Sangla Valley - The unscripted trip

 

Sangla Valley 

The unscripted trip

“Nature is a constant reminder of the good side of life”. In fact in my case it has been probably the only reminder which has led me to seek out solace and sanity in the most untouched parts of India. Even though my love lies within the forests of India, the Himalayas have always had a special place in my heart. After a grueling season of leading trips for students and nature enthusiasts to various destinations in India it was time for some ME time and I decided to head for the Himalayas to a destination I had only heard from fellow travelers. Sangla Valley had always been on my bucket list and it was time for me to pack my bags and embark on this paradise in the lap of mountains.

Destination Sangla Valley

 Unlike another Himalayan destination Sangla Valley offers a unique blend of both pristine vast green spreads of Pine trees (Deodar) and the magical snow clad peaks of the Himalayan range. If you really wish to get disconnected from the painful trinkets of the urban life, there is no better place than Sangla Valley. Do a solo trip and rediscover a newer side to yourself you didn’t know existed. Add companions and bargain memories that will stay etched in your minds for a lifetime.

The Journey

Day 1 

Mumbai – Delhi – Shimla - Narkanda

Since I reside in Mumbai, I booked myself on a return flight to Chandigarh and had planned to rent a car for the entire journey by way of a road trip. As destiny would have it just a couple of weeks before my trip had to start, I got a call from my carrier saying the flight have been cancelled to due to maintenance work being carried out at the Chandigarh airport. So I rebooked my return flights from Delhi. Since this added almost added around 500 kms extra to my journey I decided to do local transport instead of self drive. I simply hated the idea of being exhausted from the driving and would rather enjoy the odd conversation with the locals on the Government Transport Buses. It turned out to be one of the wisest decisions. 
 I landed at the Delhi airport early morning at about 3.00 AM and booked a cab to Shimla. Slept through the major part of the journey as it waded through the states of Haryana and Punjab. At around mid day we had reached Solan, I could smell the crispness in the air and the feeling of inclining towards nature’s biggest wonder “The Himalayas”. By noon I reached Shimla ISBT bus stop and got out of the cab. I was hungry and was walking around looking out for a place to have my lunch as I heard someone shouting “Sangla - Sangla”. It was the bus conductor calling out to tourists who wanted to head to Sangla. Sub consciously I stepped in the bus, got a comfortable seat and took a ticket for Narkanda where I were to break my journey as I did not plan to exert myself too much before I reached Sangla. Before I proceed I would like to add a note about the local transport.

  HRTC – An experience in it self 

 If you do plan to visit Himachal solo or with a like minded travel buddy, I would highly recommend taking the HRTC buses. They are clean, efficient, and almost always punctual. Even though it was high season I never found any on the buses to be crowded. Locals usually travel for short distances and when they realize you to be from out of state or country they will gladly offer a seat. It was during these bus journeys that I met some of the most loving, honest and wonderful people. I had some of the most interesting conversations and heard stories of hardships and valor one only sees in the movies. The experiences I had on these bus journeys are one of the many things that have stayed back with me.

 HRTC Pro Tips –
 # Travel light so as your bags fit in the cramped overhead luggage bins 
# Take a seat in the front as the drive can be bumpy and winding. 
# Some routes have massive discounts for female passengers. 
# It takes more time than usual, but you can enjoy the views best from the large windows of the bus. #Buses do stop for Meal breaks for the Driver and passengers at local dhabhas, so chance on the local food and yes leave you bags in the bus without any worry of it being stolen 

Day 1 continued… 

 It takes just about 2 hours to reach Narkanda from Shimla. As you leave the hustle and bustle of Shimla, the route transforms into the serpentine windings of absolute bliss. Mountain slopes mostly covered with apple orchards and the odd turn cut through the jaws of slope cliffs as if the vehicles would get swallowed by the colossal mountains. I reached Narkanda by 2 pm and got off the bus to find a quaint little restraint that goes by the name of Negi Dhabha. This place is rustic yet you would be served with home styled cuisines always prepared freshly. The Rajma Chawal here are to die for.

