Hampta Pass in the first week of monsoon

Everyone said wait till August. We went on 2 July because that was when four of us could get leave at the same time, which is the real reason anyone goes anywhere.

The Kullu side was green in a way that looked edited. Balu ka Ghera was fog, then sun, then hail, in about twenty minutes. The crossing at 4,270m took us four hours and one of us cried, briefly, and then laughed about it at Shea Goru.

On the Lahaul side it simply stopped raining. Brown mountains, blue sky, Chandratal the next morning. Group trek with a local operator was ₹9,500 each for five days, including the ride back via Atal Tunnel.