All stories tagged with "spiti valley"
Cycling the Spiti valley — Nako to Manali
The hardest part about Spiti is reaching there. It took us a 22-hour bus ride to get to Rekong Peo. For the sake of acclimatization we had planned the night stay at Kalpa, which is not so far from there, but much higher. And also much nicer. Having had our fill with the HPTDC’s ‘ordinary’ buses, especially given the quantum of our luggage, we choose to just hire a jeep the next day to take us up to Nako (technically still in Kinnaur) – another five odd hour drive.
Continue reading...
10 minute read | 2104 words
#cycling, #adventures, #featured, #cycle touring, #cycling in the himalayas, #bicycle adventures, #spiti valley
Hiking in the Spiti valley
In June I traveled almost the entire length of the Spiti valley in the ‘European backpacker’ style. Using local buses (non-a/c with non-reclining seats), hitching rides, and hiking– from village to village and from monastery to monastery; eating in ‘dhabas’, staying in village homes, monasteries; making new friends (some of whom were perpetual travelers – they do not have a stable snail mail address)…
It is an absolutely incredible way to see the countryside.
Continue reading...
1 minute read | 162 words
#photography, #photo-features, #adventures, #featured, #himachal pradesh, #spiti valley, #hiking, #trekking, #indian himalayas
Sailing through Spiti (Part II)
It’s freezing cold when we leave Losar. The guest house chowkidar tells us the temperature at night is normally sub-zero. So, on that cheerful note, we leave behind Losar’s square white houses, their roofs trimmed with firewood, their windows framed in black paint or tar, and a satellite dish and a solar panel practically on every roof. Cut off from the rest of the world for six months of the year, when the passes freeze up, this dish is what links them to the outside world.
Continue reading...
10 minute read | 2050 words
#photography, #photo-features, #travel, #himachal pradesh, #spiti valley
Spiti: Swirling box of crayons (Part I)
Spiti has been hovering in our travel consciousness for a while now. We’ve been hovering near Spiti too, but somehow we’ve never quite made it. Last year we reached as close as Kalpa, about 12 kilometres up from Rekong Peo in Kinnaur. Instead of heading further north, we had to turn back. A landslide in Malling, combined with my daughter’s clogged nose pretty much put an end to that trip. So, we came back to hot and dry Delhi, and to make up went on a quick-zip trip to Chopta, recommended by some friends who make an annual pilgrimage to the place.
Continue reading...
11 minute read | 2252 words
#photography, #photo-features, #travel, #himachal pradesh, #spiti valley