Spiti valley stop 1: Nako

28 June - 29 June

Our bus deeper into Spiti valley started at 5:30am, but we had to get to the bus station at 4:30am to reserve a ticket.  It was at 4:28am, while in the queue for a ticket, that Princess then decided that he needed an ATM, and left the bus station.  I tried to get him a seat, but could only book one, and at the same time, also had an altercation with a Brit who pushed in line.  I said don’t push in.  He swore at me, and told me I should reconsider who I was.

In perfect karmic style, we then got sat next to each other on the same bus.  Princess sat on the floor (and didn’t get money from the ATM).

I realised that the next 7 hours would be way too awkward, so I tried to reconcile with the Brit.  He apologised too and explained his situation.  He had been on the overnight bus from Shimla, and needed to make sure his ticket was valid for the bus he was changing on to.  He was, as such not so much as pushing, but merely enquiring as to which seat he needed to take on the new bus - as he was (allegedly) told to do when leaving Shimla (although I was not sure why he could not stand in line for this).

He went on the explain that the reason for his urgency, and therefore fluster and even more so - the resulting outburst, was he had 2 days left on his permit to get up to Kaza (another 6 hours, after my 7 hours) to get to a police station, to meet a policeman who had his phone.  The phone was picked up by a local, who had tried to extort him for money, and through a series of events the local ended up being handed over the police station (ruffed up a little for trying to extort a foreigner), and the phone returned.  Added to this, he had 4 days to get to Delhi, to fly home.  An amazing, but classically Indian, story.  Stress understood, and argument forgotten, he actually turned out to be quite a nice guy, and we chatted through the whole ride.

Raring and excited for my
early morning bus

It is probably time to explain why I call Princess, Princess.  This guy is 21 years old, and my first clue that this was not the normal, hardened, rough-it backpacker, was that - while he was indeed carrying a backpack - he was also travelling with a roller bag.  If there is one thing high school taught me, is that roller bags are only useful for being kicked.

Though, it was his first time travelling alone, and considering my poor packing and the massive pack I was carrying, I was not quick to judge, and this 'red flag' passed under my radar.

The second, more clearer sign though was, when asking him what he does at home, he told me was an Instagram fashion influencer (oh, my, god, vomit).  Very importantly, at 21, this kid believed he had... nah the people needed him, to understand fashion and how to dress.  Oh, the youth.  But again, these millenials have all sorts of crazy ideas, so you must excuse me if I was not too alarmed when another pisher felt like he could change the world with one hashtag. 

However, alarm bells rang, and his name was born when, on arriving at Nako, we spoke to some tourists who were getting on the bus we had just got off.  They recommended a good homestay.  We got there, but Princess could not believe there was no internet, or no electricity at the time

For some context, intermittent electricity is commonplace in the mountains, and not even scoffed at when it turns off.  More importantly. literally everything one reads about Spiti valley explains that there is absolutely no internet connection here.  It was on hearing this news that I could see his puzzled face, frantically trying to comprehend how he was going to use his phone.  But there was no electricity and internet.  But he needed to post on Instagram.  But there was no internet and electricity.  But he needed to speak to people.  He looked lost.  Classic princess.   

Oh, he also had two different hair brushes and a straightener, but back to Spiti.

Nako is a tiny village, which is touted for its lake, and temple.  We went to the lake, which is a man-made green lake in the middle of the village, surrounded by concrete.  The monastery was closed.  

Nako lake

View from the main (read only)
road in Nako

Being such a small village though, one does get some incredible views of the vista and mountains.  The old village was also good to explore, and we hiked up the mountain to a large Tibetan prayer wheel, which gave a great view of the mountains and village.









  

Tibetan prayer wheel above Nako

The Nakonians have some strict rules about
coming up to the prayer wheel

The quaintness of the village though was already lost, as with everything else in Spiti, it is subject to massive, new development of hotels and homestays, in response to the burgeoning tourist industry.  I fear within a few years, there will be nothing remarkable, or attractive about the place, and will just be another village on the Spiti valley trail one needs to tick off.  Though, and if for nothing else, I also had a damn good banana lassi there.  

A proper good lassi,
and gotta sneak in a few momos
at the same time

We were over Nako in a day, and so on the next we moved on.  We had picked up some Bengali travellers too, who wanted to go see a mummy in Gue.  I was growing tired of Princess, so left him with them, literally the bus stopped in the middle of nowhere.  I carried onto Kaza – where my next volunteering was.  They got off the bus at a junction, in the heat of the day, with nothing else around, except 8km to the temple where the mummy was, and a promise that there were taxis a kilometre or two down the road. 

I met them a few days later, to my surprise.  They had made it, although it was a 3km walk, in the heat, with all their bags (including Princesses’ roller bag) before they found a taxi.  Happy to have skipped that.   So I carried on, 3 more hours to Kaza.  Oh, this was the same bus that starts from Reckong Peo, so there were no seats, and I stood for 5 out of 6 hours of that trip.

The whole city of Nako

Up a hill near Nako, at sunset