Spiti Valley : Advice Needed

Indian71

Hello Folks,

I am planning to be in spiti valley from 26th sept to 3rd Oct.
Our local guide has given me the following itineary.

Day 1: Manali - Maddi - Batal - Kunzum Pass - Chandertal Lake, Stay at Kaza
Day 2: Kaza – Ki Monastry - Kibber - Kaza
Day 3: Kaza - Langcha
Day 4: Kaza - Demul - Balangre - Dokasa - Kaza
Day 5: Kaza - Dhanker-Lalung
Day 6: oct: Kaza - Tabo -
Day 7: Kaza - Kungri - Pin Valley National Park
Day 8 oct: Kaza - Manali

Got few questions

1) Any places we are missing and what you recommend? we would have our own vehicle
2) weather at this time in spiti valley and what warm clothes we should carry?
3)Internet connection/ATM availability @ KAZA?
4) Do we need to be concerned about high altitude sickness?

Any other suggestion is welcome. Thanks

bonded

I would suggest to go in the reverse order.

kripal8016

the rod is closd at kunjumpass due 2 heavy snow fall , please check d road conditions be4 coming from manali bus stand 01902-252323. thanks

kripal8016

u ve completed a;lmost all d places.on ur own vehical u ll ve 2 take permissions at kaza to go 2 innert lines, at tistime there conditions there must be cold u should carry all ur warm clothes with u. bsnl internet connections are there atm sbi. u should carry oxyzen tablets from manali, u need it at kunjum top

voyager61

Hi! The Manali road is currently regularly open,no snow on Kunzum La blocking the way.The weather is now OK,but nights will be cold,as usual in October,so you need some warm clothes. NO ATM in Kaza as yet,take cash.Altitude sickness should not worry you too much,by far the greatest majority of people going from Manali to Kaza experience no symptoms at all,some get away with a headache and some difficulties in breathing,lasting one or two days.Then somebody will tell you that there is great danger,but I have never seen somebody in real troubles after doing what you are planning to do,no matter what some "experts" will say. What do you mean by Pin Valley National Park? Nothing more than a name,that's what it is. Go to Mud and enjoy the place and the fantastic colors of this season.On the way to Tabo you could also visit Mane,it's the most beautiful village in Spiti(actually there are 2 of them). From Langzà you will of course go until Comic and visit the gompa there.

MonkeyBoy4u

1. Day 1 would be quite tiresome and quite a drive. Morover the official web site of Lahaul and Spiti tells me that the road to Kaza from Manali side is closed.

Depending upon the vehicle you have Chandertal may or may not be approachable.

2. Carry lots of warm clothes. Winter like conditions will be there.

3. Internet yes, ATM cannot think off. You will be better off carrying cash.

4. No need to bother about AMS.

Have some buffer days as rain/snow may cause landslides and you may get stuck. Carry necessary fuel/water/food.

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

~ Robert Frost

MonkeyBoy4u

Lahaul and Spiti website tells me there is blockage somewhere. The road to Kaza to Keylong is closed.

Of course this means that the road between Kaza and Gramphoo may be open.

The last I heard was there were landslides in the Batal - Gramphoo section.

voyager61

HI! Called Kaza yesterday,Manali road regularly OPEN,no matter what that site says,no blockage anywhere, to keylong perhaps still closed, I don't know that. Surely the conditions will not be winter like,in winter we talk 20-25 celsius below 0,that is certainly not the case now,but some warm clothes necessary for evenings and nights.

MonkeyBoy4u

oh when i said winter like i meant like the Delhi winter

Good to know it is open till Manali

voyager61

Hi! Well,it will be already colder than a Delhi winter,in normal circumstances it starts freezing in Kaza at the beginning of October,and it was already nearly that cold a few days back,and freezing in Kibber and the higher villages.

adventurenorth

there is a lot of snow at chota dhara & u can neither go beyond chota dhara nor u can visit chandertaal as batal-chandetaal road is also closed due to snow. from shimla side u cannot go beyond mulling nullah if you wish to go further from mulling nullah u can walk across & catch a bus or jeep. How far you will reach no one can tell many tourists are still stranded near kaza due tolandslides. U can well judge how u should plan?

voyager61

Hi! Your infos are a bit out of date,that was the situation few days back. Right now both the Kinnaur an Manali road are open,there is about a meter of snow on Kunzum La, but today the bust travelled from Manali to Kaza. The weather is fine in Spiti and even warm again.

vistet

Your plan is within the safety guide lines : not really.There are a few tweaks that can mean better comfort though.

1. Manali.
Try to sleep as high as possible in Manali , if this is under your control . Vashisht is the the most practical option for this , most parts of Manali is below 2000 meters.
Consider a day trip up to the Rothang pass if you spend a day there.

2. Highest stuff last.
Numbers aside the best way of minimising the effects of altitude is to go up gradually in sleeping elevation - esp. the first three nights. This makes it a no brainer to swap around day three and four , if this really means staying over night in Langcha :


3. Back up plan.
A small group get early stages of AMS on first their first day(s) over 3000 (as described in post # 5: headache and shortness of breath at rest = AMS) .Last time I met this was in a young woman in Kaza this August , seen it a number of times before that in Leh. This is not dangerous in itself , but of course incapacitating : think of it as a bad hangover. It also incapacitates the group , you can not go higher with symtoms - that means real risks. Dealing with this you can do any and all of the following :

* sit it out , normally this is over within two nights . Once you are better you can go higher again.

* descend to Tabo , four hundred meters lower than Kaza.

* speed up acclimatization with Diamox - for this you need to see a doc beforehand to make sure that you are not allergic to sulfa medication.

__________________
high road to ..

Indian71

Thanks so much folks, much appreciated.
would post photos when i am back.