Himachal Pradesh Jeep Safari?

mylesfire

my wife and I are going to HP for first time, arriving sometime in late september or early october. been looking at websites offering jeep safaris by manali or simla based travel agencies. a 9-day all inclusive trip that starts in delhi and looks good for our needs is: chail (1 night), sarahan (1 night), sangla (3 nights at the banjara tent camp), tabo (2 nights at banjara hotel), kaza (1 night), and then a 10 hr. drive to manali on the last day.

i have never booked an organized trip like this (except for a successful but shorter 4 day car/driver/hotel package in north vietnam in 2005). i have never used a travel agent in india before but i am willing to try it now.

question 1: should a trip like this be pre-arranged before we arrive in india? or can it be put together fairly quickly and easily when we arrive in simla?

question 2: what do i look for when comparing the travel agencies (like the type of vehicle used, etc.) and prices?

we like this route because we have 3 nights in sangra and 2 nights in tabo, as opposed to sleeping in a different place every night (which some tours in spiti and lahaul seem to do).

question 3: has anyone done this route, and how do the sights, villages and people compare to other places in HP? (my frame of reference is i have been to ladakh in 1987.)

thanks!

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Off the "beaten track"? If you can get there, it is ruined.

rishabh6296

Here are your answers mylesfire,
1.Banjara camps are a reputed name and are known for good service,but i personally dont preferred to be tied down by any itinerary.
2.The vehicles cost abt rs. 2000 per day,and accomodation should be rs. 3000-3500 including food in Banjara.
3.Chail is a small wildlife sanctuary and its a goood stay,Sarahan has great views of Shrikhand range and has the famous bhimkali temple,in Sangla must visits are Chitkul,rakcham and Kamru,try adding Kalpa for breathtaking views when you are returning back on NH-22.When you are in Tabo try going to PIN valley from there and also stop at Dhankar,1 day is not enough for kaza since there is a lot to cover like Ki-kibber-gette-tashigong and also langza and kaumik.The drive from kaza to manali is the most scenic ,try adding chandratal which is a 15 km. diversion from the highway its mindblowing.

mylesfire

hello, rishabh6296, and thanks for the info. in the last three days, i emailed three agencies. only BANJARA has replied so far with hotel and private vehicle quotes. they appear quite professional. although i lose flexibility with a pre-arranged trip, it does offer a tremendous convenience. i suppose i can ask for flexibility on the road, like changing the number of days in each place?


i also modified my trip (see below) with some of your recommendations. please note that my wife and i are not trekkers, although we can hike if it is easy to moderate (the last time i was above 12,000 feet was... a few years back in peru).

i very much appreciate your thoughts....

day 1: simla - sangla (seeing sarahan along the way)
day 2: sangla (seeing chitkul and hiking up to nagasthi along the way)
day 3: sangla (rakcham hike)
day 4: tabo (8-9 hours drive)
day 5: tabo (dhankar, tabo monastery, lunch by lake)
day 6: tabo - pin valley - kaza
day 7: kaza (ki monastery, kibber, gete)
day 8: kaza (circular walk that covers langza, comic, and kikkim)
day 9: kaza - manali (8-9 hours drive plus 15K diversion to mindblowing CHANDRATAL)

rishabh6296

Now the itinerary looks complete mylesfire.on day 5 lunch by lake means dhankar lake i believe.Look for fossils on the gette-tashigong road and lanza-komik road.

mylesfire

local hotelier/tour operator BANJARA informs me that my idea for day 1 (simla-sarahan-sangla) would be an 11-hour trip and thus too long. they recommend adding another day to the trip so that day 1 would be simla-thanedar (where they have a hotel), day 2 would be thanedar-sarahan-sangla (where they have a camp). however, that adds another day to the trip that i do not want to do.

i wonder if sarahan would be more interesting than thanedar, and so we could skip tahnedar and make day 1 would be simla-sararhan (5-6 hours in jeep) and day 2 would be sarahan-sangla.

day 1 also happens to be sept. 26, which is a full moon, maybe a nice time to be at sarahan's monastery.

what do you think?

thanks.

mylesfire

looked up pics and blogs about CHANDRATAL and it looks awesome. would love to take your recommendation.

are you sure that it can reached by jeep and within the day's journey from zaza to manali? BANJARA may have misunderstood my request to add it to the last day on the jeep safari, because they responded:

"Chandratal is a 10-14 kms hike from main road. a night camping at Chandratal will cost about 14000.00"

Dilliwala

Hi,
1. I wud say go to Sarahan becos the snow views are better from there. I'm sure the accom is cheaper too than Banjara at Thanedhar. The best is HP Tourism's Hotel Shrikhand. After that the only one worth considering is the temple's guest-house - Rs. 200-300, clean, hot water, veg cafe - but all in the temple premises; the loudspeakers will have u up at 6 am! Actually Sarahan is so small that they'll have u up wherever u stay.
2. Rakchham is on the Sangla-Chhitkul motor road, u'l pass thru when driving to Chhitkul. Not sure what u mean by hiking it - walk along the river from Sangla, or a hike uphill somewhere from Rakchham?

mylesfire

thanks, dillywalla for the advice and info.

rishabh6296

Hi mylesfire,
thanedar is in the apple hub area of shimla but Sarahan(gateway to Kinnaur) is far better according to me.moreover the travel time to sangla from sarahan wont be much.Rakcham his in the middle of Sangla-chitkul and i would suggest you try the sangla-kanda trek instead which is extremely good.

mylesfire

in what way is the sangla-kanda trek better than the hike around rakcham (between sangla and chitkul)? don't know much about any of these. we are not in that great shape and prefer easier walks.

best price quote so far is Rs. 25000 for qualis and Rs. 27000 for innova, for 9-days, starting in simla and ending in manali. all fuel, fees, etc. with driver. have not seen the Rs. 2000/day mentioned above by RISHABH6296. where should i be inquiring?

inasmuch as we are paying a flat rate fo the driver/car/gas, are there any other short excursions or thiongs to se and do along the way from simla to manalai, or around the sleeping spots of sarahan, sangla, tabo and kaza.

thanks again.

amitdave

if you are taking acar from ambala/ chandigarh you can book through Sounda tours n travels. there is a guy Lakhmir singh offering Innova for Rs 2000 per day all inclusive expect Drivers food charges. or else rs 1200 per day excluding fuel cost. his number is 09416393790 and his fax no is 0171-2532699.
also in ambala i enquired with another car rental whos quoting the same rate for Scorpio or tavera. iwill find out the number and let you know soon.
iam doing the same circuit in first week of september.
regards
amit