Tatopani Hot Springs

May 19^th, 2012

With paragliding still being banned today as a result of the Indian Premier League cricket match in Dharamsala, Matthew suggested that I join him and Thomas on an adventure up to a place called Tatopani (which means “hot springs”).  Sounds good to me.  Matthew has a big Royal Enfield motorcycle, originally a British made bike it is now quite popular in India and manufactured here  He also has a Honda Bullet and he offered that I could ride it while he would take Thomas with him on the Enfield.  My experience on motorbikes comprises of only about 5 days of riding with all of these being in Nepal and India but I do have a lot of scootering under my belt…so how hard can it be?

The hot springs are located up a valley, between the second and third ridges to the west from where we launch for paragliding.  It would take us about an hour to bike there and then another hour to hike in so we were up early (6am!) and off on our adventure.  Unfortunately we had a number of delays such as a slow leak on my front tire which needed tending to but nonetheless we were in great spirits as we slowly cruised along the winding road through the pine forest.  Soon the landscape changed to terraced fields where locals were busy reaping their harvests of wheat.  I couldn’t help but wear a permanent grin on my face as I saw many Indians smiling and giggling at the sight of Matthew and Thomas on their bike, both sporting wide brimmed canvas hats, Matthew’s a camouflaged one and Thomas’s white, with the wind bending them upwards giving them more of a “Pony Express” look than a couple of bikers.

I'm happy to go to the hot springs:

 

As is Matthew:

Live to Ride...Ride to Live...

The Pony Express:

The road began to wind up the mountain and it was pretty easy going at first but I have to admit that there were a couple of challenging sections near the end with big loose rocks all over the steep road.  We arrived at a hydro station where the bikes had to be parked and we would continue on foot.  The security guard at the gate mentioned to Matthew in Hindi that there was a group of Tibetan nuns already at the hot springs...hmm, didn’t expect that.

Live to Ride...Ride to Live...

Head out on the highway...

Parking our steeds under the curious watch of the security guard:

The hike was uphill to begin with, running beside the pipeline feeding the hydro station and then descended down to a river with the pipe emerging from the base of the hill.  We had a few moments of confusion as to which path to take but made all the right decisions and soon arrived at the hot springs.  There are a couple of small lodgings by the river along with a mandir (a small Hindu temple).  The source of the hot water was not obvious due to the large boulders that line the riverbed but it was clear which streams were hot by the bright, almost translucent algae lining the heated waterways.

Approaching the hot springs:

Which got my approval:

Watch out for cows...

Although they are friendly looking:

There were already twenty or so people milling about with some of them just exiting a square concrete hot pool.  Both Thomas and I were not thrilled by the cleanliness, or lack thereof, of the pool but first things first, let’s have lunch.  Following our meal of pasta and watermelon (with a lack of dishes, one guy would eat the pasta from a large Tupperware container while the other two worked on one half of the melon, then we’d trade), we wandered over to a natural pool where hot and cold water mixed.  The Tibetan nuns (if they were in fact nuns as they were dressed in Western clothing) were just finishing up cleaning some clothes and we chatted with them for a bit while we hopped in the water.  It was shocking at first as the top few inches of the water were quite toasty warm while your feet were in frigid water.  The temperature from top to bottom must have ranged about 20 degrees Celsius at least!  Shortly after the women left, they were replaced with 5 rambunctious young Indian teenage boys.  Yikes, there goes the peace.  Oh well...it was still a gorgeous place to hang out and bathe.

Assessing the situation:

Darker clouds began to roll in and soon the skies opened up and it began to rain, ultimately followed by sleet and borderline snow!  Thomas and I remained in the natural pool, our best defence against the inclement weather while Matthew had gone off to check out the concrete pool.  Thanks to the continuing precipitation we were stuck in the water for about 2 hours and eventually emerged like prunes.  We dried off, put on our clothes and kept an eye on the next set of ominous clouds approaching.  Perhaps it’s not time to leave just yet...

The rain and sleet has now stopped...but this was my refuge:

I had no hat and for some reason Thomas had this lady's one in his van that he gave me before we started the day...it turned out to be useful in protecting my face from the falling ice particles!

In the post hot springs glow:

We watched a herd of goats descend a steep hill and cross the river right near us, all the while eating any nearby vegetation.  The rain began again and on Matthew’s prompting we were back in the hot water of the concrete pool which he had cleaned out with the help of the young boys to ride out the last storm which didn’t last too long.

We began to hike out at 5pm and then rode down the mountain on the bikes.  I was a bit more concerned of descending the steep roads as it’s easier to spill the bike and sure enough, right near the start I did put the bike down once but at next to no speed and there was no damage to me nor the motorcycle.

Almost back to the power station (the little white dot in the middle)...we were tempted to slide down these cables to get there but no one brought their James Bond gear with them...

Me and my good new American friend Matthew:

Not sure what poses we were pulling here: 

The skies were still looking a bit uncertain as we left:

Halfway down we encountered smoke from some small fires in the forest.  We stopped for a moment as an older Indian man walked up to us and Matthew asked him about the fire in Hindi.  The man said that he had started it.  Why?  No reason...oh India.  At least it was just burning the brush and none of the trees were catching on fire.

Down in the valley we turned off our bike engines as we coasted down a freshly paved road.  Almost everyone by the roadsides or in nearby fields were smiling, waving and yelling “Namaste” as we passed by...how awesome!  That kind of thing doesn’t happen in the Western world and it can only help but warm your heart.  What a great way to finish a great day!