My visit to cold desert mountain valley of India - guess its name ;-)

Firstly, few words on Spiti Valley:

Spiti is one of the most bizarre and gorgeous places on this planet. The altitude of Spiti is at least 4,000 meters even in the lowest parts of the valley. And don’t forget that Spiti is a Himalayan valley. The high altitude and the Himalayas make Spiti a unique place to live.

It is a cold desert mountain valley located high in the Himalayas in the north-eastern part of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The name "Spiti" means "The middle land", i.e. the land between Tibet and India.

How to plan:

2 circuits are possible in visiting Spiti Valley.

Half circuit is open throughout the year. Full circuit opens somewhere from May (varies depending on snowfall of that year) and closes by Sept-Oct.

Half Circuit : Chandigarh - Narkanda - Rampur Bushahr - Nako - Ghiu - Tabo - Dhankhar - Kaza - Komic Gompa - Hikkim - Langza - Kalpa - Chandigarh

Full Circuit : Chandigarh - Narkanda - Rampur Bushahr - Nako - Ghiu - Tabo - Dhankhar - Kaza - Komic Gompa - Hikkim - Langza - Chandratal - Batal - Rohtang pass/Atal Tunnel - Manali - Chandigarh

The highlight of the full circuit is high altitude Chandrataal lake and hence we chose to do the full circuit of Spiti Valley and waited until road opens to do our trip planning. My son dint want to miss his school, so we had to plan it carefully such that road is also opened and school is also not missed, meaning we have to return by May 31st :-).

There are direct flights from Bangalore to Chandigarh. We decided to keep Chandigarh sightseeing to next trip ;-) and hence without wasting any time, we headed off to yet another transit point of our travel which is Shimla. We stayed in Hotel Shimla Forest view for a night. The room is spacious, food is good but no maintenance at all. Cleanliness level is ok ok only.

After breakfast check out and drive to Sarahan, a small town. On the way visit following places,

A good place to click some pics en-route to Kufri. Lush green forest of pine trees. Green lush trees and mountains behind that makes it a worthy place to stop and capture the moments.

Chharabra is a densely forested village, outlined with lush green pine trees that form a part of the Shimla Reserve Forest Sanctuary and the Catchment area. The Sutlej River drifts slowly from one side of the village while the Yamuna river sways on the other–both being main sources of water supply in Shimla.

Wildflower Hall Kufri is a luxury resort at an altitude of 8250 feet in Shimla.

Apart from this, we stopped at a small shop where we can wear himachal traditional dresses and sit on yaks. Roughly they charged 150Rs per person.

Also we visit "Hip Hip Hurrah" adventure zone where I did reverse bungee jumping and my son tried out various other

Reach Sarahan and overnight stay at Hotel Vasu home stay. I highly recommended this home stay. Irrespective of their family emergency situation, Mrs Vasu made sure that guests are comfortable and properly fed. Food was simple but very tasty.

Sarahan is a small town in Himachal Pradesh of India. It is the site of the Bhimakali Temple, originally known as Bhimadevi Temple (Bhīmā Kālī), dedicated to the mother goddess Bhimakali, presiding deity of the rulers of the former Bushahr State. The temple is situated about 170 kilometres from Shimla and is as holy as one of 51 Shakti Peethas.

We visited Bhimakali temple before checking into the home say itself.

Imagine a pastured meadow amidst the gigantic mountains; in between the meadows there are beautiful willows and poplar trees, Buddhist temples and a small emerald basin called Nako lake.

Located at a height of around 3700 meters above sea level, the Nako Lake is a high altitude lake in Nako village in the Hangrang Valley of the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh. The lake though small is considered very sacred by the locals.

Situated by the Nako Lake, this serene monastery has been constructed on the pattern of the famous Tabo Monastery, in Spiti Valley, and is divided into four halls or chapels. The gate of the monastery is engraved with intricate patterns.

Inspired by Vajrayana Buddhism, the monastery invites people from far and wide. Its walls are adorned with beautiful paintings. The Nako Monastery is also said to house several idols made of clay and metal, along with stupas and a collection of scriptures (Kangyur) that have direct teachings of Lord Buddha.

Since you are in this region, a small break at Nako would not hurt, but travelling only for Nako is not so worth I think.

Chango is the biggest village in the Hangrang valley and also one of the most beautiful village in kinnaur with all facilities of a modern era.

