The meaning of Spiti is " THE MIDDLE LAND". It is a beautiful deserted mountain terrain which will surely give you a feel of heaven.
Spiti circuit can be done through 2 ways, one is from Shimla and another one is from Manali. Shimla-kaza route is accessible throughout the year while manali-kaza route opens only during june-September.
I had done my spiti circuit through shimla-kaza route. This route includes delhi-narkanda-kalpa-nako-tabo-kaza , I had completed my circuit in 8 days and this is the minimum time you need to complete the circuit.
Now if you want to complete your spiti expedition under RS 10,000 then you need to cut out some unwanted expenses and have to travel through public transport.
We were the group of 5 people and We started our journey from Delhi and took a bus to narkanda which costs us RS 450 per person, so total cost of bus from delhi-narkanda was Rs 2250.
We were carrying some home made food items like thelpe , Puri and some snacks so we used those things for our dinner.
Total cost of the day - Rs 2250
We reached narkanda at 7:00 am morning. You can find good hotels and guest houses under RS 1500 in narkanda.
When we went there season was at it's peak so it was difficult to find rooms but after some time we found a decent hotel of Rs 1300 for 5 people.
We didn't hire any taxi or bike to explore narkanda ,we walked on our foot and did some good hiking as it was a small village. While exploring narkanda we had some tea and momos which costs us RS 200.
There are some good restaurants and dhaba's in narkanda which offers some good food , we had our dinner which costs us RS 650.
Total cost of the day- 1300+200+650 = 2150
From narkanda we took a bus to rampur which costs RS 300 per person, so total cost of bus ticket was Rs 1500
We had our breakfast in narkanda which costs us RS 200 and started our journey to reckong peo , there was no direct bus from narkanda to reckong peo so we took a bus to rampur and then too reckong peo which in total costs us RS 3250. During this journey we had Maggie and tea at a dhaba near rampur which costs us RS 400
You can get cheap home stays and hotels in reckong peo and kalpa under Rs 1000. We got a very cheap home stay of RS 500 for 5 people in reckong peo and further we hitchhiked to kalpa and roghi valley and explore those small villages.
You can get several dhabas at reckong peo and kalpa for some decent food, we had our dinner which costs us RS 600
Total cost of the day - 200+3250+400+500+600= 4950
Our next target was to reach kaza , so we hired a sumo cab till kaza and met some fellow travellers , now we are 9 members in a sumo cab and we shared the further expenses of our trip.
We reached nako and had our break fast Costing RS 700 for 7 people. We decided not to go kaza directly and took our cab to mud Village in pin valley and stayed in our driver's home stay which in total costs us RS 2500 for 5 people.
Total cost - 700+2500 =3200
We reached and kaza and had our breakfast of RS 500 for 5 people and again hired the same sumo cab for our sightseeing in kaza which costs RS 2800 for 5 people.
After coming back from sightseeing we booked a hotel for 2 days in kaza which costs RS 3000 for 5 people.
Then we went to explore kaza market and had our dinner for RS 700
Total expense of the day - 500+2800+3000+700=7000
We hired the same sumo cab for kunzum pass and chandratal lake Costing 1100 per person. (1100*5= 5500)
We had our tea and breakfast of RS 60 and headed towards chandratal, in between we had our lunch of RS 600 and then went exploring Chandratal.
After returning back to kaza we had our dinner of RS 900 and then enjoyed some good sleep.
Total cost of the day - 5500+60+600+900=7060
Our back journey starts and we booked our tickets back to reckong peo of RS 450 each (450*5=2250).
We had our lunch in during the journey Costing RS 500. After reaching reckong peo ,we got the bus till Shimla for RS 400 per person(400*5=2000)
We had our dinner near rampur which costs RS 300.
Total cost of the day - 2250+500+2000+300= 5050
We reached shimla and booked our hotel of RS 1500 for 5 people and had our snacks costing RS 350 then we headed back to Delhi which costs us RS 2000.
Total cost of the day- 1500+350+2000= 3850
Total expense of the trip = 2250+2150+4950+3200+7000+7060+5050+3850= 35,510
Total cost per person - 35,510/5 = 7,102 + 1000(some further expenses) = 8,102
I hope this budget information will surely help you😊
Keep travelling 🙂