Sach Pass in July – Itinerary, Road Conditions & Updates

Sach Pass in Pangi Valley, the big daddy of all mountain passes and we say that the name is JUST

enough to give you shivers down the spine D… Yes, you guessed it right, I just came back from a f*****

amazing adventure of my entire life, last week only. The journey to Sach Pass, Pangi Valley was

something that cannot be put into words, something that cannot be recalled to live it again, something

that will go down as the most unforgettable experience of my lifetime, something that I can barely realize I

made it through…

Numerous water crossings, endless waterfalls, snow walls as high as 40 feet, roads as if the pathway to

hell, picking up an XUV to cross the landslide, clearing the landslide on your own, driving through the ever

violent gushing streams and waterfalls, running through the live landslides, taking an open wild waterfall

bath, getting stuck in no mans land, crossing over mighty passes of Rohtang Pass and Jalori Pass in the

middle of night… Uff… Can you ask of anything more?? :D… All in all an F-amazing drive to daddy of all

the mountain passes – Sach Pass in Pangi Valley which concluded with an exhilarating WTF kind of

experience last week…

Adventure?? Now beat that – Sach Pass Quest

Well, over all, the road conditions lived up to the expectations though we were just lucky to save

ourselves from heavy rains as predicted at the start of the journey. The weather just kept itself to offer

optimum beauty with light rains and ever refreshing green colors.Chandrabhaghariver accompanied us all

throughout in Pangi Valley to keep us interested in the routes with some majestic infinite number of

waterfalls puring down into it. Some were just breathtakingly beautiful with multi story falls right from the

top of the mountains. All these things were WORTH the effort we had put into the trip :)… The road

conditions in most of the region of Pangi Valley were just horrendous to say at least ;)…

Though the detailed travel tale will take sometime to write, but in this article I would like to share what

itinerary I followed, route I took and the updates on road conditions of this mega adventure in trans

Himalayas, that is, Sach Pass – Pangi Valley.

About Sach Pass – Pangi Valley

Before I dive into the trip details, for those who do not have much idea about Sach Pass and Pangi

Valley, I will give brief details of it and then will move on to the trip details.

Sach Pass is situated at an altitude of 4,420 Mtrs or 14500 feet lying on the PirPanjal Range of the

Himalayas and connects Chamba Valley / Churah Valley with Pangi Valley in Himachal Pradesh. It is

about 127 KMs from Chamba and about 175 KMs from Dalhousie. Every years the pass gets open from

late June or early July to mid October and then the road closes for winters after heavy snowfall. It is the

shortest route from Chamba to the Killar with a distance of about 160 KMs and hence, once open, this

route is prefered by the locals too. The other routes to Killar are, Chamba – Manali – Udaipur Killar about

680 KMs and Chamba – Jammu – Doda – Gulabgarh – Kishtwar – Killar about 570 KMs. In fact it is the

shortest route for Pathankot to Leh over Manali – Leh Highway as well.

The breakup of route direction and distance to Sach Pass from Chamba is as: Chamba – Tissa (63 KM) –

Bairagarh (90 KMs) – Satrundi (106 KMs) – Sach Pass (120 KMs) – Bagotu (130 KMs) – Killar (166 KMs)

and altitude graph goes like Tissa (1570 Mtrs) – Bairagarh (2800 Mtrs) – Satrundi (3400 Mtrs) – Sach

Pass (4420 Mtrs) – Bagotu (3600 Mtrs) – Killar (2590 Mtrs)

Once you enter Pangi Valley, you unlock yourself some of the most beautiful and amazing places to

explore in the Himalayas. You will need at least 4-5 days to explore Pangi Valley after reaching Killar and

then can head towardsUdaipur – Tandi – Manali for going back home. Some of the beautiful places to

explore in Pangi Valley around Killar are Dharwas, Luj, Sural, Hundan, Findroo, Findar, Mindhal, Parmar,

etc..to name a few. The entire Pangi Valley offer many picturesque villages and there is a PWD rest

house in Cherry where you can stay in peace too along with hotels or guest houses in Killar.

The Devils Gang at Sach Pass, Three cheers for the Spirits shown

Sach Pass Top

Beautifuly setup Killar village in Pangi Valley

An amazingly beautiful village in Lahaul Valley

Itinerary for Pangi Valley – Sach Pass Trip in July

Well, we had 5 days in hand for Sach Pass trip including one buffer day and we followed the itinerary as below:

Day 1: We started around 3.30 AM from my house, got together by 4.30 AM at Delhi bypass and left from

Delhi. We had breakfast at Zhilmil, Karnal with stuffed paranthas and then continued in heavy + light rains

all the way to Pathankot. There we took the road towards Dalhousie – Chamba and went on to reach

Bairagarh at 19.30 PM in the evening. Half of the group stayed at Mannat home stay and other half stayed at

hotel Chamunda just near it. Delhi to Bairagarh came out to be 686 KMs with a wrong detour towards

Amritsar road for about 12-13 KMs one side.

