Trip to the Winter Wonderland of India - Spiti Valley

"But Poetry, Beauty, Romance and Love, there are what we Stay Alive For!" - Robin Williams

Spiti Valley has always brought a spark and energy in me to see its Beauty and I always dreamed to visit the place in its Extreme Winters, where the Temperature is usually in between -15º Celsius to -40º Celsius, and suddenly some circumstances came and I was able to live the long seen dream of visiting the Winter Wonderland - Spiti Valley.

I decided too take the trip so very suddenly that I didn't even planned my itinerary and just started for the destination, then I somehow felt that the need of a plan and as it was my first Solo Trip which I wanted to do in a specific budget I even started feeling Nervous, so I started of looking for options of travelling to Spiti and finally thought of checking and Exploring the Facebook Solo Travelling groups, and suddenly I came across a post of Anupama who was also travelling solo to Spiti on the approx same Dates and was looking for fellow travellers if anyone can join, so I approached her and asked for her itinerary plans and then decided to Join her on 25th December at Rechong Peo. Till then I was on my own with no planned itinerary and no bookings anywhere to go and to stay, but totally filled with energy to anyhow reach Kaza, Spiti Valley.

I started the journey with my 2 Day Office Trip to Kishangarh (from 21st December to 22nd December), from where I took few days leave from office and planned my First Solo Trip with the ultimate aim of Reaching Kaza in Spiti Valley. So I started from Kishangarh on 22nd December Night, warping the work as soon as possible to fulfill my dream of exploring Spiti Valley. I took a overnight Sleeper Non AC Bus from Kishangarh to Delhi (Rs. 428).

I reached Delhi on 23rd December Morning by 7 AM and from the Bus Stand I took a ERickshaw to Kashmere Gate (Rs. 30) and after reaching the Bus Stop at Kashmere Gate I started checking for next available bus for Chandigarh or Shimla, but to the peak season of travelling there were no seats available in any of the bus to book in advance and then somehow after talking with lot of Bus operators I managed to get a seat in a HRTC AC Volvo Bus which was leaving at 11:30 AM to Shimla from Kashmere Gate, Delhi (Rs. 930).

After a 9.5 hrs long bus journey I reached Shimla ISBT Bus Stand by 8:30 PM. I still had no plan and was too much tired. I had two choices after reaching Shimla, to Stay the Night in Shimla or to Move ahead, and I decided to Spend the Night in Shimla, so I started looking for Rooms or Hotels nearby so that I can catch the Bus in Morning to move ahead. The Hunt for shelter in Shimla that night was very hectic and paining, there were no rooms available as it was the main time of tourist to visit Shimla. I visited and contacted lot of hotels for rooms, but didn't got lucky, I tried booking a Hostel through AirBNB but it too got full, but luckily I contacted the Hostel Owner and told her that I don't have a place to stay for night and I just want to sleep and will be moving for Spiti the next morning. After hearing me she offered me a Couch in the Common area of the Hostel which was enough for me so I went there. The Hostel was in Lakkad Bazaar, so I took a Cab from Mall Road to Lakkad Bazaar which was hardly 3 kms away but the Cab driver charged me around Rs. 300 which was too much but then I came to know that Rs. 250-Rs. 300 is the base fare for Cabs in Shimla. I reached the Hostel and meet the Owner, she Introduced me to other persons staying in the hostels and we all started discussing about our past and current travel experiences, everyone there was coming from some trip or either was starting a trip further, but meeting everyone there boosted more energy for the coming journey to Spiti. The Hostel I stayed in Shimla was "Thira" and I would personally recommend everyone visiting Shimla to stay there the place is too good and the ambiance of the Hostel is also good, plus the Owner is very friendly and very helping.

I took a Ordinary HRTC Bus in morning from Lakkad Bazaar Bus Stop at 11 o'clock to Rampur (Rs. 275), the bus journey was very exciting and thrilled, I meet and interacted with lots of Locals in the Bus travelling along and was glad to see the generosity of the locals in Himachal, everyone was very happy to help in any way they can.

Finally I reached Rampur by 4:30PM and started looking for Bus to Reckong Peo. The next bus was at 5:15PM for Reckong Peo and it was almost around 4-5 hrs journey, so I thought to book a Room as I will be reaching Peo not before 9:00PM and it would be dark and everything will be closed by that time there, I checked online and found "The Alpine Nest" as a good place to stay for the night, so I booked it for a night, after booking The Alpine Nest contacted and asked about my time of reaching at Peo and even Provided me with a Pickup from Peo Bus Stop as I was reaching late to Peo. Finally by then it was 5:15PM and the Bus at Rampur came in which I started for Reckong Peo, it was a Non AC Volvo Bus which costed around Rs. 270 from Rampur to Reckong Peo.