Negi Dhabha Pro Tip – 

# The hotel has a section that is not visible from the main entrance. This section opens up to about 4 tables that all have a window view to die for. 

At Negi Dhabha

Post lunch I met up with the owner of Hatu Valley Homestay Mr. Sukhdev Dogra who has a tiny shop of agro products just a few meters ahead of Negi Dhabha. I had pre-booked a room at Hatu Valley homestay for tonight with Mr. Dogra who was kind enough to arrange a cab for me to reach the home stay. One can also walk up to the home stay. It’s hardly a 2 km walk and very beautiful one. I chose to take the cab as I had some heavy luggage due to my camera equipment. My cab driver Mr Sunil Dogra who owned a Maruti Alto dropped me to the home stay where the owner’s wife welcomed me with hot tea and showed me to my very cozy room. I straightaway hit the sack as I was exhausted from the overnight travelling. I woke up by dinnertime and was served some very basic yet lip-smacking home cooked food made by Mr. Dogra’s wife. We chatted for a while in the dining hall and then I took off to my room. I tried my luck with some star trail photography but the skies were laden with clouds and so after a bit of trying I called it a night. 

Hatu Valley Homestay Pro Tips –
 # Book in advance as this place has limited rooms and gets booked fast especially if you are travelling during peak season time.
 # They charged me INR 1200/- for a night for which I have booked in adv by making a payment of 500/-
 # All the rooms have spectacular view but try and get the top floor. It’s a bit of a climb but the vantage views are worth every step.
 # The food is amazing if you like the non fancy stuff. One meal per person is as cheap as 100/- #They have solar water heating which is available by the switch of a knob. 

 Day 2

 Narkanda – Rampur - Sangla

 So I woke up early in the morning and decided to go for a small hike around the home stay to do some birding. Narkanda has a huge potential for anyone interested in birding and bird photography. For the regular traveler sake I will not go into the details here, but will have shared the links to my pictures HERE. Post breakfast and after my goodbyes to the Dogra family I get in Mr. Sunil Dogra’s cab who was only supposed to drop me back to the bust stop. A conversation ensued and he offered to drop me this Rampur Bushahr town for a cheap deal. What excited me was that he promised me to take a shortcut that went through his village and that I had to see the beauty of it. We drove through a small hamlet by the name of Kumarsain. Chirping of birds, the echo of the temple bell, the fragrance of newly bloomed flowers, aold lady sipping her morning tea, kids walking in a rhythm to the school, this village made me fall in love with it. As I reached Rampur, I promised Sunil that I will return to this place again. I then took a bus from Rampur straight to Sangla. This is where the real fun begins. The roads get windier, scarier and the views get equally mesmerizing. The entry route runs along the banks of the Sutlej river and changes sides a lot of times. The only sorrowful sight was to see the Himachal Pradesh and Jindal Hydro projects that have made huge dams and cemented the mountain slopes. This part is very dusty and the river loses its charm due to huge human interference. I reached Sangla by around 5pm and was picked by a car that was sent to me by dear friends Pradeep and Dilip who own one of the best luxury campsites in Sangla valley by the name of KINNER CAMPS. I reached the campsite and met with the two brothers and family and was greeted by the very warm staff and a hot cup of ginger tea made by the head cook Mr. Tulsi. I decided to have a early dinner and call it a night as I had a long day tomorrow. 

The beautiful Baspa river

    Day 3 

 In and round Kinner camps

 Even though there is so much to do in Sangla, my intent was to park myself in the laps of the mountains and literally do nothing. Sometimes doing nothing is the best thing to do. I woke up early morning and walked down the banks of the Baspa River which is a 5 min hike down the Kinner camps campus. The Baspa river starts at the Baspa hills located near the Indo-Tibetian border and meets the Sutlej river near Karcham. The entire upper middle course of this river is what makes up for the Baspa valley or what is popularly known as “The Sangla valley”. This trip was also a chance for me to do some photography and so it wasn’t too conducive for me to do a lot of trekking due to the heavy camera equipment that I was carrying with me. I spent some time near the banks taking some time lapses and landscape shots and then decided to cross the old wooden bridge used by the locals to traverse between the Sangla main road and Batseri village. Mind you I was warned by the locals to avoid using this bridge as its right flanks supports had given away due to aging in flooding over the years but I decided to cross it anyway. Later did I get to know that there was a meeting between the villagers to get the bridge down so as to build a new metal one instead. I almost spent half a day in the forest on either side of the river and head back to the camp for Lunch. Post lunch had some rest and then moved on to do a small hike to the Glacier point where once can enjoy actual snow. I returned to the campsite for dinner and spent most of the night outside barring the cold weather to try my hands at shooting star trails.

