Family Trip to Spiti Valley with a 2 Year old Child

[Gaurav Talan]

Day 8: Since our original plan of completing the circuit through Manali could not be realized due to heavy snow accumulation on the Batal-Gramphu stretch, we had to go back the same way we came. Initially, we planned to drive all the way to Kalpa from Losar, but it could have been a very long drive in the hills and I was not in a favor of driving after dark in these remote areas. So, we decided to halt at Nako for the day. However, since we were going back through Chicham-Key route, we decided to take another hike to the Key Gompa-Gette trail. It was all sunny and bright and we also decided to visit Demul village. Demul is a detour of some 20 Kms from Lidang on Kaza-Tabo highway. Even though this road was tarred, it was as steep as it could get. You won't be able to apply second gear even for a moment on this route and even in first gear, your car will struggle to climb. Getting down on this steep road is another task altogether! Do not attempt to drive to Demul if you are new to driving in the mountains.


Chicham Bridge





On top of the ridge, before Demul





Demul is a pretty village that sits on the other side of the ridge and the views are different from the ones in Spiti valley. We were lucky enough to spot many Bharal (Blue Sheep) on the way to Demul. We planned to have our lunch in the village but there were no people in the village at all. Apparently, there was a local festival in some other nearby village where all the villagers from Demul had gone. So, we ended up exploring a village with no people in it.


Bharal/ Blue Sheep





Demul village









We reached Nako in the evening and stayed in the same guest house we stayed at a few days back (Hotel Lake view). Nice view of Nako lake from there. Do try their Thupka if you stay there.

 

[Gaurav Talan]

Day 9: We woke up and spent our morning in leisure at Nako. Our destination for the day was Sarahan. We left Nako and expected to reach Sarahan pretty early. But all doesn't go as planned. First, we had to stop before Pooh for a couple of hours because of blasting for road widening work. Then there was a massive traffic jam near Jeori because of a landslide. On top of it, it was raining hard and GPS was also not working well. We could not find the proper way to Sarahan and instead took a dirt road to reach there which had actually become a muddy road in that rain. After some struggle, we finally reached Sarahan and decided to visit Bhimakali temple the same day. It was still raining when we reached. Initially, we waited for the rain to stop but when there were no signs of it stopping, we went to pay a visit to the temple while it was still raining.


Bhimakali temple, Sarahan

 

[Gaurav Talan]

Day 10: Instead of taking a usual route via Jeori, we decided to take an alternate route. We took the Sarahan-Bushahar-Mashnoo-Kothi-Rampur road which was a bit longer, but more beautiful. Also, it passed through many tribal villages and had no traffic at all. A beautiful waterfall on the way surprised us. We even attempted a little hike along a rivulet on this road.


A small hike on the way





A village on Sarahan-Bushahar-Mashnoo-Kothi-Rampur road





A waterfall on the road





We reached Shimla early in the afternoon and decided to spend the day on the mall road. It was summer and peak tourist season, so it was really crowded in Shimla that day. Nevertheless, we had our mandatory ice cream, visited a book fair, and spent some leisurely time at the ridge.


The ridge, Shimla





Crowded Shimla!

 

[Gaurav Talan]

Day 11: This was the day when we were to reach Delhi. So we decided to start late and spend some more time in Shimla instead. We had our lunch near Chandigarh and left the Himalayas behind us!


Brief Itinerary (with altitude in meters):