It is from here that the Spiti valley begins. A stop at the Sumdo check post is required to enter the ID details before going further.

After crossing Hoorling, you can see Barren clay color hills with snow on peaks. Witness the change in landscape from green to dry mountains. Till evening time reach Dhankhar. Dinner and overnight stay at Hotel Dhankhar heights.

The best stay in this trip for me was Dhankhar heights. Spacious, clean rooms, snow cladded mountain and valley views, and also Monastery, Fort and whole Dhankar village views from rooms are amazing. Dhankar monastery, Fort are walkable distance from here.

Since we had started the day early, we reached Dhankar perfectly at around 5 30pm, just walked around for some photos and had coffee and snacks enjoying the perfect views around sunset time.

The trek tests the mental strength and stamina of the trekkers by enduring a steep climb in a matter of hours. It takes a trek of 45 to 60 minutes from Dhankar Village to reach Dhankar Lake situated at an altitude of 14000 ft. Since oxygen level is less, we took care to walk slowly and take sufficient rest for every steep climbs. There were no other tourists during our trek. It was very sunny since we started our trek at 9am. At some point we wanted to go back but since we had lots of time, we decided to finish it until the lake.

After some steep climbs on the mountain, you get a vast plain land and after this is the lake. The lake is beautiful with mountains backdrop but I felt that if you are going to Chandaar taal lake, this lake can be easily skipped.

After returning from lake trek, we visited following places before reaching our next stay at Kaza,

This village is one of the most stunning attractions in Lahaul and Spiti valley, a home to most beautiful and awe-inspiring Dhankar Monastery. This looks like bowl shaped structure in the hills. It looks almost as if all the old houses and fort have merged straight from the mountains with their back wall being merged on the hill at Kaza.

This beautiful monastery is locked between the rocky spurs at the top of clif in the Dhankar village at an elevation of over 3,800 meters in the Spiti valley. It is a 16th century old fort monastery, which has also served as a prison in the erstwhile era. The Dhankar Gomba is over 1000 years old and is connected to the rest of the valley through a Motorable road, which is good for small vehicle only.

The fort of Dhankar now lies in ruins, but still is a place worthy of a visit.

The monastery consists of a number of multistoried buildings perched together, giving a fortress like impression. There are five different halls including Kanjur, Lhakhang, and Dukhang where a life size silver statue of Vajradhara, the Diamond Being, is placed in a glass altar embellished with scarves and flowers. Most interesting at the Lha-O-pa gompa is the small chapel on the uppermost peak above the main monastery - Lhakhang Gongma. The building is decorated with depictions of Shakyamuni, Tsongkhapa and Lama Chodrag on the central wall. Dhankar's main attraction, although least publicized, is a fresh water lake about 2.5 km from the village at a height of 13500 ft. Set amidst lush green pastures, the lake offers an idyllic camping site.

Overnight stay at Kaza hotel blue mountain.

The Govt. sign board perhaps gives the best description as the “Highest Village in the World connected by a motorable road”. The village is at a height 15027 feet (4587 meters). The village is located in a bowl-shaped depression surrounded on all sides by mountains. This village is world's highest village with a road. Roughly 20km from Kaza, it is a small beautiful village. It has worlds highest restaurant where we just tried a coffee.

Here, fossils are found. Villagers might tempt you to buy the fossils, however do not get trapped since buying and transporting fossils is not legal.

Hikkim village at an altitude of 14400 ft is about 4kms from Komic and about 16kms from Kaza. This makes entire circuit from Kaza to Langza to Komic to Hikkim to Kaza of about 44kms easily doable at comfort in a day. Hikkim has highest post office in the world and highest polling station in the world.

We bought some post cards from the desks near to post office and wrote the addresses of our beloved ones whose address we know ;-). Post office was closed but the shop keepers are kind enough to collect the post cards and promised that they will put stamp and post it. Lets see :-)

Langza Village is a beautiful destination. This picturesque village is blessed with ancient monasteries and buildings of the prehistoric era. It is surrounded by green pastures, snow-clad mountains and barren landscapes that awe-struck every person who visit this stunning location. The magic of nature at Langza village leaves everyone speechless. Langza village is situated at an altitude of 14400 feet and is divided into two sections, namely Langza Yongma (lower) and Langza Gongma (upper). It houses a population of approximately 137 people, who are dependent on agriculture and business for their livelihood. The production of vessels of all shapes and sizes and crafts such as shawls, carpets, etc.

