My experiences : Gateway To Spiti

Gateway to Spiti

(July 2018)

And it all started by getting a thought of going for an adventurous trip!! Last year it was Bali, Singapore, Malaysia and Langkawi. And one wish in our bucket list was ticked marked by doing scuba diving at Bali. Now it was time to tick mark one more in the bucket list. Yes!! it was a road trip!! And Road trip had to be special and most adventurous. So it was our “Self Drive Road Trip to Spiti” – Meeting the High Himalayas.

So on one Sunday evening at Country Club, while having dinner with our friends, we discussed about our trip plan. And without any hesitations they agreed to it. So we with our partners in crime finalised on going for this thrilling, scary yet exciting road trip to one of the remotest areas of the world. – Spiti!

This trip was more like a soul-searching journey into the Himalayas! If you want to enjoy a comfortable trip then Spiti Valley is not for you because this trip will test your limits and challenge you to the core, but the sense of achievement and inner peace that you get on completing the trip will make you want to visit it a thousand times over! 🙂

Spiti means ‘The Middle Land’ between India and Tibet. Away from civilization and blissfully untouched by mass tourism and commercialization, Spiti is one of the remotest areas of the world, probably the most remote region of India. The place also boasts of the world’s highest motorable and inhabited villages. Located high in the Himalayas, it is nestled in the north-east part of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is truly heaven on earth and a balm for the nature lovers! The best part of the trip will be undoubtedly the warm, friendly, innocent and ever welcoming people of Spiti who lend the valley its divine soul. 🙂

Day Wise Trip Progress: -

Day1: On Sunday we had our early morning flight from Mumbai to Delhi. We were all excited to start our road trip to Spiti and wanted to land asap (as soon as possible) to hit the wheels. We got our Car outside Delhi airport. It was a Revv Car – Scorpio. Slightly less as per our expectations but it looked quite sturdy. We had to reach Shimla the same day. We landed at 10.15am and we were outside the airport at 11 am. We started our road trip by 11.30am. Took a lunch halt at Ambala and we managed to reach Shimla by around 12 am. Had a very exhausted and tiring day and we hit the bed at our Oyo Room at Shimla.

Day2: We started late. Visited Mall road, Rani Jhansi park for kids. Witnessed one of the heaviest rainfall at Shimla in last 58 yrs…we were stuck for almost 1 hr with kids at the park while our husbands were stuck near the car parking lift. Due to heavy rainfall, the tourism lift which helps you reach from car parking to mall road was also shut. After long time, we managed to meet them and continued our walk at the Mall Road. Mall road in its own way had many things to offer. Right from good food, shopping, good views for photography. Just strolling around mall road is all we did today.

Day 3: It was time to visit Annadale at Shimla. One of the must visit places one should not miss visiting. It is basically an army museum with golf course, cactus park and beautiful scenic sitting. Annandale is a very beautiful spot that gives away a picturesque view of the Shimla city along with its surroundings. It falls under the authority of the Indian army. Post lunch we headed towards Narkanda – an amazing place to enjoy the weather and the beautiful views. It was beautiful and serene hill town of the Himachal Pradesh State. Took a night halt at Narkanda. It was freezing cold here but manageable.

Day 4: We started around 10am to visit Hatu Peak. At the peak we were greeted by dense fog and chilling weather. We were extremely careful as far as driving was concerned because road visibility was zero. One of the most difficult drive so far. The road is narrow and rough. Although the road leading to it is narrow and in only few places two vehicles can pass each other, the effort really pays off when you reach the peak. After taking Hatu Matas blessings, we headed towards Sarahan. While enroute to Sarahan we took a turn from Jeori upwards to Sarahan. And after covering most of the distance, we got to know that this road was closed due to some road construction going on. So we had to again come back and take a detour on a road which starts 1 km after Jeori. This road was a roller coaster ride for us. There was lot of sludge and the car was skidding many times. There were infinite apple trees and one could not stop themselves by plucking one. We did too, kids had fun plucking fresh apples, washing and eating them. We somehow managed to reach Sarahan around 6.30 pm and we directly went to Bhimkali temple. It is the only attraction in this small town hidden in the Himalays. There is no rush, madly crowd, screaming of priests rather one will find a calm and serene environment. Here one can worship the goddess Kali in the midst of the natural beauty. The whole time we were there, we could constantly see and hear birds chirping and the complex is green with so many gorgeous rose bushes here and there. Overall, a very peaceful experience and definitely worth it. We Stayed overnite at Sarahan.

