Kalka - Narkanda/Thanedar - Chitkul/Rakcham - Kalpa - Kalka

dhari

Hi Friends ..

First of all .. many thanks to all Himachal Pradesh Lovers ..
I have gone through many threads and information accumulated here is truely wonderful and u people deserves a thumbs UP :-) .. for providing such information to people like us

I am planning a trip :

Kalka - Narkanda/Thanedar - Chitkul/Rakcham - Kalpa - Saharan- Kalka .. in 6 days.

Would it be sufficient ?

For Narkanda i have yet to decide on the place to stay, i am looking for accomodation in range of 300 - 500. Guest houses will do.

Thanedar i am not able to find a place in various website

For Chitkul i am staying at Thyakur's Guest house. Can anyone suggest any better place than this .. along with the contact no.

For Kalpa i want to stay at Aucktong Guest house :

i urgently need the contact no for Aucktong guest house for Kalpa .. i tried 17862322 and 1786222322 and 1786226122 .. but was unable to reach them ..

For Saharan i need contact no for Bheemakali temple so tht i can make prior bookings ..

Same kind of thread is there in this forum but it also lacks this information.

Friends please if anyone has any information on this please post on this thread .. One thing i please recommend who post on this website .. please give contact no of respective places so we can contact and make prior bookings .. some no i was able to find out on websites but sometimes i was not able to find it. I will post my full iternary details once i am through my trip.

Thanks and Regards,

Dhari

dhari

also i will like to add i am planning this trip in a private jeep and will reach kalka in the morning 7 o clock .. then take a jeep from there and go ahead .. i like to stay at Saharan .. if possible to go in one day from Kalka ... and if not .. then at Narkanda ..

Dhari

AvidTrekker

In a private jeep in very well maintained trim it is possible, provided no landslides occur en route.

Do you want to spend the majority of your trip in a vehicle? Or in a mountain forest rest house ???

Take your pick....
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khaadu75

Dhari, Your planned itinerary is definitely good and will take you through a range of terrains . But it seems you missing a few points in doing all this ..

1. 6 days is too lil to enjoy this route ... !!

2. You gotta figure out if you wanna stay in Narkand or Thanedar ... Narkanda there are a few options but not too many in Thanedar . Banjara guest house in Thanedar buit it charges about 2500 or more per night .

3. And then you say you wanna do Kalka - Sarahan in one day --- Its possible and not too tiring , though depends on your capacity .

Re think your itinerary ... or else youll be on the road in the jeep more than ud like to be .

Cheers

dhari

Thanks Avid and Khaadu .. for guiding me and my likes on this forum .. really appreciate it a lot ..

Below is my planned itinerary .. and i dont want to be on road .. i want to enjoy the beauty of Himachal .. Can you guys advice .. what can i do with the below schedule .. where can i cut and where i can increase :

Day 1 7.00 AM Kalka Reached Kalka
Day 1 9.30 AM Kalka Leave for Narkanda by Private vechicle.
Day 1 Afternoon Narkanda - Stay at Narkanda
Day 2 Afternoon Leave for Chitkul - Reach Chitkul
Day 2 Night Stay at Chitkul - Thakur Guest House
Day 3 Afternoon Leave for Kalpa - Stay at Kalpa
Day 4 Stay at Kalpa Around Kalpa - Aucktong GH
Day 5 Afternoon - Leave for Saharan Stay at saharan
Day 6 Afternoon Leave for Kalka , reach Kalka by 8 PM

Yaar .. its difficult for me to come to Himachal as aften as i like .. from Bangalore .. that's why i did not wanted to miss any worth visiting place and wanted to cover as much as possible.

What should i do so that i can enjoy most and not be on road all the time ..

Thanks Guys ..

Regards,

Dhari

dhari

Shall i skip Chitkul and Visit Narkanda - Saharan and Kalpa only

AvidTrekker

Day 1
Start Early as soon as you hire the car, if possible at 7:00 AM itself. Have breakfast on the way. Driving/getting driven in the early morning is far better than afternoons.

Day 4
Dont miss the view of Kinnaur Kailash in the early morning. Clouds come up and around 9 am detracting from the view.

Day 5
Start for Sarahan as early as possible. [5:30 am?] Less traffic and you will save an hour. Stay at the Bhiimaakaalii Temple GH and not in some hotel.

dhari

.. i have seen some of your post regarding your trips and treks .. and comments guiding people .. Hey its really nice of you .. for taking your time out and helping people with their trip .. Hats off to you Avid .. and keep this habit of your's forever ..

Now regarding my trip ..

All Points taken ..

will try to do most of the journey in the morning .. as soon as possible .. as you have mentioned. I will reach Kalka at about 7 AM .. i do not want to waste time there, but need to get a Jeep booked which i guess will take time. Try to get a driver who is known to that route.

Just now i have spoken to the HP tourism dept in Kumarsain and got the GUEST HOUSE in thanedar booked for 2 days .. but the problem is i wanted 2 rooms and was able to get only 1. They told me that there is only 2 rooms and other being a VIP room they cant give me. So i told them to give me a room at narkanda .. then they told me to ring them before 2,3 days of arrival. Lets see what happens when i get there.

If it is too much travelling i am willing to stay in Narkanda for 2 days and drop Chitkul. Need some advice on this.

In Kalpa i called the Aucktong guest house and they told me they have converted to Aucktong Hotel and asking me rates about 600 - 700 per day.

