Kinnaur & Spiti - Sangla & Pin Valley
Kinnaur & Spiti - Sangla & Pin Valley
Do you know from which places/towns a guide or tour agency is best hired for trekking in Kinnaur & Spiti? Manali and Shimla seem to be to fare away from trailheads for this region. Im not sure if it is possible to hire somebody reliable in Sangla.
You have any recommendations for guides or agencies?
You have any recommendations for guides or agencies?
From Spiti to Kinnaur?
Thanks for your reply. I already thought nobody has done trekking in this area with a guide... 
But know we will come from Spiti as we trek from Manali to Spiti. Do you have also a recommendation for a guide from Kaza/Tabo to Kinnaur?
We will try it anyway in the Spiti Conservation and Eco-tourism Development office. A friendly person from MUSE recommended me to try it there. There office should be in the old bazaar of Kaza. We will see if they can help us with guides.
If we can not trek from Spiti to Kinnaur I believe it is nearly impossible to get as a foreigner without knowledge of the area from Spiti to Kinnaur. We do not have bikes. As I read in other threads the transport via the Spiti-Kinnaur road seems to be (nearly
) not possible? Any new information?
But know we will come from Spiti as we trek from Manali to Spiti. Do you have also a recommendation for a guide from Kaza/Tabo to Kinnaur?
We will try it anyway in the Spiti Conservation and Eco-tourism Development office. A friendly person from MUSE recommended me to try it there. There office should be in the old bazaar of Kaza. We will see if they can help us with guides.
If we can not trek from Spiti to Kinnaur I believe it is nearly impossible to get as a foreigner without knowledge of the area from Spiti to Kinnaur. We do not have bikes. As I read in other threads the transport via the Spiti-Kinnaur road seems to be (nearly
) not possible? Any new information? Hi
Hi,
MUSE or CATS in Spiti are the best for sourcing local guides and Porters .. The friendly guy at MUSE and CATS is sunil (aka Prince) ... Possibly you are doing the Pin Bhabha pass to Kinnaur (Kafnu) ... in this case you will find local guides and Porters at Mudh the last roadhead in the Pin Valley ... people will offer you rates for Yaks and Mules ... the best option would be Mules ... The going rate at this time is 300 INR ... I recommend 2 Mules with a guide and a helper ... pay not more than 1200-1500 a day per person .... and yes the only way to get from Spiti to Kinnaur is via Pin Bhabha pass as of now and the situation wont improve till april next year ... They were repairing a bridge at Khara some 14-15 kms from reckong peo the connection to Upper Kinnaur valley and it was washed away yesterday ... 33 army personnel lost their lives ... pray ....
Cheers,
Dhananjay
MUSE or CATS in Spiti are the best for sourcing local guides and Porters .. The friendly guy at MUSE and CATS is sunil (aka Prince) ... Possibly you are doing the Pin Bhabha pass to Kinnaur (Kafnu) ... in this case you will find local guides and Porters at Mudh the last roadhead in the Pin Valley ... people will offer you rates for Yaks and Mules ... the best option would be Mules ... The going rate at this time is 300 INR ... I recommend 2 Mules with a guide and a helper ... pay not more than 1200-1500 a day per person .... and yes the only way to get from Spiti to Kinnaur is via Pin Bhabha pass as of now and the situation wont improve till april next year ... They were repairing a bridge at Khara some 14-15 kms from reckong peo the connection to Upper Kinnaur valley and it was washed away yesterday ... 33 army personnel lost their lives ... pray ....
Cheers,
Dhananjay
Done - Spiti to Kinnaur!
Hi Dhananjay,
thanks for your reply
We have done the Pin Bhabha pass from Spiti to Kinnaur! I wanted to come to your Cafe in Shimla. But as we got directly on our arrival a bus from Shimla to Delhi yesterday evening we hadn't time to visit Shimla.
We actually arranged the trekking from Mud in Spiti to Kafnu in Kinnaur in Kaza. We were four people and paid 1.000 Rp. per day per person. We had four donkeys, a so called guide (
and a helper.
