Kibber is probably the most popular village in Spiti, and even after being in the valley for close to a month, I had still not visited it. Since I was volunteering there in another monastery, I only had the weekends off and had chosen to visit other parts of Spiti over the previous weekends. I had no more weekends left, and so figured I would visit Kibber on another trip top Spiti, which I was definitely going to make. In the last few days, the nuns at the monastery had to make a sudden travel plan to visit the Dalai Lama, which worked out perfectly fine for me! I went to Kaza that morning, and took a bus to Kibber that evening. The bus to Kibber leaves at 4 pm everyday, and is a 2 hour ride away, Kibber being the last stop. By now, I had gotten used to the over-crowded buses and had blocked my seat an hour earlier. I got to share my seat with four young girls, who were going to Kibber to spend the weekend with their friend, and they entertained me throughout singing the latest bollywood songs.
The sights I was treated to on the ride were absolutely spectacular; any place I go to is so vastly different from the last in Spiti. The vast mountains on this side of the valley were starkly different from the other parts, with steep crevices and darker mountains. The weather was getting chillier, and was the perfect complement for the views on offer. I reached Kibber by 6 pm, and set off to find a place to stay.
The village is along the side of a mountain, and I walked over to the other side of the village in search a guest house. I checked myself into Norling Guesthouse, mainly because they promised hot water and seemed to have good food. After a hot shower, which is quite rare in Spiti, and went down to the restaurant for a hot meal of egg maggi and some lemon ginger tea. The best part about Kibber is the night sky, and with a power cut that night, it was hard for the milky way to hide behind any light. Although there is not much to do in Kibber per say, it is worth a day or two just for the sparkling night sky, and just to relax otherwise.
There are also many treks that start from Kibber, for those who are interested. There is also a local form of a biplane that connects to Chicham, another village close by, that runs across a steep valley - an activity only for adrenaline junkies. Many home stays have mushroomed of late, ranging from Rs.150 a night up to Rs 700.
I spent the next day walking around in the village, finishing my novel in bed when it got too hot outside, and trying to capture the brilliant sunset. The next morning, I woke up early to walk down to Key monastery and caught the bus back to Kaza from there.
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