Pl. advice on Kinnaur trip

rajibdutta00

rajibdutta00

Hello friends,
I am checking my thread everyday for some reply, but till now I am very dissapointed.
Please spare a few minutes to answer my queries .
Eagerly waiting ...............
Rajib Dutta

nayan

You have already read the previous threads. Most of the info you are asking has been answered about 50 times before. Maybe thats why you are not getting fresh answers

1. So you know the vehicle rates for an SUV vary around 2000 to 2100 depending upon your bargaining skills and the time of the season. No one will be able to give you an accurate to-the-minute rate. you will have to call up and negotiate with a driver/travel agent. there are some references of good ones in the forum. The one I used(Ram chand) has been used by others since then and the general feedback is good.

2. SHIMLA-NARKANDA - 2hrs+
NARKANDA-RAMPUR 2hr+
RAMPUR-SARAHAN 2hrs
SARAHAN-KALPA Usually people do sarahan-sangla which is about 3hr+
sangla kalpa - 2hrs (usually people start from sangla, visit chitkul and then go off to kalpa. You can start from sangla aroung 7 in the morning and spend some time in chitkul and reach kalpa by 3pm in the afternoon. )

Most good drivers will be able to suggest you a good itinerary and it will not involve travel more than 6 hrs on most days.

Budget hotels - Again, loads of references in the threads.

mrityunjit

Hi All
I am planning a tour to Himachal Pradesh at the end of this year with my family (wife and a 3 years girl) and some colleagues (Total 8 persons + 1Kid). I want to visit Shimla,Sarahan,Sangla, Kalpa, Rampur,Manali,Dalhousie. After surfing the PWD website I came to know that the department have some Circuit/Rest Houses at these places. I want to book those Circuit/Rest Houses during my tour.
We are starting by Howrah-Kalka Mail on 26th December 2009 and then Shivalik Dlx Exp.
My itinerary is -

28th December - 29th December - Shimla

30th December - Sarahan

31st December - Sangla

1st January - Kalpa

2nd January - Rampur

3rd January to 5th January - Manali

6th January - Dalhousie

7th January - Amritsar

And on 8th January 2010 we are starting for Kolkata by Amritsar-Sealdah Express and reaching Kolkata on 9th January.

My questions are :-

1) Is my itinerary ok ?

2) What would be the charge for a SUMO if we take it from Shimla and kept with us upto Manali/Dalhousie ?

3) Is advance booking possible at those Circuit/Rest Houses by sending an application letter?

4) Is theose Circuit/Rest Houses are good for Winter Season ?

5) What precautions should be taken, specally for my 3 years old kid.

6) Could we reach Sarahan,Sangla, Kalpa, Rampur at that time ?

Please help me with your valuable thoughts.

nayan

Any specific reason for wishing to stay at PWD guest houses?

mrityunjit

@ nayan --- I am a Govt Employee, and I have hard that these Rest houses is located in very good position. Moreover I gone through your article where you also suggested PWD Rest house (?). Please advise on my total itinerary .

nayan

I can advice for the part till rampur. It looks pretty ok.

The only concern is I dont know if you will find kinnaur accessible in the middle of winter. One unusual snowfall and you may get stranded for 2-3 days atleast.

I stayed in PWD guesthouse in Tabo as no other accomodation was available there at that time.

There is PWD accomodation in kalpa but not in sangla I think. I dont know which hotels will be open in late december. You make call up a few hotels and verify that they stay open at that time.

When we visited in early april the hotels in sangla and kalpa were just re-opening after their winter hibernation.

rajibdutta00

Thanks a lot Nayanji.

mrityunjit

@nayan---> Thank You. Can you please suggest some hotels (around Rs. 500-700). Thanks again

nayan

I am not sure if they will be open during this period.
kalpa -
kinnar villa
shivalik
achtung
blue lotus
rakpa residency

Sangla -
prakash hotel
mount kailash hotel
devbhoomi residency

mrityunjit

@Nayan---
How could I contact these hotels? Have you any contact number or email? Please help. Is my itinerary ok otherwise? If you find any problem please modify it. I am travelling with my 3 years old daughter.

nayan

Mrityunjit,
are you(and family) accustomed to very cold weather?
I say this because you mention your young daughter.
You may get snowed in for 1-2 days with electricity supply disrupted at that time of the year in kinnaur in sub-zero temperature. Just keep this possibility in mind.

Just search this forum, the telephone numbers of most of the hotels in my list is there in different threads.

mrityunjit

Any other suggestion if we can not reach Kinnaur? Actually I am interested about Kinnaur after reading your article. However if we can not reach Kinnaur due to road block then we must have an alternate itinerary. Please help. Another thing I must know from you that is there any food problem in Kalpa-sangla at that time? Someone told me that as we are a bigger group we may face this problem. What is your opinion? Other thing is should I book the hotels in advance (as the PWD said only 3-4 days advance they may provide not so earlier)?

nayan

Mrityunjit,
First confirm with the hotels if they are open during that time.
I have only been to the places in the first week of April. I can only guess what it will be like in december-january.

I dont think they have much(if any) tourist trade in the winter. So the facilities are geared for locals only.

I would worry more about reaching kinnaur and getting stuck there rather than getting stuck in shimla.

Maybe Vasuki or some resident himachal member will be able to give a realistic picture of kinnaur in late december.

mrityunjit

Thanks Nayan. Trying to contact Vasuki. Thanks a lot.