As usual, I woke up early and went for a walk to explore Kaza. Every side was covered with huge mountains and early sun rays were not reaching the place. The road was empty but full of dogs. There were two packs of dogs, I have never seen this many dogs in a pack. They were having their territory war, it was fun watching them chase one pack by the other. Both the pack of dogs were led by an Alpha dog, I have only seen in movies about the alpha wolf but didn’t know they existed with dogs also. I walked around capturing the beauty of the mountains and reached back at our stay.

Our hosts were awake by now and they offered me coffee. I sat in the common room where a song was playing. The song was so calming and I felt being in a trance. I asked our host about the song and he told me it is a Tibetan mantra song and shared with me the youtube link of that song (it’s one of my favorite songs now). By now one by one everyone was down at the common area. We parceled our breakfast and went for our expedition, There were many exciting places we were going to cover today.

Our first stop was at Dhankar Monastery (Dhang or dang means cliff, and kar or khar means fort. Hence Dhangkar means fort on a cliff), The monastery is situated at an elevation of 3,894 metres (12,774 feet) in the Spiti Valley above Dhankar Village, between the towns of Kaza and Tabo. Dhankar was the traditional capital of the Spiti Valley Kingdom during the 17th century and has some features dating back to the 12th century. It was the seat of the early rulers of Spiti, the Nonos, who had the right to cultivate the government lands nearby and were required to keep the fort in repair.

We reached the entrance which is situated at the new monastery and got down. The old monastery was closed as the lamas had come to the new monastery for prayer. Niharika went ahead and talked to the monks and got us an opportunity to see the old monastery. Two young monks accompanied and took us to the old monastery. They were very energetic and showed us inside the monastery. Only 20 people were allowed at a time into the monastery due to the earthquake which happened earlier destroyed and made unstable most parts of the old monastery. We got a chance to meditate inside the monastery and Niharika helped us to feel the energy there. We all left with that energy to our next destination.

We reached Komic Monastery but it was closed and we continued our Journey towards Langza. It was drizzling when we reached Langza. We could see the back of the statue. I was looking towards visiting the statue for a long time. One fact I came to know later is that the village in which the statue is situated only has 3 houses and it has the highest voting both also.

Our next destination was Hikkim and I have already collected the addresses of my friends and colleagues. Hikkim has the highest post in the world. We had to hike down, to reach the post office and got postcards from the postmaster. The postmaster is being stationed therefrom 1983. We wrote down our thoughts in a hurry as the post office was going to close.

Our actual plan was to visit Key Monastery also, but we changed our plans and went back to Kaza as it was already late. On the way, stopped and spend some time on the road as it had a beautiful view of Spiti valley.

We went shopping at Kaza when we reached. Some of us went to buy a cake. We were throwing a surprise birthday party for Sonali by midnight.

Someone was knocking at the door for some time with half-open eyes I opened the door. Avinash was there dressed asking “Why are you guys not ready?”. I tried to open my eyes and walked towards the washroom to get ready. I was not feeling well and I could feel something running inside my stomach. My mind was telling me to vomit it out, Somehow I got ready and went downstairs to have breakfast. Some part of me knew that I would be okay if I eat something. I tried to take a bite of sandwich and started to chew it. But my mind was keep telling me to vomit it out. At last I stopped trying to eat and went back to my room.

Karthik and Krishan came asking me what happened and I told them that I’m not feeling well. Karthick made me energy drink and asked me to stay hydrated. I took the energy drink with me and got into the Traveler. Krishan came with lemons and asked me to suck on it till I feel better. I did that for sometime and in between I fell asleep (I’m thankful for having this caring people on my trip).

I woke up when the traveler stopped and got to know that we have reached Nako Monastery our first stop towards Kaza. I was better compared to morning, I was not able walk around. Krishan and Kirti went ahead to explore the monastery and others roamed in front of the monastery. I walked outside the monastery and stared at the mountains. Juhi came and asked “Do you feel like a ant, when you see the mountains?” I said “yes” and we stood there admiring the view.

We all got back to the traveler when Krishan came back from the monastery. Apparently there was a Lake inside the monastery and he spend some time over there. He told it was peaceful sitting there alone. We continued our journey towards Kaza and I dozed off again.

When I woke up next, we were reaching Gue Monastery and I could see the monastery ahead. When we reached it seemed like the monastery was under renovation. Niharika got down and asked around and got to know that the mummy is transferred to a temporary building nearby and we can visit that.

Gue Monastery is located near a small village around 35 Kms from Tabo Monastery and is famous for 500 year old mummy of Sangha Tenzin, a Buddhist monk who is believed to have started his mummification process while he was still alive. The monastery is located very near the Indo Tibetan border and is surrounded on all side by mountains. This is a very rare example of natural mummification as most mummies we read about are mummified by embalming and then being wrapped in linen cloth. The natural process of mummification is used by monks by slow process of starvation in a seated position. The dead body is then placed in underground chamber for 3 years to continue the drying process. Only 30 such mummies have been found till date and most on them in Japan. The mummy of Sangha Tenzin is remarkably well preserved with skin and hair intact.

