The Terrain Makes You Shut Up And Introspect….
When four girls decide to travel alone, mostly the terrain chosen is one that guarantees ‘safety’ but an exception was made in our case, not because we were daredevils but because we wanted to experience something different. After much deliberation and debate we zeroed in on the rarely accessed, cold, arid and therefore still a virgin district of Lahaul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh, India. The route from Shimla though longer, worked as an eye tonic because we witnessed the Himalayas gradually stripping off the green to stand stark naked and bare by the time we reached Nako in Spiti. Rudyard Kipling aptly described this valley as ‘A world within the world’. Time seemed to have stopped for those seven days that we spent there, a terrain that is hostile, dangerous, intimidating yet mesmerizing, beautiful and surreal. A land filled with paradoxes, Spiti is not meant to be understood it is just meant to be experienced:)
Best Time To Visit Spiti: Mid April till Mid September. When the rest of India experiences monsoons, Spiti is ‘chillin’ in the sun as it is a cold desert and therefore falls in the rain shadow region. This is the only time of the year when the passes are open and the cold is bearable 🙂
The route via Simla: Delhi-Chandigarh-Narkanda-Kalpa-Reckong Peo-Nako-Tabo-Kaza.
Day 1 ( Delhi- Narkanda, Time Taken : 7 hours) : I suggest Narkanda instead of SImla for the first night halt as Narkanda is just 2 hours away from Simla (60 KMS, 8,500 ft) quieter and not commercialized. Himachal Pradesh Forest Dept has a beautiful nature camp here, set right in the middle of nowhere surrounded by pine trees, exotic Himalayan birds and apple/cherry orchards. An ideal setting to get your first shot of adventure in order to prepare yourself for the coming days.
P.S: It’s not for the weak hearted, in the night while sleeping when you hear those unfamiliar sounds, suddenly the canvas tent with its flaps held together by a few tattered ropes does not seem like the smartest choice to make. But, nonetheless the camp is absolutely safe and the sounds; just spooky and harmless.
Eco tents at Nature’s Camp Narkanda
Day 2 ( Narkanda – Kalpa, Time Taken: 4.5 hours ): Kalpa, where we spent the second night is a picturesque village situated by the Sutlej river in the Kinnaur district. On a day with clear skies, Mount Kailash can be seen in its full glory from here. Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) has a reasonable, well managed and extremely comfortable accommodation, which can be your pit stop for the night. Kalpa has a lot to offer in terms of natural beauty, from trekking trails to orchards and breathtaking views of the Himalayas. We spent just one day there, unfortunately as we were hard pressed for time and Kaza seemed more alluring :). Though I sincerely feel that the place deserves at least two days for someone to take in it essence.
Mount Kailash Peeping through the clouds at Kalpa
Day 3 (Kalpa- Tabo; Time Taken: 7 hours (including halt for lunch at Nako)) : The final and last pit stop before Kaza was Tabo.
En route Tabo falls a small village; Nako, which deserves a special mention because of its landscape. The first village in Spiti, Nako is famous for its lake, thukpa and scenic beauty. The terrain is barren with spurts of colors which make it look like a painting. An ideal place to stop for lunch, before you resume your journey to Tabo.
The contrasting landscape of Nako……….
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Our night halt at Tabo was spent at the Trojan Guest house. A small establishment run by Mr Lama and his family who are extremely sweet and hospitable, the food here is prepared by Mrs Lama herself and to say that its delicious would be an understatement. The place was not fancy but it was SUPER cute and cozy. Colorful walls, comfortable rooms and the Himalayas saying hello! through the windows made bit of this trip seemed worthwhile. Stay options in Tabo comprise of Homestays and a few small hotels run by local families. If you are looking for luxury then this part of the world is a definite NO NO for you.
Tabo as a village has nothing much to offer in terms of sight seeing except for the Tabo monastery. which we realized later, was one of the cleanest and richest monastery in the Spiti Valley. Even the monks here seemed to have come from families which were economically sound as opposed to the others whom we met later.
A monk at the Tabo Monastery…..
