Blogs from Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, India, Asia - page 3

Important disclaimer: This write up has been done without thought to structure and has been written in little pieces every evening. Moods have not been compensated for. It should not be taken as a definitive guide to the trip described but rather as a description of the trip by a fifteen year old on a holiday with his parents. Throughout the trip, there have been mood changes and many omissions of things thought unimportant by the writer but may be important for the traveler to know. Minor grammatical and factual changes have been made by the parents but not enough to deviate from the main theme of this write up. That said, read on… One day my dad told me that he might be going to Leh with my uncle (his brother). I was quite excited ... read more

I'm now in Kaza, a remote location in the N.W. Indian Himalaya. It's so remote that it takes 12 hours by bus to travel only 200 kilometers from Manali. The views were terrifying, we crossed one mountain pass from the rain shadow side to the arid region I'm in now. The dirt roads were rained out in places on the switch-backs, and accommodate two-way traffic. We passed two wrecked cargo trucks, from the looks of them they fell down the mountain. No guard rails. I'm leaving today at 4:30 for Mud (pronounced "Mood") but mud is all I really expect to find there, as it is even more difficult to reach. Kyle, Jake and I are going to trek down Pin Valley and over Baba pass. We hooked up with two guys from the South and ... read more

Road Tripping in Kinnaur & Spiti After relaxing in Dharamsala we needed a bit more action, therefore arriving at Manali and hearing about the Kinaur & Spiti tour sounded just the perfect option. While Kinnaur is a green valley rich of vegetation, Spiti valley is a high desert in the Himalayas. During winter it is totally cut off from civilization incurred by the snow blocking the road passes. Ancient Buddhist culture, similar to nearby Tibet, exists in the region which is part Himachal Pradesh - one of the least populated states in India. The roads are terrible, dusty and bumpy, traverse over precipice cliffs and high passes need to be crossed - hair-raising experience, no doubt. Although public transportation is available, it's not frequent nor comfortable, so we hired a jeep plus driver for 10 days ... read more