1. Day 1: Delhi (225 m) - Shimla (2276 m) - Matiana (2470 m)
2. Day 2: Matiana (2470 m) - Narkanda (2708 m) - Rampur (1021 m) - Reckong Peo (2290 m) - Kalpa (2839 m)
3. Day 3: Kalpa (2839 m) - Pooh (2735 m) - Nako (3616 m)
4. Day 4: Nako (3616 m) - Sumdo (3072 m) - Gue (3623 m) - Tabo (3280 m)
5. Day 5: Tabo (3280 m) - Dhankar (3827 m) - Hikkim (4440 m) - Komic (4587 m) - Langza (4290 m) - Kaza (3667 m)
6. Day 6: Kaza (3667 m) - Key Gompa (3830 m) - Kibber (4120 m) - Chicham (4140 m) - Gette (4270 m) - Kaza (3667 m)
7. Day 7: Kaza (3667 m) - Kunzum Pass (4590 m) - Losar (4085 m)
8. Day 8: Losar (4085 m) - Demul (4338 m) - Nako (3616 m)
9. Day 9: Nako (3616 m) - Pooh (2735 m) - Sarahan (2165 m)
10. Day 10: Sarahan (2165 m) - Shimla (2276 m)
11. Day 11: Shimla (2276 m) - Delhi (225 m)

 

[vinsosh]

Beautiful pictures and well written travelogue. Have been wanting to travel with my 4 year old to Spiti, but was hesitant. Your journey has inspired us to plan our own trip. Thanks for sharing. Can you please share which dates you traveled ? Would like to have some insight regarding Covid situation relevant for travelllers from outside Himachal.

 

[ParulAgrawal]

Day 11: This was the day when we were to reach Delhi. So we decided to start late and spend some more time in Shimla instead. We had our lunch near Chandigarh and left the Himalayas behind us!


Brief Itinerary (with altitude in meters):

1. Day 1: Delhi (225 m) - Shimla (2276 m) - Matiana (2470 m)
2. Day 2: Matiana (2470 m) - Narkanda (2708 m) - Rampur (1021 m) - Reckong Peo (2290 m) - Kalpa (2839 m)
3. Day 3: Kalpa (2839 m) - Pooh (2735 m) - Nako (3616 m)
4. Day 4: Nako (3616 m) - Sumdo (3072 m) - Gue (3623 m) - Tabo (3280 m)
5. Day 5: Tabo (3280 m) - Dhankar (3827 m) - Hikkim (4440 m) - Komic (4587 m) - Langza (4290 m) - Kaza (3667 m)
6. Day 6: Kaza (3667 m) - Key Gompa (3830 m) - Kibber (4120 m) - Chicham (4140 m) - Gette (4270 m) - Kaza (3667 m)
7. Day 7: Kaza (3667 m) - Kunzum Pass (4590 m) - Losar (4085 m)
8. Day 8: Losar (4085 m) - Demul (4338 m) - Nako (3616 m)
9. Day 9: Nako (3616 m) - Pooh (2735 m) - Sarahan (2165 m)
10. Day 10: Sarahan (2165 m) - Shimla (2276 m)
11. Day 11: Shimla (2276 m) - Delhi (225 m)

Hi..
We are planning a road trip to Spiti next week with our 2 yr old kid..
Can u tell us how safe it is to visit chandra taal and stay dere in camps for a night with our kid?

 

[Anand B]

Great travelogue. I too am planning a Ladakh trip in September but right now plan not to take my wife and 3 year old daughter because of AMS issues.

Request you to detail how you countered the AMS issue, what precautions and steps you took for that.

 

[Vargis Khan]

Hi..
We are planning a road trip to Spiti next week with our 2 yr old kid..
Can u tell us how safe it is to visit chandra taal and stay dere in camps for a night with our kid?

I have seen a couple of foreign couples do that Parul but never anyone from India.

If you ask me, I will advise against camping at Chandratal with a child that old. The temperature over there drops drastically at night. You will have to use 2 blankets and even then you may still feel cold.

You should take a detour, visit Chandratal and be on your way to either Kaza or Manali

 

[Vargis Khan]

Great travelogue. I too am planning a Ladakh trip in September but right now plan not to take my wife and 3 year old daughter because of AMS issues.

Request you to detail how you countered the AMS issue, what precautions and steps you took for that.

AMS may not be a problem Anand as long as you

1. Go via Shimla
2. Take the journey slow and keep enough halts in between
3. Do not stay at Chandratal for the night