We planned spiti and chitkul in very extreme condition in #LastMinute

Feb 9th 2020

I remember the day when I planned this trip. As I am a college student and if you are a college student you must know February is very busy month for us. So, I was busy with some of my college work till 7th February. I was really very tired of that. I take one day of from my college on 8th February. I was randomly wondering about what to do in this boring time. I was discussing with my friends why not take a trip for 3 to 4 days. After some hours of discussion one of my friend came up with a plan that we should take a budget of around 5k and visit to chitkul and if we would left with some money we can also take a trip to spiti .and once we will short of budget we will started to came back to our hostel. So, he was joining with me in this trip. We were only two in this trip. Now plan was done and we packed our bag. Honestly I would like to add one thing if you are a college student it will be easy to borrow bag and some winter clothes from. I also came up with this plan. I borrowed winter jacket and bag pack from my friend and packed my bag. After 2 hours of packing we left our room at around 1 am. actually now the date was 10th of February.

Feb 10th 2020

We reached Chandigarh railway station around 2:45 am. After this we took the train(train no 12311) at 3:45 am to Kalka. After reaching Kalka we took toy train for Shimla(train no 52445). This was my first time for any toy train. It took a duration of around of 4and half hour to reach Shimla. The journey was very beautiful. You should know Kalka-Shimla toy train is world heritage site. Around 9:30am. We had some breakfast there. We have already visited Shimla 2 to 3 three time till that time. So we decided, we will not take any stop at Shimla and try to cover more distance if possible. We went to Shimla bus stand for enquiry of HRTC busses. After some time we took a private bus to Rampur(240rs per head). We reached Rampur at around 5:30 pm. We have some evening snacks there and take some rest. Now we have two options either we have to settle down in Rampur or we can reach Jeori till night. We decided we will reach Jeori till night. so we took a HRTC(40rs per head) bus from Rampur to Jeori at around 7pm. Jeori is around 2hr away from Rampur. So we reached Jeori at around 8pm. We took hotel and have dinner. We were totally exhausted till now. We had a great nap there.

Feb 11th 2020

So today will be a very hectic day. We will be heading towards CHITKUL today. Our morning starts with a tea and some breakfast from Jeori. We left hotel at around 7am. When we were leaving the hotel, the manager suggest us to take a private bus to Karchham. At around 8am we took Prem Bus service for Karchham. We covered one of the most visited place in Kinnaur range "TRANDA DHANK" , and TRANDA MAA MANDIR". we reached Karchham bridge at around 10am. Now we have to wait for HRTC for Sangla. In summer time HRTC runs directly between Karchham to Chhitkul. But it was winter, so we took the bus for Sangla only. At 12noon we reached Sangla. But here comes the main problem, we were unable to find any cab or bus for Chhitkul. Either you can hire a private cab or you can take a lift. Hiring our own private cab was a bit expensive for us(it was around3000rs for one way). We waited for around 2hr and finally a cab was coming and they picked us and dropped Chhitkul in less amount(around 500rs). So, now we were in Chhitkul at around 3pm. We booked at Home Stay there (1000rs room). After having snacks and rest we explored Chhitkul and also made a friend there.

Feb 12th 2020

So, our 4th day plan was that we will take a visit to village and India's Last Dhaba. But unfortunately Dhaba was closed due to heavy snow. After having tea and breakfast we went for the visit till 12 noon. After 12 noon we packed our bag and planned to return. Here comes an trouble again. There had an avalanche last night and due to this we can't return to Sangla that day. So, our friend which we made there suggested us to stay at his place. We stayed there at night and prepared some food. It was the best day for me till now. We prepared our own food in Chhitkul. This was a memorable moment for me. The night temperature was around (-6).

Feb 13th 2020

We spend a whole day in Chhitkul yesterday. For now we were having lack of time. We have planned to cover more places today. As you know yesterday was avalanche we couldn't make it to return Sangla yesterday. So today, somehow we managed to take lift of a JCB and reached Sangla(here temperature was around -3 or -4). We also covered some distance in an ambulance. We reached Raksham with the help of JCB and after the ambulance helped us to get to Sangla. The JCB ride in between snow fall was really mesmerizing. We reached Sangla at around 4pm. Here at Sangla we met a police man. He helped us a lot in knowing about whole Kinnaur range and also helped us finding bus to return. At around 4:30pm we took HRTC for Karchham bridge again(40rs per head). After reaching Karchham at around 5:30 pm we waited for bus for Reckong peo. We took a private bus service service because we couldn't find HRTC due to heavy winter. This private bus took about 2 hrs. to reach Reckong peo. Now temperature was normal and was around 7degree. We booked a hotel here as it was around 8pm.

