Shimla To Spiti by road

shori

Hi,
Iam planning a trip from Shimla to Spiti on 15th Feb 2008. Any information would be helpful as road conditions & weather information iam riding a Royal Enfield 350 & would be carrying tent & down sleeping bags.

capt_mahajan

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charly26

High shori,
i think its not agood idea to drive from shimla to spiti on february. We made this tour on sept/oct 2007 and we had first snow and ice in the winterseason. The road from shimla(2200m) to rekong peo(2300m) along the sutlej-river will be maybe o.k. It is possible to reach rekong peo on 1 day. Only 1 or 2 hours of the way is bad (mud). In rekong peo you will get your permit for spiti and you can ask the traffic-police if the road to spiti is open or not. There are also some guesthouses and restaurants. If you want to test how cold it is in the mountains you can drive up to kalpa(3000m) in 30 min. from rekong peo. Belive me, the road from here to spiti is very dangerous, narrow and slippery. Tar is less than 50%. We had 2 landslides on the way. On the firstone we had to wait 1 day, the secound 3 hours and it was very cold because the road goes upto 4000m. A Enfield is not the right bike for this tour. The best time to visit spiti is between may and october.
If you need more informations or photos, let me know. Charly

charly26

Here the first photos from the road. charly

Attached Thumbnails

     

abhi_kaju

Dear Shori,
I think the road from Rekong Pio to Kaja is not such bad as described by Charley. I am an Indian and from Bengal, Kolkata.
I have visited the area with my wife and daughter in last year. In the contrary, the road is fine. But you know - in upper Himalaya, the road may break any time. But u do the journey and it is fantastic. Try to take one companion and 25 litre of petrol as researve from Rekong Pio. There is no petrol pump for at least 600 K.M. from Recong Pio. No problem at February as the area is under control of Indian Military.You will certainly get great help from them. If you are serious, you can always contact me. abhi_kaju@yahoo.co.in.

vistet

I saw this road in ´05 the first time , and had to turn back since it had been ... washed away seems not to be the word , the destruction was awesome in places.The Pare Chu flood wave was an unique event , but the section at Malling for example has been rebuilt a number of times over the last years. Don´t take any part of this road for granted.

Last time, September ´07 , I had no problems Shimla to Kaza.

You´ll find some good background and maps here

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charly26

I think the question is not how the road is princible. Shori wants to make this tour on februay with a motorbike. February is winter in the Himalaya, this is fact. And winter in Spiti means snow and minus-temperatures. I dont think that abhi_kaju was there with his family by motorbike in wintertime. Sure, the military is holding open the road on winter also, but they have other vehicles than a Enfield 350. By Jeep it`s maybee fantastic, you have heating, four wheels and you can carry a lot of things. With bike you have to ride all the time in the coldness and to look for accommodation where you can warm up every day. I know what I write, because I made this kind of travelling with motorbike more than 20 years, also in wintertime.
Is it not possible for you to make this fantastic tour between may and october? Than you can enjoy this beatiful area more, and visit easy the monasterys and villages like Kibber and Komik.

Dilliwala

Cap'n, maybe this shud be in thr HP forum?

shori

Thanks Charly. Iam getting off from my work place in Feb only that is the reason to go there in Feb anyways i will try my luck & keep you guys posted about my experiences. & yes iam working on getting a 4*4 instead of Royal Enfield.

rishabh6296

Shori,
this trip is not possible in feb as whole of Kinnaur is snowed down and the traffic is blocked.