My itinerary ( HP)

Himachal Pradesh

Spiti, Lahaul, Pangi Valley and Chamba

September 2nd half, 2019

Sealdah(Kolkata ) – Delhi – Shimla – Recong Peo – Kaza – Batal – Chandratal – Batal – Gramphu – Kelong – Trilokinath – Udaipur – Kilar – Chamba (via Sach pass) – Jamuhar – Chamba( Valei mata, Chamara Lake ) Pathankot – Delhi – Sealdah.

Himachal Pradesh is a large state situated in a very strategic location of Himalayas where one can find cold arid landscapes as well as lush green fields full of orchards.There are high mountain passes with dangerous roads. It is said that the drivers of the buses which ply from Keylong depot are the most expert drivers who drive in the deadliest roads of Himachal Pradesh. It is difficult to cover all the beautiful places of Himachal Pradesh in one lifetime specially for a person like me who started traveling very late. So I tried to cover the major parts in segments. This was my 3rd solo Himachal Pradesh trip. According to the advice of a young travel freak friend of mine I started the trip from Shimla and ended in Chamba.

The whole journey was very strenuous but spectacular with deadly gorges of rivers, beautiful valleys, snow covered peaks of Himalayas and apple orchards. Most of the roads that I covered in this trip were unmetaled because they remained closed 6 months in a year due to snow which made the journey more difficult. I went to Shimla by HPTDC Volvo Himsuta from Delhi. I took shelter at night in Shimla in the house of a generous family who helped me seeing me in difficulty to find a shelter near ISBT after 9PM. I took a bus to go to RecongPeo. It started in the morning at 6-30 and reached RecongPeo at 5-30 in the afternoon.

I stayed one night at RecongPeo. From RecongPeo next early morning at 5-30 I caught another bus for Kaza which reached Kaza via Tabo at 4 PM. I was not interested in visiting monasteries, so I started for Chandratal next morning. I did not want to catch Himachal Roadways bus because I was too tired to wake up so early. This bus starts at 4AM. I bought tickets of a private run traveler bus service which was a bit costly but affordable for me. I booked seats for two consecutive days so that on the first day it could drop me at Batal and on the next day it would pick me up from Batal. I hitchhiked for Chandratal in different people’s car as there was no other option except to trek 14 km or more specifically 16+16 km up and down to witness the heavenly beauty of Chandratal. I spent the night in a tent(with attached toilet) of Tenzin Camp at the campsite of Chandratal.

I reached Kelong next evening via Gramphu. Keylong is a small transit town. I stayed there one night and then went to Trilokinath. After visiting Trilokinath temple I went to Udaypur. I liked this peaceful small town very much for its scenic beauty with many apple orchards, Chandravaga (Chenab) river and Snow peaks. I visited Mrikula Devi temple. The wooden carvings of this temple was spectacular. From Udaipur bus stand I took bus for Kilar. The distance was not so long but it took a long time due to the dangerous narrow road and very bad road condition. It is like traveling submitting one’s life in the hand’s of Almighty. Kilar is more populous town than Udaipur though situated in a more interior part of Himalayas. I did not take risk to cover Sach Pass in a bus. So I traveled in a shared jeep arranged by my hotel manager.

Sach Pass is one of the deadliest pass with it’s extraordinary beauty of nature. It is full of innumerable large and small glaciers, uncountable streams that fall on the road like sudden torrential rain, snow covered peaks, and deep river gorge. There was an accident on the way due to which we were detained for two hours. We reached Chamba at night, 9-30 PM. As I did not want to stay at Chamba so according to the hotel owner’s advice I went to Jamuhar, a quaint hill station 18 km away from Chamba. I rested and enjoyed the solitude there. No tourist was there in that area at that time. I came back to Chamba after two nights’ stay. I visited Valei Mata Temple and Chamara Lake. Then I bade good bye to the hill and reached Pathankot to catch the train.