The agency we went with is on the (new) main market in Kaza and called Spiti Journeys or so (don't have the visit card with me). The head of the agency is very nice but he provided poor service and had not accomplished what was agreed. We were promissed an english speaking guide and we ended up with an 18 year old student and his 16 year old friend - they hardly could speak english and had no experience in guide groups. Apart from other things that went wrong the provided tents were more than poor
For everybody how would like to do this trek - it can be done in 4 days (even when agencies tell you 5 days are necessary).
The first day we started from the last village in the Pin Valley you can reach by car - Mud (or Mudh). Accomodation is very basic - we liked the Tara Guesthouse run by a very friendly familiy - the provide food and have a basic store.
On the first day we walked around 4 hours to the first camping place. You can even get closer to the Bhabha pass - we saw on the next day about an hour further another good possibility to camp. The second day is definitly the hardest - it is about 800-1.000m steep climb to the pass and the same altitude in descending from the Bhabha pass (around 4.850m). We walked more than 8 hours because we had snow on the pass and bad visibility. At the 3rd day we walked about 6,5 hours down. The last day was about 2,5h walk to Kafnu. At 13:00 there is a bus from Kafnu to Rampur.
The trek is really worth doing. From the Spiti desert to the the beautiful green Bhabha Valley!
thanks for your reply
We have done the Pin Bhabha pass from Spiti to Kinnaur! I wanted to come to your Cafe in Shimla. But as we got directly on our arrival a bus from Shimla to Delhi yesterday evening we hadn't time to visit Shimla.
We actually arranged the trekking from Mud in Spiti to Kafnu in Kinnaur in Kaza. We were four people and paid 1.000 Rp. per day per person. We had four donkeys, a so called guide (
and a helper. The agency we went with is on the (new) main market in Kaza and called Spiti Journeys or so (don't have the visit card with me). The head of the agency is very nice but he provided poor service and had not accomplished what was agreed. We were promissed an english speaking guide and we ended up with an 18 year old student and his 16 year old friend - they hardly could speak english and had no experience in guide groups. Apart from other things that went wrong the provided tents were more than poor
For everybody how would like to do this trek - it can be done in 4 days (even when agencies tell you 5 days are necessary).
The first day we started from the last village in the Pin Valley you can reach by car - Mud (or Mudh). Accomodation is very basic - we liked the Tara Guesthouse run by a very friendly familiy - the provide food and have a basic store.
On the first day we walked around 4 hours to the first camping place. You can even get closer to the Bhabha pass - we saw on the next day about an hour further another good possibility to camp. The second day is definitly the hardest - it is about 800-1.000m steep climb to the pass and the same altitude in descending from the Bhabha pass (around 4.850m). We walked more than 8 hours because we had snow on the pass and bad visibility. At the 3rd day we walked about 6,5 hours down. The last day was about 2,5h walk to Kafnu. At 13:00 there is a bus from Kafnu to Rampur.
The trek is really worth doing. From the Spiti desert to the the beautiful green Bhabha Valley!
#6 
Sep 16th, 2005, 00:22 Veda Chanting & Mantra Yoga teacher
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- Oct 2003
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Nice
Nice info, mochilero
I am going to cut-paste your experience with the Kaza agency because I get the same type of question from foreign trekkers once every month.
Meaning the agencies DO NOT DELIVER what they promise.
For example, a proper English speaking guide who actually has done the route previously will come for 1500 rs per day. It may be reduced to Rs 1000 per day if you are taking the guide for minimum 15 days. In my recent Pin Parvati trek [15 Aug to 24 Aug] there was another group of French College students who had a proper English speaking guide [charging rs 1200 per day plus one day salary as tip] You can get a German speaking guide too... but he may not have done the route... he may be a good trekker with fluency in German.
Then why do the agencies promise you the sun and the moon with Jesus Christ as a bonus??
Answer: most of them have an extremely short term term outlook of their business: meaning "Grab the customer by his balls so that he cannot run away to someone else". This is done by saying yes to WHATEVER is demanded by the customer. Even if you ask for Michael Jackson as a guide, they will say "yes" and give you a Tibetan boy who has changed his name to Michael Jackson just two minutes ago.
We did the trek in three days [25, 26, 27 August 2005] because we were very fit and acclimatized after the Pin Parvati pass trek [which was quite tough]... We stayed at Tara guest house and took the little boy with his three donkeys [the owner of Tara guest house] as guide cum porter.
