Explored Himachal Pradesh for the first time!! Rekong Peo, Sangla Valley and Chitkul

I was excited to explore these places and that's probably because this was my first trip to Himachal Pradesh. We started off our journey from Shimla by a cab via NH 22. First night we halted at Rampur, which is around 130 km from Shimla. Rampur is a small town situated at the banks of River Sutlej.

Next day after breakfast we started our journey for Sarahan which is around 170 km from Shimla. This village is known as the gateway of Kinnaur, It is famous for Bhimakali temple dedicated to mother goddess Bhimakali and is one of 51 Shakti Peethas. The temple has unique fusion of Hindu and Buddhist architecture. I took out my DLSR to capture the beauty of the wood carvings, slate tiles roofing and silver entrance gate. By that time it was already lunch time, we took our lunch at the HPTDC Hotel "Hotel Shrikhand". Immediately after lunch we started for Reckong Peo as we planned to reach the town before sunset.

Reckong Peo is the headquarters of Kinnaur district, located at a distance of 219 kms from Shimla. This town is famous for its beauty, Buddhist Monastery, handloom, handicraft items like shawls, caps, mufflers, article of wood carving, metal work and silver & gold ornaments . Kinnaur is also famous for apples, almonds, apricots and grapes. It took around 3 hours from Sarahan. By the time we reached the town we were super tired and wanted to rest at the resort. The Kinner Kailash Resort run by HPTDC, which gives an outstanding view of the Kinner Kailash. The food was good and the Himachali people go out of their way to make you feel comfortable. The next morning after breakfast, which was no other then soft paranthas stuffed with fresh paneer and vegetables. We did some shopping from the Reckong Peo local market and started our journey for the next destination, which is Sangla Valley and Chitkul.

The mountain range, suddenly opened and formed a valley. Sangla Valley is very beautiful, rimmed by snow capped mountains. There are several tented accomodation and hotels around the town, but we didn't wait too long as we were intended to go to Chitkul, the last inhabited village in Indo - Tibet border. The mobile network was also not working. The road to Chitkul village was narrow and bumpy sometimes water was also flowing through the roads. There were very few wooden houses and few shops to serve catering and a board written on it “Hindustan ka Aakhiri Dhaba". We clicked few photos and took tea from the local shop and started our return journey to Shimla. On the way to Shimla one more thing I saw first time was the herd of cattle through the road along with the local gaddis. Came to know from the driver that the main occupation of gaddi tribes is shepherding and they make their livelihood by rearing and selling sheeps, goats, mules and horses. Finally we reached Shimla.