Kinnaur: Nako Lake

Before leaving from Kuppa I had a well culture learning session with a woman whose better half was posted in HP in JP Hydro Power Project. She told me about how the Panchali System is still practiced in the village of Kinnaur just like it used to be at the time of Mahabharata. I was firmly convinced and got pleasure from old tales of our previous ancient times.

The not so smooth road to Kinnaur, the mountains cut out to make way

Today's goal was to arrive at Nako but not before a swift halt at Reckong peo. We left at 7 AM and found that the road not very hazardous as the road to Sangla and Chitkul was. Our key intend to visit Rekongpeo was to do a bit of shopping and as Peo is the chief town of the district and one can get bountiful selections in local handcrafted shawls with utmost quality. The market was spread at a long stretch and had copious shops for everything. One can buy dry fruits mainly chilgoza/neoza, almond, dry apricot, and Kinnauri kidney bean which are considered to be the best buy. We left from Peo at 10:30 AM and crossed Kharo Bridge just after that there was a police check post where they inquired about our whereabouts their main apprehension was to keep a track on the number of people traveling and the purpose behind the visit.

Vehicles waiting for their turn to proceed at the check post, Kinnaur

As we crossed the check post we got a pretty good view of the area with the route considerably the best route in the whole journey. We were asked for a pass from a couple of bikers who were a group of 7 in total, as they were given a friendly pass ahead by our driver they did a memorable wave as a thank you gesture, which I found promising. 

We not only encountered the bikers but some foreign cyclists who seemed tired with extensive journey but brawny enough to cross miles.

 We crossed through boards stating “You are traveling on the world’s most treacherous road” I then remembered the time I was planning the trip somebody mentioned it to me and I thought that when I would come back safe and alive I would write about it proudly that I have traveled on the most dangerous road in the world. We stopped at Dubling for lunch and found a Chinese restaurant which appeared a usual halt for many people traveling on that road.

Nako was our halt for the night, the road to this village was better after Dubling and dirt free to sleep on it. The landscape changed again from ugly mountains to muddy wasteland and from grimy to unsullied air. The view was ecstatic because of the well built road track and dramatic view. The village is famous for its tarn, surrounded by huts of the village and willow trees, making the outline spectacular. It was only 4 PM so we came to a decision to leave Nako and make the night halt at Tabo. The photo wouldn’t do justice to the place but I was stunned with the tranquil surrounding of the place.

Nako Lake at Nako Village, Himachal Pradesh

Nako has good number of hotels and also has multiple shops, on serious note no other network coverage only MTNL connection was available.