Even here, after so many years of trekking experience... we [me ]got a bit conned. It seems the little boy was "learning" how to drive donkeys at OUR expense!! The load slipped and fell a number of times... and the little boy could not manage it. We went absolute nuts because we had to drive and look after the donkey loads ourselves for much of the way.
But since he was a sweet little boy and a very likeable fellow... [my co-leader felt he was very sweet ... and i do not argue with females on treks] .... she overlooked the little matter of us having to drive the donkeys.... and went and tipped that little boy.
That's life!! That's trekking!!!
Even after showing such info, many foreigners fall for the "lowest price" or "reasonable price" quote... they come to know at the end that....
Agencies DO NOT DELIVER what they promise. The ones who give you a "correct" quotation are deemed as "too high" and "ripping off" their customers.
You should know by now that "Indians never say NO" !!
I am going to cut-paste your experience with the Kaza agency because I get the same type of question from foreign trekkers once every month.
Meaning the agencies DO NOT DELIVER what they promise.
For example, a proper English speaking guide who actually has done the route previously will come for 1500 rs per day. It may be reduced to Rs 1000 per day if you are taking the guide for minimum 15 days. In my recent Pin Parvati trek [15 Aug to 24 Aug] there was another group of French College students who had a proper English speaking guide [charging rs 1200 per day plus one day salary as tip] You can get a German speaking guide too... but he may not have done the route... he may be a good trekker with fluency in German.
Then why do the agencies promise you the sun and the moon with Jesus Christ as a bonus??
Answer: most of them have an extremely short term term outlook of their business: meaning "Grab the customer by his balls so that he cannot run away to someone else". This is done by saying yes to WHATEVER is demanded by the customer. Even if you ask for Michael Jackson as a guide, they will say "yes" and give you a Tibetan boy who has changed his name to Michael Jackson just two minutes ago.
We did the trek in three days [25, 26, 27 August 2005] because we were very fit and acclimatized after the Pin Parvati pass trek [which was quite tough]... We stayed at Tara guest house and took the little boy with his three donkeys [the owner of Tara guest house] as guide cum porter.
Even here, after so many years of trekking experience... we [me
]got a bit conned. It seems the little boy was "learning" how to drive donkeys at OUR expense!! The load slipped and fell a number of times... and the little boy could not manage it. We went absolute nuts because we had to drive and look after the donkey loads ourselves for much of the way.But since he was a sweet little boy and a very likeable fellow... [my co-leader felt he was very sweet ... and i do not argue with females on treks] .... she overlooked the little matter of us having to drive the donkeys.... and went and tipped that little boy.
That's life!! That's trekking!!!
Even after showing such info, many foreigners fall for the "lowest price" or "reasonable price" quote... they come to know at the end that....
Agencies DO NOT DELIVER what they promise. The ones who give you a "correct" quotation are deemed as "too high" and "ripping off" their customers.
You should know by now that "Indians never say NO" !!
The Universe is an ellipsoid?... or a Spheroid?? If the sphere smiles... it becomes an ellipse. This IS Creation.
Hi AvidTrekker,
we met the small boy [son of the owner] at Tara Guesthouse. Maybe his abilities to lead donkeys are not so good. But at least he speaks english and explained us the trek ;-)
Our so called guide was nor speaking english not could the office man in Kaza explain us the trek :-[
we met the small boy [son of the owner] at Tara Guesthouse. Maybe his abilities to lead donkeys are not so good. But at least he speaks english and explained us the trek ;-)
Our so called guide was nor speaking english not could the office man in Kaza explain us the trek :-[
#9
Sep 22nd, 2005, 22:40 Veda Chanting & Mantra Yoga teacher
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Nice Trek
Quote:
It was a nice trek and the Kinnaur side was bewitchingly beautiful.... and the little boy was quite entertaining... I am not personally complaining... these things happen to an experienced trekker like me also... I expect these things to happen.... whereas you found it unpleasant that your guide/organizer could NOT "explain" the trek to you.
It happens all the time in India!