Feb 14th 2020

Today the date is 14th Feb. Today we planned for kalpa and exploring Reckong peo and most famous place "Suicide point of KALPA". We woke up at 7 in the morning. After having daily rituals breakfast and everything we packed our bag and headed towards Kalpa. There was a bus at 7am for kalpa and it return on same day till evening. If you catch that bus you can visit kalpa nd suicide point on same day till afternoon and you can also move towards next destination on the same day. But somehow we missed that bus. Now the next bus was at 8:30. We took that bus and around 9am we reached Kalpa(fare 10rs per hade). In winter HRTC couldn't drop you to kalpa bus stand. They will drop you before 1km from bus stand due to heavy snow fall. We walked for 1km and reached Klapa. From here you can the wide range of Kinnaur Kailash clearly. We take and rest and explored the village. After 1hr we started walking towards suicide point because there was no vehicle going in winter towards suicide point. At around 12 noon we reached suicide point. The view was stunning and from here also you can see whole Kinnaur Kailash range clearly. We spend around 2 hrs. here. There was almost no one at this time. We were only two guy there. After clicking pictures and exploring nearby areas we returned to kalpa village. The bus which we took in the morning was leaving for Reckong peo. So we hurried and took the same bus and after 30 minutes we were back to same hotel again. it was approximately 5pm now. So we decided we will stop here for today and will plan for next destination on next day.

Feb 15th 2020

Today I will be covering from Reckong peo to kaza(cold desert of India). Today our whole day will be on HRTC. So we have prepare some extra for today schedule. After having a tight breakfast we leave the hotel at around 7am. We took HRTC for Samdoo(fare rs500 for two). Usually in summer time you can go directly to kaza by HRTC. But in summer time you have to break your journey in part by part. We asked the manager of peo bus stand and he suggested us to take bus only to Samdoo. We take the bus at around 8am. And at around 1pm we reached Samdoo. Now we have only one thing to do either we have to book a private cab or wait for any traveler van so that we can take lift from them. After waiting for 1 hr. we were able to take lift till kaza in a travel van(fare 500 rs for two). Due to heavy snow HRTC were not allowed to go after Samdoo. Only small vans like travelers were able to reach kaza. We take a halt in between the route. And at around 6pm we reached kaza. Here the temperature was very very low. I guess at that time it was around (-2degree F). We were frozen at that time. We rushed and booked a homestay. They firstly served us some tea and told us to use heater. It took half an hour for us to be normalized. At night somehow we take courage to walk out of our hotel and visited WORLD HIGHEST PETROL STATION (12270 FT above sea level). At this time around 8pm the temperature was much colder than evening. It was around (-7or -8 degree F). Single droplet of water was freezing. Even after two levels of winter gloves our fingers were freezing. Eventually our nose were freezing at that. So we decided we have to hurry and we should return hotel immediately and had dinner. At night sky was looking very beautiful. In plan areas you won't be able to see any stars in night sky. But here in Kaza you can have Star glazing. Kaza valley is also famous for star glazing. We woke up at around 2am in the morning and got a chance to see the most beautiful night sky till now after an hour we went to bed again.

Feb 16th 2020

Today we covered Key monastery, Langza, Chicham Bridge. As usual we woke up at around 8am. We have tea and breakfast. And we have again a problem today. We have two option again with us. Either book a cab or we can hitchhiked to these places. Firstly after fresh morning start, we visit at Kaza petrol station again. After visiting the station we tried to book a cab, but this time we couldn't find any cab. The homestay which we had stayed at night helped a lot in finding a cab. A big thanks to him. He helped a lot to us. We now hitch hiked in a local cab. He was going to Chicham for some work. So the cab owner take us to Key monastery and then to Chicham bridge. We were so lucky that we were able to see snow leopard there. Actual fact is that in this week (7th feb to 15th feb) locals have spotted a couple of snow leopard. Many tourists have visited Chicham and Hikkim only to see it. We were lucky that we have spotted the Snow leopard in our way. After watching leopard we continued for Chicham village. We visited the village and also went to Langza and saw the famous Buddha statue. In returning to kaza it was already 6pm and temperature was around -8 today. We stayed the same hotel tonight also. During whole day today we tried really hard to visit Hikkim post office. It is world highest post office above sea level. But we couldn't make it happen due to heavy snow and snow has blocked the road even for byke also. So after reaching hotel we take rest and tomorrow we have to return to chandigarh. We are now out of budget :(