I keep going back.

To catch the first rays of the sun caress me.

I keep going back.

To feel the unforgiving wind rage at me.

I keep going back.

To feel the cold envelope me.

I keep going back.

To watch the starry sky and moon shine at me.

I keep going back.

To be one with the gurgling river and chirping birds.

I keep going back.

Because the mountains call for me.

 

I will always keep going back because the mountains are where I am really in my element. Being in the mountains is always a roller-coaster of emotions, the joy of watching nature show off, the discomfort of the ruthlessness of the weather and the sheer gratitude of being alive just to experience the magnificence! I have traveled across India from the Southern Nilgiri Mountains to the mighty Himalayas in Sikkim but the allure of the deserted beauty of Leh & Ladakh has always been unmatched. After cycling and camping across Ladakh it was my turn to explore its neighbor – the hidden Spiti Valley!

This time around it was going to be a Road Trip and without keeping you guessing to the climax – It was a fantastic Road Trip!! Our group of five – I, Jatinder, Nayan, Haritha and Aanchal were ready to take on this adventurous journey of the Spiti Valley. With a lot of planning from Nayan and Jatinder we were ready to head off to the valley on and our ride was going to be a Ford Endeavor, what a suitable name really!

We had a fairly simple and comfortable trip planned, leaving time for a lot of sightseeing and stops along the way. The Endeavor is probably one of the most comfortable vehicles; it was large enough for our bags and for the five of us to get some rest on the journey. We had rented out the Endeavor from Zoomcar which gave us a great package which included the fuel costs for the entire trip. Our experience with Zoomcar was good, the vehicle was in good condition and we didn’t face any hidden charges from them as well.

Our journey was to start in Chandigarh, making stops in Narkand, Chitkul, Nako till Kaza which is the district Headquarters of Spiti District and then the return journey via Kinner and Chail back to Chandigarh. It was a 9 day trip with 3 days spent at Kaza exploring the entire Spiti Valley. On the entire journey we clocked about 1420 KM. We left for the trip on 6^th May 2017, this is generally considered the off season as most tourists prefer to visit Spiti along with Leh and Ladakh once the Manal route opens. But from experience I can assure you that this is the best season to explore Spiti and have it all to yourself!

Day 1 – We flew down to Chandigarh from Hyderabad in the morning and reached around 12.30PM. Although our day started with a slight glitch, the Zoomcar was delivered an hour late. I suggest that you continuously check up on the delivery schedules and on a road trip an hour can make a huge difference. We were looking at a 5 hour drive on this day, to ease into our trip. It was a fairly smooth journey and our destination was Narkanda. It is a small town off Shimla, we chose it because we wanted a serene stay unlike the commercial tourist experience of Shimla.

We checked in at the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Guest House, it was a beautiful place and neatly maintained.

That night the cold made us realize that yes, we were finally in the mountains!!

Day 2 – You might think the cold the previous night was enough for that realization but then we woke up to this glorious view! Ah, I could feel the excitement increasing and we were all looking forward to the coming days. We had an early start to the day at 5, that’s how the mountain folk live it up! Our destination was Chitkul but we wanted to visit this tiny hamlet called Sarahan which is home to a famous temple – The Bhimakali Temple.

The temple has a unique architecture and it was definitely worth the travel. It was in fact out of our way and we had to do a fair bit of driving to get there. The roads are also narrow here and scary!! The River Sutlej flows along the ride offering some really grand views. One of the most important road rules here is that when two vehicles are opposite each other on the road, the bigger vehicle gets the right to pass first, so the smaller vehicle needs to backup to a point where the other can pass. This maneuvering takes up a lot of time on these roads.

Our savior all through the journey was Google Maps, we used it extensively having downloaded the offline maps. It makes me wonder how road trips were even possible before! Now Google came to our rescue again that day as we hadn’t booked any accommodation on that day but found a place called the Samaa Resorts – Chitkul Heights a little ahead of Chitkul.

