Spiti: Need information and advice

baanya

Hi

I am Rohit from Pune and a newcomer to Indiamike.

We 5 friends have decided to travel to Spiti from 15th Aug to 23rd August. We all are first-timers to such a terrain and altitude. Let me first give our plan and then I have a few queries regarding our trip. We have created an Itinerary based on some threads / articles / posts on the internet.

Itinerary :

15th Aug Mumbai -> delhi
16th Aug Delhi -> Shimla
17th Aug Shimla -> Reckong Peo
18th Aug Reckong Peo -> Tabo
19th Aug Tabo -> Kaza
20th Aug Kaza
21th Aug Kaza -> Manali
22th Aug Manali -> Delhi
23th Aug Delhi -> Pune

Queries:
1) Does the itenerary look ambitious? Can we travel from kaza to Manali in one day?
2) We have never been to Spiti valley before. So based on our itinerary, can anyone suggest some good places to visit? I have heard of Dhankar lake, Kye Monestary.
3) As we all are first timers, Can anyone list down any precautionary measures and must haves for the trip.

Any other suggestions are also welcome.

Thanks in advance

avinashzalake

your itinerary looks good & acceptable.
If possible look for this options
D 1 Delhi - Matiana/ Narkanda - feasible if you start somewhat early.
D 2 - Sarhan Temple village
D 3 Sangala / Chitkul ( last village at Tibet Border )
D4 - Kalpa for Kailash view
D5 Tabo, on way spend some time at Nako
D 6 - Komik, Kaza, Kibber,- Kaza
D7 Kaza- Manali doable in a day, try to start as early as possible. from Losar to Grampho road is bad for 100 km it will take around 8 hrs with stops. ( provided you skip Chandra tal )
OR you rest at Kaza & come to Losar ( 50km ) good road. Then next day start from Losar
Please free to contact if you require more help- 02322/245140

look my recent visit to it @
An experience with my BIKE

baanya

Thanks a lot. That post seems to be loaded with information and adventure.

And do you thing mid August is the right time to travel? We don't want to be greeted by rains there. Also needed some suggestions regarding precautions to take during the trip(eg medications for AMS) and must haves on the trip.

avinashzalake

first thing, I prepared my trip in June, so I am not knowing in detail of August weather.
But prepared for rain. we also disturbed by rain at Rohtang pass & return from Kullu.
be prepared for it.
rain may disturb from Pune to Delhi & upto Narkanda
& on return journey from Manali
Actual area will be less rain.
For AMS please read AMS article from Ladakh section.
What I want to suggest is
travel high & sleep at Lower altitude.
Not to ascend more than 1000 mtrs in a day.
Start taking Tb Diamox 250 mg three times a day from Delhi / Shimla. We had not taken it, we started taking it from Losar.

Must haves on trip-
Mental strength first. It is not routine road, roads are bad, so prepared for it.
thermal wear, gloves, cap that cover your ears & head ( monkey Cap ). We used scarfs with helmets.
good shoes with woolen socks.

I will be glad to give more information if you want, Let me Know.

I think August will be right time.

MonkeyBoy4u

Just some thoughts

1. Kaza to Manali can be easily done in one day. I started at 8 AM from Kaza and crossed Rohtang at about 5 PM. I made numerous stops in between including a 45 minute stop at Chhatru.

Make sure you cross Rohtang in daylight. You will also have to cross Kunzum La, make sure you do that around noon.

2. Dhankar does not have a lake it has a monastery. There is another lake Chandertal which is enroute Kaza to Manali. But Kaza - Chander Tal - Manali cannot be done in one day.

3. I dont feel there is a need to take Diamox tablets.You will be ascending quite slowly and it should be fine. Even if you ascend rapidly my experience is Diamox only makes it worse.

Remember the average tourist to Manali does not take Diamox on way to Rohtang pass and still they ski,jump and have snow fights there.

4. The entire Spiti valley is a high altitutde desert so no worry of rains there. You may experience rains in Recong Peo. Then you may experience rains after Chhatru.

5.In the Recong Peo to Tabo stretch,make sure you visit the village of Gue. 3 kms from Sumdo checkpost you will come to a sign for Gue village.The village is 8 kms from there.

Gue is basically an ITBP base and it has the mummy of Lama there. Rumour has it the mummy is growing hair and nails but i could not see anything like this.

Make sure you carry identity cards like PAN card, driving license or voter id. Any i-card issued by the government having your photo on it. If you are in a group anyone can carry it.

