Day 1: We started for the Kinnaur-Spiti trip from Chandigarh on 22nd October. We were greeted by our driver Ramesh who was waiting for us at the airport with his innova. Our first destination for a overnight stop was Shimla. We reached Shimla by 9:00 pm. We checked in to our hotel. The hills all around was twinkling in night lights. We already started feeling cold in Shimla and had a nice sleep with our blankets on, after our dinner.
Day 2: Today we started from Shimla, after breakfast, at about 9 am for Rakcham via Sangla. It was a sunny beautiful morning. Our first stop was Kufri. Though I was not keen to go to Kufri top but everyone was excited about the horse ride. We stopped at Kufri and sat on our respective horses. We gradually started climbing towards the top. The road was very dusty and I did not enjoy the ride at all. We reached the top, took some pics with the yak and then we went for the zip line adventure after a bumpy 1km ride. We returned back and had some yummy vegetable maggi and started our long journey towards Sangla. We drove through the beautiful pine forests. We stopped for lunch at Narkanda, where we had yummy food with a view of shining snow-capped peaks. After lunch we started our journey again and slowly the landscape started changing. It was a blend of yellow-white rocks and green trees. Near Rampur we stopped for tea. It was amazing to ride through the curvy roads, with rocks popping out of the mountains. Slowly we hardly could see any car on the road, it started growing dark and our driver Ramesh said its 3-4 hours more to reach Rakcham. In the darkness we started romancing with the hilly curves with soft music at background, in the car. Somewhere we got down and looked up above to be mesmerized by a sky full of stars. After that somewhere our car broke down with a Tyre puncture around 8 pm. Luckily it was near a bridge of a dam which had lights. Our driver quickly changed the tyre and then again we stopped at a small village, where I could see noone other than a car repairing shop, who repaired our car. Finally we reached our destination Rakcham at about 9:30pm, after driving through some very bad narrow hilly roads in complete darkness. We were shivering in cold after getting down. We quickly had our dinner and then more adventure was waiting for us. Since the hotel rooms were fully booked, they requested us to stay at the river side tent, for a night. We agreed, knowing that we might be frozen until next morning. We got into the tent and realized that there was no difference of temperature, outside and inside. Mercury level dropped to around 2-4C. Though there were layers of blanket, but I hardly could sleep that night. Yes, it was an experience one of a kind.
Day 3: We woke up around 9 am, came outside the tent and the view around mesmerized us. The gushing Rupin river was flowing beside our tent. With warm morning sunrays striking our face, we had breakfast at the cute hotel restaurant overlooking the mountains around. We started towards Chitkul which is the last inhabited village near the Indo-China Border. The Indian road ends here. A drive through the narrow broken roads with the mighty Himalayas all around mesmerized us. We stopped at multiple places to click pics, there was a checkpoint in between before entering Chitkul area. We reached till the end of Chitkul, got down from our car and started walking down the hill, towards the river. The place was beautiful. We spent sometime by the river, hiked around, climbed uphill again before reaching a restaurant for lunch. After lunch we reached back to our Rakcham hotel. There was still daylight. So we went hiking around Rakcham along the Rupin river before calling it a day. And tonight we were staying at a very big room with 4 beds, a corner room having great views all around and yes it was a warmer night for us after last night's tent experience.
Day 2: Today we started from Shimla, after breakfast, at about 9 am for Rakcham via Sangla. It was a sunny beautiful morning. Our first stop was Kufri. Though I was not keen to go to Kufri top but everyone was excited about the horse ride. We stopped at Kufri and sat on our respective horses. We gradually started climbing towards the top. The road was very dusty and I did not enjoy the ride at all. We reached the top, took some pics with the yak and then we went for the zip line adventure after a bumpy 1km ride. We returned back and had some yummy vegetable maggi and started our long journey towards Sangla. We drove through the beautiful pine forests. We stopped for lunch at Narkanda, where we had yummy food with a view of shining snow-capped peaks. After lunch we started our journey again and slowly the landscape started changing. It was a blend of yellow-white rocks and green trees. Near Rampur we stopped for tea. It was amazing to ride through the curvy roads, with rocks popping out of the mountains. Slowly we hardly could see any car on the road, it started growing dark and our driver Ramesh said its 3-4 hours more to reach Rakcham. In the darkness we started romancing with the hilly curves with soft music at background, in the car. Somewhere we got down and looked up above to be mesmerized by a sky full of stars. After that somewhere our car broke down with a Tyre puncture around 8 pm. Luckily it was near a bridge of a dam which had lights. Our driver quickly changed the tyre and then again we stopped at a small village, where I could see noone other than a car repairing shop, who repaired our car. Finally we reached our destination Rakcham at about 9:30pm, after driving through some very bad narrow hilly roads in complete darkness. We were shivering in cold after getting down. We quickly had our dinner and then more adventure was waiting for us. Since the hotel rooms were fully booked, they requested us to stay at the river side tent, for a night. We agreed, knowing that we might be frozen until next morning. We got into the tent and realized that there was no difference of temperature, outside and inside. Mercury level dropped to around 2-4C. Though there were layers of blanket, but I hardly could sleep that night. Yes, it was an experience one of a kind.
