Sangla - Chitkul - Rekong Peo Trip In Himachal Pradesh.

Dated 05/12/2010

We started of at around 6.30 AM from Chandigarh  and it was around 10:30 AM when we arrived in Shimla.

As the altitude increase the temperature came down drastically and we could see some ice crystals on the road.

Road from Shimla to Sangla in Kinnaur District in Himachal Pradesh


The journey was really tiresome and when we reached Sangla after 13 hrs of drive it was past 09:00 PM , luckily we found a lodge and also a restaurant where we had a satisfying dinner, the temperature then in November was around -01 Degree Celsius at Night.





Next day we ventured out to Chitkul a small  village in Sangla Valley  (Sangla valley was nominated as one of the five most beautiful valleys in the world by a reputed travel magazine, Courtesy -- Wikipedia)

Road to Sangla Valley 




All of us were excited as me and some of my friends would be touching snow for the first time.

 Sangla Valley is calm and serene, on the way to Chitkul village we stopped near a small rivulet with frozen icicles as seen in the above pic.

Me near an Apple tree.

It was like a dream come true although we had to trek few Kilometers to get to that place to touch the snow as there was no motor-able road to that place . The reason why we had to trek to touch snow was that it was not a snow fall season and there were few patches of Snow in places with little sunshine . So our SUV was parked in Chitkul, and we started  on foot, high altitude and scarcity of oxygen was making us breath heavily.going downhill was quick and easy but while returning  back we faced the real challenge.

                                                               Calm and quiet mountains

                                                                   Nature at its best


 we asked one of the villager in Chitkul about the wild animals in that area and he said that some Himalayan Black Bear and Panthers frequent that place and guess what we saw.....

                                                      Panthers foot print on the snow.

.... and it scared the hell out of us.

                                               The Lodge in Sangla where we stayed.

 The accommodation in Sangla is affordable they charged Rs, 800.00 for 2 rooms with Geysers

                       Chitkul Village the last village on the Indo-Tibetan border on that Road

                 Beautiful Snow-Clad Mountains on our road to Chitkul from Sangla (approx 10-12 km)

                               We passing beside the Jay pee Hydroelectric Project Construction Site