Spiti Road Trip

Spiti was on my mind soon after the road trip to Ladakh in September 2016.

Early June, just before monsoon activity hits the northern part of the country, looked like a good time for the trip.

Vehicle was serviced. Tires were changed. Tools checked and sundry winter wear was procured. June being a touristy season, most of the accommodation along the route was booked a month in advance.

The plan was for the two of us, along with Red Bahadhur, to drive through the Kinnaur Valley, with a stopover at Sangla, the Pin Valley, with a stopover at Mudh and the Spiti Valley, with a stay in Tabo and Kaza, spread over 20 days, including the drive from Mumbai to Shimla and the return from Manali to Mumbai. This gave us a decent 12 days in the Himalayas.

Star Date 0306 - 0406.2018

The 1,500 km Mumbai – Delhi drive was more or less uneventful except for the extreme 40 degrees plus summer heat. Fortunately the Thar’s AC was effective and kept us comfortable.

Somewhere between the Baroda – Udaipur stretch a rubber hose feeding the intercooler blew a hole. Managed to get to Delhi with the hose wheezing. Got it replaced in Delhi.

Star Date 0606.2018

Route: Delhi, Chandigarh, Parwanoo, Shimla, Narkanda.
Distance: 443 Km
Time Taken: 12 hrs.
Altitude: 8,900 ft (approx)

Stopped for the customary parathas and chai (tea) at Murthal in the morning.

Lunch was at Giani Dhaba, which is now on the other side of the road, at Dharampur and was surprisingly empty. The food though was decent.

It was cloudy for most of the day. Hit rain short of Shimla. By evening, after having climbed up to pine tree level, at Narkanda, the temperature dropped to probably a single digit!

Mahamaya Palace, which is right on the NH was ok for a stopover. Food at the Negi Dhabha bang opposite the hotel was decent.

Star Date 0706.2018

Route: Narkanda, Rampur, Jeori, Wangtoo, Tapri, Karcham, Sangla.
Distance: 170 Km
Time Taken: 6 hrs.

After a quick breakfast at the hotel and a fuel stop at Narkanda, we  started for Sangla. The route through Rampur, Jeori, Wangtoo and Karcham, all along the Sutlej River, took about 6 hrs.

A landslide at Tapri, short of Karcham, required a diversion through the JSW Township.

After taking the right for Sangla at Karcham the road climbs up fast and becomes narrow. The quality of the tarmac though is decent.

The stay at Hotel Mount Kailash was decent. The food was ok.

The Kamru Fort was a nice 20 minute walk from the Hotel.

Star Date 0806.2018

Route: Sangla, Rakchham, Chitkul and back to Sangla.
Distance: 60 Km
Time Taken: 5 hrs.
Altitude: 11,000 ft (approx)

The plan today was to drive up to Chitkul – the last Indian village short of the border with China.

Started the drive early and enjoyed the morning chill and the vistas of the Baspa river valley via Batseri and Rakchham. The road is decent except for a small stretch short of Chitkul. The drive, which should have taken about an hour, took about 2 hours because of numerous stops.

The alloo Paratha and Chai breakfast in the early morning sun was super. Apparently the potatoes grown locally are known for their sweet taste.

Started for Kalpa from Sangla in the afternoon.

The drive along Karcham, Shongdong and Powari was decent. Powari had a HP Pump – which looked new.

The drive up to Kalpa via Rekong Peo is a steep climb with numerous hair pin bends on a narrow well metaled road. While climbing up, I almost got a feeling that we were leveling up to the snow covered Kinner Kaillash!

The food at Kinner Villa was lousy, the room though was nice. The Hotels location affords a good view of the Kinner Kailash.

Walked down to the Kalpa Monastery and the Fort in the evening.

Enjoyed the Chai and Momo’s at Bryce – a small restaurant in the middle of Kalpa town run by a Nepali family.

Star Date 0906.2018

Route: Kalpa, Rekong Peo, Khab, Ka, Nako, Sumdo, Gue, Lari, Tabo.
Distance: 200 Km
Time Taken: 10 hrs.
Altitude: 10,700 ft (approx)

The India Oil pump at Rekong Peo is open 24 hrs and is a good option to fuel up for the onward journey as the next pump is about 200  km away at Kaza.

Fueled up early and started for Tabo.

The tarmac disappeared at Pangi and stayed rough up to Pooh.