Day 5: It was 10am we left our hotel at Sarahan to head towards Sangla which is famous for Kamru Fort. We had nice breaks in this pleasant journey. Sangla Valley might be named on Sangla town but river flowing through it is Bapsa. We reached Kamru Fort by afternoon admiring green valley throughout. The fort set a picturesque location and offers beautiful views of the Sangla Valley, streams, apple gardens and most importantly we could see the beautiful Kinnaur Kailash from here. Kamru fort has a graceful wooden balcony and at the top of the building is an idol of Kamkhya Devi which is worth seeing. We proceeded to Chitkul which is the last point one can visit on vehicle on this route. It’s a small village and we reached by 7pm. It was quite windy and chilly here as Chitkul is located at quite a wide open valley. We stayed overnight at Samaa Resorts. It was our 10^th anniversary tomorrow and we celebrated it with our besties. It was beautiful in every way. Right from baking a surprise cake, to blowing candles, to partying and much more. We spent our 10^th anniversary at this place which is heaven on earth.

Day 6: Its 8am in the morning, and I took a walk outside our hotel till the river side. There are mountains, meadows, huge rocks, river, and grassland which has a unique identity for itself. The journey to Chitkul was altogether a different experience as we loved the great hospitality by Mr Jaswinder and Mr Pawan from Samma Resorts. Thanks to my cousin Mayank Shah who recommended us to stay here. This village is a must visit place, and one should stay at least for a day here as the landscape leaves you manigested all the time. It is a perfect place to spend some time off from the busy lives and monotonous routines in the realm of natural beauty. It was time to leave from Chitkul. We got ready and took our car near the Riverside. Clicked many pictures as today we 6 of us are wearing a personalised t shirts named as “Road Trip Squad”!! We headed to leave for Kalpa. Had lunch at Sangla and our cars driver seat broke down. We managed to get it fixed at Reckong Peo which is next to Kalpa. We had an overnight halt at Kalpa.

Day 7: Today we woke up to breath-taking views of the Kinnaur Kailash Mountain Range. We had an early breakfast and headed towards Nako. On our way to Nako we experienced Confluence of River Spiti and River Sutlej at Khab. The Spiti river flowing through the Spiti valley here meets The Sutlej, which originates from Mansarovar Lake in Tibet. This was Our 1^st Stop at Spiti Valley. We visited Nako Lake and a Monastery. Thereafter we had some breath-taking views at Nako Helipad. After clicking lot of pictures (everyone in our very own military wear looked mind-blowing), we left Nako around 3.30 pm for Gue Monastery. The village of Gue is relatively unknown and unheard of in the traveller circuit. Gue houses India’s only known naturally preserved Mummy. This mummy was found during an army excavation and was placed in a tomb. The mummy is believed to be around 500 years old. According to local beliefs, the mummy is believed to be that of a holy man or lama named Sangha Tenzin who decided to sacrifice his life for the wellbeing of his village. It was worth our time visiting and praying this Mummy. This was becoming a longest day of our trip till now and finally managed to reach Tabo late at around 8.30. Totally drained out we hit the bed early.

