Imagine this, the stress of your modern lifestyle in your new age face-paced environment has caused you to go into overwhelming stress; maybe you didn’t have to imagine that, maybe that is your reality, just like millions of others, you too are a bit exhausted with the city and it’s maladies.
The answer to your exhaustion lies in a little time off from the concrete jungle and in the open, under an open unpolluted sky.
The place you’re looking for lies in the Himalayas, in a little snowy valley called Lahaul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh.
The mystical valley of Lahaul & Spiti greets vacationers with its charming natural beauty, grand man-made structures and unique points of interest of the majestic Himalayan deserts and meadows.
Situated at the Tibetan Plateau, the Lahaul and Spiti region, with its sparsely inhabited villages, sparkling lakes and rivers and unmatched natural beauty, is one of the top locations to go to in Himachal Pradesh for an adventurous and surreal vacation.
Best things to do in Lahaul and Spiti are –
CAMPING
Camping is proven to reduce stress and strengthen relationships; it takes away the confinement of our man-made mortar walls and provides a relieving change of scenery to the eyes, fresh air to the lungs and the needed adventure to the body.
Camping is a great way to connect to self, fellow campers and nature.
Camping in Lahaul and Spiti is a must. The valley has an abundance of camping sites. On your treks, you can pitch your camps anywhere according to your liking. Lahaul and Spiti have organized camping sites as well, these sites are near Chandratal Lake, Kunzum La Pass and Kaza.
Lahaul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh are covered in snow for 6 months, the valley is freezing cold during this time making it impossible even for the brave-hearted to camp here.
Therefore the summer months from May to October are the best months to visit Spiti.
TREKKING
Trekking is a misunderstood meditation; Trekking is you taking yourself through experience, you take a trail of your choice, find your direction and go to your desired destination. You get to immerse yourself in nature and find yourself while you get lost in the beauty of the world around you.
One thing is certain that Lahaul’s magnificent peaks, snow serpents, i.e., glaciers, awe-inspiring precipices, spectacular gorges, blue water lakes, refreshingly verdant valleys, potato fields, alpine-Himalayan flora and fauna, mystique monks, monasteries, its myth, legend, folklore and a totally different tribal culture will leave an indelible impression on the minds of the visitors.
The best trekking season in the Lahaul valley is between July and October. Because of climatic and geographical factors trekking in the Lahaul valley requires detailed and careful planning.
WHITE WATER RAFTING
In white-water rafting, participants guide and paddle a raft through whitewater or a river’s rapids.
Lahaul and Spiti is a great place for adventure bugs and a great way to amp up the adrenaline are by enjoying the activity of White Water Rafting in Lahaul and Spiti.
White Water Rafting in Spiti Valley can be done in the Pin and Spiti rivers.
YAK SAFARI
The cold mountain desert of Lahaul and Spiti at Himachal Pradesh may have a rough grey terrain but it’s a giving place, it offers something to everyone and caters to their liking.
It has gentle picturesque mountain views to wild, adventurous treks along the rugged terrains.
You can bike these terrains, trek them or even give a try to Spiti’s unique joy ride – Yaks!
One can go around enjoying the sites while also enjoying a Yak Safari in Spiti Valley.
HISTORY TOUR
We all have a drawer or box of things we have kept due to the memories it holds. It might be your grandma’s heirloom shawl or your four-legged best friend’s favourite chew toy. We all preserve things that preserve the memory of their time.
The world is big, bigger than us, it too keeps the things from its past and we can experience these preserved things to understand our world better.
Even in the untouched Tibetan valley of Lahaul and Spiti, the time has left its tracks for us to see and remember it.
GIU
On a small hillock just on the outskirts of the village Giu, in a small room, inside a glass cabin, lies the mummy of an old monk. The nails, teeth and hair of the mummy appear as if of a living person. The monk’s body has remained in this state without decay and without the use of any chemicals for preservation.
The monk’s body had gotten buried beneath a glacier during an avalanche and remained there for hundreds of years till it was found during a road clearance project.
TABO GOMPA
Founded in AD 996, and retaining five sub-temples dating back over 900 years, Tabo Gompa is reckoned to be the oldest continuously functioning Buddhist monastery in India.
The old gompa’s unquestionable highlight is its Tsuglkang (main assembly hall), it dates back to the monastery’s first foundation, the main assembly hall is entered through a muralled 16th-century Zal-ma foyer.
KEY MONASTERY
Key Monastery is generally believed to have come into existence around 1100CE, although many believe the site is even older. Key Monastery sits in a mountain foothill, near the Indo-Tibetan border.
The peaceful Buddhist monks who stay far, far away from violence couldn’t save themselves and their monastery from the invasion of Mongol Barbarians and the destruction caused by the attack eventually created the erratic patchwork of rooms, tight hallways, and hidden courtyards that exist in Key Monastery today
SHOPPING
Lahaul and Spiti has excellent Tibetan markets at Kunzum, Kaza. These places have excellent outlets to purchase carpets & local pure wool made Kullu shawls, Lois, Baby Shawls, Mufflers, Stoles, Ponchoos, Local Tweeds, Caps & other Kullu handlooms as well as local handicraft. Readymade garments in Merino wool, Angoora & Pashmina can also be bought in these markets. Pullas (grass made bedroom slippers), Woolen jackets and Silver Jewellery are main local souvenirs of the region.
TASTING LOCAL CUISINE
Lahaul and Spiti has sites that are a treat for the eyes and foods that are a literal Treat. Lahaul and Spiti is a cultural bowl and one can devour delicacies such as Tsampa, Thukpa, Butter tea and Patande
STARGAZING
Spiti valley is an unpolluted safe haven, where the morning sky is a beautiful rising red and the day skies are mesmerizingly blue.
But the real beauty of the Lahaul and Spiti skies shows in the night, in a tent around a bonfire. Lahaul and Spiti offers a variety of places with great elevations; while camping one can stay awake just a bit longer and experience the beauty of an unpolluted clear night sky. At Spiti valley, all the constellations are clear, the skies twinkle a bit more and somehow even the moon seems more beautiful.
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