Tabo Monastery
Day 4 ( Tabo -Kaza; Time Taken: 3 hours) :
The route from Tabo to Kaza gives you the real taste of the Trans Himalayan Range. Rugged and barren the mountains look angry and intimidating sans any vegetation; they seem to glare at you. The roads are torturous, curvy and narrow. Trust me, these adjectives are best to describe women, you get roads like these and what you get is your heart in your mouth at every second turn!
Narrow roads and converging mountains mark the terrain…
We finally arrived at Kaza by 4 pm in the evening, with a brief pit stop at the Dankar Monastery. There are plenty of monasteries in Spiti but this one stands out because of where it is constructed. The hill on which the Dankar village is situated is a sight to behold. I wish I knew what they called those kinds of rock n stone formations, the sight of it left all of us gaping.
marvels of nature no architect can imitate – Dankar Village
Kaza, is in the middle of literally no where. You drive for hours n hours n hours on a barren landscape, at times wondering if the route is right, struggling to get network on your phones and suddenly you see civilization. Its a mixture of relief and slight dismay because of the same reason ‘you finally reached the destination’.
Kaza through her different profiles :)…… This is typically Spiti sun n shadow together…
The walks seem to lead into oblivion.
Places to visit in and around Kaza:
1) Restaurants in the new town bazaar: Kaza has been divided into new town and old town. Though looking at the size of the town you tend to wonder why did the administration go through so much trouble. It still seems as small ;). The new town bazaar though has some really nice eating joints. German Bakery (obviously) and a lot of small cafes run by the locals.
2) Sakya Tangyud Monastery : One of the oldest monasteries in Kaza
3) Key Monestery :
From a dist the monastery seems to emerge from the mountain
check out the dude in sun glasses… 🙂
This over 1000 year old monastery is the oldest learning center in the Spiti valley. The lamas here are very friendly and apart from showing you around the premises will also treat you with the traditional ‘chai’ 🙂
4) Komic Monastery :
This one was ancient in the true sense…. one of the few sign boards that you see in the region…
Standing alone at a height of 15000 feet. Komic is the worlds highest motorable monastery and also the most primitive. It does not even house proper toilets, the lamas still adhere to the concept of open toilets, which are holes dug in the ground. The oldest lama in this monastery is 90 years old who does not remember the last time he saw civilization . Their life is as alien to us as ours is to them. But surprisingly the dreams are quite similar 🙂
5) Kibber Village:
The highest village in the world connected by morotable road. Plan your day so as to have your lunch here. This traditional village, which has the Tibetian culture ingrained in it has some reallly nice eating joints. We found the food here better than Kaza. You will also bump into a lot of Israielis and Germans here as this village is the starting point for a lot of trekking routes in this region.
Caution: Do not even THINK of trekking if you are not an avid trekker. For most of us even changing clothes post bathing was an exercise 🙂
6) Pin Valley National Park: If you are lucky you might spot the Snow Leoperd or the Siberian Ibex. The park has less vegetation, extreme temperatures and some very exotic bird species. If wildlife intrigues you then you cant miss this……
Here are some of the do’s and don’ts for a road trip to the Spiti Valley:
1) Avoid night driving as the roads are very narrow, broken at places and the area sparsely populated.
2) Don’t eat very heavy meals and drive, the nature of the road and the altitude can cause vomiting.
3) If you suffer from altitude sickness cut garlic into small pieces, put them inside a bottle of water and keep sipping from it as you graduate to higher altitudes.
4) Once at Kaza (11.980ft) stay inside your homestay/hotel and venture out for short walks for the first 2 days to get acclimatized to the altitude. Don’t jump altitudes right from day 2, you are bound to fall sick!
5) Carry loads of energy food like chocolates, snack bars, jaggery etc with you. They provide body heat and instant energy.
6) Take a BSNL, sim from Simla or Manali, if you wish to stay connected with the outside world because no other service provider works in this area.
And last but not the least: DON’T be a tourist, don’t just see Spiti , Feel it, you will not get the essence of the place unless you experience it like a traveler. Bon Voyage!! 🙂
Ghummakar (The Traveler) 