Spiti Valley Diaries Day Seven & Eight - The Final Days in the Incredible Spiti Valley
As our Spiti Valley adventure draws to a close, follow us as we leave the town of Kaza and go to visit a mummified monk in the mountain monastery of Gue. From here we retrace our steps back through the Spiti and Kinnaur Valleys to where it all began in the hill station of Shimla.
We got up from our cosy hostel beds for the final couple of days of our Spiti Valley adventure.
Here’s the cute little culprit!
Our nights sleep had been interrupted by an insanely cute husky, who, throughout the night wished to share with us the song of his people.
We rose for breakfast in the crystal clear air of the Himalayas. Chowing on another yummy paratha, we prepared to bid a fond farewell to our Zostel and the beautiful town of Kaza.
The next two days were to be the end of our trip. The trip was originally scheduled to loop around the Spiti Valley, past the Chandigarh Lake, through a high mountain pass and end in the town of Manali. Due to the unprecedented weather and some very late snowfall, the pass was still closed so we would have to spin round and head back to Shimla. The next two days would be full of long drives through stunning landscapes as we wound down through the mountains, out through the Spiti and Kinnaur Valleys and back up to the old hill station capital of Shimla.
Bags packed, and settled into our minivan we set off. Our first leg of the journey was a little different as we were off to see a mummy. We were a little far from Egypt so this was not an embalmed wrapped pharaoh, but rather a miraculous well preserved monk.
Up a very narrow road, and through the small hamlet of Gue, we found ourselves at a half constructed monastery with views down across the village and valley.
Behind the monastery in a nondescript concrete building, the monk Sangha Tenzin sits in cross legged meditation. By the best estimates, this monk has sat in his meditative pose for over 500 years.
Discovered after an earthquake in 1975 (the same quake that nearly totalled the Kee Monastery), Sangha still has his teeth, hair and is overall in a frankly unbelievably well preserved state.
After admiring the incredible monk and taking in the amazing views from the neighbouring half finished temple.
We re-boarded our van and slowly made our way back out of Gue.
Rejoining the main Spiti Road (main being a relative term as this was no M25), we made our way back down the Spiti Valley, our bus switch backing up and down the valley slopes. In only a few days, the landscape had completely changed.
We were driving back the way we had come, but a bloom of green had overtaken the previously barren brown lower slopes. The late spring had finally arrived. As we wound back through familiar towns, the apple blossom was in full bloom whilst farmers were busy tending their fields.
We stopped in Nako for a late lunch of thali before continuing on back to the Kinnaur Valley. We arrived back in Reckong Peo where just a few days earlier we had stopped to pick up our Spiti Valley permits. From Reckong Peo we climbed upwards to Kalpa, our final overnight stop. The landscape had completely changed again since our lunch in Nabo. Instead of a desert in the throes of a spring bloom we were now surrounded by tall, mature pine trees. It was like we had been transported to the American Rockies. We stopped at a bend in the road which served as a viewpoint over the Kinnaur Valley and took in the near vertical drop and incredible views.
Afterwards we checked into our final accommodation and had a hearty dinner with the group before collapsing into bed. The next day was going to be a long drive. We were up with the sun the next morning and after admiring the beautiful view from our window and filling up on a quick breakfast, we piled back into the bus. Today was a 12 hour drive, back through the beautiful Kinnaur Valley and all the way back to Shimla.
In the late evening, we arrived back in the same bus station that we had started from nearly a week ago. Our Spiti Valley adventure was now complete! The whole experience had been incredible. The valleys and landscapes had been breathtaking, the food delicious, the accommodation cosy and the company we had, fantastic. Our hearts full and memories stuffed with incredible new experiences, we bid farewell to our new friends.
We have never been anywhere like the Spiti Valley. As we said at the start of this adventure we don’t normally do tours, but we were so glad we did this one. We would never have got to see what we saw, meet who we met or do what we did during this week without the Zostel experience. The Spiti Valley was remote, breathtaking and like nothing else we had ever seen. There are certain places that you know you will remember forever and the Himalayan mountains of Himachal Pradesh’s Spiti Valley is definitely one of them. A truly unforgettable experience!
Thanks for reading,
John & Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
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