Like this, we enjoyed our short half day sightseeing and after that drive to hotel and overnight stay at same Kaza hotel.

Key Monastery or Kye Gompa is one of the most popular places to visit in Spiti valley, located in the Kaza region. Overlooking the Spiti River at an altitude of 4112 m, Key Monastery is one of the biggest gompas known for the stunning Buddha shrine.

Inside this monastery we were served hot black tea and a monk over there explained a bit of their culture, the routine and schedule of kids education etc. It is quite interesting to learn about this.

Kibber is one of the beautiful villages that you can see in spiti and is located around 16 km away from Kaza town. Located at a height of 4270 m, the village till recent claimed the status of being the highest village in the world connected by motorable road. The road to Kibber village crosses one of the most popular monasteries in the region—Key Monastery.

Here we just took some photos of the village, nothing specific to visit here.

Chicham Bridge, the highest bridge in Asia, and quite an astounding spectacle at that. The bridge is at a staggering height of 13596 ft and connects the two villages named Chicham and Kibber. Bridge is definitely appreciative but apart from that, its location and the landscape around it is really really stunning.

This is the last place where we get network and possibility to charge our mobiles and other electronics if dhaba people allow. It was around 12pm and hence we had some maggi and bread omlette since there is nothing else until we reach Chandra Taal camp. All dhabas where we had food were very good.

Located at a height of around 4600 meters above sea level, the Kunzum Pass is one of the highest motorable mountain passes of India. It serves as a gateway to the beautiful Spiti Valley. It lies on the eastern Kunzum Range of the Himalayas and is at a distance of 122 km from Manali. Kunzum La offers an incredible 360-degree view of the Bara-Shigri Glacier which is the second longest glacier in the world, a jaw-dropping vista of the Chandrabhaga Range and a spectacular view of the Spiti valley. This enthralling view makes Kunzum Pass a photographer's dream.

Be it bike drivers, or the locals, basically, anyone passing through the Kunzum pass stops and take blessings from Mata for their treacherous journey ahead as the roads are definitely very tricky. Needless to say, the colorful flags and the vibrant colors of the mandir are indeed a breath of fresh air as during the entire trip only three colors viz Brown, white and blue are common.

There is a big black stone that lies inside the temple, and as per the legendry fable behind this temple. It is believed, if you pray with complete faith and put the coin on the stone, your wishes are fulfilled and the coin will stick to the stone, else it will not. Important to note that stone is not a magnet stone.

Me and my son tried to put the coin on the stone but it did not stick :( But we dint get demotivated since the stone dint had any coins stuck to it. So no idea what is happening. Whatever may be the reason, but the Kunzum Mata temple makes you feel empowered and energized.

After this we took diversion towards Chandra Taal. These mountain roads are narrow and mud roads crossing several streams. Just few kms before the Chandra Taal base camp, we encountered a huge traffic jam because one of the vehicle was stuck in one of the the stream.

Initially no-one was ready to get their feet wet because water was very cold and then few people together tried to push the vehicle out of the stream but it was deeply stuck. My husband had also joined in this adventure. Finally it had to be pulled out with the help of another vehicle(Thar). Luckily our car dint get stuck mainly because our driver was highly experienced in this region. It was already 3.30pm and weather was also starting to turn out bad, our driver advised to directly do the Chandra Taal trek first and then check in into the camp.

Yes and finally we started our Chandra Taal Lake trek. The trek is hardly 0.5 - 0.7kms and mostly flat land, but the challenge is due to low oxygen levels and weather. It was luckily not windy but becoming quite cold when we started to walk. Lake is visible from some distance and its quite big and clear water lake with mountains in the background. So its very beautiful and inspiring to go further until the lake. You can walk around the lake if you have time but since weather was turning bad and some small ice/snow flakes started falling, we took lot and lot of photos, sat quietly for 10-15 minutes enjoying its beauty and started to walk back to the parking where our driver was waiting. Very beautiful lake worth the visit.

After reaching Chandra taal base camp, we had again black tea which is local drink here too along with some rusk and then checked in at Camp and overnight stay at Camp.