Post the Spiti – Sutlej confluence at Khab, the climb up the Kazigs is super fun. Got held up for about an hour a little ahead of Kaa due to road widening work. Stopped for lunch at Nako.

Stopped at the check post at Sumdo, the entrance of the Spiti Valley, to make the necessary entries at the police barrier and checked for directions to the Gue Monastery.

The road leading to the Gue Monastery is again narrow and rough. The Monastery itself is a pretty picture, but the main attraction here is the 500 year old remains of a Monk who apparently, as per local lore, took to payers to rid the place of scorpions to establish the Gue village and gave up life whilst praying. The remains were found by the villagers inside a chortan a couple of years back, after the chortan cracked open due to an earthquake.

The 200 Km run to Tabo took about 10 hrs including the detour to the Gue Monastery.

Tabo turned out to be a quaint little village on the banks of the spiti river. The major attractions here are the old monastery, the early morning prayers at the new monastery and the walk up to the caves on the other side of the highway.

Hotel Maitreya Regency was nice and comfortable, but the longing for some local food drove us straight to Café Kunzum Top – A small set up that serves an array of cuisines. The local Tibetan cuisine consisting of Thukpa, Thenduk, Barley Pancakes, Barley Chocolate Balls, Seabuckthorn Honey was amazing and kept us coming back for all our meals in Tabo.

Star Date 1106.2018

Route: Tabo, Dhankar, Lahalung, Kaza.
Distance: 82 Km
Time Taken: 12 hrs.
Altitude: 12,000 ft (approx)

A board and a gate off the NH5 mark the climb up to the Dhankar Monastery which is perched up the hills in the valley.

The monastery overlooks the confluence of the Pin and the Spiti river and affords a spectacular view of the valley and far away mountain tops.

A sumptuous Tibetan bread, omlette and chai  at a restaurant just outside of the monastery entrance gave us much needed early morning energy.

After some meditation in the prayer hall and some chit chat with Lama Tsering, we headed out for the trek to Dhankar Lake.

The hour long trek to the Dhankar Lake turned out to be pretty exhausting,  given the hot sun and a steep climb up a dusty trail and of course the altitude.

While the drive up to Lahlung was nice, the stay didn’t look too comfortable, so we headed to Kaza and put up at Spiti Valley hotel near the Kaza Monastery. The room and food was just about ok, service was slow. Parking was along the dusty highway. But after a tiring day, a decent room with hot water and basic dal-sabzi was all that was required.

The fuel pump at Kaza opens at about 830 hrs and closes by about 730 hrs. Winter timings are different. Being the only pump between Manali and Rekong Peo, the pump tends to have a line of vehicles waiting to fuel up, especially in the morning and evening. Payments are accepted in cash only.

Star Date 1206.2018

Route: Kaza, Mudh.
Distance: 53 Km
Time Taken: 5 hrs.
Altitude: 12,000 ft (approx)

Headed out of Kaza early in the morning and took the right on the baily bridge for Pin Valley.

The drive along the pin river was nice. Tried the zip line crossing across the cold fast flowing river with the help of some locals who explained the working.

Tara Guest house at Mudh, (which is the most organized stay option in the village) served hot Tibetan pizza for breakfast which was relished under a warm sun and a super view of the Pin Valley.

Our stay was organized at a nearby newly built guest house. The stay was comfortable, the food at Tara Guest house was good. The pre-booking helped else would have had to settle for not so great accommodation elsewhere.

The evening was spent walking around the village. Apparently agriculture has moved from barley to green peas, which fetches a better price.

Post sun down the temperature drop was tremendous.

Star Date 1306.2018

Route: Mudh, Kungri, Kaza.
Distance: 55 Km
Time Taken: 5 hrs.
Altitude: 12,500 ft (approx)

At about 3 am while looking out of the window, I could see the Milky Way right in front!

We quickly got ready and got out for an amateur go at astro-photography.

Later in the morning as the sun started to rise, we stepped out for a walk on a track heading out of the village.

Started for Kaza after a late breakfast.

Stopped at the Kungri Monastery on the way at Gulling.

The stay at Kaza was at the Spiti Heritage. While the room was decent, the food wasn’t.

Again being tourist season all the good places – Deyzor and Sakya Abode were fully booked.

Found Deyzor to be a super place – both ambience and food. We had most of our meals here during our stay in Kaza.