Day 8: After refreshing sleep, we woke up early and taking a tip from yesterday, we started the day early as we had to cover many places today. Tabo is a small town in Lahul and Spiti. The town lies on the road between Reckong Peo and Kaza. We visited the Tabo monastery which is said to be over a thousand years old. The Dalai Lama has expressed his desire to retire at Tabo, since he maintains that the Tabo Monastery is one of the holiest. While getting out of Tabo Monastery we had a good sight of local kids playing with water. We stopped for a while and had a great time seeing them play with water and splashing water on us. They also greeted us with a pleasant “Namaste”. Then we headed towards Dhankar Monastery which is a beautiful monastery and is locked between rocky spurs at the top of cliff in the Dhankar village. There is a new monastery below the old monastery. One best thing I liked about this place was this Monastery is perched on top of a hill in the most spectacular way. This place is certainly a photographer’s delight, who would love to capture the view from top of the monastery. We were extremely tired and needed a tea break. Right outside the Monastery was a tea stall who served various types of teas never heard before. We experienced the Tibetan Tea, Wooden Tea and Mint tea. Each one had its own unique taste and aroma. After refreshments we started to move towards Pin Valley. This valley is also a location of a wildlife reserve called “Pin Valley National Park”. In Pin Valley, we visited Mud Village which is the last village on the road. Thereafter we crossed the water crossing and went deep into the Valley. Pin Valley has its own beauty and is quite fascinating. We reached Pin Valley at around 3.30 pm and we saw the wildly furious but majestic Pin river that flows through it, turning the entire valley into carpets of green with beautiful mountains in background. Sunny weather, strong winds, miles and miles of isolation, stunning views, enchanting silence, colourful flowers around; put this all together and we were totally lost in this magical Pin Valley. Somehow it was time to move ahead and we finally managed to reach Kaza at 7pm. Kaza is the largest township and commercial centre of the Valley. Here we relaxed as we had our next 3 days stay at Kaza. Our stay in a hotel here at Kaza was at the Market area.

Day 9: After yesterday’s long and tiring day, we started our day a bit late today. As per our planned Itenary, we had to do a day tour of Kaza to Kibber, Langza, Komic, Hikkim. Our starting point of today’s day tour was Key Monastery. This is the biggest monastery in Spiti Valley perched at a picturesque hilltop. After this, we visited a decent little village of Spiti called Kibber. We crossed over to Chicham Bridge which had awesome views of deep valley. Chicham has been declared as the highest bridge of Asia. We crossed the bridge and spent some time there. Took some photos and videos. It was time to move towards Langza. Langza is a tiny and peaceful village set amidst the higher Himalayas in Spiti. The majestic Buddha statue standing tall and looking up to the desert mountain is a sight behold. The breath-taking views of Langza didn’t stop us from clicking pictures with the Tall Buddha Stupa. From Langza, we visited Komic monastery at Komic. We had rats dancing in our stomach but this place called Spiti Organic Kitchen served our purpose. They serve pure veg food. Don’t forget to try the Komic Sandwich here which is a combination of boiled potatoes, cheese and herbs. We tried the Green tea too and it was out of the world. Post refreshments, we embarked on an exciting journey to explore some of the highest inhabited regions of the World. Yes, it was Hikkim, where we visited world’s highest post office. The road is steep, so we carefully walked down the inclined pass way into the post office. This post office is managed by just one single post master. The friendly post master served every request with a smile. None of us missed the great photo opportunity while dropping the post card in the post box perched upon a wall. My son, Mehaan wrote letters to his grandparents. He felt great to send this post card to his loved ones from here. People with breathing problem should avoid. We had a great feeling and a very memorable moment being at such a height. It was 6pm and we reached back to our hotel at Kaza. While our way back to the hotel, we searched for this new joint called The Himalayan Café and decided to have our dinner here. This is a food joint run by female from Mumbai – Andheri, takes the concept of bright, clean and cheerful to new levels of these parts and it’s a big hit. There is a big terrace as well as the inside room with its colourful Spiti map and live music evenings. We finally got to eat some good Pizzas after 9 odd days. We winded up, reached back our hotel room and dozed off.

Day 10: It was late morning and we started our day late today, because It was kind of rest day for us at Kaza doing the local Sightseeing. Post Breakfast, we got ready and left for riverside to wash our car. It was hardly a kilometre away from the end of the village. It was fun washing our car on our own by splashing water on it, cleaning mats, removing the dirt, cleaning the tyres and much more. Kids got a time out at river side from daily travelling and sitting in closed areas of car. They threw stones in the river, filled buckets of water for their daddies, splashed water on each other, and also helped us cleaned the car. Overall it was a group effort which ended up in a thrilling experience. Not to forget we also clicked lot of pictures and videos of this thrilling experience. Post this, we had our lunch at Deyzor (recommended by Mayank Shah). One of the best hotels in one of the great locations in old Kaza. Mr. Kranbir – owner of Deyzor is a gem of a person and will make you feel welcome. One should not miss visiting this place if in town to experience the tastefully decorated place. It was time to take a stroll on the market streets of Kaza post lunch. But we ended up napping in our hotel for 1.5 hr. At around 5pm we Strolled the Kaza local market. Shopped a bit and went back to The Himalayan Café for Dinner. Our plan was to sleep early tonight as tomorrow was a hectic drive day to Chandratal Lake.

