Spiti Valley - Paradise On Earth

Let me take you all on another memorable trip of mine – Spiti (Paradise on Earth).

Spiti is tucked away in a far corner of Himachal Pradesh on the wrong side of the greater Himalayas and is often called as “Little Tibet” or “Mini Ladakh”. But there is a difference, unlike Ladakh Spiti makes your holiday very pleasant and stress-free with less crowd, no houses, no vehicles to give way to, no mobile network or anything to remind of the world we have left behind. So, when you finally lose that cell phone signal, you will be transformed to a completely different world. Spiti lets you enjoy the bewitching beauty at your pace and time.

This was in my bucket list from a long time and after exploring lot of options I finally planned for this trip through a single women’s travel group called “Wonderful World”. And I am glad that I made the right choice since they had organized this tour well. They believe in making small group of like-minded travelers so that at the end of trip all of them bond well and become great buddies. We were a group of 11 ladies with 1 tour lead. Our trip started from Chandigarh and ended at Chandigarh 10 days later. Now let me take you all through this memorable journey of Spiti day wise.

1    Day 1 - June 23^rd – Saturday -Chandigarh to Narkanda (Altitude – 8800 ft)

We arrived at Chandigarh airport from our respective cities. We were picked up by our tour lead and put up in 3 Toyota Innova cars. Thanks to these cars and the drivers who made our journey very smooth and comfortable. Post lunch we started our journey to Shimla. We encountered lot of traffic blocks while entering Shimla City. Hence, we took another road and reached Narkanda at around 9 PM in the evening. We stayed at Tethys. Since we were tired, we had a quick dinner and hit the bed. It was only the next day morning when we opened the window blinds we actually realized where we were put up.

2    Day 2 - June 24^th – Sunday – Narkanda to Sangla ( Sangla Altitude -  9000 ft)

Post breakfast we started our journey to Sangla. Drive from Narkanda to Sangla took roughly around 8 hours with two scheduled breaks. We reached Sangla around 4 PM. We were put up at Kinner camps which were high in luxury ensuring all our comforts are taken care of. Post having light tea and snacks, we set out to explore villages around Sangla valley. 

We climbed a bit of incline and crossed a bridge over Baspa River. After a bit of more hiking, we entered the Sangla village. We roamed around the village, going up and down huffing and puffing as the locals smiled at us. En route we saw lot of apple trees. Local guide told us that the soil and weather is conducive for the growth of best quality apples. We walked back and took a stop by Baspa river. We clicked some pictures at this place, relaxed a bit and headed back to our camps. 

On reaching camps, our local guide told us that they organize zip line and other activities in their camp. So, we did zip-line and this was my first thrilling experience which I thoroughly enjoyed. Post this there was bonfire arranged for us along with a great barbecue dinner. This was our first day of ice breaking for the group. We played some fun activities so that we get to know each other well and we can spend the rest of the days together with the same spirit and enthusiasm.  Post dinner, we headed to our tents and had a peaceful sleep.

3    Day 3 - June 25^th – Monday – Sangla to Nako (Nako Altitude - 12000 ft)

Next day morning we started to Nako from Sangla. Drive from Sangla to Nako took roughly around 7-8 hours. Initial journey was good for a few kilometers and then the dangerous roads of Spiti valley shakes every spare part of your body. These are the toughest roads I have ever experienced. We saw stones falling from mountains at few places and were mentally prepared to add few hours to our journey. But thanks to BRO workers for making sure there are no blockages on roads. The landscape also starts changing from tall trees to shrubs and eventually just rock and stones. Finally, we reached Nako around 3 PM. Here also we were put up in Kinner camps but the breathtaking view from our tent simply waived off all the journey sickness.

After a light tea, we set out to explore Nako village with a local guide. We first saw Nako Lake. It was a small oval lake on one side of the Nako Village with a small walkway around it. We did a parikrama(walking one complete round) of the lake. There were trees all around the lake and their reflection in water made it feel like a green lake.

Next, we visited the Nako Monastery and the new monastery which was built for Dalai lama. The view from this monastery was splendid. The sun rays falling on the landscape and on the monastery was just worth watching. All the cameras were out at this spot not for the selfies or groupies just to click pictures of this spot from different points.

We took a stroll of Nako village and returned to our camps late evening. One common point noticed is all the houses in the village are made of mud, wood with different shaped windows and doors. Also every house and building has prayer flags tied around them to signify strong Buddhist presence.

4    Day 4 - June 26^th – Tuesday – Nako to Tabo (Tabo Altitude – 11000 ft)

We started from Nako by 7:30 am and reached Tabo by 11:30 am. Post checking out at Maitreya Residency (named after the future Budhdha), we set off to Tabo Monastery. The monastery because of old paintings is known as Ajanta and Ellora of Himalayas. This is the old continuously functioning Buddhist monument in India. 

Meditation caves are clearly visible from Tabo village and are known to be very old. We get a glimpse of this while going around the Tabo Monastery.