Day 2: This was supposed to be the D-Day, the day when we crossed the Sach Pass driving going

throughKalaban – Satrundi and reaching Killar by evening with ample of stops on the way. We started at

7.20 AM in the morning from Bairagarh just to cross the pass early in the morning before the Nallahs gets

flooded on the route and travelled around 76 KMs that day to reach Killar in evening passing through

Bagotunallah. We stayed at Chamunda Hotel in Killar too :)…

Day 3: There was quite an anxiety on this day because a lot of was heard about MadgranNallah which

could swallow the big buses too after the noon or towards evening. The bridge wasn;t there and hence, our

only option was to cross it as early as possible. So, we started at 5.45 AM from Killar and it was raining that

day. Passing through various beautiful villages of Pangi Valley, witnessing loads of waterfalls and water

crossings. We were able to reach Udaipur by 12.55 PM after crossing Madgran, though it was one of the

longest I ever crossed but was doable without much trouble at that time. We had our brunch at Udaipur –

BhandariBhojnalya which served us amazing veg. food. Then, we went to Trilokinath ji for darshan and

cruised to Tandi – Sissu – Khoksar. We reached Rohtang Pass at 19.40 PM and old Manali at 21.20 PM. We

called off this never ending day in Old Manali at Dontell Mama Guest House. Route of the day was like

Killar – Cherry (14 KMs) – Purthi (28 KMs) – Tindi (54 KMs) – Madgran (70 KMs) – Udaipur (79 KMs) –

Trilokinath (96 KMs) – Khoksar (175 KMs) – Rohtang Pass (194 KMs) – Manali (245 KMs)

Day 4: Half of this day was totally killed in Manali and then we realized we have to move to Narkanda via

JaloriPass :D… Series of events held us on the road up to 14.00 PM and we could not make much progress

ahead. Finally, around 16.30 PM we crossed Aut tunnel and then started the ascend towardsJalori Pass.

Spared out 2.30 Hrs at ShringiVatika as some of us wanted to have chicken made up there as speciality …

Hence, we could end our day in dhabha at Jalori Pass at 22.40 PM. Amit, Anshul and Nitin went on to sleep

in camps at Jalori Pass.

Day 5: Started from Jalori Pass at 7.15 AM, passed through Ani – Khanag – Sainj – Kingal – Narkanda –

Shimla – Ambala – Delhi. We had our brunch at Narkanda at Himalayan Restaurant this time skipping my

favorite NegiDhabha which is just opposite of it. On the way to home, we had our drunch at McD, Zirakpur

and then drove non-stop to Delhi from there to reach home by 22.00 PM at night which concluded the trip.

The total drive over the trip was about 1610 KM done in a budget of around Rs 5600 per head including all and it

had a couple of very costly meals for about 1000 per person at Manali that just got wasted … As I said, words fall

short to explain this f-amazing mega adventure of my lifetime…

One of the Landslide points between Tissa and Bairagarh

Partners in crime for Sach Pass Quest

Zooming through…

Devils, clearing the Landslide on the way to Sach Pass

Waterfall and watercrossing, yes right on road

Running through the water crossings

Tamed MadgranNallah in Lahaul Valley

Road Conditions for Sach Pass in July

Following is the breakdown of road conditions for the trip:

Delhi – Ambala – Ludhiana – Jalandhar – Pathankot: Mostly Excellent, smooth sailing toll road.

Pathankot – Bungal – Bhatwan – Dunera – Nainikhad – Banikhet: Mostly good and some sections were

average and very few bad patches with potholes.

Banikhet – Chamera Lake Reservoir – Larog – Koti: Mix of good and average roads.

Koti – Tissa – Bairagarh: Roads are mostly bad with few average patches Between Tissa and Bhairagarh,

there are some landslide points and tricky sections along with few water crossings. Drive with care here.

Bairagarh – Satrundi – Sach Pass: Mostly non-existent roads, rocks, boulders on road, multiple gushing

water crossings, landslide points, slush near the pass and some very very tricky sections. Quite difficult I

will say.

Sach Pass – Bagotu – Killar: Again mostly non existent road especially till Bagotunallah which was totally

flooded. The road on the other side of Sach Pass was extremely pathetic, I mean no words for it. Might kill

sedan totally. Both XUV and terrano struggled alot in water crossings, big boulders, snow and slush.