Day 11: The excitement was on early morning as it was our most important part of the trip to reach the beautiful Chandratal Lake today. We started at 9am with some good roads till Chicham Bridge, thereafter the roads were average to bad and we managed to reach Kunzum La (Pass). We bowed and offered our prayers to Kunzum Mata before undertaking our journey to Chandratal. It is said that most of the travellers, drivers and passer-by seek blessings at Kunzum La to visit Kunzum Mata before undertaking the dangerous journey. The road to Chandratal from here was around 14 kms. This 14kms stretch, we had our heart jumping in to our mouth because the roads were extremely narrow at several places and in a terrible state with few water crossings in between. Finally, the sight of first campsites relieved us. We took a stay at Tenzin Campsites. The owner is the son of the famous Chacha Chachi Dhaba at Batal. After a tiresome journey on a dusty road, and post delicious lunch we rested for a while in our Swiss Tents. The tents usually offer breakfast and dinner inclusive in the tariff. It was 5pm and we started in our car for the lake. It is around 2-3 km stretch of dusty road to reach a parking spot. From here, we had to hike for 1.5 – 2km in order to reach Chandratal Lake. The vehicles cannot go till the banks of lake. We could spot the lake from a distance due to the green blue waters. Chandratal Lake is considered to be one of the most beautiful lakes of the Himalayas. Chandra means Moon and Tal mean Lake. It is a crescent shaped lake in Spiti Valley and hence it is named as Chandratal Lake. As soon as we reached the lake, we witnessed a stupa covered with flags and wishing stones piled up all around the lake. We were awestruck by the beauty of this lake. I quickly removed my shoes, dipped my feet in water and splashed cold water with my hands. My feet were numbed with happiness and cold. The clear blue skies and ice cold water made us not leave this place for a longer time. After clicking infinite pictures (solo and group), it was time to move back to our tent. We got so engrossed with this raw beauty that we forgot we had to hike back till our car parked. After having spent more than an hour at the lake, I believe a Spiti Valley Itenary might be incomplete without Chandratal Lake. While started walking back till our car parking, I made a wish by piling up stones. There is a popular belief amongst the locals to make a wish by piling up 7 flat stones one on top of the other. I did that too and it was fun. We finally reached our car, put on the heaters to come out of the wild cool breeze of the lake. Reached our tent, ate dinner and it was chilling outside as there was ice cold wind blowing hair on our face. I managed to step out of my tent post dinner to sit under the shimmering stars, and must say it was my dream come true of staying in a tent and waking up to the mountains.

Day 12: It was morning and I was up even before the Sun was i.e. by 5am. I took a stroll around the campsite and sat with a cup of hot tea mesmerizing the view. It was a hell of an experience and one should definitely visit Chandratal Lake and the campsites at least once in your lifetime. We had our breakfast and it was time to bid adieu to our campsite and the Lake. It started drizzling when we left at around 9.30 am for Manali. Our journey started with bad roads which turned worse ahead. At some places, the roads have been completely washed away. There was no respite to it anywhere. On top of it one of the most dreaded stretch of our route was awaiting us at Choti Dhara. It was literally crossing a river on the road. A truck was stuck coming from opposite side and we had to wait for around 20 mins for it to clear our way. Our journey today was turning into a bumpy and hectic ride, but that was fun of it too. Road was bad until we reach Rothang Top. Finally, it was time to take a break and free our legs and back from some sprains. We got down at Rothang pass for some refreshments like corn and Chana masala and of course some photo sessions... Rothang Top came to us with its own surprises as our phone suddenly started ringing and our networks came into place after “6 long days of no phone.” More 50 kms to reach Manali, but the roads were super smooth and our phones kept us busy. At last, our 8-hour journey ended at 5.30 pm and we touched Manali with a great relief. It was end of the most “treacherous roads.” It was time to rest after a tiring yet exciting journey. We all had a good night sleep at our Manali stay as our next day was planned to be local sightseeing and rest day.

