Trip to OFF-BEAT DESTINATIONS in HIMACHAL PRADESH

NARKANDA

Narkanda is a town as well as a nagar panchayat in Shimla district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is at an altitude of 2708 meters on the Hindustan–Tibet Road in Himachal Pradesh, India. It is about 65 km away from Shimla and 403 km from Indian capital New Delhi.It is well surrounded by the Shivalik Range that span around a large part of Himachal Pradesh.

It was on the first day of our journey we started from New Delhi by early in the morning and reached there by the evening & took around 11 hours of road journey leaving aside Simla and Kufri.

Then we started for the SANGLA Valley next morning by covering a distance of 160 km in about 5 hours with all scenic tall mountains standing on both sides of the hilly road.

SANGLA VALLEY

Sangla is a town in the Baspa Valley, also referred to as the Sangla valley, in the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh India close to the Tibetan border.

Sangla Valley or the Baspa Valley geographically starts at Karcham and ends at Chitkul.

Sangla is the major town in the valley with a petrol pump, Bank ATMs, Post Office, Restaurants, Bar, mid range hotels and shops. The valley is surrounded by forested slopes and offers views of the high mountains.

Until 1989 outsiders could not enter the valley without a special permit from the Government of India, due to its strategic position on the Indo-Tibet/China border.

The Baspa River flows in the Sangla Valley which is rich with apple orchards, apricot, Wall-nut, Cedar trees, and glacial streams with trout.

CHITKUL

The next morning we started for CHITKUL our ultimate destination hardly 25 km uphill and by the time on the mid day we reached there with chilling snowy winds taking the temp down to below zero and as predicted snow started falling as if flakes of white cotton falling from heaven and it was really a Chill moment.

The night temperatures were around minus 7-8 degree Celsius.

By the next morning it was all SNOW WHITE everywhere around the hills and adjacent valley were all filled up with fresh snow.

There at Chitkul we had a glimpse of this nostalgic LAST DHABA (Hidustan ka aakhir Dhaba) on INDIAN soil and had our tea over there amidst heavy chilly winds blowing.

Kalpa Valley-Kinnaur Kailash

After spending two chilly nights with below. -8 degree temp there at Chitkul we started for KALPA.

KINNUR KAILASH

The best view of Kinnaur Kailash is seen from Kalpa during winter days and we reached there on the 5th day of our Kinnaur trip after crossing NARKANDA,SANGLA VALLEY and CHITKUL range covering a distance of around 61 km from Chitkul in 3 hours with heavenly abode of snow clad mountain peaks on the either side.

The beauty of snow filled Apple orchard would always remain as a cherished memory in my heart.

We spent two nights there at KALPA valley and finally started for New Delhi on 7th day morning with heart heavily filled with gratitude for NATURE.

I have tried to give a real feel of this adventurous journey in to nature in HIMACHAL with my own photography and hope my readers would enjoy the trip along with me.

#PhotoBySiba