owners, although they insist on helping you find a ride. They do a pretty bad job.
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| Tip: Take your own car, and help some damsels in distress |
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