At the camp, we were told that due to bad weather and low oxygen levels, last night they had to drop many people to Batal village. Todays weather looks quite good and less risky. It was very very cold for me even though I was wearing almost 6 quite good layers. We were told not to remove our caps even while sleeping. Dinner was simple and tasty. We got a bit warmed up with the fire they used there for cooking ;-)

To summarize, its one life time experience but Im not sure if everyone want to experience it. When weather was turning bad,windy,shivering cold, I wanted to run away that night but night was somehow over with very less sleep and when we got up at 5am and saw outside, all the trouble of the night was well worth the sunrise, mountains and landscapes which we saw. So its up to you, better to keep this in mind while planning. Some people just visit the lake and stay at Batal which is a bit lower altitude than Chandra Taal and no problems with oxygen levels.

About the "Parasol camp" where we stayed :

Cleanliness : Very good

Electricity (I think solar powered) : one light each at both room and bathroom. No heaters or any other appliances.

Hot water : Only for drinking, no heaters. I don't think you can take bath at any season here since its very cold throughout.

Blankets : very good. They provide very thick mattresses kind of blanket plus one more. Inspite of my 6 layers and these blankets, still it was pretty cold to sleep that night.

Food : Soup, rice, dal, roti, curry. Tasty. Soup was the best in this cold weather.

Hot bag : 1 per room will be provided.

Hospitality : very good. Ensured all basic facilities are taken care and all the information about the camp and lake are provided.

Batal is a small settlement situated in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Manali. Here, we had our yummiest hot Aloo paratha prepared fresh at Chacha Chachi dhaba listening to some heroic stories of this couple. Cha-cha is very jovial and will be cracking jokes.

There are still people who evince enough warmth and love in this cold region to keep you cozy. One such couple are everyone's beloved Chacha Chachi of Spiti region. Read their story below,

https://www.tripoto.com/spiti-valley/trips/spiti-s-unsung-heroes-an-elderly-couple-saving-lives-5b7a8c2d8d658

From here we started moving towards Manali. Again crossing the countless stream reach Chhatru, where greenery starts increasing. The roads from Batal to Gromphu are boulder/pebble roads. You can call it valley of pebbles ;-)

Atal Tunnel (also known as Rohtang Tunnel), named after former Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee is a highway tunnel built under the Rohtang Pass. At a length of 9.02 km, it is the longest highway single-tube tunnel above 10,000 feet (3,048 m) in the world. With the existing Atal Tunnel and after the completion of under-construction Shingo La Tunnel, which is targeted to be completed by 2025, the new Leh-Manali Highway via Nimmu–Padum–Darcha road will become all-weather roads.[

After the tunnel, greenery starts to increase and we can again see pine trees in the valleys. We visited Vasisht hot springs on the way before reaching our stay at Manali which was booked at Suvidha cottage. Pretty nice small hotel, Rooms are good and clean. After having lunch here, it started raining. Hence we decided the spend the evening at hotel itself by playing cards and UNO games. Dinner was simple and tasty here again. We slept early since we have to reach Chandigarh next day by evening to catch our flight back.

Without having breakfast, we checked out from the hotel at 6am and started journey towards Chandigarh. Other fellow travelers and driver had warned us that there might be some road blocks and traffic jams on the way. So we kept sufficient buffer in-order to catch the flight.

On the way, for breakfast we had hot fresh yummy aloo parathas again. After having lunch and sufficient breaks in between, we conveniently reached Chandigarh airport at around 3pm itself. Our flight was at 7pm.

We bid farewell to our incredible driver Mohinder bhai who took care of us for 8 days and made sure that we dint miss anything in the itinerary but infact added in few more places which were not in itinerary. Yes, some people come in life and go out of contact within short time and that's how life is :(

Our flight back to bangalore was via Jaipur. We finally reached our home taking back lot of memories of Spiti Valley.

Our entire trip was organized by "Himalayan nature holidays"(https://himalayan-nature-holidays.business.site/). Tanuj, our tour coordinator took care of all our customizations and preferred accommodation categories. He was also constantly in touch and made sure that everything is going fine. Thanks again Tanuj for all the arrangements. I highly recommend this tour operator for Spiti region.

Well, how should I conclude? I can say that Spiti valley is not a destination, its where journey itself is a destination. Even though roads are bad, lifestyle is simple and challenging in this region, I think now when I look back, all the efforts to travel in this region are well worth the visit and highly recommended for a traveler who is ready to go through these conditions.

Remember, The best view comes after the hardest climb :-)