need help to plan my trip to Lahaul and Spiti valley in September

Hi Friends,

I am planning to visit Lahaul and Spiti valley in September 2012. I am planning to start from Shimla and end at Manali. I have total 8 days in hand from Shimla to Manali. Here is my plan which I am not sure whether can be executed or not.

day 1 (3rd Sep) - Start from Shimla early in the morning and reach Tabo in the evening. Visit Nako lake enroute. I am not sure if this can doable in one day.

day 2 (4th Sep) - Visit Tabo monastery, Dhankar monastery and reach Kaza

day 3 (5th Sep) - Visit Key monastery and Kibber (not sure if pin valley can be done in the same day), night stay at Kaza

day 4 (6th Sep) - Visit pin valley if not done in the previous day and then visit Losar.

day 5 (7th Sep) - Losar to rothang, chandratal and then reach Manali.

I have to leave for Delhi on 10th Sep night and catch train from Delhi on 11th Sep. That means I have 2.5 days in Manali which I can spend in Lahaul and Spiti if some more areas can be covered.

I need suggestion to plan this trip so that I don't miss any place. I can also include 2 days in Sangla and Kalpa if that can be done.

Looking forward to your expert opinion. Thanks.

Hello Inidiamikers, I need your assistance badly, I am not sure how I can cover the valley in 8 days. Need your inputs to plan my itinerary, especially I don't know which will be the best places for night stay in the route, considering the convenience of journey and visiting all major places of the valley.

I have put a proposed plan which I wish to modify with your help.

Thanks,
Koushik Sarkar

Have you read a few trip reports from previous visitors?

Day 0: Shimla
Day 1: Sangla-Chitkul circuit
Day 2: Nako lake
Day 3: Tabo and Dhankar monastery en route to Kaza
Day 4: Kaza-Hikkim-Langza-Komic-Kaza circuit
Day 5: Pin valley if the route is open.
Day 6: Key monastery and Kibber and visit Losar
Day 7: Kunzum top and trek or drive to Chandertal and night camping
Day 8: Batal, Rohtang pass and back to Manali

This plan should be fine for you. Let me know if you are comfortable with it.

Happy travelling!! Cheers!!

Hi aarosh, thanks for replying. I have read some very good posts in indiamike, but none of them actually matches with my plan. I have got information on what to see and where to visit from those threads. But I am confused about how much I can cover within my scheduled time. Given a chance I would love to cover Sangla, Kalpa, Chitkul, Spiti and Lahual valley. But not sure if that is feasible considering the distance and road condition. I have seen ppl have visited the same route but with more days in hand.

So asking all friends in Indiahike to suggest a route which will cover all major places and can be done in 8/9 days from Shimla to Manali.

Thanks a lot buddy..

Hi Roushan,

Thanks a lot for giving me a tentative route. I'll do some research on this route this weekend and let you know if I need more help from you. I am comfortable with any route as long as it is doable and covers most of the places in the region. I'll hire a cab from Shimla to Manali, for the entire trip, so travelling long distance should not be an issue I guess. My preferred places are Sangla, Kalpa, Chitkul, Spiti and Lahual valley. Hope this can be covered within 8/9 days and your suggested route seems to be covering them.

Thanks for your time and suggestion...

That should have helped you in understanding that your plan is not feasible for the number of days that you have. Travelling in the hill can be extremely strenuous. So either you will have to increase the number of days or reduce the places that you want to see.

Hmm...that's a bad news for me, but can you please tell me how much I can cover in 8/9 days? I can concentrate in Lahaul and Spiti only and will come back to Kinnaur later. But for that also I need some help to plan the itinerary. Can you please help here?

I think you will have to skip Lahaul and cover Kinnaur and a little part of Spiti in the days that you have. Since you are starting your trip from Shimla you will have to go through the Kinnuar region to reach Spiti.

Hi Aarosh,

Will it be good if I start from Manalai? I want to cover Lahual and Spiti, it's my first preference. The valley looked out of this world in pictures, I can't wait to be there....

I have read a lot of threads in Indiamike and almost finalized my plan. I have removed Kinnaur from it (will plan to this place sometime in future). I am now planning to start from Manali. Here is my plan, I need your advice to make it better, I still have some gaps in the plan in terms of what I can do in various places.

Day 1 - reach Shimla (want to go by Shimla, because I want the train ride from Kalka to Shimla, and also want to avoid the long bus journey from Delhi to Manali)

Day 2 - Shimla to Manali, night stay at Manali

Day 3 - Manali to Kaza, night stay at Kaza. How much time does it take to reach Kaza by a hired cab?

Day 4 - Key, Kibber and night stay at Kibber

Day 5 - Dhankar, Tabo, Nako, night stay at Tabo

Day 6 - Pin valley and back to Kaza, night Stay at Kaza

Day 7 - Need to plan to some place, please advise

Day 8 - Visit Chandratal and Back to Manali

Day 9 - Take HRTC evening bus from Manali to Delhi

Day 10 - Catch train to Kolkata in the evening. As per schedule in HRTC website I should reach Delhi by 8:30 AM. Is there any chance of getting late in the route and missing the evening train?

