The wonderland called Spiti

To find the true soul of the Himalayas and to feel its true essence, one must go exploring deep in the mountains. The famous hill stations such as Manali, Kullu, Nainital, and Mussorie, are flooded with tourists from the plains, looking for a short-term and inexpensive pleasures. When in Manali, you might have a delusional feeling, thinking you are walking through the Punjabi mohallas in Delhi. Therefore, next time you hear the mountains calling, pack your bags and head to some place where you can escape this crowd.

There are two ways to reach the Spiti valley: one via Manali and Rohtang pass, the other via Kullu, Aut, and Jalori pass. If you haven’t seen the beautiful Kinnaur region, then taking the Jalori pass route would be a good idea. Even if you have seen Kinnaur, Jalori pass would still be a better option, in order to avoid the massive traffic chaos at Manali, caused by large numbers of trucks, tourists, and revellers trying to visit the Rohtang pass. A permit is required after crossing Manali to enter the Lahul-Spiti valley, if you go via the Rohtang pass, which is again a long wait in that chaos. So, in any way, head for the Jalori pass.

Jalori pass is almost 112 km away from Manali and takes 4-5 hours to reach and if you start early you can reach before lunch. If you have enough time on hand, make a night halt at Jibhi, a pretty Himalayan hamlet, where you can explore the forests that surround it, or you can simply sit in your balcony and watch the clouds at play. Next day start early morning and head for Sangla via the Jalori pass. Sangla is almost 210 km away from Jibhi, and in the mountains this is quite a bit of a distance to cover in one day. It takes almost 10-12 hours to reach Sangla, with lunch and tea breaks in between. The route to Sangla once you reach Rampur-Bushahr turns scenic, and once in Kinnaur it is cooler and prettier. In Sangla, there are many hotels, so finding a place to stay should not be a problem, though you can always book in advance. A little away from the Sangla town are the various luxury resorts, such as, Banjara camps, among many others, which are right beside the Baspa River, and these have Swiss tent accommodations for those looking for a camping experience.

Next day, early morning, head for Chitkul. The road that takes you there is rough, but the surrounding beauty keeps you enthralled. You will see glacial rivers coming down the opposite mountain slopes, bright pink fields of buckwheat, bugiyals full of green grass and boulders, stretches of wild flowers, mountain streams, clouds that seem to fly with you, snow peaks, and ever-changing shapes of the mountains. Sangla to Chitkul is around 55 km and takes around an hour to reach. The place is very close to the Tibet border, has a small village surrounded by towering peaks and gentle slopes full of small white and yellow flowers with the Baspa River flowing below, and is idyllic in its setting. After spending some hours exploring the place, you can come back to Sangla, and after a short rest, spend rest of the day exploring this town and the villages around it, or take some of the walking trails popular in this place.

After entering Lahul-Spiti, in Sumdo it is compulsory to report at the ITBP check-post to get their permission for entering the valley. Thereafter no such permissions are necessary. Before you reach Sumdo you cross a well-known village called Nako, where there is a monastery and an artificial lake. Preferably you don’t stop here, and continue with your journey, as there are more beautiful things ahead. After Sumdo and before reaching Hoorling, you can take a detour and follow a rather lonely and beautiful road that leads you to the Gue village and monastery, which is located very close to the Tibet border. The mountains that surround this small village have varying stones and colours that give it a charming fairy tale look. The Gue village monastery is famed for holding India’s only known natural mummy, the desiccated body of a monk that is around 550 years old. From Gue, you will have to follow the same path back to the main road, and continue up to Tabo, which you will most likely reach late in the evening.

Dhankar was the old capital of Spiti (before the capital was shifted to Kaza), and it consists of a monastery perched on a high cliff top, and a large village built on a bluff that opens out into the main valley, ending in a sharp cliff. The view from top is indeed breathtaking, with azure blue sky, patches of orchards and yellow mustard fields lining the hill-sides, lighting up the barren mountains that surround the monastery.

From Dhankar, Kaza is just an around an hour away. It is a rather pretty but congested town on the banks of the Spiti River, a place full of tourists who are on a hurricane tour in Spiti, missing out on most of the beautiful places in this land, in their mad rush to finish the tour. Another place near Kaza, known as Ramrik has few home-stays (though expensive ones) where one can stay to avoid the travellers rush. Next day you can follow the curving roads that will take you uphill to the beautiful villages located at high altitudes, such as, Langza, Komic, Hikkim, Kee, etc. Komic which is the highest motorable village in Asia at 15,027 feet, has a very well maintained 11th CE monastery. Exploring the villages is an adventure by itself, seeing how people live and farm at such high altitudes; also the views are breathtaking at all times.

You can start very early next morning to either go back to Manali via the Kunzum and Rohtang passes, or you can take another detour to visit the enchanting Chandratal Lake, situated at almost 13500 ft. After Kunzum pass, which is the highest pass in this route, if you take the bifurcation from Batal you will soon find yourself in the camping site near Chandrataal. You can rest a bit and visit the lake in the late afternoon, which is around 3 km away. The car has to be parked in a place marked for that purpose, and from there the lake is a short and leisurely walk. Besides the main moon-shaped blue lake, which is the starting point of the famous Chandra river (that later becomes the ChandraBhaga also known as Chenab, after joining Bhaga river in Tandipule near Keylong), there are many other smaller water bodies. A camp stay in the camping site is a must in the Chandratal Lake, if you want to enjoy the tranquillity of the place and also want to view the lake in early morning light.