(9 nights 10 days)
Just 190 kms from Chandigarh, lies Thanedar, a small orchard town tucked away 10 kms from Narkanda. This was the birthplace of apples in India and affords a serene and calm experience. For the activity oriented there are some lovely walks as also a trek to a peak nearby.
From here your journey takes you into the unknown Himalayas where you will see the Kinner Kailash in all its majesty and the gurgling Baspa River famous for trout fishing, at our camp at Sangla. Take nature walks through the surrounding forests, trek up to the breathtaking meadows, camp out in the open or simply laze by the riverbank. Continue your journey to the barren landscapes untouched by time at Spiti valley.
In Tabo visit the 1008 years old monastery, check out the serene Nako Lake in the middle of the village, go on to Kaza and visit the highest motorable village in the world - Hikkim. Coming back from the unknown to the known, drive through the 4551m Kunzum pass and 3978m high Rohtang pass to reach Manali. This is where your journey ends with umpteen memories to last a lifetime.
Itinerary
- Day 1: Delhi - Thanedar 440km/10-11hr
Leave Delhi after an early breakfast. Spend the night in the Banjara Retreat, Thanedar. - Day 2: Thanedar - Sangla 153km/6hr
After breakfast leave for Sangla. Just across the camp, visit Batseri village after lunch, the local Devta temple
is a must see. Enjoy the warmth of the bon re by the riverside in the evening. Night stay in Banjara camp,
Sangla. - Day 3: Sangla Visit Chitkul (3,450mts)
20kms from the camp. This is the last village on the old Indo-Tibetan trade route. Lunch along the glacier fed
mountain stream. - Day 4: Sangla
Walk up to the Sangla meadows to see the Kinner Kailash range in all its majesty or take a walk to the glacier
point. Also available river crossing, rappelling or angling for trout. Bon re in the evening. - Day 5: Sangla - Kalpa - 57 kms/2.5 hrs
After breakfast, leave for Kalpa famous for its apple and chilgoza plantations. Kalpa o ers the best panoramic
view of the 6,000m high Kinner-Kailash range. Night stay in Kalpa. - Day 6: Kalpa - Kaza - 210 kms/7 hrs
After an early breakfast, we depart for Kaza, leaving behind verdant, forest clad mountains as we go over the
tree line towards the Spiti region. En route you may take a short detour to visit the picturesque Nako Lake.
The terrain will leave you breathless and speechless. Rock-hard Desert Mountains, torrential rivers and icy
cold winds account for the sparsely populated villages. Reach Kaza, check into the Banjara Retreat and
spend rest of the day at leisure. - Day 7: Kaza - Tabo - Dhankar - Kaza
After an early breakfast, drive down to Tabo and visit Tabo Gompa, reputed to be the oldest (an inscription
on a wall here indicates, it was founded in AD 996) continuously functioning Buddhist monastery in India
and the Himalayas, with its original decoration and iconographic program intact. We then move on to see
Dhankar monastery. Dhankar, the traditional capital of Spiti, sits pretty on a hilltop. The fort here overlooks
the Spiti valley and it was used as a jail in olden days. Today, more than 160 lamas reside here. A statue of
Dhyan Budha where four complete gures of Buddha sit back to back is the main attraction of this more
than seven-century old monastery.
Return back to retreat for lunch. Post lunch visit Ki monastery and Kibber village. Ki Gompa is a Gelugpa sect
monastery. Its hilltop position points to a post-thirteenth century construction. The three storied structure
consists largely of storage rooms at the bottom level, while the middle oor houses the Dukhang- the
assembly hall- and the uppermost oor has another temple and the head Lama's quarters, on one side of an
open terrace. The greatest wealth of Ki Gompa lies in its collection of 'Thangkas' salvaged with di culty
from the devastating raids of the Dogars and the Sikhs in the 19th century.
From here a scenic drive takes you into the pasture country of Kibber. The pastures are spread over hundreds
of square kilometers. Kibber is small village and is the take o point for the popular trek to Tso Moriri
in Ladakh. Further up six kilometers from Kibber, we drive up to a still smaller village of Gete. Consisting of
just six houses, it boasts of being the highest village in Asia connected by road. - Day 8: Kaza - Manali 201km/8hr
Drive to Manali via 4,551M high Kunzum Pass and the 3,978m high Rohtang Pass. Check into Hotel Naggar
Castle for overnight stay. - Day 9: Manali
Day of leisure and local sightseeing. - Day 10: Manali - Delhi 550km/16hr
After an early breakfast, drive to Delhi via Chandigarh.