That's why i am trying to get a Guest house in Kalpa. Do you know how is the govt. guest houes there in Kalpa. Is it worth staying there for 2 days or shall i go with Aucktong Hotel now.

Regards,

Dhari

AvidTrekker

am the wrong person to ask for accomodations... i live on open fields or in caves or tents or the cheapest possible shelter/room coz my money is spent on trekking rather than staying.

Kumarsain is not bad, as good or slightly better place than Narkanda.

Suggestion for Kalka jeep booking....
Get some hotel names and nos. off the net, Ask them for private car services to Narkanda. Even HPTDC will give you nos. of Jeep operators in Kalka. They will give you some numbers. You can negotiate with them. The rate will be a minimum Rs 2000 after haggling hard, and will be actually around Rs 2500 per day for your seven day trip. They will start by quoting 3000 per day.

Dont drop Chhitkul. Its beautiful.

Kalpa GH has become Hotel.... I did not understand. You want to live in the Govt Forest rest house or something?? You can stay in the Hotel as long as it is in Kalpa [high up the road].

The Govt GH in "Kalpa" is in Rekong Peo in the bazaar. Sprawling and huge place with some 150 rooms, but I would not want to stay in the bazaar. [its fenced and insulated and somewhat quieter, but its in the middle of town] I would rather stay high up on the highest place. There are only two hotels there from what I remember. [dont know their names].

The view from kalpa is fantastic.... you will see the golden top of kinnaur kailash bathed in the first rays of the rising sun, if you are up early.

khaadu75

Dhari, Your plan is fine except .. more or less !! As for dropping Chitkul to fit Thanedar aint advised as Thanedar and Narkanda is only 16 kms apart so you either stay in Narkanda or then Thanedar and Narkanda is better . Dont even think of Kumarsain ... its HOT there ;-) !!!

Also see if you can book your vehicle before leaving .... wasting time there is pointless and at the last min you might end up paying more . Whats your budget for the jeep ??? Ill see if I can arrange something for you .. and are yu particular about which vehicle you wanna rent ?? My suggestion is the Maruti Van as its the most comfortable ... but its your choice .

Cheers

dhari

Hello Avid and Khaadu ...

You guys will make my trip .. thanks a lot buddies .. for sharing some thoughts with me ..

Ya man .. will have to do something about the rent of the vechicle .. 2500 is a lot per day for me .. and for 7 days it will cost me 17500 bucks .. ..

i would like to keep my expenses minimum .. Currently we are 2 family travelling ..total of 4 people .. i am happy with basic and clean accomodation .. and if these are in middle of forest .. then it is more better .. dont want fancy things .. want to stay as close to nature as possible ..

Avid i agree with you .. i also will want to stay on the highest point in Kalpa, if its in my budget .. so that i can view the Kailash Kinnar in the morning .. i have booked Auctong Hotel .. for 2 days .. hope to get a decent view from this Hotel.

Khaadu .. i have also seen in earlier threads that a maruti van is the most used vehicle in those conditions .. will a maruti van be sufficent for 4 people and will be able to do a Kalpa easily ... what is the rate for a Maruti Van which i will be able to get .. I am not perticular about any vehicle .. just want a comfortable journey for 4 people.

And one more thing .. should i get a vehicle from Kalka or Shimla .. where i would be able to get a better deal.

Also i will try to get as much as detail of my trip including accomodation, and other tips and put on this thread .. so all other junta .. can benefit from it ..

Avid it was not Govt. Guest house which i was talking about .. it was Aucktong Guest house which is now got converted into hotel .. i saw in some earlier threads that it is one of best located GH in Kalpa to stay.

and will not drop CHITKULLLLLL .. hurre .. hurrreee ..

One query i hve .. how much time will it take from Narkanda to Chitkul ..

Once again Thanks Guys ..

With luv ..

Dhari

Save Hills ... dont pollute .. and strictly no plastics

dhari

just an update Avid and Khaadu .. i ring vishal taxi union in shimla and they told me 2000 for qualis and 1500 for maruti van .. can i depend on them to get the vehicle in Kalka on time ..

thanks guys ..

Regards,

dhari

AvidTrekker

Call them an hour or hour and a half early. Anyway, they will have to come the previous night to pick you up at seven am. Give your cell number so that he can ring you up as soon as he reaches the Kalka station

rajeev1008

just my 2 cents- as you are spending quite a bit of time on road, a Qualis may be worth it for its comfort level. in a van 3 of you have to be in the rear seat. Or maybe you could try a 6 seater Van if you can fit the luggage within the van - and not use the carrier on top.
One option is to ask for a van at kalka with a provision to change over to a qualis at Shimla, if you feel the need.
The taxi people are generally reliable- specially when u are giving them business for 6 days . Ask for a driver who has been to Kinnaur before - Khaddu drives himself to Chitkul, I wouldn't dare to .

khaadu75

... born in the hills , learnt driving on them hilly roads that too in a left hand drive Willys jeep so it just comes naturally !! For me driving in the plains is a NIGHTMARE ....

And yeah make sure you get a driver whos been there before ... thus try getting one from SImla and not Kalka -- we consider the Kalka drivers assholes , just like we refer to a lot of the city drivers . No offence to anyone ... but they drive in the hills as if they driving in the plains , overtaking when one aint meant to , cornering faster than what they can handle , and so on . Makes driving a nightmare for us guys ...

And the van is as comfortable as a Qualis ... and as fast in teh hills . Just need a good driver !!!