Trip report : kinnaur spiti tour - april 2008

poppy.sarkar

Thanks, Basically I have seven days in hand, excluding two days from home town and back. Two ladies will be travelling, spending moderate. we are looking for some good suggestion regarding Travel itenary, accomodation, Places to visit, climate condition during our visit date from 25th Sept to 1st oct.
Any kind of help will be highly appreciated.

indracal

Ahha, Pujo-r chhuti! For the uninitiated, Durga Puja is held in West Bengal at End-Sep/Oct, and the people in West Bengal flock to tourist destinations.

I have loved the Tribal belt (Kinnaur in HP) in my tiny experience in 2006 and comparing it with Dalhousie/Khajjiar etc, loved it even more, so I would be biased!

To start with, I would suggest to get a map from the Kolkata HPTDC office (and some booklets may be).

We did a family trip last Puja in Dalhousie/Chamba/Khajjiar belt, and vouched not to go again in pujas, full of tourists, mostly bengali, all roooms booked etc. This is not to discourage you but to say that make advance bookings.

A 7 day trip may include:

Day 1 - Simla -> Sarahan travel, overnight at Sarahan
Day 2 - View temple, probably a pheasant sanctuary is around, and see the Busaher dynsty home (lookup in net for more details). Stay at Sarahan.
Day 3 - Leave early for Sangla. Reach Sangla. Walk upto the Kamru village for the temple and old wooden fort (deserted). Look for the wood craving work in these regions (includes Sarahan).
Day 4 - Leave early for Chitkul, last motorable village in that route. You can see the temple and buddhist monastery there. You can choose to walk till Nagasthi (last border outpost). Civilians are not allowed beyond this point. Come back to Sangla and rest.
Day 5 - Rest day from your travelling so far, go to the Trout farm around Sangla, may do some angling. Alternately, you can do the trek to Sangla Kanda (in that case it will be an activity day for you).
Day 6 - Simla/Naldehra/Chail - Shopping if Shimla in the evening. Rest if other places.
Day 7 - Kalka Railway station, the train goes there, rush...rush... for Kolkata!

Transport - Probably hiring an Alto is a good idea, though a lot of IMers would vouch for local transport as well. I have always travelled in some kind of fully booked vehicles for ourselves, and want to do that in future whenever possible. Much more mobile that way.

Food - Have it anywhere, we never had any issues in HP w.r.t food.

There can be lot of itineraries for these 7 days - I just gave you one that I like. You should prepare yourself with all the reading available on net - and should carry the HP map from HPTDC (kolkata office is around Sabir hotel near Central Ave - addres available online).

Train tickets must be booked the first day it opens. I booked on the first day at 8:05 AM, and I had to make a break journey for the return. Just 5 mins and the quota to Cal is booked. www.irctc.co.in zindabad!

Best of luck!

avirups

An alternate plan for you.

Sep 25: Reach Kalka early morning. Prebook a car (Rs.2000/- per day, a little expensive but worth spending) and travel straight to Sarahan. You can stop over at Shimla, Narkanda, Rampur to stretch your legs. Reach Sarahan, book yourself in the Bhimkali Temple Guest House (Rs.300/- approx.) but book in advance because that is the most preferred place to stay.

Sep 26: Leave Sarahan after breakfast and reach Sangla, go further to Rakhcham and Chitkul. Stay in Chitkul. This is the last motorable village in this route and the view is superb.

Sep 27: Leave Chitkul after breakfast and go to Kalpa. Stay in Kalpa and choose a place which is near the top and has a great view. There are many reasonably moderate hotels for you to choose.

Sep 28: Stay the day in Kalpa and enjoy the view, walk to a nearby village and rest. Don’t miss the Sun Rise AND the Sun Set on the Kailash range.

Sep 29:Start early from Kalpa and travel straight to Shimla. It will be a long travel but who cares how long you travel when you are in the mountains.

Sep 30: Spend your day in Shimla doing a few sight-seeings. Try not to miss the Meuseum in the Observatory and the Institute of Advanced Studies. I don’t like staying in Shimla personally because it reminds me of the city life that I want to leave behind when I am with the mountains.

Oct 1: Again spend the day in Shimla and laze around, do shopping . Take the Train to Kalka from Shimla. Try taking the one which will let you see the sunset while you are on the train. Enjoy the ride, the sunset and the tunnels.

Since it is the Pujo try booking in advance or else you may end up spending a lot more unnecessarily.

If you already have visited Shimla before, skip coming back to Shimla and add a day to either Sangla or Sarahan or Kalpa.

poppy.sarkar

Thank you for your valuable feedback. But then we would like to see snow and walk on it also, any prefered destination for that specially when we will be travelling to kalpa or sangla ? We also planned to do the toy Train one way the luxuary one . But some how confused at the journey point of us, As we would be travelling from Kolkata to reach Delhi by Flight on 24th ngt, which would be the first destination we choose? shimla or any other Place , Kindly suggest. What is the Distance between shimla and Sarahan ? what would be temprature like during that period ? Any body Pls help.
And thanks to both avirups and Indracal.

amdtraveller

Nayan,

I have returned from my all too short trip to Kalpa and Sangla.

