Reminders of Home #homeawayfromhome

and these.

But either way, after a tiring journey through a beautiful landscape, we reached Kaza hungry and sleepy. When we entered, all of Kaza was closed—the streets were dark and empty, and had the biggest locks on it's ATMs and bunks.

We made our way to the hotel we had booked. A hotel that was our second choice since Zostel was booked out. Skeptical, we emailed them, called them, and asked them to save us some dinner. They reassured us and told us to come by carefully.

When we reached there, we had the staff waiting for us. Our bags were picked up before we even made our way out of the car. Our bed was warmed and waiting for us to get in.

The room was a beautiful fusion between a Spitian home and an Airbnb. We didn't expect the room to be spacious—none of the pictures on the website made it seem like it was—but this room in itself was palatial!

Hotel Deyzor was started by Karan and Skalzang. Karan absolutely detests technology, and most payments can be made through cards and cash. He is the reason for encouraging Spitians to open their own homestays. Skalzang, on the other hand, is an Olympian who represents India in Archery. Just how cool is that! But the two are also social warriors, making sure that Spitians are educated and protected.

But Deyzor, this little haven amidst the freezing temperatures of Spiti, was something else. The walls in our room were covered with little quotes, stories of Deyzor's inception, and pictures from our hosts travels.

We were greeted with a warm apple cider drink to refresh us from our travels. And as promised we were told to order anything off the menu and they would make it for us. Sure enough, within minutes, we had piping hot fried rice, honey chilli potatoes, and momos to fill our hungry stomachs. The portions, you ask, would have lasted us for two days easily.

Everything about Deyzor screamed home! The bathroom's smelled like lavender, the food tasted delicious, the room was tidy and clean, the walls were a reflection of the love and care that went into making the place, and the beds were warm (I'll write this entire post about the bed being warm, that's how much it mattered to me!)

You can be assured that I slept like a happy baby that night.

The next day, I stepped out in the morning to be greeted by the most beautiful view. Snowcapped mountains with the softest rays of sun hitting us. Before we made our way onward, we stopped by their cafe for some brunch. You can be assured that their cafe was a testament to how much their guests loved this place.

It was a hub of books, games, richly decorated with stories and history. You'll find Karan here, manning the cafe, and having the deepest conversations with people he's just met.

But what's fascinating is the line of fossils and berries that they find in this area. A billion years ago, this was an ocean. With the passage of time, the mighty Himalayan mountains emerged and the seabed ceased. The animals fossilized, and the fossils are found around Spiti Valley. (With travellers raiding the area looking for fossils, the natural make-up of the area is now getting depleted, so if you're heading to Spiti, maybe take pictures and put it back?)

With the random gyan and preaching, I'm here at the end of this post. Leaving Deyzor was hard. I wanted to extend my stay here and in Spiti impermanently, but alas, we had to go.

When I started writing this, I never imagined I could put into words why this place felt like home. But it did, and I've left a huge chunk of my heart in the Spitian landscape and a bigger chunk here at Deyzor. Our stay and food at Deyzor would have been around 3.5-4k in all.