Post lunch we took some rest at Maitreya and then in the evening at around 4 we headed to Meditation caves. It was around 3 KM walk uphill from Tabo village. It is believed that these caves served as dwellings for monks during the harsh winters of the Himalayas. The roof of the cave has a wide hole that opens to the sky. Termed as 'Tabo Caves,' these magnificent caverns are artificially excavated for monks and were initially used as an assembly hall. We returned to Tabo Village and took a stroll to helipad.

5    Day 5 - June 27^th – Wednesday – Tabo, Dhankar monastery, Lahlaung Monastery, Pin Valley

Next day was a full packed day with several stops filled with monasteries and some landscapes.

Our first stop was Dhankar Monastery. Dhankar monastery is located roughly midway between the Spiti valley towns of Tabo and Kaza. 

Dhankar monastery offers panoramic view of the Spiti valley. It was like a dream to watch rugged mountains on one side and a quietly flowing Spiti river on the other side. We couldn’t stop clicking pictures at this spot. The view that you get from this place is beyond what the words can capture.

Our second stop was Lahlaung monastery. This is also called as wish monastery. There is also a sacred tree here which may be as old as the earliest monastery. 

Our third stop was Pin Valley, and this was the most memorable for me. Want to understand why, please read further. In Pin Valley, we had lunch at Sagnam. This place is very isolated even from the nearest probable village. There is an old age home run by Karma and Soni which is still under construction and they mainly rely on donations to run this. Hence in winters they take elders down to Rewalsar. Really appreciate the work Soni and Karma are doing there for the elderly people. Due to space constraint, all 12 of us somehow could manage to accommodate ourselves in one small room there. It was nice to hear stories from Soni and Karma who were full of positive energy, soulful and cheerful. We were served here white rice, Black peas dal and vegetable raita which was simply yummy.  We all were literally licking our fingers at the end of it. This indeed will be the best memory of my trip.

Our last stop was Thinley Homestay Kibber and this is where we stayed overnight. This homestay had rooms with triple sharing/4 people with dry sanitation facility. So, it was a completely different experience altogether which I had never experienced till date in any of my trips. Thanks to WonderfuWorld for making this happen. We all went back to our college hostel days, spent the rest of the evening playing games, savoring homestay food and gossiping.

6    Day 6 -  June 28^th – Thursday- Langza, Komic, Hikkim, Key monastery, Kaza (altitude – 11,980 feet)

This was another power packed day with lot of interesting places to visit. We started from Kibber at 8:30 am and reached Langza our first stop. Langza is called the Spitian Fossil Village. At the first glance, travelers will instantly notice a golden Buddha statue amidst those mountain ranges. After quickly taking pictures underneath Buddha, we started our hunt for fossils which is a must do in Langza. Due to chill winds hitting us, we didn’t have patience to explore and we returned to our cars.

Our Second stop was Key monastery. This is supposed to be the biggest monastery of Spiti Village. Surrounded by snow-capped mountains and glaciers, the beauty of the valley is breathtaking. The route to Key Monastery is also beautiful.

Our third stop was Komic. This is the world’s highest village in the world connected with motorable road. It is located at an altitude of 4587 meters. Komic Monastery - It is believed that the monastery has 'Maitreya Buddha,' or 'The Future Buddha,' who looks after the well-being of the people of Komic Village. There was a stuffed snow leopard right behind the door and a signboard indicated that women are not allowed inside.

Our fourth Stop was lunch. From Komic, we started walking downhill towards Thangpa homestay in Komic village for lunch. Here we were served hot steamed momos and soup. Food in each homestay was different and relishing.

Our fifth stop was Hikkim which is World’s highest post office.  From the main road, we had to walk downhill a bit and there we see a small post office with just one door, one postmaster and one post box only. Post master had some post cards with all the attractions of Spiti. We chose 1-2 cards, wrote a personalized message with pen (reminds us of our school days 😊), and then posted in the post box there. All process in a traditional way which was indeed delightful experience. And I am very happy to tell my readers that the post card has reached me after almost 3 weeks. This is indeed the best memorable moment of my life.

Our sixth and final stop of the day was Kaza. Here we stayed overnight at Hotel Deyzor.

7    Day 7 - June 29^th – Friday - Leisure day at Kaza

This was a leisure day given to us which was very much required. We got up late and had a good heavy yummy breakfast. Post that I started looking at the interiors of Hotel Deyzor which is very well articulated. There is no wall in the hotel which is untouched with quotes or exciting stories of Spitians or their handicrafts or some reusable stuffs or it may be one of Karan’s travel stories. One can spend the entire day reading just these stuffs.

Then we went to Spiti Souvenir shop and brought some good Spiti stuffs. This is a one stop shop for all the souvenirs you want to take for your loved ones. Next, we had lunch at Deyzor. Food that was served here was by far the best we had in our entire Spiti trip.