The Samaa Resorts is run by a lovely couple, they started the place just last year and they spend almost the entire year here running the place. It is an affordable and really nice place to stay. It had been a long day and we were waiting to crash, but hey I wasn’t going to pass on the chance for some night photography. I finally tried at my hand at creating my own star trail! After about 25 minutes, this is what I managed!

Day 3 – Another early morning sunrise and the river right behind the guest house beckoned us! Dressed in pyjamas, we watched the sun rise from the mist.

It was such a beautiful morning, the sun’s rays streaming through the sky lighting up the entire river and the trees lining the banks.

It was probably the last day we saw so much greenery; we were, after all, heading to the bleak environment of Spiti.

Our destination today was Nako, a small village in the Hangrang Valley. The village is set against the Reo Purgyal mountain which is the highest mountain in Himachal Pradesh. The village has a monastery, the Nako monastery and the very spectacular and beautiful Nako Lake. While the village does not have many accommodation options, we luckily found one – The Lake View Hotel Nako. The guest house is set low on a hillside and the approach road is very narrow, we left our car about 500M away and walked to the guest house. It was such a tiring day that we called it a night as soon as we could!

On this stretch of road from Chitkul to Nako, the roads are terrible and there are no stops to have a good lunch. It’s best to carry edibles and snack to cover such routes because you never know when the next habitation comes.

Day 4 – I love the early mornings in the mountains, in fact, I think I prefer the sunrises over the sunsets! This morning took us to the Nako Lake, the entire place was so pristine. It’s not often you come across such places of beauty, not a soul around and just you with the spectacular lake in front of you. No wonder yogis turn to the Himalayas for peace and quiet.

We were leaving Nako and heading to Kaza today, which mark the beginning of the Spiti Valley. This is a cold desert mountain valley and literally translates to ‘The Middle Land’ which signifies the land between India and Tibet. The region follows Buddhism and is a revered place for Buddhists; it has the Key Monastery and Tabo Monastery which are one of the oldest monasteries in the world. The Pin Valley in Spiti is also home to the last of Buchen Lamas.  For travelers, it is the bleak environment and magnificent vistas that entice along with the unique architecture of Monastery’s as well as the Buddhist culture.

We were going to Kaza en route Sumdo, Lapcha, Tabo and Dhankar. The stop at Tabo was very interesting, on reaching we saw these odd structures which seemed to be made of mud. Later I got to know these are stupas with paintings inside them. Tabo is the oldest continuously inhabited Buddhist enclave in India and the entire Himalayas and the monastery dates back to 996 CE! Although the original monastery was destroyed in an earthquake, the current one is equally important and is noted by the ASI as a National Historic Treasure of India.

After a quick lunch of paranthas, we headed to Dhankar Monastery. The drive was spectacular all through, it is locations that you realize how sometimes even the dearth of life can seem magnificent.

The stark locations might come across as intimidating but there was a beauty in it, just the long expanse of mountains with the Spiti River coursing through was a sight to behold.

Dhankar Monastery or Dhangkar is a fort-monastery and is precariously perched on a cliff top. In fact, the name also translates to ‘Dhang’ meaning Cliff and ‘Kar’ means Fort. It has been a center for learning through centuries and today there are two monasteries. The new monastery is situated almost 6 KM away on stable ground, but then, of course, it loses the meaning of the name! This is one of the world’s most precariously built monasteries reminding one of the Tiger’s Nest in Bhutan.

After a long and eventful we finally winded up in Kaza in the cool and cozy comfort of the Hotel Deyzor!

Day 5 – Hotel Deyzor was a dream!! Literally, it was one! Waking up to a spectacular view of snow topped mountains was just the beginning of it. It was followed by a scrumptious breakfast which makes me want to head back there even today. The place is run by Karanveer who stays there treating guests to luxury at one of the highest places in the world and then sets off to seek his own adventures during the harsh winters. The place is a testament to the wandering spirit and you must visit it when you visit Kaza. They grow their own fresh organic produce and support the local community, all the while ensuring great hospitality for guests. Having traveled a lot in the mountains, this is one place I cannot stop gushing about.