Killar – Cherry – Purthi – Tindi: No roads, dirt track but is OK to drive with average conditions and

couple of water crossings.

Tindi – Madgran – Udaipur: Again no roads, dirt track, slush, couple of very heavy/violent water

crossings including Madgran.

Udaipur – Trilokinath – Tandi: Many patches of good tarred roads and smooth sailing. Couple of places

have average and bad sections.

Tandi – Sissu – Khoksar: Majority of sections are good but there are few sections which are narrow, with

slush and very bad especially for small cars.

Khoksar – Gramphu – Rohtang Pass: Quite bad roads, some sections are very pathetic again especially

almost up to few KMs before Rohtang Pass.

Rohtang Pass – Marhi – Manali – Kullu – Aut: Mostly very good roads except from Rohtang Pass to

Marhi which has couple of bad sections.

Aut – Banjar – Ghiyaji/Jibhi – Shoja: Narrow road with mix of good and average roads.

Shoja – Jalori Pass – Ani: Quite bad at places with slush on road which made it more difficult. On the other

side of Jalori Pass towards Ani, still fine with few bad sections.

Ani – Khanag – Sainj – Kingal: Mostly good roads.

Kingal – Narkanda – Shimla – Zirakpur – Ambala – Delhi: Smooth sailing with no issues.

Horrors of Road to Sach Pass

Our convoy struggling through on the Quest

Splash in the water towards Satrundi

That amazing valley view from Satrundi

Amazing weather in Pangi Valley

Phone Signals with Data Connectivity in Pangi Valley – Sach Pass

I was carrying Airtel Postpaid, BSNL Postpaid and Vodafone Postpaid was with some friends. Following

was the signal status:

All three were working mostly through all the route up to Bairgarh. Then, there was no signal of Airtel or

Vodafone up to Tandi. In Killar, by evening BSNL started to work but connection is erratic. Udaipur had

signals but then in between no signals.

Beyond Bairagarh, only BSNL connection worked, so do carry it else be ready for out of family connection

for couple of days till you reach Tandi – Sissu area in Lahaul. Jalori Pass too had signals though a bit week

for all the connections.

Data Connectivity was almost always available wherever the signals were present, mostly limited to 2G and

at places even 3G was running.

In the land of Waterfalls – Pangi Valley

Other Important Updates for Pangi Valley – Sach Pass Trip

Bairagarh, Killar both have decent hotels and also liquor shops though preferred brand can be an issue.

DO NOT go towards Chamba or Dalhousie and follow the road to Chamera Lake from Banikhet, then reach

Koti from there. That is the short route, the other route is quite long via Chamba or Dalhousie. Neither

Chamba nor Dalhousie should come on the route to Bairagarh from Pathankot, in case they come, you took a

longer route.

Once you cross Bairagarh, you will find Dhabha at Satrundicheckpost but no paranthas so pack your food

from hotel. Then after crossing Sach Pass you get to eat around BagotuNallah before Killar in a dhabha.

After Killar in Pangi Valley, you will find dhabhas at Purthi and then at Udaipur only.

Killar is a big town in Pangi Valley being headquarters of it and does also have an SBI ATM.

You can get good Rajma from Baban or Purthi villages in Pangi Valley even in Udaipur, Lahaul or Peas as

well in case you want to carry them back here.

We filled up fuel before Bairagarh guess near Tissa somewhere and then after that we could spot fuel pump

only at Tandi on Manali – Leh Highway.

Whenever making a trip to Sach Pass or Pangi Valley, do leave early in the day so that water crossings have

less water in them as there are numerous of them on the road with Madgran being the most violent along

with Bagotunallah.

Bhandaribhojnalya at Udaipur is a great place to eat homely food. We loved it a lot.

That’s our ride in Lahaul Valley

Toll Amounts on the Route

Toll at Panipat: Rs 30

Toll at Panipat: Rs 30

Toll at Panipat: Rs 30

Toll at Karnal: Rs 111

Toll at Gharggar: Rs 67

Toll at Ladowal: Rs 117

Toll at Chollang: Rs 70

Toll at Tunuhatti: Rs 30

Toll at HarseMansar: Rs 75

Toll at Himachal entry: Rs 30

Toll at Banikhet: Rs 30

Toll at Himalayan Express way, Panchkulla: Rs 28

Toll at Ambala – Chandigarh NH22: Rs 36

I will start sharing the detailed Travel Tale of this Sach Pass – Pangi Valley trip, the reviews of the hotels I

stayed and places at which I ate food, very soon. So, stay tuned guys

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