 Day 4 

 Drive to Chitkul 

 Chitkul is one the last inhabited and drivable village before the Indo-Tibetian border and is known for its jaw-dropping medow-scapes and story book Himalayan hamlet setting. I decided to drive down to Chitkul really early in the morning. Doing this helps especially during the peak holiday season as Chitkul does get crowded being one of the main tourist attractions. The drive itself is uphill all the way lined all along the Baspa river and the road keeps rising above the river to scary heights at many points. Mid-way lays a sleepy hamlet called Rakchham. Highly recommend to get off here for some quite tea and walk down the Baspa river to explore the glorified fields and meadows by the banks. As one moves along the road to Chitkul you will come across a Indo-Tibetian Border Police check-post who may ask you for your car documents and where are you driving from. As I drove amidst thick forest the road just suddenly opened up to a  splendor of a setting complete with lush green meadows, turquoise river lined by the most exquisite spread of the pine trees and all glittered by the morning suns warm rays. One has to visit personally to Chitkul to experience this as no words can justify its glory. There are a few places to stay here if one wishes to. There is a Chitkul café and a Hindustan Dhabha both branded as the last café and dhabha on the Indian border. Chitkul is also famous for its potatoes, which are some of the best in the entire world and equally expensive.

                       

 I had breakfast after which I visited the ITBP check post. The army men were kind enough to chat with me but I was denied to take any photographs as this was restricted army post. I then headed back to my campsite at Sangla to a well earned lunch. The food at Kinner camps is really tasty and most importantly healthy. Infact all throughout my trip, everywhere I ate I rarely found the food to be spicy or unhealthy. Evening was spent socializing with fellow traveler who had also camped at Kinner camps and post dinner I went to my tent for some much needed sleep. 

 Day 5 

 Off-roading to Kanda - Sangla town 

When I had sort of roughly planned my itinerary, this was one day that I was the most excited about. Very recently there was new “thing to do” activity that was initiated by the Kinner camp management and that was “The offroading experience to Kanda”. The idea is to hire a 4X4 and drive to a highland plateau area known as Sangla-Kanda. The drive traverses through the very pretty Sangla Village and the through some very scary curvy roads which you will only believe you have crossed once you reach the summit. The entire route is line up with beautiful fields owned by Kinnauri people. Everything from potatoes, to wheat to apples and even vegetables are grown here. Just before the summit there is a small yet very stunning lake. Once you do reach the summit you will hardly find anyone, except the few domesticated Yak’s and other cattle. The entire grassland patch in itself is appealing and the back drop of the Kinner Kailash mountain range adds to the beauty of this place. 

It’s a paradise for landscape photography and I did the same for a few hours here. We then gorged on some lovely pulao packed from the campsite and started the descend. I decided to spend some time at the Sangla main town. There are a few shops for the adventure lover here and the local fruits like the cherry and dry apricots were available for a very cheap price. The town has everything that a traveler may be looking for but it’s best to pack all the essential thing you would need for your trip. Back to camp and lights off. 

Lunch at Kanda

Lunch at kanda

 Kinner Camps Pro Tip –

 # Undoubtedly the best place to stay in Sangla 
# Mouthwatering food and hospitality that is worth every penny you pay for.
# The days are pleasant and the nights and mornings are bitingly cold but the management provides for efficient blankets.
# Hot water is available twice a day.
# Do not touch the campus dogs Pollocks and Sange. They are fun to watch but do not like to be touched.
# Tulsi the head chef is a smiling assassin and will cook up some of his specialties like, The Buckwheat cake, Apple Pie, Wood fired pizza, etc. on request and on an extra cost.
# Dilip Negi the manager will take care of all your hospitality needs and even help you with you itinerary and things to do. 

