Entering the Spiti valley

25 June - 28 June

What first needs to be mentioned, is that any love, or even respect, I had for Google maps is gone.  India, with its winding roads and offshoots, because of landslides or construction or some evil design, and mountain ranges and paths, have defied even the great Google.

Google maps indicated that the 390-odd km bus ride from Dharamshala to Reckong Peo would be 12 hours (and still does).  You would therefore have all rights, and a very sore bum, to be quite disappointed when said bus pulls into Reckong Peo station 20 hours after leaving Dharamshala!

And like elephants fighting for supremacy, only the ground suffers (in this case, I am the ground) #africanproverb.

At some point into the 20 hours of bus

Look, driving at night, in the rain, and around some of the narrowest roads, lined by cliff faces I have seen (though I was soon to learn that this was child’s play compared to what Himachal Pradesh had in store), can push the time out.  Though, come now, an 8-hour difference means Google is just guessing.  I must count myself lucky though (seeing the glass half full.  Look what India has done to me), as there are horror stories of busses getting stuck, or stopped by landslides, snow, accidents etc.  So, I guess, I should just happy to be alive.

The view from the bus of the
cliff face, oh I mean the edge of the road

The view of Kinnaur Kalish
from where I was staying

The reason for going to Reckon Peo at all, was to get an inner line permit.  A permit is required by all foreigners travelling past Reckon Peo, up to Nako (and the surrounds).  I put this off for a few days, and went touring.  However, Reckong Peo is really nothing more than a pit stop for travellers.  So, the town does not have much to offer in terms of sightseeing.  Oh, except the incredible, close-up views of the part of the Himalayas, called Kinnaur Kalish.

Kannaur Kalish from town

There is however a small village up the mountain, called Kalpa, which is definitely somewhere to visit.  A short, 20 minute bus ride up from Peo (as the locals call it), and you get some breathtaking views of the mountains and valleys below.

View of the Kinnaur Kalish mountain
range, from Kalpa

Just some tea and snow-capped mountains,
nothing out of the ordinary here

Kalpa contains a large monastery, which has intricate wooden carvings on its doors, pillars, and posts.  We did have to go into a school to get to it, but no one seemed to mind two men walking around a school, taking pictures.  I say we, because as I got off the bus I met an Indian guy.  We connected after mutually agreeing that the person who had hooted at him for being on the side of the road, and for in no way being an obstruction of any sort, was just inpatient and overall, an ass.

Kalpa monastery

Carvings on entrance to Kalpa monastery

Princess, as I have named him (for reasons that will become clear in the future) and I toured around Kalpa, exploring the village and entering a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant, where this nice Nepalese couple served some of the, nay, the best, yet also the cheapest, momos (steamed dumplings with filling – in my case, vegetables) I have had in India.

Many Nepali, and Tibetan people have moved into the state of Himachal Pradesh, owing to its proximity to their countries, to find work and escape Chinese occupation respectively.  The food, and culture is therefore heavily influenced.  Local food - all of which is so tasty - includes momos (already mentioned), thupka (soup with noodles), thentuk (also soup, also with noodles, but different), and tsampa (porridge - the least tasty of the lot - though, I was to learn it could be spruced up with a little village, homemade, beer - which helps a lot).

Momos: little bundles of glory

Back to our adventures.

Princess and I decided, after exploring the small village, to walk to Roghi village, an even smaller village about 5km away.  The reason for this, apart from seeing the other village, was that there was apparently a famous point on the road, called suicide point (you can guess why).  The walk took us around the mountains of Spiti and, again, some amazing views.  On the one side of the road, was mountain, and the other a big drop into the valley below.  Truly, if one wanted to prematurely end their life, they could do it anywhere on the road, which provides ample drops into the rocky abyss.  There is really no need to travel to any specific point, especially now one with gawkers and onlookers.  

Suicide point, Kalpa

Suicide point, we established, was the place where a whole bunch of cars stopped, and started taking pictures, although there was no insignia to indicate that this was in anyway different to the rest of the road we had been on.  There was nothing particularly dark or depressing about it either.  It was quite nice actually.  Maybe the name was ironic?

Anyway, we stopped, took some pictures, and moved onto Roghi village, which apart from a very nice monastery, again with some incredible wooden carvings, was not too eventful.  Literally, apart from the monastery, there is one shop that you can get some biscuits and coffee, but nothing else.  As such, after such a poor showing, no pictures of Roghi will appear in this post.

We visited Kalpa the next day too, to get some (more) momos and explore the village some more, but not before getting my inner line permit.  Administratively this was quite quick, but somehow I feel that I got scammed, by paying a tourist agent 400 rupees for the permit.  I was stuck though, as despite my protesting, and checking with some administrative clerks (although the internet research I had done said it was free), they all confirmed that this was the charge.

All went smoothly in the permit office,
once I found the permit officer.

Anyway, I paid, and with permit obtained, and Peo and Kalpa explored as much as we could, it was onwards, deeper into the Spiti valley.

Kalpa village

View from the road outside Kalpa