Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley..

Tripoto
Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. 1/1 by Anurag Sharma
Day 1
Photo of Manali, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Day 2
Photo of Manali, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Photo of Losar, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Photo of Kunzum La, Dhar Thachakarpo, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Day 3
Photo of Kaza, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Photo of Key Gompa, Key, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Photo of Key Gompa, Key, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Day 4
Photo of Tabo, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Day 5
Photo of Chandra Taal, Lahaul And Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Photo of Chandra Taal, Lahaul And Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Photo of Chandra Taal, Lahaul And Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Day 6
Photo of Batal, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Photo of Rohtang La, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Day 7
Photo of Kasol, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Photo of Manikaran, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Photo of Kheerganga - Sunshine Himalayan Camp, Khir Ganga, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Day 8
Photo of Kheerganga - Sunshine Himalayan Camp, Khir Ganga, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Photo of Kheerganga - Sunshine Himalayan Camp, Khir Ganga, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Day 9
Photo of Tosh, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Photo of Kutla, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Photo of Kutla, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma

There is a devil inside me that can't let me live without travelling. After doing Chadar trek in January, I spent next 4 months cherishing its memories. Then I thought of going for a Solo trip. I was always excited about the idea of Solo trip even though I was not sure about the enjoyment part. I decided to give it a shot & started looking for places to go. After surfing web & discussing with some friends I choose Spiti Valley. I believe most beautiful places are unexplored ones & not the famous ones so I thought of making it a more adventures trip by not planning at all. I decided to ask natives about places to explore after reaching there as they know best about their place. I didn't expect this to be one of my best trip.

Day 1

29th June :- Bus for kaza departs at 5:30A.M, so I had to stay in Manali for 1 day. I decided to walk as much as I could to explore around Manali far from the crowd. I walked around 15 kms that day and enjoyed the scenery of Beas river flowing between the mountains. After a long tiring day I felt painful cramps in my left leg in the night. I was not sure whether I could continue my journey or not.

Beas river in Manali

Photo of Manali, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Day 2

30th June :- Fortunately my leg was much better next morning and I was excited to continue my journey. Bus departs from Kullu at 4A.M and reach Manali at 5:00 A.M. Bus was already full when it reached Manali and there were lot of passengers to board from Manali too. Conductor told me that all the sitting passengers are going till kaza so i have to continue without seat for 14 hours. I was little hesitant because of the cramp but decided to continue. I met two foreigners in the bus. They were also travelling Solo. I am an introvert person so I don't talk much with strangers. But in this trip I made sure talking to many people and also made some good friends. I started talking with the two foreigners and soon we were conversing like old friends. I talked to almost half of the bus in this ride, including some natives of Spiti. Two people boarded from Batal, they were coming from Chandratal and were going to Kaza. We talked and decided to take the accommodation together in Kaza to make it under budget. Finally we reached Kaza at 7P.M & after taking accommodation we walked through the village. It was totally different landscape compared to Manali.

Photo of Losar, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Photo of Kaza, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Day 3

1st July :- Last day evening while walking around the village I asked some of the natives about places to explore around the area, finally I decided to go to Key Monastery and Kibber next morning by taking Lift. Early morning I got the lift after waiting for half an hour and reached Key Monastery by 8 A.M. It is the largest monastery in Spiti and there I met a Lama who was very generous, he offered me tea and breakfast and asked me about suggestions to start some small scale business to help students of the monastery to get better education and facilities. He was truly inspirational and I was amazed by his will power. I cancelled my visit to Kibber & spend some more time there. After lunch I went back to Kaza & from there took the bus to Tabo. I stayed in Tabo that night and planned for the next day to explore the place.

I with Nima Lama

Photo of Key Gompa, Key, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma

Beautiful Landscape of spiti

Photo of Key Gompa, Key, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Day 4

2nd July :- Early morning I went for a walk around the village. It was very peaceful and silent. There was so much joy in that silence. I went 5 kms towards opposite side of Kaza to a village named Lari. On the way I found the Shiva temple. That's the only temple I found in Spiti. I enjoyed the beautiful landscape and wanted to continue it forever, but I had to get back to Tabo. I met a guy from Taiwan in the guest house. We talked about our cultures & did lunch together, then he said that we all Indians look same & he is not able to identify people. I somehow managed to control my laugh (As you know we also think same about chinese people). Then I went to Tabo Monastary & Tabo Caves. I planned to go to Chandratal on the next day and there is only one bus from Kaza to Manali at 5:30 A.M ( For chandratal we have to deboard at Kunzum Pass, then a 12 kms trek to reach Chandratal). So I went back to Kaza on the same day & stayed at a home stay.

