Spiti Valley

 Spiti valley which falls under the high altitude mountains of trans Himalayas hardly get any rain and will give you respite from heavy down pour during monsoon. Although it rained badly in Shimla it eased as we entered the desert mountains after crossing Rekong Peo. We stayed a night at Kalpa, the weather was extremely cold. Pristine beauty of the place, chirping sounds of birds, chill wind blowing on our face and the tent over looking the glaciers of Kinnaur Kailash made our stay more than memorable. Early in the morning we were able to get a clear view of Kinnaur Kailash peak and had a good Darshan. Kinnaur  is considered one of the least polluted regions in India. Of course apples were in plenty here.

Next day we traversed back the same route from Kalpa and reached Peo.  Spiti river was following us all through out . Roads and terrains become difficult but beauty increases as you get closer to Spiti valley. We reached Nako in the afternoon and had a typical spitian lunch. Then our next stop was at a beautiful little village of Tabo.

Tabo is situated in Lahual and Spiti region just before Kaza. 9th century monetary is a prime attraction here. This was my first experience to stay in a village with such cultural difference. People looked different, houses looked different, first time saw yaks and walking through the village was heavenly. The Lama ji (chief monk) explained about Buddhism and also about the history of the monastery. He gave lot of insights about Buddhism  and this made me keen to learn more about this religion.

Next morning we moved from Tabo to Kaza, visited Dhankar Gompa on the way. The complex is built on a 300m high cliff overlooking the confluence of the Spiti and Pin Rivers – one of the world’s most spectacular settings for a Gompa(temple).

Kaza gives you a city feel with lot of cafes, hotels, big buildings,market etc. But the beauty is still in tact. Happy our guest house was right next to the monastery and it gave me time to go for morning prayer and interact with locals.  During prayer i was offered butter tea and local bread. We stayed there for couple of days and it was interesting to explore different lanes in Kaza city. Sea Buckthorn tea which the guesthouse people made was very tasty and of course it’s extremely healthy with good source of vitamins and antioxidants.  Sea Buckthorn is a thorny plant that grows by the river side.  I also had local foods like thupa, thiruku (like a dosa), etc.

 

We took a day trip to Langza and komic villages. First it was Langza, breathtaking landscape and the presence of a big Lord Buddha statue in the meadow makes Langza as heavenly as one possibly can imagine. Both these villages are at a height more than 4000m. The population in these villages are just couple of hundreds. Main attraction in Langza village is Fossils.  The history  takes us back millions of years ago when India was part of African continent and it slowly moved and hit against another bigger mass of land due to this impact the Himalayas were born. Small living beings like fish, etc also got hit again these landmasses and after millions of years they became like wood shaped objects which are fossils. Even today we can find lot of fossils which were once living being millions of years ago from African continent.

 

We visited the highest altitude post office in the world and even posted a card from there. One needs to walk through the village to reach the post office. This is situated in the village called Hikkim at an height of 4440.

 

After spending some of the best moments in Lahual and Spiti, we decided to get back to manali via Kunzum la. We were little sad that we are leaving this paradise but had more surprises installed. The drive via Kunzum La was very picturesque and had lot to offer.