Kinnaur - 02

I Continue From Here.....

Day 03


Next morning we got ready by 7:45 AM and we drove to Chitkul which is the last village on this side of India, past the mountains was Tibet. We took a small walk along a trail that leads to a small chekpost called nagasthi. We did a short walk till the Bassapa river and returned. On the way back Jagir took us to a new hotel at Ruksom. The owner of this hotel is a trekker and during one of his guided trek couple of the foreigner customers had a troubled stay in sangla, hence he leased out some land and built a hotel himself. He was eager to show us around and tell his story.

At Chitkul

Next stop was a fort in Sangla. We had to hike up a small hill which is densely populated. The watchman was out for lunch but returned on time and was extremely nice in his speech. He opened the temple, gave us caps and let us into the Kamakshi temple. A Buddha and Badri temple too is situated in this village.

At Sangla

Most or almost all the tourists were Bengali’s and our Jagir called them – Dada’s. A big group would be seen almost on every place. We returned back to the camp and took a walk to a small village near the camp. Bastri village is very neatly maintained with concrete roads and good drainage system and logos of cleanliness is seen almost everywhere in Kinnaur. Unfortunately a beautiful temple which is a major attraction for this village was closed while we went. But while we were waiting there a friendly lady came an spoke to us and offered some snacks called Muri. We took a walk along the village and a nice gentleman from neighboring village showed us the way back to our camp. We walked through the apple orchids and farmhouses to get back.

Walk Back To Camp

There were some new visitors at the camp, a group of 12 old men lighting up the atmosphere with their fun talks. They seemed like a group of friends from army or something. They read out poems written by one of them and kept playing old Hindi movie songs as they reminisced their past. Some inspiring truth about them I would only know after I return from Nako.

Next morning, we left early after having some excellent paratha’s and curds. Drive to Nako was brilliant; we were literally midst the mountains, at the center and in the middle. Most of the roads are being worked on to widen them so there were some delays. People get only 3 months a year to work after the rains and before the snow hence a lot of quick work of blasting was in process. Nako took us by surprise. It’s one of the most amazing places I have been to. Luckily we got some Maggie here.

Kinner camp at Nako again is situated at a beautiful place overlooking the mountains. After a small nap, we were ready to explore the small village of Nako which I don’t thing housed more than a hundred people. On this day was a major celebration at the village monastery. Their Lama was to arrive in few minutes, hence villagers were dressed traditionally ad stood on either side of the road holding bowls full of dry fruits. We were invited to have tea and busicuits there. After a short walk around the village and the lake we walked back to the camp. The village experience was very special and will be the best of the trip.



Beautiful Nako....Busy People at the Monastery

At camp the care taker is a Nepali boy Sonu who is always smiling and yes always listening to music and singing aloud. It was fun talking to him. He was nice enough to get us hot water jackets for the night which was extremely cold.

Continued Here -  Kinnaru - 03

Comments

  1. I just have one question. Do you not have problems with work when you take these long trips?:P

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  2. lovely ...my next destination hopefully

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  3. I am reading it. More please. They are treat to our senses.

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  4. Kish...Thankfully not yet. :-) Well i have some vacaction for the year and i am free to take it when ever i need, provided i make sure it isnt when i have loads of work. :-) Well i took 8 days off and with some holidays in between it was 16 day vacation and i think its too long for a vacation. :-)

    Lakshmi - Sure.

    Nisha - :-) Sure...last article on Kinnaur to comeup next week. Do you write too?

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  5. Looks like exactly my kind of a place!

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  6. "lovely" ...It feels alive... great job Gurugale

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  7. Mridula - Yes indeed, its very much your type of place. and make sure you plan a few days trek. I was so tempted to just take detours into the forest. :-(

    Mak - Sisyandrey super ree...bari fast nivu :-). Hope to read something soon.

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  8. Lovely! I'd love to put up a tent near Chitkul and spend a few days there..

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  9. machan... i'm so jealous of you.
    :)

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  10. awesome series of pix ajeya chan!!
    16 day vacation!?? nwoooooooooooo soooooo envy!
    i enjoyed the atmosphere of near nepal. looking sooooo exotic!
    thank you very much :)
    and take care of your health. dont catch flu.

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  11. Ajeya, this trip gets more interesting..and beautiful! Too bad the Bastri temple was closed that day. But I'm glad tha Nako was so enchanting for you. The blue skies and snow cap mts...awesome!

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  12. Sangla and Chitkul look beautiful. In my visit to Kinnaur in 2006, I could not go to these places due to a landslides. I seem to have missed quite a bit.

    The temple amidst deodar trees looks like a serene place.

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  13. Celina - True, i missed trekking and camping in the mountains.

    Ajai - :-)Pack you bags.

    Niki - Thanks.

    Lynn - Thanks...Nako is lovely

    Arun - Oh thats sad...Lovely places up north too.

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  14. Too good!
    Great experiences related.

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