Information
How
to get there
Spiti valley is only approached via road from
Shimla (Kinnaur) or Manali (Kullu road). It takes nearly 2 days driving from
Shimla to Tabo or Kaza. We did take a taxi from Shimla (try services from Bandbox
Height & Valleys; for $23.5-$25.5 per day including fee of petrol and
driver). Bus goes from Shimla to Rekong Peo, where you can take another bus to
Tabo or Kaza in the next day. While Kinnaur road is highway opening all time,
bus service may be infrequent.
Kullu road from Manali via Rohtang pass is
shorter and it took one day (for $74). However, it only opens from June to
October’s middle. Time allotted to drive from Tabo to Kaza is 2 hours.
Spiti’s
left bank
Spiti
valley
The trip
Day 1: Kaza (3,600m) – Lhangza (4,400m)
– Komic (4,500m): 3-4 hours
The road from Kaza to Lhangza allows jeeps
and takes around 1 hour. From Lhangza, the path leads to hill in 1 hour then
goes down until it meets the only path from where you can see Hikim village and
Komic monastery. That road goes through appealing grassland. After that, it
leaves the only path and heads towards Hikim village. From here, there is a
sloping trail to Komic monastery precariously hung on a hill. You can also
follow the jeep-road (how boring!) to get to Komic monastery and the village.
Kaza
Day 2: Komic (4,500m) – Demul (4,300m):
7 hours
The road from Komic to the only path of
Charmay Lapzey (4,700m) takes 2 hours. Then, this road travels through a valley
and after a few hours, you will meet a clearing where you can enjoy lunch (packed
at your homestay). Ibexes can be seen faraway. Farther on hill, you will cross a
nomadic people’s hamlet having only one house called Doksa before you reach Yang
Lapzey’s final path. From here, it takes 1 hour going downhill to get to Demul
village.
Day 3: Demul (4,300m) – Lhalung
(3,700m): 6-7 hours
Road from Demul going right down to an
800-meter canyon, watch out these loose rubbles. After 3 hours, the road meets
Khunka River. Sanglung village (3,500m) – a great stop for lunch – will appear
right in the next hour. At Sanglung, we did notice the bridge below Lhalung and
on Lingti river had been broken. Thus, instead of turning left from Sanglung,
we had to take a long trip on the right with a jeep-road for 2 hours before
reaching Lhalung.
The
trail between Demul and Lhalung
Day 4: Lhalung (3,700m) – Dhangkar
(3,800m): 5 hours
The road on our trip’s last day seemed rather
smooth to get to Dhangkar. After leaving Lhalung, let’s follow the jeep-road
over Lingti River. 1 hour later, there will be a path turning left from the
main road and heading towards hills. This path full of foot-prints meets the
main road joins the road before encountering Dhangkar. You can stay at Dhangkar
at night and we recommend monastery’s guesthouses. Dhangkar is nearly 1 hour
driving and 2 hour driving from Tabo and Kaza respectively. You must arrange
means of transport from Kaza or Tabo to pick you up from here.
Where
to stay
There are many hotels and guesthouses in
Tabo and Kaza. In Tabo, we stayed at Tiger Den near the monastery and in Kaza,
we chose Sakya Adobe. A double room cost $6.5-$8.5.
On the way, each village has numerous
homestays offering food and room for $4.5-$5.5 per night for one person. In
Komic, we slept overnight at Kunga Homestay run by Kunga Chorden and family. In
Demul, Norbu can help arranging rooms. In Lhalung, you can stay at Tashi’s
Khabrick Homestay.
When
to set off
The best season for the trip ranges from
June to mid-October. We went in late-September and did enjoy deserted trail and
excellent weather.
What
to bring with
Bring enough water (2 liters at least) for
the whole day and iodine/chlorine pills to purify the water. You can also carry
a walking stick in case hills may be rough due to pebble and gravel. Though
homestays provide bed and blanket, a sleeping bag is till useful.
Although the trip includes staying at house
in village every night, don’t underrate the effect of the altitude as well as
the walk. The average altitude is above 4,300 meter and even the lowest one is 3,500
meter. It is a good idea to stay at Tabo (3,000m) at least one night and spend
two more night at Kaza (3,600m) before any further walk. Fitness with climatic
adaptation is the key – so make daylight trip to Ki (3,800m) and Kibber
(4,200m) if possible.
Map
There are various types of map. We chose Indian
Himalaya Maps Sheet 6 of Leomann Maps.
The
map
Tour
managers
It is possible to go the trip with no tour
manager if you can bring stuff along and find way yourself. This was our
intention when starting from Kaza but we decided to get a guide from Komic
because path may be disordered and it was often that no one there to ask for
directions. Spiti Holiday Adventure (www.spitiholidayadventure.com) and Spiti Ecosphere
(www.spitiecosphere.com) have their office in Kaza so they can arrange for a
guide and a donkey carrying stuff. We travelled with Kunga Chorden, who suggested
by Spiti Holiday Adventure.
