Kinnaur, Spiti, Lahaul trip with Chandra Taal to Suraj Taal trek.
jjamwal
Active Member
jjamwal
Active Member
Ropa Valley and Leo :
On the way, a local woman decked up in local green dress and lots of jewelery asked for a lift till the bus stand in Reckong Peo. There was some local festival going on and she had missed the group bus. After we dropped her there, we saw quite a few local people dressed up like her on their way. It is somewhat comforting to know that there are still some places in India where even the women in their best jewelery feel comfortable enough to ask complete strangers for a lift. Compare it to Delhi or most other cities and it’s an entirely different story. If I am not forgetting someone, we gave lifts to a old woman in Ropa, a school boy near Nako and 3 women in Kibber.
Full text : http://jjamwal.in/yayavar/kinnaur-lahaul-spiti-trip-2017-ropa-valley-and-leo/
A noisy and beautiful waterfall we saw on way.
View from the trail behind Ropa village
Dooorway of house in Ropa
Extremely beautiful mountains visible from the confluence point of SPiti and Satluj rivers
View in Kah village.
Old bridge leading to Leo village which was washed away in 2002. Notice colour of water.
View of Leo from my guesthouse near Nako. The greenery is fruit farms
On the way, a local woman decked up in local green dress and lots of jewelery asked for a lift till the bus stand in Reckong Peo. There was some local festival going on and she had missed the group bus. After we dropped her there, we saw quite a few local people dressed up like her on their way. It is somewhat comforting to know that there are still some places in India where even the women in their best jewelery feel comfortable enough to ask complete strangers for a lift. Compare it to Delhi or most other cities and it’s an entirely different story. If I am not forgetting someone, we gave lifts to a old woman in Ropa, a school boy near Nako and 3 women in Kibber.
Full text : http://jjamwal.in/yayavar/kinnaur-lahaul-spiti-trip-2017-ropa-valley-and-leo/
A noisy and beautiful waterfall we saw on way.
View from the trail behind Ropa village
Dooorway of house in Ropa
Extremely beautiful mountains visible from the confluence point of SPiti and Satluj rivers
View in Kah village.
Old bridge leading to Leo village which was washed away in 2002. Notice colour of water.
View of Leo from my guesthouse near Nako. The greenery is fruit farms
jjamwal
Active Member
Kinnaur Lahaul Spiti Trip 2017: Nako, Kibber and Gete
Next morning started with a trip to Nako. I had little interest in the place but thought might as well see it while in the vicinity. A woman requested her to drop her grandson to the village school, so that was another reason. Strangely, the children learn Hindi and English, but no local language in school.
The drive took only a few minutes but we spent more time finding the space to park. The village is overrun with hotels, guesthouses and similar buildings. Nako lake is another big disappointment. It is more like a dirty green pond rather than a lake. We saw it for a minute and went back to the car immediately. After a few minutes of driving, we had to stop again due to traffic slowing down due to a small landslide. There were a few workers, I think from BRO (Border Roads Organisation) managing traffic. I came to know that that particular section collapsed only a few days later cutting off the traffic for a week, probably more. The mountains just after this section were very colourful and diverse and a lot of tourists were stopping every now and then to take photographs.
Full post : http://jjamwal.in/yayavar/kinnaur-lahaul-spiti-trip-2017-nako-kibber-and-gete/
Perhaps a shooting star in the night sky or maybe a satellite
View a few kms past Nako
A gompa inside Tabo monastery
View of the river valley near Dhankar
View of Kibber and Hikkim
Gete with Kanamo peak in background
View of Kii monastery and village from Gete
Saw this stream with very dark water a few km before Tabo.
Prayer flags blowing in the wind
Next morning started with a trip to Nako. I had little interest in the place but thought might as well see it while in the vicinity. A woman requested her to drop her grandson to the village school, so that was another reason. Strangely, the children learn Hindi and English, but no local language in school.
The drive took only a few minutes but we spent more time finding the space to park. The village is overrun with hotels, guesthouses and similar buildings. Nako lake is another big disappointment. It is more like a dirty green pond rather than a lake. We saw it for a minute and went back to the car immediately. After a few minutes of driving, we had to stop again due to traffic slowing down due to a small landslide. There were a few workers, I think from BRO (Border Roads Organisation) managing traffic. I came to know that that particular section collapsed only a few days later cutting off the traffic for a week, probably more. The mountains just after this section were very colourful and diverse and a lot of tourists were stopping every now and then to take photographs.
