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A TRANS HIMALAYAN WILDERNESS SAFARI
Surrounded by the Kullu Valley in the south, Ladakh
in the north and Tibet in the east, the twin valleys
of Lahaul and Spiti is a region of nature at its
wildest. This land duplicates, possibly exceeds
in many ways, the magical ambience of Leh, Nubra
an d Zanskar valleys. This region remains cut
off from the rest of the world for much of the
year. Apart from geographical barriers, this area
was closed, till recently, to visitors because
of military and political reasons. These valleys
encompass glaciers, high ridges, broad valleys,
pastures and has a minimum elevation exceeding
3000m. This area is more of a high altitude cold
desert dotted with famous monasteries, villages
like little green oasis in a stark, brown and
dry landscape, miles of rolling pastures, 6000m
peaks and swollen rivers which turn into mere
trickles in winter. Between the Shivaliks and
the Greater Himalayas is found another of India's
last unexplored posts, Kinnaur. Situated on the
Old World trade route, its only link with the
outside world is by way of the Hindustan -Tibet
road through Shimla.
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Itinerary |
| Day
01 : |
An
early morning drive in a comfortable
car to Manali (570 kms; 10-11 hours).
Manali is a picturesque hill town at
the head of the Kullu valley. Overnight
hotel. |
| Day
02 : |
Relaxed
day to visit the town, its mall and
the Hadimba temple. Visit the Tibetan
market and take in the sights. Overnight
hotel. |
| Day
03 : |
Today is an early start. we drive
over the Rohtang pass (separating
Kullu from the Lahaul valley), and
descend into the valley of the Chandra
river and continue past Chhattru,
Batal and over the Kunzum la (pass),
which divides Lahaul and Spiti. We
spend some time taking in fabulous
views of the Chandrabhaga range of
mountains, visit the Buddhist shrine
and get into our waiting jeeps, to
reach Kaza by evening. Overnight Camp/hotel.
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| Day
04 : |
Today,
we visit the Kye village and the Kye
gompa, the largest monastery in Spiti.
We drive upto Kibber village, which
at 14,000 feet above sea level, is the
road head for the trade route into Ladakh
over the Parang La. We continue to the
village of Gette and Tashigang high
up in the mountains - this is the area
where the famous Spiti horses are bred
for trade with the nomadic "changpas"
of Ladakh in exchange for the valuable
Pashmina wool. If time permits, on return
we could walk down a steep path to Kye
gompa, where our jeeps pick us up for
the drive back to the camp. We return
to our camp/hotel by late afternoon.
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| Day
05 : |
Today,
first we drive to Dhankar village and
visit the gompa. (If time permits -we
also walk an hour above the monastery
to Dhankar lake, a blue-green lake amidst
pink-brown hills). We return back to
the main road and drive on to Tabo monastery,
a monastery 1004 years old. In 1996,
the Tabo monastery celebrated its thousand
years with a Kalachakra ceremony, which
was presided by His Holiness the Dalai
Lama. We spend the day exploring the
numerous temples at the monastery, before
continuing back to our camp/hotel at
Tabo. |
| Day
06 : |
After
breakfast, we drive to Langza village,
located in a large high mountain meadow
with a beautiful mountain, Chau Chau
Kang Nilda, towering above this village.
Here we find evidence of the Tethy's
sea before the Indian mainland collided
with the Tibetan plateau and formed
the Himalayas, which are still rising
today. Sea fossils can be found at this
village - a day spent here provides
a fascinating insight to the Spiti way
of life. We continue to the villages
of Hikkim and Comic, where we visit
the monasteries. We could walk down
the steep path to Kaza where the jeeps
would be waiting for us or drive back
to camp from Comic. Overnight at Camp/hotel. |
| Day
07 : |
Today
we drive back over the Kunzum pass and
trek 4 hours to the lake of the moon,
"Chandratal". Overnight Camp. |
| Day
08 : |
At
Chandratal. Many walks in the surrounding
area. Camp. |
| Day
09: |
Drive
back to Manali. Hotel. |
| Day
10 : |
Today,
after breakfast, we drive back to Delhi
(10-11 hours). Trip ends. |
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