You can also follow these posts

Delhi ~ Kaza ~ Delhi ~ Manali

Kinnaur with 1 yr old baby

__________________
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

~ Robert Frost

voyager61

Hi! Above Dankhar,45 minutes to one hour of easy walking there is indeed a lake,which is full of carps and it's a nice place to have a swim. Sometimes it does rain in Spiti,and this can seriously hamper the traffic,many times the roads gets closed by mudlslides.The mummy in Giu is actually loosing the hairs,not growing them.

MonkeyBoy4u

Damn I left out Dhankar thinking there is only a monastery on my visit to Spiti


At Gue, its actually a skeleton. voyager i could not see any hair or nails on it.

avinashzalake

I missed Gue
Next time
thanks for adding knowledge.
We suffered AMS at Losar ( 4100 + mtrs )
so I advised Diamox

MonkeyBoy4u

Hi avinash,

apologies did not want to play down your advise all together. I've never suffered AMS so thats why i find Diamox useless.

@Rohit (baanya) Please do not play down the possibility of AMS. AMS strikes different people in entirely different ways.

e.g. I am an asthamatic and get bouts of asthma when the weather changes in Delhi, but I have had no problems even at Khardung La ( > 18000 ft).

so please follow Avinash's advice and maybe consult your doctor on AMS.

Cheers !

avinashzalake

I am also not expecting AMS
We ascended slowly - Delhi- Fagu - Chitkul - Nako - Kaza - Losar - Keylong. But we both suffered by AMS mild to moderate at Losar. My Partner had to go to window at night for breathing at Losar. Mild epistaxis ( Nasal Bleed ) from his / my nose, nausea, heaviness head.
I think best will be to at Kaza & start some what early.
May many have not suffered from at Losar with AMS
AMS affect more if you stay ( halt ) at higher heights.
Next to Losar we were at Kunzum La ( 4551 mtrs ), But we were feeling more comfortable at that hight than Losar. We were almost an half hour on Kunzum top.

MonkeyBoy4u

Oh Avinash sorry to hear that. AMS can really ruin a trip. I hope you and your buddy were ok. How do u tackle the symptoms once AMS starts.

I spent around 40 minutes at Losar had maggi and tea, walked around nothing happened.

Between last year and this year I have spent around 30 to 40 minutes at the following Khardung La, Chang La, Rohtang La and Kunzum top, without any symptoms of AMS.

baanya

Thanks a lot for all the replies.

We have decided to go there in mid-August. One more query

As Kaza - Manali - Delhi and then back to Pune would be a hectic journey, we are thinking to go back to Shimla from Kaza. We won't have time to see Chandertal as it would cost us one more day. So on the Shimla-Kaza route we will visit some places and the remaining places we will visit while coming back from Kaza to Shimla.

Is this feasible?

maindak

i dont think visit to chandartal would cost you one more day, what we did was started early from kaza and via kunzum la went to chandartal spent good 45 mins to 1 hr there even had a bath, then had a break at rohtang and were in manali by evening and straightaway hopped on to the bus, in evening there are good deluxe buses leaving for delhi.just be there in manali by 5:30 and i think you should get the bus to del. keep your breaks shorter

What i am trying to say dont miss chandartal at any cost, you dont get to visit these places everyday

avinashzalake

MonkeyBoy4u

If one spend night at height then one suffers AMS
We were also at Kunzum La for an hour but no symptoms.
once we started ascend from Losar symptoms of AMS vanished

abn999

Hi avinash,

My name is Anand (from Mumbai), new to this forum. We are planning a trip to spiti with four friends of mine. itenirary is as follows :

Day 01 (7th August 2009) : Mumbai - Chnadigarh - Rampur
Day 02: (8th August 2009) Rampur – Sarahan – Sangala
Day 03: (9th August 2009) Sangla - Chitkul – Kalpa
Day 04: (10th August 2009) Kalpa
Day 05: (11th August 2009) Kalpa to Chango – Sumdo - Tabo
Day 06: (12th August 2009)Tabo to Kaza
Day 07: (13th August 2009) kaza
Day 08: (14th August 200 9) Kaza to Chandratal
Day 09 – (15th August 2009) Chandertal to Mandi
Day 10 – (16th August 2009) Mandi to Chnadigarh to Mumbai

Can u help on these??

1) Where to take a halt Chango, Sumdo or Tabo??
2) Is there any place to stay at Chandratal or we need to carry tents with us??
3) Condition of Road from Kaza to Chandrtal and within how many hours can one reach there??
4) Chandratal to Manali , how many hours it will take??
5) Condition of Maling nallah, is it fine now??
6) Constact no. of any rented vehicle??
7) Hotels on this route??? shall we book HPTDCin advance or go there n book???

Regards,

Anand