My Spiti Valley Trip In Summers

When I was young, I used to think that the road ends at Rohtang. Now that I have grown wiser, I know that it just begins. That one summer trip to Spiti Valley when the colors of Spiti valley were quite unbelievable, I clicked many pictures from different angles at different times of the day!

The raw beauty of Spiti valley does not require any filters. A land that remained hidden for so long is already being crowded by the tourists.

No matter how many times we go on the Spiti valley tour, one can never have enough of these blue skies, meandering roads with streams accompanying them nonchalantly and clouds that feel as if they are dancing!

The route from Shimla (capital of Himachal Pradesh) to Spiti Valley passes through Narkanda, Rampur Bushahr (a former principality of the Bushahr dynasty), and Kinnaur to Khab, where the Spiti River joins the Sutlej River. From Khab, a series of bends called Ka-loops (named after Ka village) climbs for 10 km to enter the barren land of the Hangrang Valley of Kinnaur.

The trans-Himalayan terrain begins from here. Around 30 km north-west to Khab, one enters the valley of Spiti at the checkpoint of Sumdo ITBP. At Sumdo, the Para-Chu stream (a mountain stream from Tibet) merges with the Spiti River. Kaza (also spelled as Kaja) is placed on the left bank of the Spiti River.

There are many rough roads on the Kinnaur-Spiti road route. Some of them are Nigulsari-Tranda, Karcham-Shongtong-Powari, and Powari-Pangi Nallah-Ribba road stretch in Kinnaur.

Here is the itinerary that I followed during my summer trip.

Spiti valley trip itinerary

Day 1: Chandigarh to Narkanda (Distance about 180 Km). Drove from Chandigarh to Narkanda.

Day 2: Visited to Hatu temple and relished mountain ranges from there. Drove to Sarahan (distance around 120 km). Stayed at a hotel.

Day 3: Sarahan to Chitkul: Sarahan is a beautiful village renowned for historical Bhimakali temple, which is about 1500 years old. Visited to bird sanctuary of a near extinct bird -- Jajurana or Western Tragopan. Drove to Chitkul and stayed there in a hotel.

Day 4: Chitkul to Kalpa: Chitkul (3400 meters altitude) is the last village on Indo-Tibetan border nestled in the beautiful Baspa valley. Visited to Chitkul Mata temple and drove to Sangla. Visited Bering Nag temple at Sangla. Hiked to ancient fort at Kamru village. Drove to Kalpa. Stayed at hotel in Kalpa.

Day 5: Kalpa to Charang: Kalpa offers splendid view of Kinner Kailash Ranges. One can view Kinner Kailash peak & Shivlingam , Raldang peak & Jorakanden peak. Explored places around Kalpa like Chini market and village, monastery and Kalpa Narayanes & Vishnu temple. Drove to Charang village and camp there.

Day 6: Charang to Nako: Village walk in Charang (altitude 3400 meters) and visited Rangrik monastery which is thousands year old. Charang has Zanskar kind of landscape and houses and similar to houses built by the people Zanskar region. Drive to Thangi and visited to Lochwa monastery at Thangi village. Witness Moorang fort and Moorang village and stayed at hotel in Nako.

Day 7: Nako to Tabo: Got overwhelmed by serenity of Nako Lake (alt 3600 mtr) against the backdrop of Nako village. Visited to Nako monastery and drive to Tabo. Stayed at a hotel there.

Day 8: Tabo to Kaza: Explored Tabo village and Tabo monastery. Drove to Dhankar monastery and then to Mud village in Pin valley. Stayed at Kaza in a hotel.

Day 9: Drove to Key monastery. Visited Kibber, Komic (The highest village in Asia), Langza, Hikkim and Demul village and stayed at Kaza in a hotel.

Day 10: Drove from Kaza to Kunzum top (4551 meters) and camped at Chandertal Lake (located at 4270 meters).

Day 11: Chander tal lake to Manali via Rohtang pass. Stayed at hotel in Manali.

Day 12. Manali to Chandigarh.