Quote:
Avid --
Originally Posted by AvidTrekker 
We did the trek in three days [25, 26, 27 August 2005] because we were very fit and acclimatized after the Pin Parvati pass trek [which was quite tough]... We stayed at Tara guest house and took the little boy with his three donkeys [the owner of Tara guest house] as guide cum porter.
That's life!! That's trekking!!!
You should know by now that "Indians never say NO" !!
We did the trek in three days [25, 26, 27 August 2005] because we were very fit and acclimatized after the Pin Parvati pass trek [which was quite tough]... We stayed at Tara guest house and took the little boy with his three donkeys [the owner of Tara guest house] as guide cum porter.
That's life!! That's trekking!!!
You should know by now that "Indians never say NO" !!
For newbies, how many days are good to do pin parvati pass trek. Is August 3rd week a good time?
What is best time to do it?
can u please suggest an itnerary?
If i am NOT looking for english speaking guide, what is reaonsbale price for guide?
What is reasonable amount per person if we contract the whole trek to an agency ?
#14
Jun 12th, 2007, 01:19 Veda Chanting & Mantra Yoga teacher
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- Oct 2003
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Not for newbies
Quote:
The Pin Parvati Pass [17500 feet] trek is NOT for newbies. Period.
Originally Posted by Rashmig Avid --
For newbies, how many days are good to do pin parvati pass trek. Is August 3rd week a good time?
What is best time to do it?
can u please suggest an itnerary?
If i am NOT looking for english speaking guide, what is reaonsbale price for guide?
What is reasonable amount per person if we contract the whole trek to an agency ?
Avid --For newbies, how many days are good to do pin parvati pass trek. Is August 3rd week a good time?
What is best time to do it?
can u please suggest an itnerary?
If i am NOT looking for english speaking guide, what is reaonsbale price for guide?
What is reasonable amount per person if we contract the whole trek to an agency ?
3rd Aug is as good as any... weather is unpredictable
best time is 15 Sep onwards. Complete trek before 5th Oct
Search these forums on "pin parvati". jyotipg asked me many questions and did the same route and posted detailed route and pictures.
Guide will cost you 500 per day. [plus food] If you have caucasians or firangi looking ppl in your group it goes up to 1000 to 1500 per day [plus food]. Guide will NOT carry loads.
If you are a group of 12, the agencies charge 1400 to 1800 per head per day. If you are a group of two, the same is 3000 to 3500 p h p d.
I feel you should not attempt Pin Parvati as your first trek.
Happy trekking !!
Quote:
Thanx so much Avid. What i understand from your post is --
Originally Posted by AvidTrekker The Pin Parvati Pass [17500 feet] trek is NOT for newbies. Period.
3rd Aug is as good as any... weather is unpredictable.
best time is 15 Sep onwards. Complete trek before 5th Oct
Search these forums on "pin parvati". jyotipg asked me many questions and did the same route and posted detailed route and pictures.
Guide will cost you 500 per day. [plus food] If you have caucasians or firangi looking ppl in your group it goes up to 1000 to 1500 per day [plus food]. Guide will NOT carry loads.
If you are a group of 12, the agencies charge 1400 to 1800 per head per day. If you are a group of two, the same is 3000 to 3500 p h p d.
I feel you should not attempt Pin Parvati as your first trek.
Happy trekking !!
The Pin Parvati Pass [17500 feet] trek is NOT for newbies. Period.3rd Aug is as good as any... weather is unpredictable.
best time is 15 Sep onwards. Complete trek before 5th Oct
Search these forums on "pin parvati". jyotipg asked me many questions and did the same route and posted detailed route and pictures.
Guide will cost you 500 per day. [plus food] If you have caucasians or firangi looking ppl in your group it goes up to 1000 to 1500 per day [plus food]. Guide will NOT carry loads.
If you are a group of 12, the agencies charge 1400 to 1800 per head per day. If you are a group of two, the same is 3000 to 3500 p h p d.
I feel you should not attempt Pin Parvati as your first trek.
Happy trekking !!
Weather will be totally unpredictable but going by past 'average' it will be better to start in 2nd week september and even 2nd week of august will not be too bad going by average conditions in past. Is that so?
i tried searching for your old reply to jyotipg , could not find it ...can u please help me with link.
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