INDIA TRAVELS - INDIAN HIMALAYAS

The Kinnaur Valley road follows the Sutlege River and Kinnaur River Gorge all the way up. Occasional side branches go up a tributary river valley. These photos are of a side trip up to Sangla. The Sangla Valley and Chitkul are extraordinarily beautiful but can only be reached with a lot of faith, or foolishness! I think the Sangla road was one of the scariest ones, but certainly not the only scary road in the Himalayas.

Our driver stopped to pray at each little temple on the side of the road, but then, he worried more about rocks falling and damaging his paint than us going over the side! An amazing feat of engineering, blasting these roads out of the granite mountains. Even though the roads are usually pretty good, there is an obvious reason why few tourists visit Sangla. It is a land that time has forgotten, the villages perched on the sides of the mountain have not changed in the last century. A few Indian adventure companies offer tours up here during the summer. Sangla is also know for good trout fishing.

One thing I never figured out about Kalpa was if there was any reason to ever leave! Winters are severe though, many of the residents of Kalpa go down to Recong Peo for the long winter. My guest house, along with many of the houses of Kalpa, was in an apple orchard. I saw the apple trees in bloom and would like to go back to eat one of the apples when they ripen ( September I think)

Rumor has it that Lord Dalhousie was so enchanted by Kalpa ( in the summer) that he wrote to the King of England and suggested that India be 'ruled' from Kalpa during the summer months. To which, allegedly the King of England wrote back and suggested that if he could rule India from Kalpa, he may as well rule India from London! At that time it took two weeks by donkey to reach Kalpa from Shimla.

There is tourism in Kalpa now. There is a lovely new hotel and a smattering of guest houses, restaurants and marvelous views.

Beyond Kalpa this road is a wonderful walk to the smaller town of Rogi. Views are dramatic down to the river bed way below.


One of the nicer things about staying in Kalpa for awhile is the many paths and roads to walk on. There is usually a nice, fairly level path following the irrigation canals through the woods to the stream they come from..

All water comes from snow melt and is cleverly channeled to everyone. Each person has their turn and each farm is responsible for opening and closing the channel to their farm at the scheduled times.

This lady is a Kinnauri woman and wears the typical Kinnauri hat. The Kinnauri people are considered a tribal people by the Indian Government and certain types of aid are given them. Medical and economic help. The Kinnauri language is not connected to any other language of India.

CHANGO, elevation 3,058 Meters, however I do not believe the government signs give the correct elevations. There is a nice guest house below town on the main road. The town itself is magical. A stiff walk above Chango to a ruins of a Gompa rewards you with frescoes on the walls.


This land is above the monsoon, the Himalayas shadow the monsoon and little rain ever gets through; all irrigation is of the snow melt from passing clouds. This creates a very dry climate that has preserved the beautiful frescoes on all the Gompa walls. Chango is an oasis of green in this high mountain desert land.

After Chango you will need your interline permit ( obtainable in Shimla or Recong Peo) to go further. The road is only 12 KM from the border with China and a military presence is felt in this area. In fact, the Kinnaur Valley road is well maintained to be able to get the military in and out as needed.

Although the Dankar Gompa is no longer in daily use, it is magnificently placed! Photo Elena.

Though there was much more to come, getting here, to be able to take this photo, was one of the most amazing moments of my life! I only wished I had more lung capacity to be able to run around these mountains like others seemed to do! My breath was short and even my walking was slow!

Taking the time at each higher elevation, getting adjusted to the lack of oxygen slowly, is very important. Some do better than others. I did better than I expected; some simply could not and others had no problem. I did not do any hiking once in the Spiti Valley, I used jeeps.

Gulling and Kaza were the hardest ( highest) for me. I was beginning to adjust by the time I left. It took a week to feel comfortable walking across the small town of Kaza!

Ki Gompa ( Kee Gompa) was the highest Gompa we visited and I did not go across the Rhotang pass to Manali but turned around and went back down through Kinnaur.. Many people had no problem going across the pass and on to Manali or Leh, but I chickened out. Or maybe I just had enough and felt like going back to Kalpa, where life was sweet and easy to breathe!

I did find everything I was looking for.

There was a Buddhist monk from Tibet who established many Gompas ( Buddhist temples) in this region in 990's AD. He brought a talented artist from Kashmir to Tabo to paint all the inside surfaces with frescoes, which are still in very good condition today, even without preservation efforts. Tabo Gompa is renown for its art, several books have been published about it. You are not allowed to take photos inside without a permit ( from authorities in Delhi).

It is said that the Dalai Lama will retire to Tabo someday. He visits often and he also visits Kee Gompa above Kaza, although I have heard he arrives in Tabo/ Kaza by helicopter. It may be possible for anyone to charter a military helicopter to come here from Shimla. It is inadvisable to come for an overnight stay by helicopter, much better to reach this altitude step by step. Several days or a week should be spent before going higher each time. Altitude sickness is a very serious illness if you are so unlucky to get it badly. Altitude sickness usually only becomes life threatening when people move to a high altitude too quickly, as happens when people fly to Leh.

Altitude sickness is a funny thing, it is not ones health nor age that determines it. You bodies blood chemistry must change and some people simply are able to do this better than others.