Ever since I’ve started traveling, I always wanted to visit a place in the high Himalayas, where I can see the breath-taking valley, the gushing rivers, the snow-covered mountain with scanty population, and the monasteries. And finally that trip has happened, I was in Spiti, a paradise for adventure seekers in India, also known as a “Middle land”, as it lies between Tibet and India.
Spiti was a completely different experience for me. After staying in Goa for years, the transformation from sea, sand, and beach to the high altitude mountain, the clear sky, the starry night was mesmerizing.
I was delighted to found out that Spiti has the “Highest petrol pump” and the “Highest post office” in the world. The long bus route from Shimla- Reckong Peo – Nako – Tabo- Kinnaur was seriously not easy as the buses are not very frequent. In some places, there is the only bus in a day to take you to the next destination.
There is also another route to reach Spiti from Manali – Rohtang pass, which is actually shorter but I would advise to take the Shimla – Reckong Peo route as the road conditions of Manali routes are not very good. In some places, I calculated that our bus moved at an average speed of 10km per hour.
My Airtel, Vodafone SIM was useless after Puh as there is no network. BSNL SIM card shown some network but that was also not reliable after reaching Nako village.
Spiti promises soul filling and amazing adventures. This trip would leave you with breath-taking valley experience to cherish for a lifetime. You will not feel like going away from here. There are five main villages where you split your travel days.
They are called Key, Kibber, Langza, Hikkim, and Komic. My whole trip was for 8 days, which I found a decent time to cover the most important places in this region, but it will be always better if you can have 1-2 buffer days with you. Sometimes the roads are blocked and you may not be lucky to get public transport every single time.
The majority of the population is Buddhist here and some of the famous festivals to look for are Gochi Festival (February), Tsheshu Festival (June), Ladarcha Fair (July), Pauri Fair (August), Chakhar Mela (every three years in September).
Key Places to Visit: Key Monastery, Tabo Monastery, Chandratal Lake, Dhankar Lake, Kunzum Pass, Kibber Village, Losar, Komik, Pin Valley Park Trek, Hikkim. An interesting part of the trip for me was the Homestay in small villages of Spiti.
I really enjoyed the hospitality of the local people. One of my best days in Spiti was my stay at Tabo monastery. The place is so peaceful, that you will be the closest to yourself.
Author Bio: Dr. Jacky Bhagat is a marine researcher and the founder of www.saveandtravel.in
Alex is fascinated with “understanding” people. It’s actually what drives everything he does. He believes in a thoughtful exploration of how you shape your thoughts, experience of the world.