Does this plan looks doable without being stressed too much?

It looks to me that I would have some time on day 4 and 6, please suggest some place that I can visit on those days. Also suggest a plan for day 7. Will it be good if we go to Chandratal and spend a night there on day 7?

I shall hire a cab from Manali for the entire trip. So going to places should not be a problem.

Thanks in advance.

Dear K Sarkar,
Here is your schedule and I am putting up my suggestions in bold below for each day -
Day 1 - reach Shimla (want to go by Shimla, because I want the train ride from Kalka to Shimla, and also want to avoid the long bus journey from Delhi to Manali)
Go to Manali directly
Day 2 - Shimla to Manali, night stay at Manali
From Manali to Kaza via Chandertal
Day 3 - Manali to Kaza, night stay at Kaza. How much time does it take to reach Kaza by a hired cab?
Visit places around Kaza, make Kaza your base for visiting Kye, Kibber & Langza
Day 4 - Key, Kibber and night stay at Kibber
Visit Pin Valley and return to Kaza by nightfall
Day 5 - Dhankar, Tabo, Nako, night stay at Tabo
Nako is in Kinnaur District, so it will have to be Dhankar-Tabo-Nako night stay
Day 6 - Pin valley and back to Kaza, night Stay at Kaza
Nako to Kalpa - stay for night
Day 7 - Need to plan to some place, please advise
Kalpa to Sangla - stay for the night - visit Chitkul next day morning
Day 8 - Visit Chandratal and Back to Manali
From Chitkul to Sarahan
Day 9 - Early morning start from Sarhan - reach Shimla and take toy train to Kalka - thereafter board Kalka-Howrah Mail leaves at 11.05 P.M. from Kalka
Day 10 - Reach Delhi early in morning and leave for Kolkata by night train as per your schedule
Day 9 - Take HRTC evening bus from Manali to Delhi
Check out my blog - http://ghummakar-biswas.blogspot.in/...tion-view.html
Have a nice journey,

S. Roy Biswas
Day 10 - Catch train to Kolkata in the evening. As per schedule in HRTC website I should reach Delhi by 8:30 AM. Is there any chance of getting late in the route and missing the evening train?

Hello Mr. S Roy Biswas,

Thanks a lot for your time and the detailed itinerary that you have suggested. But I am not sure if I can make it to Manalai on day 1. The day 1 for me is 2nd Sep, Sunday. I have booked ticket in Kalka mail which will reach Kalka on 2nd Sep morning. Is it possible to go to Manali directly from Kalka? How can I do that and how long does it take?

Also I am not sure if I can make it from Sarhan to Shimla in one day and catch the train from there. Is it doable, consedering the road condition?

I wanted to cover Kinnaur and Lahual-Spiti valley in this trip, but some fellow Indiamikers suggested not to do it in a single trip. I also don't want to make this trip hectic, and moreover Lahaul-Spiti was my dream for long, I don't want to visit it with haste. As I have some time (if I don't visit Kinnaur) I would love to visit one or two off bit places in Lahual-Spiti.

What to do you think? Should I cover Kinnaur also in this trip?

Thanks again for your suggestions. Cheers.

Dear Mr. Sarkar,
Kalka mail leaves late at night from Delhi, so cancel the ticket and book a volvo ticket to Manali, following the same schedule i.e. leaving Delhi on night of 1st Sept. and reaching Manali next day in the monring. You can also go from Chandigarh to Manali (difficult to get a direct bus from Kalka), which should take about 5 hours drive to reach Manali. Sarahan to Shimla is about 180 Kms. and you should be able to make it easily in 6 hours, thus if you start early at 5.00 A.M. you should be able to reach Shimla station by 11.00 A.M and the trains start leaving thereafter, and Kalka Howarah leaves only after the last train arrives from Shimla.
Regards,

S. Roy Biswas

Hi srb810,

Thanks for the wonderful suggestion. I am now thinking of going straight to Manali from Delhi, I have to take a extra day of leave form my office..

But with the extra days in hand I would like to cover Barlachla pass. I can skip Kinnaur in this trip. My plan now looks like this

Day 1 Friday Catch train in the morning
Day 2 Saturday Delhi - catch bus for Manali
Day 3 Sunday Reach Manali and night stay
Day 4 Monday Reach Kaza and night stay
Day 5 Tuesday Key, Kibber, Langza, Comic - Night stay at Kaza
Day 6 Wednessday Tabo, Pin Valley and Dhankar - Night stay at Dhankar
Day 7 Thursday Dhankar Lake, Losar - Night stay at losat
Day 8 Friday Chandratal, Keylong - Night stay at Keylong
Day 9 Saturday Barlachla,Sissu - Night staty at Sissu
Day 10 Sunday Reach Manali and night stay
Day 11 Monday Leave for Delhi in the evening
Day 12 Tuesday Catch train for Kolkata
Day 13 Wedness Kolkata

Do you think this is doable? I am little apprehensive of Day 5, 6 and 7. Does it look feasible?

I'll be grateful if someone can please validate this plan..

Yes, this is doable