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

dhari

see if you plan to do the travelling by Road transport buses and then this route might not be tht costly. The private jeep will cost you almost 50 - 60 % of you travel budget.

One thing about himachal is tht u will find good guest/rest houses and cheap but good accomodation on all places. I was short on days, tht why i took Qualis, but if you have 10, 12 days in Himachal to spend i advice to travel by bus if you want to save some decent money.

ocean2sky

Dhari, thanks 4 all the tips. Have just returned after spending 15 unforgettable days on the Kinnaur - Spiti - Manali circuit..... Sangla valley was beautiful. Had sunshine throughout except at Chitkul. Kalpa was great and two days of fresh snow on Kinner Kailash did wonders. The foot-trail that starts from Rogi village was beautiful and is recommended. Kinnaur was great too, but there were unseasonal clouds. The tough part was after the descent from Kunzum into Lahaul - lot of fresh snow and vehicles losing traction on the snow, needing lots of pushing by good samaritans. The regular "road" is still covered with ice/snow in places, requiring detours and very rough road conditions, generally, from Kunzum to Gramphoo.

ocean2sky

Yes, we took a Simla driver and he was just great. The Sangla - Spiti- Lahaul circuit requires a higher level of hill driving skills.

amitdave

hi, good to know you enjoyed your trip..where have you posted the pics from your trip.any links...
regards
amit

ocean2sky

Yes, will post in a few days as soon as I have recovered from my cold, thanks to Chandigarh and Delhi being 40 deg plus, after the cool hills......

dhari

Hi Oceansky .. ya man .. there was no question that you wouldn't have enjoyed the trip .. the place in itself is so fulfiling .. great to hear tht there was fresh snow at Kinnar Kailash .. was it was at Chitkul too ? hummmm can understand the temperature would have taken you in ... hahahahaha .. it must be chilly there .. esp with the winds .. just cant go out in the night .. if you dont have proper clothes .. (like me) .. but i still remember the cloudless sky in Kalpa .. where i have seen millions stars ... the rainbow formation just behind us .. it was just great .. ..

yes we all are waiting for the details .. and i mean all the details so that it can help others ..

Dhari

ocean2sky

Hi guys. Have posted a few pix (at last!!) of my Kinnaur-Spiti trip in May-June. Cheers !

Dilliwala

Whereas I agree that the Karchham-Kuppa stretch is easily one of the hairiest in India (maybe the world?) and have mentioned so in other threads, I can assure u from personal experience (Oct 06 - no prior experience, not even from photos) that it's not half as scary in the driver's seat. Reason: u tend to keep your eyes FIRMLY on the road! It only gets scary if u look to the right!

P.S. Bit off-topic, but just discovered recently that Girgaon to Kalamuni on the Munsyari road is no cake-drive either.

Dilliwala

And super-smart drivers. 2 hours is very sensible - 1.45 is good. Less than an hour? Not very smart, even if u're born in the hills. All it takes is one jerk coming from the opposite side too fast around a bend for u to be airborne. And without a parachute, it's arguable whether u'll be landing right side up wherever u land. Take my 3 paisa worth - go for the slow driver next time as well.

aravjlt

Great to read this thread. I went from Shimla upto Nako on this route last year in August, and stayed at the HPTDC GH at Kalpa. We took an overnight state transport bus from Shimla to Rekong Peo, and I wouldnt advise anyone to do this - the driver stopped a few km from Shimla and bought himself a bottle of rum. Though I do not know if he consumed it enroute, it definitely added to the probabilities of us sliding down the Sutlej valley in our sleep.

The HPTDC at Kalpa was a bit too pricey, However the staff were pretty helpful and the service was worth it. It has good views too.

As someone mentioned in this thread, we were also told that there was a 'break' in the road from Peo to Kaza, so we hired a jeep and went upto Nako. The scenery, to say the least, was awesome. The jeep's entire windshield was broken apparently due to a rockfall the previous day on the same route...Views of Leo Purgyal and Spiti from Nako were additional bonuses...

Are there any treks in this region other than the kinnaur kailash circuit? Is there a trek route to Leo purgyal base camp?

Cheers
Aravind

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uttam

Aravind,
Kinnaur is trekkers' paradise. It has numerous trek routes. some of them are rather untouched.Some of the Sangla valley passes are more frequented. Trek route from bhabha valley to Spiti is also very beautiful. Upper Kinnaur has Ghunsarang Pass, Manirang pass treks to Spiti. Hangrang pass trek ends near Nako.
Check this thread for an extremely beautiful pioneering trek by Andreas.

Kinnaur - A pioneer trekking over Listigarang- and Kashang pass

aravjlt

Thanks Uttam. The post by Andreas opens up whole new possibilities in the region. I also saw your Rupin pass snaps. They look amazing. I guess the snow is due to the time you went [ June, from the date in the snaps], or is it through out the year. In case you have already posted the details in another thread, do let me know.

Cheers
Aravind

uttam

You are right, so much of snow on Rupin pass was because of the time. We did it in first week of June which is not advised. Even locals schedule their normal movement through this pass to july onwards. The pass is deep snow-bound till May and snow remains till June. However, for somewhat experienced trekkers it is doable in June but certainly with less greenery around.
Sorry, Aravind, writing is not my way doing treks. I have my limitations with words in expressing the incredible experiences in the hills. If interested in photographs, you can visit this link: http://uuttam.multiply.com/photos/al...machal_Pradesh

Khak

Hi
what is your experience of booking rooms in PWD guest houses. over the internet I could find that they have guest houses at various locations (http://hpkinnaur.nic.in/hotel.htm) . Can I book them over telephone?

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Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover

Khak

what was your experience with vishal himachal taxi union ?

I called the number, and they quoted me a rate of approx Rs.2000/day inclusive of mileage + Rs. 150/- driver night halt charges for a 8 day trip ......... however the final rate would be fixed once I give them my detailed itinerary.