 

 Day 6 

 Sangla to Kalpa

View from Kinner Villa hotel room

  Post breakfast I checked out of my camp and said good bye to the staff of Kinner camps and took a bus to Kalpa. The drive from Sangla to Kalpa is around 2 hours. The roads are bad and scary. There is no direct bus to Kalpa. One has to take a bus to Reckong Peo, which is the government stronghold of the Kinnaur district and then change buses to Kalpa. We had lunch at place called “The Little chef” at Reckong peo town and the food is very good here. Kalpa is more of a “do nothing and just soak in the beauty “kind of a place. And that’s what I did pretty much. I was hosted by a property called Kinner Villa and boy this hotel has some views of the Kinner Kailash range. I was to walk around the local places but it started raining as the weather worsened. I for one did not complain much as it gave me time to recuperate on my aching bones from all the hiking I did in Sangla. Much of the contents of this blog were written here. Kalpa is known as the apple country of Kinnaur district and the apples here are best in the world. Unfortunately for me I was in the wrong season.

Cherries are to die for

Hotel Kinner Villa

 

 Day 7 

 Kalpa to Rampur Bushahr 

 When I was at the Mumbai airport waiting for the flight before embarking on this trip, I had posted on facebook regarding my travel to Sangla and very old college friend Girish Surve who is proudly now a Major with the Indian army insistently invited me to stay for a night with him at the army base in Rampur. It had been over 15 years that I had seen him and I was super excited to meet him. I remember quite vividly when Girish invited me, he said “take a day off your trip to enjoy the army hospitality” and boy every word of it was true to the core. While we sat through the night chatting about college days and how life laid its course for both of us and sipping on some good old army ranked rum the time seemed so less for catch ups and we called it a night. 

Me and Maj. Girish Surve saying cheers to the good old days! 

Next morning after promising Girish that I will be seeing him again very soon I started my journey back to Delhi. Did a pit stop at Shimla for dinner at the Oberoi’s Clarkes hotel and off to the Delhi airport in a rented car.  

For the Future Traveller –
 

Food 

 # Stick to basic food from the local dhabhas and do not try fancy city labeled dishes. Remember this is a road trip and last thing you want is an upset tummy due to bad choice of food. Remember the code R-S-D-C (Roti – Subzi – Dal – Chawal). Saying this do try out the momos and the thupkas and also if you get a chance to eat in a local village house, get a chance to relish on the authentic kinnauri cusine. You can thank me later :-)
 # If travelling with kids make sure you carry their food accordingly. Supplies are hard to get due to the large distances between towns.
 # Please, please do get your hands on the local fruits available as per the season and there are plenty at offer. Cherries, apples, apricots, peaches and much more….. 

 Packing 

 # The thumb rule is to travel light especially if you are going to take the local transport 
# Make sure you carry enough woolens and thermals. The weather can change very quickly without a warning. # Sunblock, cold cream, rain gear are a must. 

 If Driving 

 # Google maps are more or less reliable for the major connections but stick to asking around if you are going to venture with villages or off beat tracks.
 # Make sure you have a can of gas / fuel in reserve. There can be quite some distance between gas stations.
 # Carry enough water, both for the vehicle and the passengers. 
# Keep checking tyres at regular intervals
 #HONK AT BLIND TURNS 
#Keep a look out for local buses and goods vehicle. They have very less regard for fellow drivers on these roads. 

 Sanitation 

 # Himachal Pradesh in general has few public toilets on the road. But you will find one in the towns and surely at the bus stations. # Toilets are pretty safe and clean for both sexes. # Carry toilet paper if needed. 

 Remember Sangla valley is not for those who expect luxurious returns for the value of money but it’s for those who believe that travelling is a journey that runs parallel to the course of life. It’s for those who have a heart that yearns for surprise, awe and adventure. It’s for those that seek a divine insight into their souls and are willing to lose sight of the pseudo reality that we call Life.

 Happy tripping!

Finally....
Some star Trail shots I managed to create during the trip -