TransHimalayan Venture into the Spiti Valley 

Tabo to Kaza:

Tabo: Tabo is situated in the flood plains of River Spiti and is surrounded by the mountains from two sides. Founded in 996 A.D., Tabo Gompa is the oldest continuously functioning Buddhist monument in India and the Himalayas. Gompa has old paintings and is known as the Ajanta and Ellora of the Himalayas. It is an ideal place for one night stay. The historical Tabo gompa guesthouse, managed by ‘Jeet Singh - +919418984340’ is a good place. Participate in the early morning prayers at the Gompa!

Next morning, boarded the morning bus and reached Kaza Town by 11.30am. Beautiful drive in between along the River Spiti and its flood plain.

Kaza: Kaza is the sub-divisional headquarter of Spiti valley and acts as the base camp for travelers who want to explore the valley and its serene beauty. The landscape is very different than what we usually are used to. To explore the valley, travelers either walk from one village to the other through the mountain or come back to Kaza to travel to the other areas. After careful consideration and discussion with bus drivers, we decided to take the only bus to Key Gompa. It leaves every day at 5 pm from Kaza bus stand; stops overnight at Kibber; picks the passengers next morning at 8.30am from Chicham and Kibber village and then heads to Kaza again.

Kaza has plenty of places to stay; I will recommend identifying homestays as the first preference. Zostel has opened one of its new branches there. Do not forget to check out, The Himalayan Cafe, started by a Spitian entrepreneur - a must place to visit in Kaza. Such enterprises create local jobs and infuse cash in the local economy. Also, places like Himalayan Cafe will provide the much needed break and mental calmness in the midst of high altitude rigorous travel. 

Kaza is a thriving town and a bikers hub. Local sightseeing involves the Kaza monastery, Decathlon store, local shops, and walking outside the town. You can buy some organically grown product from the local shops as well. While waiting to catch the bus to the Key (House to the Monastery), we spent a few hours at the Kaza Gompa. The EPIC Channel ‘Great Escapes Serial’ first episode was shot here. 

Key Gompa/monastery: Key Gompa is located at an altitude of 4116 meters on a rocky outcrop and provides a perfect view of the Spiti River snaking between the mountains. Key Gompa is the largest gompa in Spiti and associated with the Gelepu sect. It is situated in-route between Kaza and Kibber with the Key village nearby. We arrived at 5.30pm with a desire to spend the night at the gompa, interact with the Lamas, and to get a feel of monastic life. Sadly, the gompa logistics were fully occupied, with no space to stay. It is usually occupied as travelers desire to spend the night at the gompa.

Nevertheless, we had no other plans and the evening has descended upon us, we steadfastly requested and finally convinced the management, who mentioned that one person would have to sleep outside on the terrace under the sky. This remained one of the unforgettable experiences for me. Later, I interacted with migrant workers from Odisha and Bihar who toil hard to keep the construction work going in this part of the country. The gompa has basic shared rooms with per bed cost of Rs 250 that includes food and tea. Do not expect fancy food and restroom facilities are basic. The stay is useful for seeing the gompa, and to interact with monks on socio-political-cultural discussions.

Kibber Village: Next morning, we had breakfast and decided to hike Kibber. We found it quite challenging with the increasing height. We had to rely on hitchhiking and reached Kibber by 11 am; stayed at a guesthouse. A row of guesthouse cum hotels are located at the entrance of the village with few homestays further into the village.

After two nights stay at the Kibber Village, we left for Komic Village -Now considered as the highest inhabited village in Asia connected with a motorable road. Komic has a monastery, with some interesting collection of artifacts. The view is mesmerizing, and we ended up hiking up to 500 meters further up. This extracted the juice, and we just decided to camp at night in the open with the help from a local camp organizer. The village has zero network reception. It is vital to ensure vehicle pick-up if you are not traveling with your vehicle. Next morning, a Sumo picked us for Kaza. In Kaza, the first thing, we did was booking our seat on a shared taxi for Manali.

Next day, early morning, we left for Manali. Kaza to Manali is 200, and it takes approx. Twelve hours to cover the distance. After approx. 56km of drive, we reached Losar. Losar nestled between the mountains is the last major stopover after which the remoteness and vastness of Spiti Valley spellbound travelers. Villages between Kaza and Manali are lesser explored due to remoteness and the fatigue that engulfs a traveler; though Losar has few homestays and guesthouses. We had breakfast at Serchu Café and prepared ourselves for the wondorous beauty of the famous Kunzum pass. As we drove deeper into the valley, one can only see the snow, mountains, waterfalls and few vehicles on the road.