Full post : http://jjamwal.in/yayavar/kinnaur-lahaul-spiti-trip-2017-nako-kibber-and-gete/
Perhaps a shooting star in the night sky or maybe a satellite
View a few kms past Nako
A gompa inside Tabo monastery
View of the river valley near Dhankar
View of Kibber and Hikkim
Gete with Kanamo peak in background
View of Kii monastery and village from Gete
Saw this stream with very dark water a few km before Tabo.
Prayer flags blowing in the wind
umeshparikh
Active Member
Wonderful Update...
Nice Clicks too...
Nice Clicks too...
jjamwal
Active Member
During my hike to Suraj Taal, I had the chance to stop at some deras (shelters made of stones) of the local gaddi shepherds and observe their lifestyle from up close.
In this video, my guide who was also a Gaddi shepherd at the time is preparing a traditional hukkah in a dera of his friends we stopped at for some rest.
Kinnaur Lahaul Spiti – Yayavar
jjamwal
Active Member
I had almost forgotten to finish this travelogue just like my previous one. Which reminds me that I should work on that one too once this is finished. No other excuse other than just being lazy and a bit too much of work. Previous post of this series.
Anyhow, my plan was to stay in campsite for 2-3 days and trek to Suraj Taal from there. But Jamaica was unable to arrange a guide which he had agreed to earlier. It really poured cold water on my plans and I was not really sure about what to do if not that. Apparently there were some seasonal nallahs on the way which were flooded unexpectedly and the guide who was supposed to go with me was forbidden by his wife to go anywhere. But we eventually convinced a local shepherd camping in a dera (shepherd shelter made of stones) nearby to work as my guide.
Kinnaur Lahaul Spiti Trip 2017: Trek from Chandrataal to Surajtaal
Some new visitors at the lake
Temporary "Lake" near Chandrataal
A beautiful, windy and cloudy evening
Sheep and goats grazing on a nearby mountain
A shepherd dog
Quite a lot of Unnamed mountain peaks and glaciers[/caption]
Easier part of the trekking trail
[
" alt="All water gone next morning" width="2048" height="1492" /> All water gone next morning[/caption]
I just placed this skull on this rock to take the picture.
View from mountain after crossing
Another cup of chai with ghee and lots of sugar and milk
First view of Surah Taal. Road is on right
One last vehicle for the night with lake reflecting the lights
View of the area as I waited for transport as I waited next morning, only a few minutes before everything was covered by clouds
During this trek, I saw a lot of interesting things like plants, geographical features, rocks, glaciers, insects and more. Only problem is that I know almost nothing about most of them. I did take a lot of pictures and intend to find out more about them, if time permits.
For now, it's time to end this post.
Anyhow, my plan was to stay in campsite for 2-3 days and trek to Suraj Taal from there. But Jamaica was unable to arrange a guide which he had agreed to earlier. It really poured cold water on my plans and I was not really sure about what to do if not that. Apparently there were some seasonal nallahs on the way which were flooded unexpectedly and the guide who was supposed to go with me was forbidden by his wife to go anywhere. But we eventually convinced a local shepherd camping in a dera (shepherd shelter made of stones) nearby to work as my guide.
Kinnaur Lahaul Spiti Trip 2017: Trek from Chandrataal to Surajtaal
Some new visitors at the lake
Temporary "Lake" near Chandrataal
Sheep and goats grazing on a nearby mountain
A shepherd dog
Quite a lot of Unnamed mountain peaks and glaciers[/caption]
Easier part of the trekking trail
[
View from mountain after crossing
Another cup of chai with ghee and lots of sugar and milk
First view of Surah Taal. Road is on right
One last vehicle for the night with lake reflecting the lights
View of the area as I waited for transport as I waited next morning, only a few minutes before everything was covered by clouds
During this trek, I saw a lot of interesting things like plants, geographical features, rocks, glaciers, insects and more. Only problem is that I know almost nothing about most of them. I did take a lot of pictures and intend to find out more about them, if time permits.
For now, it's time to end this post.
Last edited:
AR Ardent Rambler
Well-Known Member
Nice T'log with beautiful captures of nature! Have not visited this part of Himachal! I have placed the same in my bucket list.
jjamwal
Active Member
If you'll have my advice, don't visit it this year or do it right now. Too many people will be there starting from June.