Though you put Uttarakhand as a priority, I would rather say visit Himachal as from my personal experience I found that Himachal, despite being much geographically remote, are more easily accessible by public transports, a must for solo traveler, compared to Uttarakhand, where public transport is really not great. This is slightly difficult trip for a person who never did solo travel.
before, but should not be a huge issue. Mountain will heal all your pain with her beauty! The answer is long, this is a very detailed plan :)
Kinnaur Trip: In this trip, you need to do a good amount of bus journey in mountain roads, so you have to be little fit (at least mentally, if not physically).
Day 0: Leave from Delhi Kashmiri Gate ISBT for Shimla, Himachal Pradesh in a night bus.
Day 1: Reach Shimla early morning, it is up to you whether you want to spend a day in Shimla or not. I really recommend you to spend no time in Shimla, it is absolutely not worth it. Immediately take a bus from Shimla going towards Jeori (any bus towards ReckongPeo/Sangla/Chitkul will go via Jeori, a bus towards Rampur is fine too, then you need to take a bus from Rampur to Jeori which are just 23 km away). Reach Jeori by 11 am and take a local tempo for Sarahan.
Sarahan:
Where to stay?
There is a dorm facility available at Sarahan temple which will cost you just Rs. 70/bed, it is reasonable. Otherwise separate rooms are also available there.
What to see?
Bhimkali temple has very interesting construction, ask question to locals, I won’t tell you everything here, you will be surprised with the architectonic gem. Otherwise, this is a scenic place, next day please wake up before sunrise. Also do not miss the sunset, change of colors of cloud is mesmerizing.
Day 2: By 7:00, take a tempo to climb down to Jeori. From Jeori take a bus going towards ReckongPeo (aka Peo), those are frequent. If possible take a direct bus for Sangla, but they are not very frequent. If you board a bus for Peo, deboard at Karchham and take another bus/shared car from there for Rakchham. You should reach Rakchaam by 2–3 pm. Road from Wangtoo onward is pathetic and the bus will go as slow as 20km/hour, but the roads will be more and more thrilling.
Rakchham:
Where to stay?
Stay at any small hotel or homestay, there are few!
What to do?
There is nothing much to do, it is a small sleepy town beside river Baspa, surrounded by mountain from . Relax and enjoy Momo & Thukpa! Also, this is a general view near Rakhchham (captured in a Rs. 8000 camera :-/)
Day 3: Wake up by 7 and take the 8 pm (first bus) to Chitkul. This is real beginning of your trip. You will reach Chitkul in one hour.
Chitkul: What a scenic place! No picture can make a justice of this place! Just relax beside baspa river and enjoy silence.
Do not stay at Chitkul, it is costly. Stay there for couple of hours and take a bus for Peo from there. Last bus probably leaves at around 3 pm (please verify).
Peo: A busy town!
Where to stay?
It would be well past sunset by the time you reach Peo. There are two cheap hotels, one has dorm. The dorm toilet is really dirty, but deal with it! Rs. 100 per bed is as cheap as it can get and it is always available.
What to do?
Have chicken & fish fry! Take rest, you will be tired.
Day 4: Take a very early morning bus to climb up to Kalpa, it is just 20–30 minutes uphill of Peo. Kalpa is very beautiful, if you love trek, look for some local guide and there is a small climb, it is just for pastime, you can relax otherwise. The most beautiful thing to see in Kalpa is the sunset. Again through my shitty camera (and it changes color, rapidly)!
As soon as it is sunset, climb down to Peo. Late evening, you will not get any bus.
Day 5: Take the bus for Kaza khas, there is only one bus a day and it (probably) leaves at 7:30. Take ticket upto Tabo. Reach Tabo by 2 pm.
Where to stay?
I visited Tabo few times, once I stayed at Monastery. But for a solo traveler it was costly (Rs. 400 for a double bed room). In my next trips, I always stayed at homestay. Namsey homestay is one I recommend, it is really good & cheap. I treat its owner as a Goddess, why? She gave food and shelter on -15 degree C at when I appeared Tabo at 8 pm and nothing else was open!
What to do?
Climb to the Gompha above and enjoy silence.
Day 6: Early in the morning visit inside Tabo monastery where paintings are kept. Trust me, you have never seen something like that before. You can do it on the previous day itself if it is still open. Next, take a shared cab, milk van or anything else going towards Dhankar.
What to do?
Dhankar is another scenic place, specially on a full moon night. If the moon is not there, milky way will be there to cherish your eyes. This is a star trail captured by my friend Saikat Ghosh (he is not on Quora) from one such location:
You can see example of soil erosion in that area, in geography books, we all read these “boring” stuffs in schools, but in real life they are really interesting. e.g. this is what Dhankar Gompa looks like (PC: Saikat Ghosh)
Where to stay?
Dhankar Gompa has its own guest house and there are few homestay operated by Mr. Anil, Mrs. Parul et. al. They are nice people and really very helpful.
Day 7: In early morning, go for trek to Dhankar Lake. You have to be little fit for it. The experience will be really nice. Get back to Dhankar by evening and take rest.
Day 8: Take a shared cab or trek down to the main road for a bus to Kaza. Reach Kaza as early as possible and look for people going towards Kee Monastery, there is no bus for it. Taxi will cost Rs. 900 and usually take 4 people, but you need to find these 4 people yourself. Kee monastery is located at heaven. Spend an hour there and get back to Kaza, now look for another batch who will go to Langza or Komic next day. The roads are mesmerizing:
Day 9: If you visit Langza, you would get to see Fossils on open land. This will be an amazing experience, you can take few fossils with you too. Give some incentives (say chocolates?) to local children to help you out spotting best fossils. They are genius. Komic on the other hand is the highest motorable village in Asia, and the landscape is really nice. Get back to Kaza by evening.
In this entire area you would get to see Buddhism, you will be amazed by the culture. Try to interact with locals, stay at locals’ place, stay down to earth (Buddhist are generally really down to earth persons), that way it will be more helpful to explore local culture. Also don’t forget to try Thukpa, for few days, all my meals were Thukpa, I liked them a lot.
Day 10: Time to get back! There is an early morning bus(~5:30 am for ticket) for Manali from Kaza (usually ticket queue is LONG and there are lot of rush). Else you can get a shared cab which is way more comfortable. The roads after Kunzum pass up to Rohtang pass are going to be most pathetic you have ever seen. Following are parts of that road:
Sometime it is exciting!
Lastly, you might include Chandratal (near Kunzum pass) in your trip. Chandratal is also a really nice place but I did not get a chance to stay there.
Overall, I did this trip in the cheapest possible way and costed me ~Rs. 5500. Well, I was lucky at some part as I befriend a local fellow (Tenzin Chhering) of Tabo and had meals with his family. Keep aside the money, it was a brilliant experience. I can very much afford a good meal, but no money can buy hospitality they gave. Locals in this area are really nice & helpful which for a solo trip is a must. Only downside is that this trip needs some fitness.
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