I reached Reckong Peo by 9:30PM at Night and the temperature there was -9 degree Celsius, and it was totally dark everywhere, I had some food near the Reckong Peo Bus Stop and told the hotel that I am at Reckong Peo Bus Stop and soon within 10 mins the Car from the Hotel came to pick me up and I went to the Hotel. At night I googled places to see in Reckong Peo and Nearby areas and thought to visit Kalpa the Next morning to see the Monetary, the Temple and the Beautiful Kinner Kailash Mountain Range on which one can easily see Shiv Ling's, which made me more eager to get up early in morning and leave to see the amazing beauty of the Kalpa, Kinnaur and Kinner Kailash.

After having breakfast, I asked the Hotel Manager for ways to reach Kalpa and I came to know it was hardly a 3-4km trek from The Apline Nest Hotel where I was staying, so I decided to keep my bags at the Hotel and Trek to Kalpa and it turned out to be the best decision. I saw various beautiful view of Kinner Kailash from different places on the way to Kalpa which was very satisfying, the beauty of Snow Coped Mountains and even the Shiv Ling. I clicked 100's of picture of the Kinner Kailash Range on my way to Kalpa and finally reached the Kalpa Monastery, it was very peaceful and relaxing spending time in the monastery after the trek I took from Peo to Kalpa. Later I went to the Chandrika Devi Temple which unfortunately was closed but the Kinner Kailash Range view from the temple was breath taking which made it worth visiting the temple even though it was closed. I then treked back to Peo and thought to roam around the market to buy few stuff for my further journey to Kaza. It was almost 6 PM in evening by the time was back to the Hotel and the Bus for Kaza was at 8AM the next morning and even I was going to join Anupama the next morning for the further trip so I stayed another day at the Hotel.

I got up at 6AM and was ready to move for the bus stop to catch the bus for Kaza and the temperature in morning was around -13 degrees. After reaching I bought the Ticket of Ordinary HRTC Bus for Kaza directly (Rs. 405) and then meet Anupama and group at the Bus Stop, and as I was going to join them I came to know that they were getting down at Nako and was planning to stay there for the night, so I too decided to explore Nako with them and then move for Kaza later together with the group. Including me we were total of 8 peoples in the group. The Bus started at 8AM from Reckong Peo most of the people in the Bus Slept the whole journey everyone woke up early and the bus journey was also not very comfortable.

We reached nako by 12:30PM and after having lunch we started looking for Home Stays in Nako. After almost 30 mins for search we found a very nice cosy Home Stay near the Nako Monastery which was Namsa Kitta run by Rahul and his Family. We went to our room got fresh and straight away left for Nako Lake. The lake was almost 1-1.5 km away from our Home Stay. After reaching the lake every par of the body which was pain just got relaxed with the beautiful view of the Frozen Nako Lake where few kids where sliding and enjoying their winter games. I saw a Frozen Lake for the first time and it was amazing, walking on the Lake, seeing the Ice cracking a bit from place where I walk, sliding on it, everything was amazing. Later we went to the Nako Monastery which was closed but the scenery the monastery was very good. As time was passing the weather was getting more and more colder so we went back to our Cosy Home Stay.

In Morning it was very much cold, and then after leaving the bed we realized that it had snowed last night and everything was covered snow. Our Home Stay gave us very delicious Timo's for breakfast and after having those we again went to the Nako Lake to see the fresh snow covered lake, then we picked our Bags and moved towards the Bus stop for our next destination which was Tabo, but as it snowed last night the Bus was delayed by 3 hours, so we spend most of our time roaming and clicking picture around the Nako Helipad. But as it was getting late the winds blowing were getting more and more chilled. Finally the Bus came at 3:30PM and we boarded and finally we left for Tabo. Our Bus driver drove the bus like a plane and with just one stop for snacks he dropped us to Tabo by 7PM. It was totally dark by then in Tabo after getting down from the bus we were even not able to see each others face standing right in front. We had booked our Stay in Tabo by contacting the White Lotus Home Stay from Nako itself realizing that we will be reaching last to Tabo, so the Home Stay owner did send a car to pick us all from the Tabo Bus Stand and we finally reached to our Home Stay. The Owner of the White Lotus Home Stay was a man of discipline with Rules and Regulations he made for travelers visiting him, but the home and food everything was amazing there. So straight after having our Dinner we went to sleep and finished the Day there.

