Thrills And Spills of SPITI

Hi! We’re Akshita (Bo) & Jiju (Bu). We’re a travel couple. We met five years ago fell in love and now we’ve been married for two years. We’re inspired by travel and would love to share our experience with you. Please show us some love #bo_and_bu

Back in Oct’17, about three years ago, when we were living in together we had this impromptu urge to travel. Not only travel but explore an offbeat destination. After a while of search on the internet we discovered Spiti Valley (Himachal Pradesh, India). We came across very few travel videos or blogs related to the same. Though a few, we loved the very first hint to the place and decided that’s where we’d go to. We quickly booked a travel package of six days through spitivalleytours.com although they generally provide longer package to cover entire Spiti area, we customised our plan to suit our requirement. This was priced at Rs. 60000/- all incl. for two adults to and fro Manali.

We took IndiGo flight from Kolkata to Delhi and further an overnight bus ride to Manali. Although there are multiple routes you could travel to suit your convenience in accordance with the tour package options. Once we reached Manali, there was an Innova waiting for us with a very friendly driver. We stopped at a place where we freshened up and were quickly on our way.

The drive throughout was the most scenic route we’ve ever been through. Had a quick stop at Rohtang pass clicked some Instagram worthy pictures and we headed to our final destination.

On our route further the road split one for Leh and the other to Spiti. While we were visiting the roads were under construction so our journey was really uncomfortable (we hope they’re good now) but extremely adventurous as it was a single lane of lose gravel, hills on one side and a picturesque turquoise river flowing alongside throughout on the other. After a long road trip we reached Kaza!

Having spent the night in Kaza which was a much needed rest from the fatigue, we started our trip. First things first, we went to the tour guides office and do the needful payment (there was no online payment back then). We had one of the best steaming hot lemon tea here and checked out a local café.

After exploring this commercial capital of Spiti we headed to Tabo. Here we explored the Tabo monastery; it is believed that while you’re in the centre of this monastery and you wish for something it comes true (safe to say it was true in our case)! Then, we called it a day.

Boy! Did the weather start getting to us now, pleasant weather gave into a mild headache… while speaking with other travellers we learnt that others got an oxygen test done to know they could take this extreme weather. This is because elevation is approximately 3800m (12500 feet) and guess what we were smokers back then! Not recommended at all.

For a fresh start, we drove to Komic (highest inhabitant village in India) grabbed a quick bite to eat and further to Hikkim (highest post office & world’s highest polling station) we did send out post cards to our loved ones from here. Next was Langcha were we spent the night.

Langcha turned out to be extremely special as the owner of our tour let us stay with his family in one of the best home stay experience. His family was so welcoming, all our meals and snacks were taken care of by this wonderful family. The rooms were extremely comfortable too. Here we tried some authentic Spiti food - Thukpa (a traditional soup) & bao (steamed bread) along with some veggies.

Langcha is also known as the fossil town, during the day we walked around looking for fossils. And in the evening we walked to an isolated Buddha statue on a small hill. The views of sunset were magnificent.

The next day we spent driving down to Ki and spent it at the beautiful Ki monastery. The experience so far was absolutely calming with scenic sight from every view. Ki monastery took it up a notch, turning the prayer wheel is said to attract good karma and purify bad karma, that’s something one feels only at these monasteries. From here, we drove to Losar (adjacent to Indo-China border) and then to Chandra Taal lake where we camped for the night.

It was indeed the most beautiful night in Spiti, gazing under the stars with temperatures of minus six degree Celsius and a common bonfire for all the campers. I personally had several thermal wear on and about four to five blankets to feel warm while sleeping. It was hilarious to see the washroom pot water frozen the next morning! Post freshening up we did an early trek to the location of this lake to witness the sunrise. We strongly believe it’s one of the best sights we have been to.

The clear mirror image water surrounded by hill tops of snow. There was something about this lake, it was pristine. We stayed here till the time we were asked to leave. We were so glad to have been to this lake before Spiti had become a popular travel destination because it probably wouldn’t have been the same.

This entire drive experience was so adventurous and fulfilling. During our drive through Spiti we would sometimes cross towns with a maximum population of twenty people. The silence was pleasing. The only thing we missed was the Pin valley, land of flora and fauna with a national park as we ran out of time. My only disappointment with this trip was the lack of public washrooms as it was a major inconvenience. We still made the most out of what was offered by stopping at small shops and sip on some steaming hot tea and Maggi Noodles while on a break whilst enjoying the view. We also picked up souvenirs like fridge magnets from local vendors.

Drove on the Chicham Bridge (highest bridge in Asia-13596ft) and visited His Holiness Dalai Lamas home. After this satisfying tour… and what a way to end with the most memorable lake view we headed towards Manali through Kunzum pass. The view down the road was so dreamy with parachute’s flying above us. We had to stop and try the paragliding too through those hills.

And just like that we were back in Bangalore and got busy with our lives. Spiti will always be special to us. Read about my next blog here - https://boandbu.wixsite.com/website-1/post/a-resort-nestled-in-nature