I too took a Tavera from Ram Chander - or Ram Chand Varma as his full name seems to be. Though he sent a different driver, Satpal, who too is an excellent driver, I have no hesitation in recommending Ram Chander and his taxi services to anyone who wants to visit Kinnaur and Spiti. Mr Ram Chand went beyond my expectations when he personally delivered a new Sony Memory stick to me in Sangla when I informed him that the Memory stick in my 2 month old Sony camera had gone phut on the way up to Hatu Peak. He was to travel to Kaza and took the diversion to Sangla just to deliver the stick after purchasing it from Simla.
Another incident that I won't forget is when the driver Satpal, who knew my itin., told me that instead of returning Nirsu-Fagu-Barog-Kalka, I should return Nirsu-Tattapani-Naldehra-Manali-Kalka, even though it entailed a few extra km.

Also, it seems the road upto Sarahan from Jeori was closed due to repairs being effected on a bridge almost in Sarahan, and Satpal took me up from Rampur via Gora and Kinnoo villages. These roads were narrower than the Sangla/Chitkul ones and without the protective barriers that are present on the Sangla roads and therefore far more "exciting". They were also far more scenic and because of the rapid ascent, we got out of the heat of Rampur fast. In fact I would recommend this route over the regular one to everyone.

Thanks also for your suggestions made in the other thread of visiting Sarahan instead of Nirsu. No contest. In fact the owner of the North Park hotel was to get married very shortly, and the hotel was a construction zone. And we loved Sarahan.

nayan

amdtraveller,
its great to know that you had a good time and indiamike was of such help to you

I am personally very happy to know that you were delighted with Ramchand's service. Like us, you too felt that he goes beyond his job to help the customers. We grew very fond of him during our trip and till date whenever we discuss the trip we also think of him.

I have sometimes felt uneasy in recommending him so highly - what if he changes and the people to whom I have recommended him have a bad experience

But till now I have recieved only good feedback about him. I guess he understands the longterm advantages of customer delight

indracal

Poppy, this is a comment thread and not the right place for an itinerary discussion, so I guess this should be moved.(Mods/Forum Lead, please?)

Till Mid-Nov, you should not expect snow in the regular tourist locations anywhere till you choose to go beyond Nako/Tabo. If you open the HP map you will see Nako lies almost around the China-India border and at much height compared to the places you plan to visit. May be Rohtang is a better bet, see the thread on Rohtang ice for that. In that case, Kinnaur is off route for you.

Probably you mean Shivalik Deluxe. This is timed with Howrah-Delhi-Kalka mail. You can catch this from Delhi (Code DLI) station and catch this one from Kalka next morning. However, it'll depend when you reach Delhi on flight to decide if it is safe for catching Kalka mail from Old Delhi. Else, you can explore Delhi Kalka bus option or Delhi Kalka private car option. Otherwise, you stand to loose one full day at Delhi.

Shimla - Sarahan is 180 Kms. Also look at the Bhimakali Temple website's "How to reach" here.

It will depend on the place you go, and the cold that you may feel. In Nov'06 at Sarahan we were fine with one Full sweater/Jacket during day time. Early-morning we needed to take a cap (with ears covered).

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photon_dutta

Well I am planning for a trip to Kinnaur and came across your post Nayan.Thanks for the details ,but little did i knew that I am old accuaintance of yours.

nayan

its a very small world indeed
I sent you a mail. please check.
when are you planning your trip.

photon_dutta

I am planning for the trip during september end(Puja vacations).Since I am going to take my son along not sure whether I could go till Kaza.I am thinking of Shimla-Sarahan-Sangla-Chitkool-Kalpa.But I have not decided on the stops back from Kalpa.Would need your help on that Nayan,for sure

aditi_aruna

Dear Sir
In case your dates get postponed to Mid July 2009 , and you are looking at sharing a vehicle do get in touch with me ...we are 3 adults starting the same route on 12/13 July 2009
thanks

k_cborty

Can someone suggest some short treks in Sangla and Kalpa.

I am plan to have a free day in Sangla and Kalpa in my June last week trip to Kinnaur.

I want suggestion on 2 - 3 hrs trek in both places.

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nayan

From kalpa - chakha pastures. Its about a 2hrs trek.

k_cborty

Is it called Chakha pastures trek?Will locals be able to guide me.
Any short trek from Sangla?

The itinery looks somewhat as below:

Day 1- June 20th(Sat) - Delhi-Chandigarh-Shimla
Day 2- June 21st(Sun) - Shimla-Sarahan
Day 3- June 22nd(Mon) - Sarahan- Sangla
Day 4- June 23rd(Tues)-Sangla - Chitkul-Sangla
Day 5- June 24th (Wed)-Sangla (A short trek if possible)
Day 6- June 25th(Thurs)-Sangla- Kalpa
Day 7- June 26th (Fri)-Kalpa
Day 8- June 27th (Sat)-Kalpa - Shimla or Naldhera
Day 9- June 28th(Sun)-Shimla-Chandigarh-Delhi

Clarification and suggestion required:

1.The problems which may arise with small kids(though both are accustomed to heights).Anybody with experience of going with kids to Kinnaur?

2.Likely weather condition in Kinnaur in June last week.

3.We plan to stay in Govt Rest/Guest House(as we know a Sr govt servant in HP).What is the condition of Govt Rest Houses in HP?

I would also like to know how much Ramchander charges now.Have spoken to him but not discussed rates!

nayan

The locals will definitely be able to guide you. My husband did this trek on the spur of the moment. We were delayed by a day from going to tabo dur to land slide. we were cooling our heels in kalpa. He asked the hotel staff what to do around kalpa and they suggested the trek. One of the hotel boys guided him to the spot.
you can see pictures of it in our picasaweb photo gallery
http://picasaweb.google.com/koustav....8 41440704706
http://picasaweb.google.com/koustav....9 57404821714

I think IM member shaleen did a kinnaur trip with a small baby.