Mission Spiti 2015 - Day 06

Kaza – Langza – Ki – Kibber – Kaza – Dhankar – Kaza

Waking up, I was feeling much better while the cold rainy breeze swept through the lodge. Getting ready with the stove heated water was not as difficult as I thought it to be – I recalled my days in MNNIT Allahabad & FMS Delhi Hostel. Lapping up the Tea-Toast, we geared up to drive to Langza in our freshly rain-washed SX4.

Topping-up at Kaza

World's Highest Retail Outlet

The landscape looked very different in the cloud color than the yellow sunlight’s color. We must have been 2.5 km before Langza village when our car got stuck in deep slush and for the first time in our lives, we realized what slush actually means. My brother asked me to get off with my mobile immediately so that if the car goes down the road, I will be in a position to call for help. After getting off, as I took my first step, I could not – 2.5 inches of slush was stuck on my shoes’ bottom and it felt like somebody had tied heavy weights (like Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander cycling practice session). So panicked we were that I ran at my best manageable speed to call for help from a team of laborers hidden from the heavy rain in a nearby camp. Not willing to get drenched, they came out very reluctantly and promised to come for help if something happens (in their view, the slush was easily negotiable).

Approaching Langza

Approaching Langza

Approaching Langza

My brother could negotiate the car out of the slush and we decided to try Ki-Kibber route which we had been told was black top. Yes, that, it indeed was and was a treat to our eyes as well as our tyres because of being freshly washed by the rain. The color of the atmosphere was rain white, a good change from the dusty yellow color we had been driving through since the last 5 days. As we pulled over into the Ki Gompa Parking, we did not realize how far we had to climb to get to the Fortress. Due to my urge to answer a minor nature’s call, a large group of Caucasians were ahead in queue for us and it did take a long time for the front-benchers in that group to understand what Buddhism was all about, what Spiti region was all about and then what Ki Gompa was all about. We were not as good students of Buddhism as they were and finding a subtle opportunity to skip the queue, we took the plunge getting ahead of them in the sight-seeing game. Proceeding with the Old Prayer Chamber as well, I quickly got down to my main target inside Ki Gompa – the GLHT. My brother hesitated – and even knowing that I am much more miser than him – I said its free and we’re welcome here for freebies unlike Delhi thereby relieving her of the hesitation.

Approaching Ki Gompa

Welcome to Ki Gompa

New Prayer Hall

From the Roof of Ki Gompa

Interesting Metal faces on the Roof of Ki Gompa

Our Horse SX4 in the Ki Gompa Parking Lot

The GLHT at Ki Gompa

The Ginger Lemon Honey Tea was the best hot beverage I have had in my life so far and it further re-affirmed my cultural concept that one should always survive on the local food and water when traveling because I strongly believe there is a reason why Chinese cuisine has maida based noodles with soya sauce and soup whereas Tamil cuisine has a lentil based dosa and rice based idli with spicy sauces and sambar. One could argue that cuisine is based on locally grown or available products which is a perfect argument but I would like to argue back that the climate and topography are the reasons for the growth of those vegetables or availability of those kind of animals. The GLHT was a blessing and warmed us to the bowels, quite literally, in that severe cold which was being further precipitated by the wet precipitation.

Ki Gompa

We proceeded to the Kibber village and the cut towards Tashigong & Gette showed a grim state of slush. We had earlier planned to stay the night at Tashizom Guest House but that was when we had a travel plan of 1.5 days. With slush cutting short our day-trip to just 4 hours, we decided to just click pictures outside Kibber and then have a Thukpa Lunch at Tashizom which, at 13:30, again gave us enough warmth required for the next travel slot. The rooms, we visited, were a treat (especially the Family Suite with the Bukhari) and I wondered how my wife and kids would definitely enjoy a stay here – provided they can come with me sometime in the future.

Trek Start Point from Kibber to Prang La

Tashizom Guest House at Kibber

You only get the Signal at this point at Tashizom

Kibber

Kibber-Tashigong Link Road

On my brother’s advise, I called back Jamaica and requested him to keep a small car ready for our Dhankar visit, which was ready when we drove back into Kaza. We declared that we would have to forego the Sagnam-Kud tour now. The Dhankar Tour was quite eventless but I did not forget to click the Attargu diversion picture. The Dhankar Gompa & Village, contrary to my expectation, had a tinge of difference from Tabo or Ki. I had not felt this difference between the Gompas of Hemis, Thiksey, Lamayuru, etc. We returned to visit the Kaza Monastery right in front of our Room and we again bumped into the RJ-27 Innova. Thereon, what followed was a nice camaraderie between the 3 of them and the 2 of us. They enquired about ChandraTal and we towed them into the KayCee Lodge to have a chat with Jamaica. After laying down a lot of permutations and combinations, it was finally decided that we would forego ChandraTal and rather complete the local Village tour in a local SUV which was arranged by Jamaica. On his advice, we proceeded to Deyzor for Dinner, also because Deyzor was the only property in Kaza with a Generator.

Gorge on the way to Attargu

Diversion for Pin Valley

Dhankar Gompa at the brink of Collapse

Confluence of Pin into Spiti

Eroded Formations at Dhankar Gompa

Dhankar Village

Wildflowers before Kaza

Quechua Tent

Quechua Tent

Son of our Driver (Owner of Homestay)

Kaza Monastery

Kaza Monastery

And to our surprise, what property it was. Deyzor looked like an Oasis in that cold desert. The Thukpa, I ordered for everybody, was the best I have had so far and the sauce accompanying the Momos was nothing like what you get at Delhi stalls. The delicious food helped the night come down heavy on us by putting us to a good sleep.