Spiti- The Arcadia of himachal :Part-1

As soon as I entered Spiti I felt like a home, like this is the trip I was longing for, like the best decision I have ever took, like I am in a dreamland/paradise. I used to be obsess over faraway places all my life and I think this place is that. There is a magic in every corner. The breathtaking scenery of this wonderland took me to a whole new world which I will never be tired of.

Spiti is a cold deserted mountain valley of Himachal Pradesh. It is famous for the beauty of its landscapes and culture. The magnificent valleys, dry and chilly weather, pristine lakes, quaint little villages, ancient monasteries, clear blue sky, sunlight spreading over those valleys making it look more picturesque, towering with mountains capped with snow will definitely take you into a different world and reminding me that how lucky to be alive. Spiti makes a fantastic road-trip. If you are a gypsy, a shutterbug or a thrill seeker Spiti is the ultimate place to fuel the wanderlust in you. There are some places or experiences that are too beautiful to put down in words. By looking my photos of Spiti trip I thought that I've tried to make memories last longer through life.

We started our trip from Shimla. We traveled with a thedoihost team and a small group of 6 amazing people started our journey from shimla to kalpa. Debapratim, sanchita, soumik, priya, nijguna(my husband), me and the doihost team.

The doi host Team:A writer and a photographer duo Disha and Sambith will take you on curated trips to the remote places of spiti and gives you the touch of locale. We got to know them through Instagram and contacted them about the trip. It was a road trip. They took us to such an isolated places that we were just amused by the wonders of Spiti. They will make sure everything is comfortable for the travelers, making sure to drink lots of water(much needed for altitude sickness), answering all our queries, entertaining us with their travel stories throughout the road trip (Also the interesting ghost stories by Sambith).

1st day: shimla to KalpaThe journey started with the woods, apple farms to deserted valleys and snow capped mountains behind them. I was just awestruck by the scenery all along the journey. I was like a little child amused and curious by the big valleys, precarious roads (then I didn't know there are more dangerous roads coming ahead), the Sutlej river swirling along with us, I was wondering how far this river is going to come with us and where it is going to end, when the river took a turn I was like oh is it deviating from us, also I wanted to go wherever it goes. By the evening we reached a beautiful hotel in Kalpa situated in the higher place where we could see the whole village. Kalpa is a small village, it started getting colder as the sun faded. We got freshen up quickly and head out to stroll the village. Firstly we went to visit the monastery of Kalpa, its a first glance of monastery to me because I had never been to any monasteries before. We sipped a tea in a local restaurant trying to vitalize ourselves from the long journey. As I wasn't packed properly for spiti I bought some hand weaved woolen cap and gloves. I was travelling in the peak summer so I didn't know spiti would be colder, rather I packed things which I could not use. The night was freezing and it was like a bolt from the blue to me, I felt bad for not researching enough before travelling. We preferred to sit in the room and decided to play mafia. We all started getting along each other well. By the end of the day it was like "There are no strangers in this world, only friends I haven't met yet" that only a travelling can bring that kind of bond. A interesting story sambith told us about kalpa was the first man to vote independent India was from Kalpa in 1951.

"If you're travelling to spiti pack intelligently. As the nights are very cold pack things which makes you warmer, add woolen hats, warm jacket/fleece jacket, scarves and gloves to your list."

2nd day: Kalpa to Nako Early in the morning we checked out of the hotel and head out to the Roghi suicide point near to Kalpa. The road which took us there, was scary with a stunning view. Standing there you can't imagine how deep the river beneath us and Kailash range was standing in front. And then clicking few photos, we started our journey to Nako, a small and far-flung village. As the journey to Nako started with the big valleys and the river, the day started getting warmer and windy. That is the beauty of spiti weather. Throughout the journey you will come to know the feeling that day by day how higher and higher you're going. We reached Nako by 4pm and the girls who run the quaint hotel greeted us with a yummy fried momos and tea. Its my first time eating fried momos and I liked fried more than a steamed momos. At the backyard of our hotel there was a beautiful agricultural land of potatoes and green peas. Later we headed out to see the famous lake of Nako and then a small trek to a hill to watch the sunset. The lake was beautiful. Sambith and disha told us in the winter it will completely frozen and it looks even more awesome. We climbed a small rocky mountain and watched the sun set behind the mountains peacefully. Sitting there watching the sunset was one of the best memory of my life, it was calm, overwhelming, watching those last sunshine spreading over us was immense. I couldn't explain the inner joy and calmness of that moment in words I was wishing to stop this moment for a while. Later in the night around 1 am all went to helipad near the village to capture milky way galaxy but I missed it because I was feeling very cold and I couldn't get up.

"As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death" -Leonardo da vinci

3rd day: Nako to Kaza We left Nako early as the journey to Kaza is longer. On the way, Sambith took us to a small village Gue. He didn't tell us what's we are going to witness until we reached the Gue temple, where you can see the natural mummyof a Buddhist monk. It's a small village which is still isolated from the traveler's circuit. The mummy was excavated by the army in 1975, after an earthquake hitted Northern India, an old tomb of a monk Sangha Tenzin, which is naturally mummified. The mummy is now on display in a temple in Gue, the hair and the eyebrows of the mummy are still visible. In that moment, I felt how many wonders are hidden in this cold dessert.

On the way back from Gue we spotted few blue sheep they are also called as Bharal which are completely camouflaged in the rocks. Later we visited a Dhankar monastery, which is located at the top of the cliff in Dhankar village. I wonder how these monks come to such a places to built such a precarious yet magnificent monastery when there were no roads back then. Also on the way you will see the villages situated in the higher places of big mountains and the river meandering beneath, which made me go crazy that how these people went to such height and build their village where there is no proper road.

Finally we reached Kaza by evening, reached our hotel, freshed up quickly, they served us hot tea with pakodas, vitalized ourselves from bumpy and long journey, we head out for a walk. Kaza is a big city of spiti valley which is the center for all trades in the region. Kaza is situated in the banks of Spiti river surrounded by big mountains. Sambith introduced us to the local tea called sea buck thorn tea, containing sea buck thorn leaves which gives you a stamina. The night in Kaza was very cold and we started layering 3 to 4 cloths. I slept with the thick layers and in the middle of the night I couldn't breath for a minute I woke up and drink water and slept but still I had a disturbed sleep. I thought that is because of the altitude sickness. In the morning Disha told me it was because the layers I slept with. You can layer up how much you want but when you sleep make sure to not sleep with the layers.

Spiti- The Arcadia of himachal :Part-2