LAHAUL-SPITI :The LEAST-EXPLORED HIMALAYAN JEWEL of Himachal Pradesh

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S P I T I means the land between Tibet and India. Its the third least populated district of India with lush green valleys, flaura fauna , high mountain passes , cold barren deserts with deep ravines and gorges making it a worth visiting destination. There is a rare blend of Hinduism and Buddhism typically influenced by Tibetan culture and food specialities such as noodle soup with sauce chutni ,Tibetan roti(fluffy), special spiti lemon tea (believed to retard the ageing process) . It is aptly tagged as” little Tibet” famous for ancient Buddhist monasteries and exciting spiti valley treks Keylong is the district H/q of Lahaul & spiti. Khoksar, 19 KM from Rohtang pass, is the gateway to Lahaul while Kunjum pass or kunjumLa is the gateway to the spiti valley. Kaurrik village is the highest village at 14000 Ft. Spiti river emanates from Losar, Khoksar, Morang mountains. At Tandi, confluence of Chandra and bhaga rivers forms the Chandrabaralacha la pass. Khaab is the confluence of the river spiti and sutlej. Losar is next to the Indo-Chinese border.At Sumdo, the road enters Kinnaur district & joins the NH5.

About LAHAUL & SPITI :The district is popularly called the Land of Lamas or Little Tibet or the Country of Gods. Two rivers Chandra& Bhaga combine to form the Chandrabhaga .One of the highest highways in the world passes through Lahaul and connects Manali with Leh. This crosses four high passes-the RohtangLA(3980 mts),BaralachaLa (4982 mts),LachlangLa (5066mts) & TanglangLa (5360mts).Khoksar is the first village of the valley. KEYLONG(3350mts) is a little town which is the headquarter of the administrative district of Lahaul & Spiti .Keylong lies above the river Bhaga and is 6KM from its confluence with waters of the Chandra river at Tandi .Keylong was the base of the Moravian missionaries who planted the Poplar trees still growing there. GuruGhantal Monastery (3020mts) is 8 KM,Kardang monastery is 5 KM and Tayul monastery is 6 km from Keylong. At Tayul ,the local legend maintains that the main prayer wheel rotates on its own on certain occasions. Sissu (3100mts) has an image of Lalauls patron deity, Gyephang. Sarsu is the last point of Himachal Pradesh on the route to Leh. Triloknath (2760mts) is worshipped by both Hindus & the Budhists .Distance of Manali to Keylong is 122km & Keylong to Kaza is 188km.

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Day 1 (30th September 2014): Kullu to Kaza.

At 0400 hrs , I boarded the HP roadways busfor Kaza passing through tourist attractions Manali, the infamously treacherous- Rohtang pass (which is on the Pir Panjal range of Himalayas), scenic Solang valley, Khoksar, Batal & Kunjum pass or KunjumLa at 4590 mtrs is one of the highest motorable passes of India serving as the Gateway to the spiti valley. It is also famous for the 15 KM trek to the Chandratal lake via Goddess kunjumdevi offering jaw-dropping vistas of Chandra bhaga range. Reached the highest township & the commercial center of spiti- kaza located along the spiti river. It was such a spectacular sight. It is divided into Old town – Kaza khas and new town as kaza Soma.A local resident, Mr Raptan Bodh offered me a room at his house at Kaza town, rested being tired after 14 hours of travel through bumpy mountaneous roads.

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Day 2 (01 October 2014): Visit to Kaza town, kibber village and kye monastery.

Mr. Raptan Bodh exhibited lots of hospitality by offering me to drive me in his own car on this visit. The visit of the ancient kye/key monastery was quite educating in terms of budh teachings and beliefs . Kibber at 14000ft is believed to be the highest village connecting motorable roads. Completed the Kaza visit at 1600hrs, took a bus and Jeep transport to reach Gieu village and took room offered by Mr Raptan Bodh’s relative. Quite warm welcome and delicious Tibetan food. Had a good nights sleep.

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Day 3 (02 October 2014): Visit to the sitting mummy in village Giu and Tabo Monastery.

In the morning after breakfast I went to pay a visit to the sitting Mummy. I felt excitedly curious on seeing the mummy of a lama which is supposed to be 500 years old. As was claimed, the mummy had some hair, long nails and some flesh on the body. After the thrilling encounter, I came back to the Guest house, packed my meagre belongings and set off to visit the Tabo monastery, built in 996AD, is over a thousand years old and considered the oldest monastery of the world. The caves are called the Ajanta Ellora caves of Himachal. Then caught the bus to Recong Pio, the district H/Q of kinnaur . Reached at 1800 hrs and took a hotel at Recong peo. At dusk, at the sun set I could make out the cliff of mt. kinner kailash(a 79mt high ShivLing) in the distance on the mountain. I took a photograph and made a note in my travel-diary. Took night halt at Recong Peo.

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Day 4 (3rd October 2014):

Travelled from Recong Peo to Simla and overnight to Chandigarh. Reached CDG at 10 Hrs.As my train to Jaipur was scheduled at 07pm in the evening, I visited the famous Rock Garden.

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Day 5 (4th October 2014):VISIT TO THE ROCK GARDEN, CHANDIGARH

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Chandigarh to Jaipur. After visiting the famous rock garden,Chandigarh took train to Jaipur which concluded the exciting and memorable tour of the spiti valley.