Beas' originates at Rohtang Pass at an elevation of 4361 metres above sea-level. Beas travels through Himachal Pradesh and enters Punjab where it's 470 km long journey ends by merging into river Sutlej at 225 MAMSL.
During my travels between Kullu and Manali, I learnt that all major roads of the state ply along the river, crisscrossing few times. The fresh mountain water appears blue or greenish blue in most places. During the cold months water level is low and the flow is narrow exposing the rock strewn riverbed. Here are few shots of Beas from my DSLR and mobile phone.
This is the river bed near Kais at a point where a stream joins the river. Countless mountain streams join along the journey increasing Beas' width and depth.
A natural washing stone held by the darker rock below.
Just after the river-stream confluence is a hanging bridge, one of the many such bridges on this route.
I happened to see five or six bridges, identical in looks and build. A pair of anchor towers positioned opposite to each other on the banks hold the suspension cables and all the paraphernalia.
View of the downstream from the bridge entrance. The riverbed is about 100 feet wide or more at places. Presently the river is under 30 feet but it flows with great force here. One can't really wade through the water here.
The bridge is about 2 meter wide, enough for a Tata Sumo MPV to pass through it. As we were about to enter this bridge on a bike, a car entered from the other side, we gave way for the car. There are unspoken rules on these bridges. However, some bridges which are busy, like the one close to Kullu, have traffic controllers. Driving reverse on a narrow shaky bridge can be super tricky, so to avoid such incidents controllers handle the traffic.
Beas as seen from another point. Take a look at the riverbed color. Its whitish, if you go closer on a sunny day the glare can be blinding. Also, you can see shiny dots in the sand which is dues to the presence of mica which is quite high. Masonry works made of this sand and cement have shorter life compared to the ones built with mica-free sand.
As we move higher up the hills towards Manali, the mountains have more vegetation, mostly fir, pine, and spruce. The local names are Cheel, Deodar, Kayal, Rye, Saal, and Safeda.
Blue-sky, snow-capped mountains and Deodar forest. It looks so scenic but the conditions on the mountains are not really friendly for humans. Yet the locals have their own survival techniques.
Himachal being a favorite tourist destination offers many adventure sports like paragliding, hot-air ballooning, river rafting, trekking, skiing, and what not.
Few kilometres before Manali, we stopped for a break, went off the highway. Rajesh poses by the fresh gushing gurgling bluish water.
A pointy rock pokes out from the bed. One needs to be really careful while playing in such places.
The beauty of this place is so captivating that one might want to stay here for a long long time.
Do check out little bit of Himachali rural life.
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