Lahaul, Spiti and Kinnaur Valleys - Land of the Snow Leopard

Back in September, I wrote about our aborted effort to Spiti valley due to the early arrival of winter. Well the road will be open any day now, so it´s time for some more travels. The sticky part is access over the Kunzum La pass which lies at an altitude of 4551 metres. Haven´t been above 4500 metres since Bolivia in ´06.

Spiti and Lahaul represent some of the remotest areas on Earth. There is an estimated 33,000 people across 14,000 kms sq. of desolate mountain terrain. Originally part of Ladakh and under Tibetan royalty control, Lahaul suffered later attacks from the Rajas and Thakurs from Kullu and Chambra. The more remote Spiti valley didn´t fall to the British until 1846. The area is surrounded by National Parklands and Sanctuaries.

I´ll be heading to Manali tonight, a 10 – 15 hour bus journey from McLeod Ganj. I am travelling up with Claude, a witty professional photographer from Luxembourg. He has three months of travel in the region, but will via off to Ladakh first. Bedi private buses depart at 8.30pm for Rp 450. but to cut costs we´re on the public bus that departs at 5pm for a very reasonable Rp 235.

Manali, according to legend, was born when the waters of The Great Deluge receded and the seventh Manu’s ark came to rest on a hillside in this valley. As the earth dried up there came up a place of breathtaking beauty which was named after the great sage.

Over the last decade Manali has grown from a back of the beyond Himachali town to a busy tourist destination bustling with as many as 400 hotels. It is the centre of a flourishing orchard industry, a popular honeymoon destination and trail-head for numerous treks. A couple of days hanging out to complain at the further trashing of the town before heading to Keylong, the centre of Lahaul valley.

Keylong is normally just an overnight stop on the way to Leh, the capital of Ladakh. However it should provide a useful base for me to explore Shashur, Tayul and Jispa in the Pattan valley. I´ll then road trek south eastwards to the old eight storied eighteenth century fort at Gondla, and onwards through Sissu, Gramphoo, Chhatru, Chhota Dhara and on to Batal, the last settlement in the valley.

The ominous Kunzum La Pass (currently still closed, but this should soon change) separates Lahaul from Spiti valley. Brief stopovers in Lossar and Hansa are called for as the road heads up to Kazza to collect the necessary “Inner Line” permits which Lonely Planet claim is only a formality, even for single travellers. A revisit to Kibber and Ky(e), is in order, which boasts the highest settlement with a motorable road and electricity.

I was in Lahaul and Spiti in ´94 having met up with a cracking Canadian called James in Manali With the only sustenance being cake from Pete´s Bakery we trekked up from Kibber in a sandstorm and got lost for hours.

I then hope to continue round on a Buddhist pilgrimage trail through Dhankar, Tabo (now a UNESCO World Heritage site), Chango, Nako (which lies just 12kms from the Tibet border), the wonderfully named Pooh and on to Kalpa.

Some of these monasteries are over 1200 years old and contain some unique thangkas and relics. I´ll then endeavour to travel on to Shimla via the beautiful Kinnaur valley which is home to the Lippa Asrang , Rui Bhaba and Thurthan wildlife sanctuaries. Eyes will be peeled for snow leopards throughout the trip.

Altogether a two to three week trek or thereabouts.

I won´t be bringing the laptop – it´s still convalescing, but will twitter and blog where possible. Unfortunately, the photos will have to await my return to Dharamsala.