Kaza: Wanderer’s nest

 29 June – 10 July

My next volunteering experience was in a homestay in Kaza, Spiti valley.  Owing to being in Spiti valley for two days already (remember I left princess and my Bengali travel mates from Nako, as they went off the bus to see a mummy in Gue – keep up), I had no cellphone signal.  I only realised as signal was fading rapidly, a few days prior, that while I knew volunteering was in Kaza, I did not know the name of the place, or its location.  I tried to message my host for these details, but not in time to get a reply, before losing signal.

So, now I was in Kaza, with no idea how to find my volunteering.  Walking through the market, I did notice a sign for Ecosphere - another volunteering opportunity that was arranged in Kaza for just over two weeks’ time.  I figured that I should head there, as at least I had a connection with the place, and hopefully they could assist with some internet, or a phone.

Thankfully, this worked, and after some explaining and a little bit of up and down, I got hold of my host, and she gave me directions to the homestay - not very good ones - but after walking around for about 30 minutes, I found it.  What helped in my favour is realsing that Kaza - while being the hub of the Spiti valley – is a very relative term, considering the sizes of the villages in the region, and therefore was not too big.  On the plus side, I had made contact with both volunteering places, and got to know how to get around Kaza.

A good sign when entering the city
is to see monks playing sricket

I had in fact arrived two days early to my volunteering – at a homestay called Wanderer’s nest, so the host was not ready for me, and another volunteer was still working there.  She was however very accommodating, and agreed to let me stay in one of the dorms.  The other volunteer would assist with my orientation the next day, and otherwise, I could just make myself comfortable. 

View from the porch of my new volunteering home,
Wanderer's nest, Kaza

The next day, after a quick orientation, I came to understand that there was not going to be much work here.  Basically, drinking water is provided twice a day in summer (once in winter), and the chores (at 7am and 5pm) centered around water – filling the drinking water for guests and cooking, as well as the tanks for washing, bathing and showering.  I also needed to water the plants in the greenhouse and sweep the floors.  If done with some energy, all these could be completed in an hour.  

Working the greenhouse, Wanderer's nest, Kaza

Chores: on the roof, filling tanks
Wanderer's nest, Kaza

With only two hours of each day seemingly going to be filled, I began wondering how I was going to be passing the time – but ceased this pandering quickly, I left it to future Ryan to figure out, as the incumbent volunteer was going exploring of the villages around Spiti, and invited me to join.

There are three villages in ‘close’ proximity to Kaza, which - I was told - are the main tourist attractions of the area.  Getting to these though involved a hike up a steep mountain, and already at an altitude of 3800m, in the middle of summer, this was not looking like an enticing prospect.  My volunteer friend though was confident we could catch a hitch, at least part of the way, so with adventure in mind and nothing else really to do, I joined her.

Luckily, we walked about 5 minutes, before a car with some Indians from Delhi pulled up and offered us a lift.  Again, hitching seems to be really easy in India, especially when you are with a white, blond girl.  We had hit upon a really good ride this time though, as not only could these guys give us a lift to the first village (once you are there, getting to the rest are relatively short and flat walks), but they were visiting all three, and offered us to ride with them for the day.  We quickly took up the offer of an air-con, leather seated car, to walking around at altitude in 30-degree heat (I know, what kind of backpackers are we – boo yourself). 

5 minutes after walking out the city,
this was our view already

Driving around Spiti valley, the views are amazing.  There is very little infrastructure, and between villages (which are not much in terms of size either), are unspoilt views of the mountain side.  We took pictures, but they really do not do justice to just how vast, daunting, and magnificent, this part of the world is.  

Spiti valley

Our first stop was Lhangsa, which is famous for a large buddha statue, and fossils.  Once we took some pictures with the statue, which really was large, and something worth seeing, we had tea café at +4300m, and here we saw some of the fossilised crustacean shells from simple creatures that lived in the Spiti valley, where the whole place was underwater – hard to believe that we were  looking at snow-capped mountain, and fossils from a river which flowed through the same place.

Big buddha statue, Lhangsa

14,200ft = 4,300m.  May not look like much,
but makes a mean cuppa

Fossilised shell, Lhagsa

Tea and mountain,
like a mensch

A short stop by their monastery, and we were off to the next village – Komic, whose claim was having the highest restaurant in the world.  We quickly realised that each of these villages had to get something to attract tourists there, and these three villages had apparently settled for height records.  

In truth, a good idea, as besides for these attractions, these villages are really less than 10-15 or so houses, and not much else presents a reason for the crowds to visit (they are definitely worth staying overnight, to get an experience of how remote these places are, how the locals live, and what the sky actually looks like without pollution or lights #seeimarealbackpacker).

Highest cover drive in the world, Komic

Highest restaurant in the world, Komic

Before having a sandwich at the highest restaurant in the world, we visited Komic’s monastery, and joined in on a game of cricket the locals were playing (so I assume, the highest cricket game in the world?).  Our last stop for the day was Hikkim, which boasts the highest post office in the world, and tourists all send postcards home from here.  Unfortunately, being a Sunday, it was closed, but the restaurant owner assured that us that they would give all the postcards to the post office when it opened the following day.  I, being in Kaza for a month, wanted to experience this properly, so declined the offer, with the intention of coming back another day (which I did).  The others though, more trusting, and with more limited travel time here (1 day), hurriedly completed their letters (really, I think, one of the most active post offices around.  When was the last time you sent a letter?).

Inside the highest post office in the world.
Not what you expected?

First letter in a looong time
(at the time of writing, 3 months later,
SAPO has still not delivered this)

On our way back, we thanked our hosts, who indicated that they were going through Kaza, and to another village, some hours away, before coming back in the evening.  They invited us to come along, but I declined, as we had our afternoon chores at 5pm.  The other volunteer, this being her second last day, accepted the invitation, seemingly without much disregard for her responsibilities back at the homestay, and thus we parted ways when we reached Kaza.

This place man,
Spiti valley

How's that beard? (and  the view too) 

Back at the homestay, as my volunteering proceeded over the first week, what I feared was true.  There really was not much to do, and boredom quickly crept in.

My days though were filled with working in the homestay’s greenhouse, trying to use the exceptionally slow wifi at one of two restaurants in the city, eating momos at the local restaurants, reading, and enjoying the exceptional views of the place I found myself in: Wanderer’s next is located outside of the hustle of the market, with a largely unobstructed view of the Spiti river and mountain ranges.  The host though wanted me to stay at the homestay when she was not there, to welcome any guests, or provide anyone searching for a room with information about the place.  So, I am not going to lie, there a lot of twiddling my thumbs.  The food was good though, and the place beautiful, so I accepted my lot, and things were generally going ok, so I accepted my lot.

There are worse places to be
twiddling your thumbs