Now our Spiti trip was coming to an end and we were ready to head back to Kalpa from Dhankar. After driving through Nako, Kaza, Key, Kibber, Langza, Kourik, it was time to head back to Kalpa from Dhankar. This post shares about our interesting journey to Kalpa through Nako & some of the special encounters on our way. And don't miss the highly recommended Dhaba on the way to Jeori and next to Taranda Mata temple.
This is how mountains around Dhankar looked in the morning from our room window. Some of us started the day with trek to Dhankar lake. I was very tired last day so chose to get up a little late. Rest of the folks got up early and trekked to Dhankar lake and all of them had fun, except the fact that they lost the way while coming back. Overall plan for the day got delayed but that's how a trip should be.
Till the point other folks come back from the lake, I and Jitendra walked around our home-stay. We spent some time talking to Dolma & her grandson. They shared various things about their surroundings and how they struggle for basic stuff in Spiti. Like wood is very precious in this land. Density of trees is pretty low in Spiti and wood is required in winters for fire as well as for building houses. Building fire-wood is expensive and then transportation charges are also considerably high.
As sun came out, shows on the ground started playing a huge role in enhancing the beauty of these landscapes. Sunlight brings real drama to these landscapes, especially areas which are completely dry and full of rocks & sand mountains. Above photograph was clicked from our homestay at Dhankar. You see a new Monastery in above photograph and the architecture of the old one is very interesting & unique.
Our wait-time for the trekkers was increasing and now sun was completely out to lit most of the regions visible.
Here is a 120 degree view from our homestay at Dhankar. Since our homestay was on one of the highest peaks of Dhankar village, the view from there was awesome. Almost whole Dhankar village was visible from there and Spiti river on the other end, close to snow covered peaks.
Mr Jitendra was all set to head towards Kalpa but we still had to wait for our trip-mates. It was good opportunity to take out the book and enjoy reading around himalayan ranges. The book is 'Know Your Worth' by Vibha Malhotra.
Finally fellow trekkers came back and we headed towards the kitchen to enjoy our best breakfast in Spiti Valley. At times I wonder if we should call Spiti a 'valley' or something else :). Our host served different kinds of parathas with veg chutney and curd. Along with the delicious food, we had some touchy conversation and exchanged some emotional dialogues with our hostess & her grandson.
Soon it was to put our bags in the car and start driving back. Above photograph shows Dolma and her grandson bidding good-bye to all of us. If I visit Dhankar in future, I would love to stay in same homestay and take along few prints of these photographs for Dolma's family.
The journey towards Kalpa started and we had already decided to take a halt at Nako for lunch. Other main reason for the halt was that we wanted to pick our liquor bottle which we had forgotten and this bottle was arranged after lot of efforts by one of the friends.
When we reached Nako, our host said that our stuff is already consumed as some special guests visited the homestay. I don't want to mention about these guests who visit in dress.
During back journey we clicked very few photographs as we were already very impressed by terrains of Spiti and Kinnaur. Now it was time to simply relax on the back seat of the car & enjoy these brilliant views.
In lieu of the bottle, Raju served us apples after lunch. We had our lunch on the roof-top with brilliant views of fields and the snow covered peaks.
Some of the roads around Nako are really scary and interesting. Look at above photograph from Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh and try to locate the jeep. This region of Himachal Pradesh state has plenty of main places to visit & explore. Transportation is little tricky but it's you are determined, you can figure out ways.
By evening we reached Kalpa and it was time to find a place to stay & have dinner. Stay tuned for new post on Kalpa and one of the most interesting places around Kalpa.
How to reach Spiti Valley from Delhi and things to do around Kinnaur/Spiti in Himachal Pradesh
Road-Trip from Shimla to Nako through Kinnaur : Spiti Diaries (1)
Morning walk around Nako Lake and the village in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh
Road-trip from Nako to Kaza via Gue Monastery, Himachal Pradesh
500 years old Mummy of Sangha Tenzin with teeth & hair at Gue Monastery
Road Journey through Kaza, Key Monastery, Kibber, Langza, Koumik & Dhankhar in Spiti Valley
Dhankar to Kalpa - Back journey from Spiti to Kinnaur region of Himachal Pradesh
If you liked this post and found it helpful, I would request you to follow these things when traveling -
1. Manage your waste well and don’t litter Use dustbins.
2. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin.
3. Avoid bottle waters in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem.
4. Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits.
5. Don't play loud blaring music in forests of jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite
Related Blogposts :
.jpg)