Making our way through the Pine Trips
Zip Lining at Kufri
Rampur
Day 3: We woke up around 9 am, came outside the tent and the view around mesmerized us. The gushing Rupin river was flowing beside our tent. With warm morning sunrays striking our face, we had breakfast at the cute hotel restaurant overlooking the mountains around. We started towards Chitkul which is the last inhabited village near the Indo-China Border. The Indian road ends here. A drive through the narrow broken roads with the mighty Himalayas all around mesmerized us. We stopped at multiple places to click pics, there was a checkpoint in between before entering Chitkul area. We reached till the end of Chitkul, got down from our car and started walking down the hill, towards the river. The place was beautiful. We spent sometime by the river, hiked around, climbed uphill again before reaching a restaurant for lunch. After lunch we reached back to our Rakcham hotel. There was still daylight. So we went hiking around Rakcham along the Rupin river before calling it a day. And tonight we were staying at a very big room with 4 beds, a corner room having great views all around and yes it was a warmer night for us after last night's tent experience.
Rakcham - our camp site
Chitkul
Way back to Rakcham from Chitkul
Rakcham
Day 4: After our breakfast we started our journey at about 9:30 am towards Kalpa. Our first stop was Kamru Fort. We started climbing up the stairs, towards the Fort. The fort is very beautiful, has a tower like architecture. There is also a shrine to Kamkhya Devi inside the fort area. We were given Himachali hat by a lady caretaker before getting inside. We clicked photos and came back. As we started moving, the beautiful Kinnaur-Kailash range was slowly visible and was growing gradually as we were nearing Kalpa. We reached Reckong Peo, where we had our lunch. Its a beautiful town, lots of shops, people and cute buildings, surrounded by the mighty Himalayan ranges. We then started moving towards Kalpa and after riding through some hairpin bends, gradually climbing up, we reached Kalpa at about 3:30 pm. We checked in to the hotel and then again started towards Roghi village which is around 8 kms from Kalpa. The road was very narrow and the cliff steep down, with almost no visibility downwards, which is also called suicide point. We reached the village and started hiking. There were very few homes with stone tiled roof. Far away we could see blasting for road construction. And at one side we gazed at the spectacular Kinnaur-Kailash range. After sometime we drove back to our hotel at Kalpa.
Day 4: Today we woke up early for our next part of our trip to Spiti. We were warned by hotel people that if we are late, blasting for road construction might delay us further at several places. They were kind enough to pack breakfast for us. We started and slowly the landscape started changing from green to brown, tress to rocks. And yes we entered Spiti.
Kamru Fort
Towards Kalpa from Sangla
Reckong peo
Kalpa - View from my hotel room
Towards Roghi Village
Blasting for road making somewhere far away, during a walk through the village roads
A villager working at Roghi Village
At Roghi Village, mesmerized by the Kailash range
Day 4: Today we woke up early for our next part of our trip to Spiti. We were warned by hotel people that if we are late, blasting for road construction might delay us further at several places. They were kind enough to pack breakfast for us. We started and slowly the landscape started changing from green to brown, tress to rocks. And yes we entered Spiti.
Towards Spiti
Lovelly
ReplyDeleteLovelly
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
ReplyDeleteVery well explored and explained
ReplyDeleteWill surely visit once after reading this.
Thanks a lot, yes do visit :)
DeleteBest Travel Blog
ReplyDeleteThanks. 🙂
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