After our breakfast, we went to see Tabo Monastery which was built in 996AD more then thousand year old, which is very famous for its old statues and wall paintings. We also did a very small trek to the caves on the mountains of Tabo. Later we finally started for our ultimate destination Kaza. The bus from Tabo to Kaza came around 1PM which costed around Rs. 88 and dropped us to Kaza by 3:30PM. It was freezing cold at Kaza with the temperature somewhat around -15 to -20 degree at 3:30PM. We walked our way to Solo Yolo where we were staying.

Finally, Kaza in Spiti Valley - The Middle Land, a cold desert mountain valley located high in the Himalayas in the north-eastern part of Himachal Pradesh. Kaza is also known as the destination where the temperature is dipping from -25 to -40 degrees at nights, and even after after wearing 3 layers of clothing the cold was unbearable, nothing worked there not even 4 layers of clothing, not even 2-3 layers of socks, not even 2 layers of gloves nothing. Only the Blankets in the Hostel were helping us to keep warm at night while sleeping. The temperature in Kaza is so less that even the water in pipe lines freezes and then there I first got to know the concept of Dry Toilets. Morning after breakfast we rented a Sumo for Rs. 2800 and went to Pin Valley and Mud covering Choling Monastery on our way back. Pin Valley and Mud was totally covered with Snow. We roamed around a bit and there and came back in evening to our hostel and rested.

For the day we booked a 11 seater traveller for Rs. 3500 to visit Key, Kibber, Langza, Komic, Chicham and Hikkim. We started early morning at 9 AM and started our visit from Langza.

Langza, primarily dominated by the Statue of Lord Buddha, overlooking the Valley, and mud houses. The view from the Lord Buddha Statue was mind blowing, one can easily see the Himalayan Range parallel to their eyes. The Village is situated at 14436 fts above the sea level with an approximate population of 137 people in the village. It was one if the most beautiful destination ever visited. Watching the Beauty of the Himalaya's Snow Caped Mountain Range from Langza with the Lord Buddha Statue in between Dominating the View, I was able to remember few lines I came across before understanding the true deep meaning of it, the lines were, "It is enough that I am surrounded with Beauty".

Next Stop was to the World's Highest Post Office, Hikkim, we all took Post Cards and Wrote to our family and friends, it was a mixed feeling of writing a letter or post card from the World's Highest Post Office which can't be explained. The Post office is situated at the height of 14,570 fts above the sea level.

Then we moved to Key Monastery, the monastery is located at the top of a hill at an altitude of 13670 fts and is the biggest monastery in Spiti Valley, with more then 100 Monks staying in the monastery.

We then went to Kibber, a small Village in the Himalayas at an altitude of 14,200 fts is famous for its Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Last Day of the Year, 7 of us decided to leave Kaza in morning and Stay at Reckong Peo in evening to welcome the near year. So we all left from Kaza for Reckong Peo at 7AM in Ordinary HRTC Bus (Rs. 405). We reached Peo by 5:30PM, and after inquiring about the HRTC Bus for Shimla for the Next Morning we looked for our Accommodation in Peo was able to get PWD Guest House for the night, which was cheap with lots of amenities, we all enjoyed and welcomed the New Year, which was one of the greatest New Year Experience for me.

Finally, the very first day of the New Year was the Last Day of our Trip. Time to start saying Good Byes to Friends for the current journey, 5 of took a HRTC Ordinary Bus from Reckong Peo to Shimla at 10:30AM (Rs. 420) and reached Shimla ISBT Bus Stand by 8PM. It was very much crowded and was very hard to find Bus from ISBT to Delhi, we managed to find a Private Bus from Mall Road for Delhi at 10:30 PM (Rs. 1500 due to Peak Travelling Time).

We Reached Delhi in Morning by 7AM and bid Goodbye to rest of us. Our usual daily city and office life called us back and we went to attend that will beautiful memories and moments from the trip to cherish with, the whole trip reminded me an old quote which I was very much able to relate, that was, "Main Akela hi chala tha janib-e-manzil magar, log judte gae aur Karwaan Banta Gaya".

It is said that "Happiness is only real when Shared", so I sharing my experience of the most amazing trip I took to the Winter Wonderland of India - Spiti Valley. I would like to end with a famous line from the Movie Into the Wild on which I believe, "The very basic core of man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The Joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different Sun."

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