Guest house in Tabo

Photo of Tabo, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma

Cute kids I met at Tabo bus stand

Photo of Tabo, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Day 5

3rd July :- At night I felt severe back pain & was not able to sleep. This was the first time I had back pain in my life, so I didn't know how to deal with it. I barely slept for 2-3 hours. In the morning the pain was less so I decided to continue my journey. The weather was fantastic with clouds moving in the mountains. I reached kunzum pass at around 11A.M. From there I had to go for a 12 kms solo trek. It was drizzling at that time & the beauty of the place cannot be described in words ( I think pictures can help). I completed the trek in 3 hours & it was an amazing experience. I could see big glaciers and river beds from the distance. I reached Chandratal at 2 P.M & there I met 3 locals who came there to enjoy the day. I joined them & roamed around the place for 4 hours. As it is on much higher altitude( 4300 m) than other places so it was getting very cold and windy in the evening. The lake guard was relative to one of the member, so we enjoyed tea at his camp near the lake. The campsite is 3 kms from the lake. One of the campsite owner was friend to the locals, we went there & enjoyed the meal & I also got a tent to sleep. The camp owner was going to Manali the next day in his pick up truck. So I decided to join him with couple of other people. The night was windy & chilly & we had to left for Manali at 5:30 A.M.

Photo of Kunzum Pass, Dhar Thachakarpo, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma

Chandratal

Photo of Chandra Taal, Lahaul And Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Day 6

4th July :- We left for Manali at 6 A.M. We were 3 people with the camp owner. As it was a pick up truck so only one person can sit with the driver, So I and one other person decided to stand in the back part of truck. It was freezing cold and windy & we two were not even able to speak. But the journey was one of the most enjoyable & memorable journey. The air was so pure, the place was so untouched, only thing I could do was to admire. At Chhatru, we gave lift to a foreigner. He was a rock climber & was doing solo rock climbing in that area. That place is famous as rock climbing destination & also part of Hampta pass trek. We reached Manali at around 1 P.M & I decided to spend next 3 days in Parvati valley. After lunch I left for Bhunter, and then Bhunter to kasol. I reached Kasol at around 7 P.M.

Photo of Kasol, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Photo of Kasol, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Day 7

5th July :- As I did not planned for Parvati valley trip, I was not aware of the places to go. I asked some of the natives about it & decided to go to Tosh in the afternoon. In the morning I went to Manikaran, 3 kms away from Kasol and famous for Manikaran Saheb Gurudwara. I enjoyed hot water bath & Langar there. Then I left for Barshaini ( Tosh is 3kms away from Barshaini and public transport is available till Barshaini). In the bus I heard 3 bangali people talking something about Kheerganga trek. I talked to them & get to know that they are from Bangladesh & came to India to do Kheerganga trek & visit some other places. I decided to join them for Kheerganga trek as it looked much more fun than staying in Tosh. Kheerganga is a 15 kms long trek mostly uphill & starting point at Barshaini. The trek was awesome with many exciting moments but I will not talk about it and most likely cover it in another blog. We reached at the top at 6:30 P.M. We were exhausted and relieved ourselves by taking hot water bath.

Photo of Kheerganga - Sunshine Himalayan Camp, Sosan, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Day 8

6th July :- I woke up early in the morning & took hot water bath for an hour. Then after breakfast I roamed around the place & admired the scenery. The place is beautiful but it was looking even more beautiful with the cloud cover. We started our return journey at 12 P.M and reached Barshaini in 4 hours. I said good byes to the Bangladeshi guys and continued my journey to Tosh. I met a fellow traveler & we decided to go together. Tosh is a vertical town, so we were exhausted when we reached at the top of Tosh.

Kheerganga

Photo of Tosh, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma

Tosh

Photo of Tosh, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma
Day 9

7th July :- This was the final day of my trip. I planned to go to Malana but dropped my plan as I heard that it is a place similar to Tosh. The guy I befriended on the previous day told me about kutla, a small village located at top of the hill. There is a 1 hour trek from Tosh to Kutla, so we decided to went there. The trek was easy & beautiful with waterfalls & beautiful landscapes. But the real surprise was the final destination. It is a place where I can spend rest of my life, located at top of the hill with no crowd & beautiful view. We ate our breakfast at a dhaba & asked its owner about near by places to go. He told us to go to other side of the hill. We went there & reached a beautiful valley with view of glaciers from the distance. We met a shepherd family there & they invited us to share food with them. As it was the occasion of Eid, we ate halwa with them & thanked them for their generosity. We decided to head back to Tosh but lost our way. We were scared because there was no one & it was the dense forest. Luckily we found our way back and reached Tosh.

Near kutla

Photo of Kutla, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma

Beautiful Kutla village

Photo of Kutla, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma

Shepherd Family

Photo of Kutla, Himachal Pradesh, India by Anurag Sharma

Then I headed back to Delhi & ended this memorable trip. This trip gave me enough confidence to do solo trips again & again. The picture of beautiful landscapes, generous people, diverse culture remain within me & my soul will continue to live this journey forever.

Some more pics...

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Manali

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Batal

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Kunzum Pass

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Kaza

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Key Monastery

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Tabo village

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Tabo Monastery

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Chandratal from the distance

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Chandratal

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Enroute Kheerganga

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Kheerganga

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

En route Kheerganga

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Kutla

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Glacier en route chandratal trek

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Chandratal

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Chandratal

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Chandratal

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

En route Kheerganga

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

En route kutla

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Yummy breakfast

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Chandratal campsite

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Kutla village

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma
Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

Kunzum pass

Photo of Solo Backpacking to Spiti & Parvati valley.. by Anurag Sharma

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