Euphoria

Ever since I visited the cold desert of “Spiti Valley” in Aug 2012, wish to visit the mighty Himalayas  along with Dhanashri & Sanskar was high in mind. The wish was fulfilled recently by a visit to Sangla Valley – supposedly the most beautiful region in the entire Himachal Pradesh!!!!

All the planning started somewhere in March. The initial plan was to visit Spiti valley again. However, when I came across some lovely reviews about Sangla Valley, mind started swinging back & forth between Spiti and Sangla. At one moment, I was about to take an adventurous decision of covering both the valley’s in 7-8 nights for a group of 12 including 2 kids. Thankfully, I had enough time in hand and this led to a very thoughtful (and perhaps a wise) decision of visiting fewer places with greater enjoyment. Spiti valley was totally dropped…in fact a lovely place in Sangla valley called “Sarahan” was also dropped to give better justice to the tour in a limited time. The final planned itinerary was –

1. 5th June –  Board train for Chandigad. Reach Chandigad by 4.30 pm on 6th June.
2. 6th June – Shimla
3. 7th, 8th, 9th June – Rakchham
4. 10th, 11th June – Kalpa
5. 12th June – Narkanda
6. 13th June – Kasauli/Barog
7. 14th June – Board train for Mumbai from Kalka

Barring couple of delays in reaching the destination (Rakchham & Narkanda) due to land slides enroute,  overall the itinenary was maintained to a great extent ! Shimla onwards, the road journey is extremely scenic and equally adventurous, especially last about 50-70 km.  Weather conditions were near to perfection with sustainable minimum temp of  5 deg at Rakchham on 9th June.

Rakchham is a small village of 150 odd houses nestled in the valley with snow-clad mountains all around and Baspa river passing by hurriedly to greet Sutlej river near Karchham !!!

Kalpa is a beautifully located place – about 10 km from Recong Peo. Monastery, a Shiva temple, Roghi village and Apple/Apricot/Peach orchards on both sides of the road … and all this with Kinnaur Kailash range at touching distance makes Kalpa a “not to be missed” place in Sangla!

Before I end this write-up, it will be a serious offence if  I don’t make a mention of all those who directly or indirectly have had a part to play in making this visit soooo memorable!!

1. www.indiamike.com is a great pool of information for anybody who wants to get basic travel information. This is the site from where I pulled in most of the information and contact details

2. Rahul Natu, Tushar Nidambur – my friends who gave good tips with lot of interest

3. Animish Bhure – who gifted me a marathi book “Raarang Dhaang” which is about kinnaur region. This  book helped me appreciate the beauty of Kinnaur region in a better way (the book deserves a special, separate blog 🙂 ).

4. Amazing friends and team members in Shishir, Ulhas , Giri, Dinya, Trupti, Manju, Reva, Sanskar & Dhana. Without each one of them, visit to heavenly place couldn’t have been soooo enjoyable !!!  (Again, each one of them deserves a separate page…indeed )

For those who wish to visit Sangla Valley, following contact details/ remarks could be of help –

1. Tempo traveller / Tata Sumo vehicle – Mr. Vinkle (09459262520). 
2. Mr. Puran (with very safe driving) – 09816186099/ 09418223299)
3. Kailash view camps @ Rakchham – Mr. Naresh Negi – Beautifully located camps at the banks of Baspa river – 09805380746)
4. Rakpa Regency – Mr. Raj Sharma (Manager) – 09805628946 or Mr. Sandip Karar (09805649505). Mr Sandip also runs Panchali resort @ Chhitkul – Location of Rakpa regency is simply amazing. Rooms are basic and nice. Room number 406/407  gives amazing view of Kinnaur Kailash range.
5. Harsh Villa @ Narkanda – Mr. & Mrs Bittu – 09882147045 . Rooms are very basic (nothing great) but very economical.