Star Date 1406.2018

Route: Kaza, Kee, Kibber, Chicham & back to Kaza.
Distance: 65 Km
Time Taken: 7 hrs.
Altitude: 14,000 ft (approx)

Started early for the Kee Monastery. We were there by 8 am, just when the prayers start in the new prayer hall. The lamas were kind to serve us some of their traditional butter tea. The smell and flavor takes getting used to. Though the cold morning meant that the cup was up for a second helping of the hot tea.

The service down at the restaurant was super slow. Since we had to head to Kibber and Chicham settled for some bread, omelet and chai.

Got back to Kaza late in the afternoon.

Star Date 1506.2018

Route: Kaza, Langza, Hikkim, Komic, Hikkim, Kaza.
Distance: 50 Km
Time Taken: 7 hrs.
Altitude: 15,000 ft (approx)

The schedule for today was a drive to Langza for the Buddha statue and fossils, Hikkim for the famous post office at 14,500 feet and Komic for the monastery and the fact that it’s the highest village connected with a motor-able road.

Starting with Langza turned out to be a good idea. One the road is better than the Kaza-Hikkim road and two you get better pictures of the Buddha statue early in the day.

Langza to Hikkim and Komic was a smooth dirt track. So was the Hikkim-Kaza track, though some sections were narrow and steep with a sharp drop off right up to Kaza on the left! This section really tests nerves and driving skills.

The Komic Monastery and the ancient Tangyud Monastery were amazing and the Monks there were kind to show us around.

The café at Komic served some nice sea buckthorn-honey, Tibetan sandwich and mini barley pancakes with honey.

Star Date 1606.2018

Altitude: 12,000 ft (approx)

Today was an easy day with a visit to the Kaza Monastery, shopping and lunch at Deyzor.

Stocked up with essentials and fuel for the trip to Chandratal and then onward to Manali.

By evening the wind started howling and the temperature dropped tremendously and that made me anxious of the weather and road conditions tomorrow.

Star Date 1706.2018

Route: Kaza, Rangrik, Kunzum, Batal, Chota Dhara, Chatru, Gramphoo, Rohtang, Manali.
Distance: 200 Km
Time Taken: 14 hrs.
Altitude: Kunzum Top 15,000 ft (approx)

As soon as the sun started to rise, I stuck my head out of the window to check things.

It was cold and windy and the mountain tops were covered with fresh snow!

Packed up and got ready to move all the time running various scenarios of road and weather in my head.

Deyzor confirmed roads to Manali and Chandratal were open.

Clouds started to part as we crossed Rangrik. But far up on the horizon the mountain tops were hidden under dark clouds.

Kaza to Chandratal takes about 5 hours and Chandratal to Manali is another 5 hours.

Maintained a steady pace (as steady as the terrain allowed – most of Kaza to Kunzum to Chandratal to Manali is a dirt track or worse!) so that I have enough time to drive up to Manali in case the weather stayed tough.

The weather was tough at Kunzum Top. After paying our respects at Kunzum Mata, decided to head to Manali and skip Chandratal. Even after crossing the pass, the weather remained windy, cold and cloudy with some rain dripping down.

On the brighter side I thought that given the cold weather conditions, the water crossings may not be tough. Traffic too may be sparse.

So took things one at a time starting with a super rajma chawal at the Chacha-Chachi Dhaba at Battal. We could see an equal number of travelers digging into rice and mutton curry. This joint is a life saver in an area with zero habitation right up to Chatru.

From here on the road conditions got tougher. At some sections there wasn’t much of a difference between the road and the river bead!

The sparse traffic , allowed me to use the entire road to navigate through boulders, puddles, water crossings and super uneven terrain.

The Thar’s grunt, short wheel base and ground clearance came in handy. Navigated through the water crossing at Chota Dhara and the ones between  Chattru and Gramphoo without much of a sweat.

I could see some people who had driven up in a hatch, struggle with the terrain in this stretch. They really had to take it slow and watch where they planted their wheels.

By about 5 pm we were at Rohtang which was under a thick blanket of cloud.

It was raining and there was amazing amount of tourist traffic on the Rohtang – Marhi – Manali section. The 50km from Rohtang to Manali that should have taken two hours, took six hours! But that didn’t ruffle me as I was sitting pretty content having completed the tough Spiti Circuit.

Tips

• Start early. It’ll keep you ahead of the crowd and give you time to handle anything unforseen.
• Book accommodation early if heading here in June-July.
• To give local food a go, skip booking meals with accommodation.