First of all, I am extremely sorry for the delay. To give a short and quick recap, the beauty of the Kinnauri district of Himachal is what I wrote on in the first half; that places like Narkanda, Sarahan, Kalpa made me realize that there’s more to Himachal than just Shimla-Kullu-Manali. Thus I would like to move forward to the latter part of my journey in Kinnaur.
After two, calm and peaceful days in Kalpa, we continued our journey towards Sangla. It was just a 39 km drive, but it took us more than an hour or so. This, due to the rough roads, hairpin curves after every 20 meters which made the journey adventurous and fun for me and my cousins. As we approached Sangla, we passed by numerous apple orchards, with luscious red apples literally clinging onto every branch. Sangla, situated at a height of 2,700 meters, is a small picturesque hamlet.
The entire Baspa Valley with thickly forested slopes of Pine and Deodar trees is widely acknowledged as one of the 'most beautiful valleys in the world', and it has a population of merely a thousand. Five or six small so-called resorts were present there and so was the beautiful Baspa River flowing through the valley. Surrounded by forested slopes and the snow clad Himalayan peaks at a distant, the view from my room’s balcony was more than picturesque and mesmerizing. Recently, tourists weren't allowed in this valley due to its strategic position, as it is near the Indo-Tibetan Border. But the ban has been removed and Sangla may soon turn out to be one of the most tourist inflected places in Himachal. After a cold night (around 7 or 8 degree Celsius), we left for Chitkul, the last motorable place in the country.
After two, calm and peaceful days in Kalpa, we continued our journey towards Sangla. It was just a 39 km drive, but it took us more than an hour or so. This, due to the rough roads, hairpin curves after every 20 meters which made the journey adventurous and fun for me and my cousins. As we approached Sangla, we passed by numerous apple orchards, with luscious red apples literally clinging onto every branch. Sangla, situated at a height of 2,700 meters, is a small picturesque hamlet.
The entire Baspa Valley with thickly forested slopes of Pine and Deodar trees is widely acknowledged as one of the 'most beautiful valleys in the world', and it has a population of merely a thousand. Five or six small so-called resorts were present there and so was the beautiful Baspa River flowing through the valley. Surrounded by forested slopes and the snow clad Himalayan peaks at a distant, the view from my room’s balcony was more than picturesque and mesmerizing. Recently, tourists weren't allowed in this valley due to its strategic position, as it is near the Indo-Tibetan Border. But the ban has been removed and Sangla may soon turn out to be one of the most tourist inflected places in Himachal. After a cold night (around 7 or 8 degree Celsius), we left for Chitkul, the last motorable place in the country.
The plan was to come back to Sangla at around 3 or 4 in the evening. But what none of us knew is that the scenery of Chitkul would take over our minds in such a way that at 3 none of us would be ready to leave. A dusty signboard read Chitkul, Population: 610.
This was the first sight that caught our eyes as we entered Chitkul. Perched at a dizzying height of 3600 meters, Chitkul is the last Indian habitation beyond which lay sheer wilderness towards the Indo-Tibet borders; it marks the end of Indian roads. The feeling of reaching the last motorable spot of the country is inexplicable. That feel of Being An Indian. The road doesn’t actually take you to the border, one still has to walk 90 kilometers for the border. It wasn’t possible for us to do so, thus, we decided to hang around in the village for some more time. The temperature was maybe just over 5 or 6 degree Celsius, but the heavy winds, made it more unbearable.
A small temple, a few wooden huts, two or three so-called hotels and one unfinished building is what Chitkul comprised of. The serenity, the sheer feeling of oneness with nature, we all felt it. We headed out nearer to the mountains and sat by the Baspa in total solitude. On crossing the ferocious Baspa, on a bridge made of logs of wood, we found small leftovers of the harsh winter which had passed some time ago, the snow, along the forested slopes. We had lunch in the basement of a small unfinished hotel and then left for Sangla. We stayed back that night there and the next morning left for Fagu.
Approximately a 150 km drive from Sangla, Fagu is a small hill station on the Hindustan-Tibet road. We reached at around 2 in the afternoon, freshened up and decided to walk till the famous Banthia Devta temple. But who knew that this so called walk would turn out to be climbing around 1000 steps through the forested slopes filled with pine and cedar!
Approximately a 150 km drive from Sangla, Fagu is a small hill station on the Hindustan-Tibet road. We reached at around 2 in the afternoon, freshened up and decided to walk till the famous Banthia Devta temple. But who knew that this so called walk would turn out to be climbing around 1000 steps through the forested slopes filled with pine and cedar!
But chirping birds, the setting sun peeking through the leaves of pine trees and the pleasant weather made every bit of the climb enjoyable. Halfway through, the elder half of our group declared their innings and we, the younger half, continued climbing and reached the top. The view from the top was just simply, awesome. The Shivaliks, surrounding the whole scenery, made the view amazing. The carvings and the architecture of the temple brought out the beauty of Himachal's art and culture.
Ending our journey, the next day we left for Delhi and hopped on to the Rajdhani Express for Mumbai in the evening.
So that’s it. The Kinnaur district of Himachal. Mesmerizing. Unexplored. Calm. Serene. Peaceful. An experience that will be stored in one's long term memory for years.
I’ll be back soon with other unexplored places in India. Stay tuned and please leave your comments and suggestions.
Keep Exploring :)
-RiKu
Ending our journey, the next day we left for Delhi and hopped on to the Rajdhani Express for Mumbai in the evening.
So that’s it. The Kinnaur district of Himachal. Mesmerizing. Unexplored. Calm. Serene. Peaceful. An experience that will be stored in one's long term memory for years.
I’ll be back soon with other unexplored places in India. Stay tuned and please leave your comments and suggestions.
Keep Exploring :)
-RiKu