Day 13: Visited Hadimba temple – one of the most popular temples in Manali. The temple doesn’t not have an idol of the Goddess but a huge stone carrying her footprint is kept here. We sought blessings and rested at the benches there for a while. Thereafter we visited the club house at Manali for some fun time zone for kids. Here we spent some nice time near the riverside dipping our feet in the cold chilling water. Kids had their own time hopping and jumping from one stone to other. Had lunch and took a quick nap back at our hotel. It was time to stroll around the bustling Mall road. It had plenty of hotels, eateries and shopping opportunities. We opted our dinner to be at Old Manali, and I must say that it turned out to be a good experience with sumptuous dinner (lovely Pizza’s) along with live music. All we did at Manali was eat, sleep and shop.

Day 14: Todays plan showed 12hr journey time on google maps. This included journey to Chandigarh from Manali via Manikaran. It is a holy place with natural hot water springs. It is natures best wonder I have ever seen. Extreme flowing cold water and hot spring at same place and adjacent to each other. This sulphur spring has natural healing properties and it helps cure many diseases. We all took few mins dip in the hot water to feel relaxed and fresh. Please note: 5 min dip is sufficient. A longer dip may cause problems. We prayed at the Gurudwara and headed for our lunch break at Kasol which was around 4km away from this place. Enroute to Chandigarh our next stop was at Sunder Nagar where we had our evening tea and snacks. The journey seemed to be very long and we reached quite late at our Hotel in Chandigarh. Retired for the night and we slept immediately.

Day 15: As we were short of time today, after a quick breakfast we dashed for the famous Rock Garden before leaving for Delhi. Here the sculptures are made using bottles, glasses, bangles, tiles, ceramic pots, electrical waste etc. We clicked too many pictures at this Garden and now it was time to rush our journey to Delhi as we had a flight to catch. After crossing Punjab and Haryana borders we reached Delhi Airport. It was time to say bye bye to our partner in crime (Our Car –Scorpio) as the person from Revv Cars was already waiting for us to collect the Car at the airport. Now this whole trip was coming to an end as we boarded the flight back to Mumbai. And here we were Back to our Pavilion with Mumbai welcoming us with heavy showers. It was one memorable trip with all sights captured in our hearts.

“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles”. A very well said statement!! There is no way I could have enjoyed this trip, much less completed this trip with this bunch of “my people.” I wouldn’t have even considered it. Experiencing new things with the same kind of people is the best. What I love most about this crazy trip was the adventure of it: Live, Travel, Bless!! And it was time to go back to chaos and infinite hurry of our daily routines. Will surely miss the mountains, echoes of winds, clear clouds, breezy winds and much more.

Please Note: Every Minute of hauling the “self-drive road trip” was worth the view!! In short it was amazing, tiring yet fulfilling!!

Travel Tips for Spiti Valley!

· Carry adequate cash as there are no ATM’s in Spiti except for one at Kaza.
There are no networks in Spiti Valley and only BSNL Sim cards will work. BSNL is patchy at places and there is no network at Chandratal. For Jio Sim users, network is up to Kalpa and then again from Rohtang Top.
Don’t forget to carry the postal address of all those loved ones you want to post letter to from Hikkim, the world’s highest post office. I forgot to carry few of them.
Pay interstate tax online in advance. There are many shops available on the road which will pay for you at a premium.
Breathing issues expected at higher altitudes like Kaza and Chandratal.
Keep yourself hydrated throughout the trip.
People say it is difficult to take your kids, but I strongly suggest, you take them to this place to dwell into the mountains and understand what is nature about.
Last but not the least, if you want to get the experience of this trip, carefully choose your travel partners, you need to be on the same wavelength.