We were lucky on this day as it was Buddha Purnima and there was a celebration all around. Our first stop was the Kaza Monastery which was decorated and had crowds of local people all dressed to the nines. There was an interesting celebration going on at the monastery, there was a sort of debate going on between the monks. There were three monks who were posed spiritual questions by a bevy of monks who slapped their hands after asking each question! It was altogether very weird but fun to watch. This was our chance to explore the local culture and observe the people, it was so much watching the cute kids!

We then headed to the Key Monastery which is a bigger monastery and where we heard a group of women singing a traditional Spitian song as well as a performance with traditional Buddhist/Tibetan music instruments.

In the backdrop of the bare mountains, the riot of colors of the Buddhist prayer flags and the colorful dressed women and monks was a treat to the photographer in me!

After a long day of driving we headed to the Kaza Market which is a local market but there is one souvenir shop where you can shop for tidbits for friends back home. One of the best things to buy there are figurines of Buddhist Monks, they are super cute!

Day 6 – Today was all about conquering some high goals and history. We started our quest with searching for fossils in the Langza village. It was not on our itinerary but Karnaveer had suggested that we give it a shot and collect some fossils for ourselves. On reaching Langza village we were greeted by a huge Buddha, the golden Buddha was quite an imposing figure in the landscape. The entire village of Langza is built below the statue which is considered to be around 1,000 years old!

The kids in the village sell these fossils which are beautiful symmetrical cephalopod dating back millions of years. But I felt odd about doing that and hence trekked up the mountain for a good 2 hours to search for the fossils which we found quite a stash.

After this detour, we headed to Hikkim, the world’s highest post office. With the elevation of 14,567 feet, it is officially the world’s highest and I didn’t waste any time buying postcards and sending some to my friends. It took about 12 days for the postcard to reach them, do not miss out on this experience.

From the world’s highest post office we headed to the world’s highest village accessible by a motorable road – Komic. I cannot even begin to describe the feeling of being at that place. Okay, altitude sickness was not be blamed! But really, the feeling of being on top of the world is something else.

Tired from achieving all these goals, we ended back to our hotel and had a blissful sleep.

Day 7 – Before we knew it we had to start our return journey and it was sad to bid goodbye to Spiti but on our way, we took our blessings from the mummy monk! Located in a tiny village of Gue is the home of the mummy of monk, Sangha Tenzin, a 15th-century monk. This 500-year-old mummy was found when an earthquake destroyed the stupa which housed the monk. Ancient traditions of natural mummification lead to this where the monks starved themselves to such an extent that after their death the body does not decompose any further.

After this surreal experience, we headed downhill to Kinner. Enroute we stopped at a beautiful waterfall and trekked up a bit. It was one of the last natural experiences I was to have on the trip and I made the most of it. We ended our day at the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Hotel Kinnera Kailash, which was another comfortable experience. The wooden hotel was cozy and had breathtaking views of the Mount Kinner Kailash.

Day 8 – This was a long day and the dreary mood had set is as it was the last day on our journey. We were driving continuously to make it to Chail in time and we just about reached by sunset. Driving in the mountains after nightfall is an extremely risky proposition and best avoided. We stayed at the Chail Palace another HP Tourism hotel, it resembled one of those old colonial bungalows and was a palace itself. We took the cottage rooms which were away from the main hotel. The only problem was that there was no room service and we had to head to the main building for our meals.

It was a long day and we dozed off right after dinner, enjoying our last peaceful and cool night in the mountains.

Day 9 – We started at 5 AM to reach Chandigarh at 11AM to catch our flight back home. We had to finally head home….

The entire experience of driving through the amazing Spiti Valley is something which I will never forget for a long time to come.

This blog is written by Madhuri Dasari, an avid traveler, photographer, and trekker. She works with Franklin Templeton in Hyderabad. If you wish to reach out to her with any queries regarding travel to Spiti, please write in at trektourtravel@gmail.com