We stopped nearby a restaurant in Gue village and had lunch and then resumed our journey towards Tabo Monastery. Tabo monastery had a different vibe, Above the monastery there are a number of caves carved into the cliff face and used by monks for meditation. There were young monks who were playing around football and kabadi. I bought Spiti Shawl, Tibetan flags from a local shop. We played with the young monks and talked to them. Some of them wanted to see the oustside world and play games on mobile phones.

We continoued our journey towards Kaza and reached by 7 or 8pm. After Dinner some of us went for a walk and ended up visiting the nearby Zostel. They allowed us to use the common area. Myself and Karthick had a round of carroms and he won. Then we all played Bluff. I ordered Sea buckthorn tea (Must try) as it was famous and it is very refreshing.

We went back to our hotel and played bluff and Dumb Charades. Most of the movie names were in hindi. I got to act the move “Sanam teri Kasam”. Luckily on my second act, Kirti guessed the name correctly and we won the match.

I woke before my alarm and took a shower. We were leaving for Chitkul by 8 am. Before that, I had to find the waterfall which was calling to me. I got ready by 5:30 am and put on a jacket and woke up Karthik saying that I’m heading out. No one was awake at the hotel, I went past the gate and took a left, and walked towards the direction of the water roars that I heard on the previous day.

Some of the villagers were also walking in the same direction, I was so thrilled to see the beautiful mountains which surrounded me. I put on my hoodie and kept my hands in my pockets to keep it warm. I was capturing each and every detail of the mountains. Some were covered with snow, some were covered with trees, some were getting the first rays of sunlight.

After each step, I could hear the roaring sound getting closer, then I saw the bridge and the river flowing ahead of me. Water was so white that it seemed like milk. I stood at the bridge having a soul orgasm (The river, its roaring sound, first rays of sunlight at mountains, wind chill). 

There was a narrow trail to climb ahead along the river bed and the next thing I did was climb those tracks for some time and reached a place where there was only a river and thick trees all around. I went and sat down on a boulder. I was so happy that I took this trip, I thanked God by saying a prayer. I don’t know how much time I spent there, the time just went by.

When I climbed down, I saw some bikers standing on the bridge and Karthik posing on their bikes. The bikers were doing a Spiti expedition on bikes and were on their way to Chitkul. By now it was around 8 am and Karthik suggested heading back to our hotel and we did that.

On the way, we could see trees covered with hay and were wondering if it is something of a ritual. When we reached the hotel our host was standing out and we enquired about it to him. He said it is not a ritual and people are drying the hay for winter. During the winter the entire area will be covered with snow and they won’t be able to get out of the house for months. When we asked about the hotel, He said during winter the hotel will remain closed only.

After breakfast, I was standing outside the hotel and decided to take a small walk, and this time I took a right. There were several small children playing around. The house’s architecture was completely different from what we see in Kerala. Then a shepherd went past me with cows. I was admiring the houses and suddenly heard shouting. The shepherd was making the cows climb the mountain with his sound and the cows were climbing very well. 

I went back to our hotel, By now everyone was down and getting into the traveler. Our next destination was Chitkul but my mind was still at the waterfall I found. On our way to Chitkul, We could see beautiful places alongside the Baspa river. Chitkul is the last village on the Hindustan-Tibet border. We tried to take a reel at the border and it was a flop. Then we headed back to the Chitkul village. From the village, we could trek down to the Baspa river and we all started to descend.

There was something about that place, The view we had was amazing, everyone was taking pictures, Some went along the river bed and spent some time walking and taking photos. Everyone was having their own alone time and it was amazing to spend time with people who don’t ruin your lone time. I was blessed with amazing co-travelers.

The trek up was a bit difficult for everyone, after reaching the top everyone was trying to catch their breaths. After taking some rest we took a tour of the village and resumed our journey to our next destination Kalpa. We stopped at Reckong Peo for lunch which is the capital of the Kinnaur District. After lunch, we resumed our Journey our next destination was Suicide Point, Roghi. We went to the village and decided to walk back to Suicide Point which was like a 1km walk.

On our small walk to suicide point, Sonali and Avinash were energetically talking about the Kedarnath trek. I asked Juhi about her Meghalaya trip and especially about the Nongriat village and Rainbow falls which is my favorite place in Meghalaya. Apparently, she covered both places in one day itself. Spending some time at the suicide point we left for our Hotel in Kalpa. When we reached the hotel it was sunset time. From the hotel, we could see the last rays of sun hitting the mountain. It was a view worth living for and we could see Kinnaur Kailash from the hotel.