WanderOn Winter Spiti Valley

WanderOn Winter Spiti Valley

Separated from fertile Lahaul by the soaring 4551m Kunzum La, the trans-Himalayan region of Spiti is another chunk of Tibet marooned in India. The scattered villages in this serrated moonscape arrive like mirages, clusters of whitewashed mud-brick homes huddled amid green barley fields below monasteries perched on crags a thousand feet above. The turquoise-grey ribbon of the Spiti River is your near-constant companion, running along a broad valley before turning south at Sumdo into the precipitous gorges of the Hangrang Valley.

Spiti attracts many travelers, including streams of Indian motorcyclists, as a kind of ‘mini-Ladakh without tourist crowds’, which is fair enough, since its pristine nature (high-altitude desert) and culture (Tibetan Buddhist) are still intact. The approaches to Spiti remain among the most rugged and scenically spectacular roads in India, and the Spiti-Kinnaur loop is one of Asia’s great road trips.

Chitkul - The last Indian Village