Distance: 220 kms 

Time Taken: 10 -12 hours drive

Given how remote the district of Spiti is, to get there is a time-consuming endeavour. The first leg of trying to make our way into this virgin land involves a 220km road trip through the Kinnaur valley to Sangla. We assemble in Shimla early morning by 07:30 hours at a pre-decided location, and leave for this far away village latest by 8 AM. The first three hours of the drive is through cities and thickly habitated areas which leads into a calmer road lined with forests that start to thin out as the journey along the Sutlej river progresses. The last two hours of the drive are a bit bumpy for the uneven road that leads us into Sangla. Expect to reach by late evening.

The second leg of making our way into the cold desert is continuing our long journey from yesterday. The drive to Tabo has a lot to offer. We cross the confluence of Sutlej and Spiti rivers on our way there, passing through the towns of Pooh and Nako. A small detour will also take us to Gue, which has India's only known naturally preserved mummy. At Sumdo we cross the confluence of Spiti and Parechu rivers which leads us into our drive straight to Tabo, known for its 1000 year old monastery.

Distance: 70kms drive

The route to Chicham introduces you to the true view of Spiti as you make your way to high mountains with the snow disrupting the monochrome of the landscape, the Spiti river crisscrossing on the floor down below and the bright blue of the river is slowly replaced by thicker and wider borders of white when the river starts to freeze up with every kilometre. 

Night stays is in the warmest houses with some delicious local delicacies. 

We will spend the day trekking up the mysterious caves 4 hours up from Chicham. This medium difficult trek which will take us to a cave rife with ancient paintings is a time machine to old times. A lot of folk tales are associated with the cave and locals go up there to pray for the spirits of their dead even today! The route to this cave gets steeper with every step and has you navigate snow and the scree-ridden slopes of this peculiar landscape.

We descend down to Kaza for the night the same evening.

Today the team leaves for hamlets nested higher up on the naked mountains of Spiti! Kaza is the central point to all the villages in the vicinity and the place with all the facilities for it is the administrative headquarters. We drive to Langza which is famous for its massive Buddha statue in the middle of the brown mountains striped with the white of the snow. We go through Ki monastery which stands high on a pinnacle. With the colours, prayer flags and the warmth of the place, the monastery is a symbol of all that's good about our race. 

We then trek from here to a series of 'highest' places. Komic - the highest Village of the world and Hikkim which has the highest post office in the world. And guess what! It's functional! You can drop your postcards in the bright red post box of this winter post office. You can't miss it, because the red post card is the brightest thing in the village. The trek is fairly easy - you are likely to experience a little bit of breathlessness because of the cold and the Altitude.

The expanse of Spiti is wide and desolate - long stretches of brown folds till your eye can see. But every once in a while, you will see a small group of white dots on top of mounds or resting at the foothills. These are the white-washed, flat-roofed houses of the smallest and remotest villages you would have ever seen! It is a wonder how the people here remain so warm and agreeable in a land with zero vegetation and temperatures that drop to -18 to -20 during daytime. We go to two such villages today.

Dhankar is an entire town resting on fragile mud pinnacles like massive termite mounds. It's an entire civilization of mud which looks like it could crumble at any point but is sturdy enough to hold a population of 300. It looks like a place from a distant planet with the peculiar geographical formations which secretly tell the history of the place. A small trek from the village takes you to a frozen lake as massive as a football field with wild horses chilling close by. The village itself has a lot of history to offer with its monastery and forts.

Today is when we leave the cold folds of Spiti and make our way to the warmth and sanctuary of Kalpa in the Kinnaur Valley. It's a 180km scenic drive which bids adieu to this one of a kind experience to greener and warmer lands.

Warmer still we go further down to Shimla today. It is a long drive. Expect to reach late evening.