Post lunch, I spent some time reading the quotes on the hotel walls and got to know good things Karan has been doing for the Spitians there. You can see the inspiring stories of Spitians written on walls and if you need a comfortable homely stay anywhere in Spiti please contact Karan. Really appreciate all the great work he has been doing for the Spitians there.

Evening we set out to explore the local Kaza market. Since we had already shopped enough in Souvenir shop we just took a stroll in the market, had some hot jalebi’s and took black peas (which we had at Pin Valley prepared by Soni and Karma) at Karan’s Organic shop.

8    Day 8 - June 30^th – Saturday – Chandratal-

This was the climax day all of us have been waiting for – Chandratal and most of my fellow companions of this trip will agree with me on this.

We started from Kaza at 8 Am in the morning. Drive was little rough since the roads were narrow and there is probability of only one vehicle passing at a time. But thanks to our skilled drivers, who made this journey comfortable for us.

En-route we stopped at Kunzum la pass. This pass is a beautiful mixture of rugged landscapes and snow-clad mountains. There is a goddess Kunzum Devi temple here, and it is believed that visitors must stop here and take blessings from goddess to travel through this rugged terrain safely. Also, the colorful prayer flags swaying in the wind makes the entire view of this place simply breathtaking.

Finally, we reached Chandratal base camp around 2 PM. We were put up in Parasol camps which was a luxury with beds, cozy comforters and attached toilet.

From the base camp, the lake is still about 3 KM away. Hence after a quick lunch we started towards Chandratal lake. It is a 15 mins drive in car from Parasol camp to the Parking lot of Chandratal lake. From here walk to the lake is around 10-15 minutes.  After walking for around 10 minutes when you get the first glimpse of Chandratal, legs start moving fast automatically to reach the lake.

Chandratal lake is situated at an altitude of 4300 meters in the Himalayas. Chandra means moon. The name of the lake originates from its peculiar crescent shape. Hence the lake is also known as moon lake. Some might feel that this lake is smaller compared to Pangong(Ladakh) but its beauty is unmatched. Chandratal lake finds a mention in Hindu mythology as well. It is described as the place where Indra, the King of Gods, visited this lake on his chariot to carry Yudhishthira, eldest of the five Pandavas, in his mortal form to heaven.

We took one round of the lake (Parikrama)which roughly took 3 hours. It is a heaven for photographers since the beauty from each side of the lake is different.

In the night post dinner, our guide took us for a walk near the mountains and switched off the phone lights and lamps. After that what we saw was just amazing. We saw the sky lit up with thousands of stars, some moving some static and not to forget shooting stars. It was like we saw the entire galaxy above us.

With this amazing experience, we went to bed and had a sound sleep at Parasol Camps

9    Day 9 - July 1^st – Sunday – Manali –

We started at 5 in the morning to Manali from Chandratal since there were chances of weather condition turning bad. We did encounter rocks falling en route but we managed to cross that hurdle somehow.  Finally expect the unexpected and there we see a landslide. Road was blocked, and we walked 3 kilometers till the nearest dhaba for breakfast since we were starving from 5 in the morning.

 Luckily after around an hour or so it was cleared by locals (which also included drivers and tourists) and cars reached us.

We saw Rohtang pass on our way which was heavily crowded with tourists and vehicles. We were so untouched with civilization since last few days, seeing so much crowd we really felt unpleasant. Hence, we did not even stop to click pictures at this place since we were still sunken with Spiti that we didn’t want to let go off the feeling.  

Reached Manali at 5 PM in the evening. We were put up at Baikunth Resort. Post freshening up, we set out to explore Manali old market. After a stroll, had dinner in a local restaurant there and slept soon since we had started our day early.

      Day 10 - July 2^nd –Monday – Manali to Chandigarh –

We started at 7 in the morning to Chandigarh.  We stopped at Kake da dhaba  and savored some yummy poori bhaji. On entering Chandigarh, I was so astonished with the way the city had been planned and maintained.

We reached around 5 pm and immediately started to Rock Garden which is one of the must-see place of Chandigarh. Rock Garden is also known as “Nek Chand’s Rock Garden” named after its founder. In this garden, one can see numerous sculptures made by using a wide variety of discarded waste materials like frames, mud pots, handle bars, metal wires, play marbles, porcelain, auto parts, broken bangles etc.

      

Finally next day, we started early morning to Chandigarh airport to catch our return flights to respective cities carrying a baggage full of wonderful memories :-) 

If you ask me to summarize my experience all I can say is “This was indeed the best vacation I had till date”. Spiti is a place for detoxification of both mind and body. Since you won’t hear vehicles honking, no crowd, no mobile network, you completely get transformed to different world. And it forces you to spend quality time with your fellow companions. I can say this since I came back with amazing bunch of fun filled friends in this trip. I am glad that I could experience Spiti and thanks to WonderfulWorld for making this happen for me.

Last but not the least, all I can say is Spiti should be a must see in everyone’s bucket list. It must be seen to be believed. My advice to my readers – please visit this place before its ruined by tourists.