Kinnaur: Chitkul, The last village before Tibet

We on the 8^th June woke up at 6:35 AM and got ready for the super long day jaunt but the cab driver got shoddily late so after a wee bit of waiting we left at around 9:00 AM bid my uncle good bye. So we happened to cross Jeori again and made sure to fuel up the car's tank full as the drive was going to be staggeringly stretched.

The weather was not cool enough as we thought it to be. As we went through further more there started some humongous mountains all parched and looked all a stone’s throw away. Also some snow clad mountains at the back of these gigantic mountains. We crossed Bhabha, Nathpa, Wangtu, Tapari and halted at Karcham where we came to know that the road was confoundedly under grave repairs , we were asked to detour the road from NH22 through some uphill village named Urni  as the construction would take forever (I heard, it’s not going to get over till a year). OK. So there started some serious adventure of detouring thus I felt like a lost ball in the high weeds and we got a tad bit frightened on seeing the stipulation of the road. The buses had to take two-three twists in order to take a turn on the extremely tapered road. It was somewhat worrisome to watch the bus and the passengers sitting on it. Thankfully, it was one way traffic active on road that time. The other side of the traffic was waiting. We in some way crossed the 23 km stretch in order to cover the 7 km smash. As we reached there were vehicles parked: busses, tourist-taxis, trucks and some two wheelers all waiting for their turn.  

Clearly, a depiction to illustrate something.  

After the weary journey we got charged up as we were finally on the road which goes to Chitkul. One of my cousins had recently visited Kinnaur and had recommended me not to overlook Chitkul without much surprising it popped out to be the most beautiful village in Kinnaur district. It was lunch time and we stopped by for food at Sangla which was regrettably shut that day being a Sunday. We figured out some Chinese joints, some strict non-vegetarian joints and then there was this Ashiana Retaurant where we settled down to have Indian food as my mother’s not a big Chinese food fan so we narrowed down on Kadhai-Paneer, Dal and Roti.

The undulating valley of Village Rakcham, Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh, India.

As we took a leave from Sangla the landscape again changed to exquisite valley, cleaner river and clear view of Kinner Kailash. According to Hindu scriptures,Kailash is home of Lord Shiva. It was certainly more beautiful as the snow capped mountains came into sight now, earlier they were behind those dry mountains we witnessed on our way. The aura transformed completely with some striking waterfalls bucketing down the snowy mountain top. We crossed conspicuous villages, one of them was Batseri. I read it on internet that it had an engaging market but it was also shut due to Sunday, my bad luck. The landscape was utterly spectacular as we moved further we could see the Baspa river more evidently all enclosed by lush green flora, apple farms, few local vegetables and fruits. Did you know that Kinnaur is famously known for its apples and has the capacity to produce the best apples in the entire country. 

There came the time where I couldn’t sit back in the car and forced myself out to take in the pleasure of being on the road side addressing the picturesque sight of this splendor, Rakcham Valley. I can unmistakably say that Rakcham is the most attractive and a sure shot winner of all valleys. The quaint wooden houses made the gorge appear just breathtaking.  We again got off the car to take a 360 degree of the place, just a view worth thousand words. Turn to whatever side you can and you would see mountains roofed with snow and tranquility to add as sheer delight. With the sound of water gushing slowly too apt for a perfect meditation session I can clearly say the place was celestial. The quietude of the place can’t be inked down on a piece of paper but I had the most astounding view in front of my eyes.

To me, the view is as enchanting as a painting on a canvas. 

After a check-post the road suddenly ended and there, we halted at Chitkul, the last village before Tibet. We marveled over the exquisiteness of the location, its dirt free stillness and clicked some reminiscences of the place, people and vicinity. There was a gateway to Tibet from there onwards. Although the road to this place was not good at all but it was all worth the pain we underwent. 

The rural Chitkul Village might be the last but only gorgeous village in Himachal Pradesh. 

I learned, the people don’t come out for the duration of winter season and stock up food grains for six month hiatus all through heavy snowfall. So we have these kind of people in the world too, I considered myself fortunate enough to meet them in their village. 

The locals of the village, deprived of the other side of the world.

One of the main attractions in Chitkul is the river bed, where I didn’t go as we had to hit back to the guest house where the reservations were prepared. We stopped by Sangla again for evening snacks this times as I was keen to have Indian version of Chinese I ordered Thupka and handed over a container of mango juice to my mother. We stayed at Kuppa at JP Guest House arranged by my maternal uncle’s friend. All worn out, we called it a day.

If anybody plans to go to Chitkul, its approximately 120 kms from Rampur and has copious hotels and guest houses to stay for overnight but no mobile network. However Sangla is good when it comes to mobile network and also has handful of hotels to stay and cafes to munch.