REDiaries: May 2016

It was one the most thrilling and beautiful day I will remember. I was entering Spiti Valley, where riding was like a dream coming true. After spending a night at Kalpa, Himachal Pradesh I kicked off to Tabo. It is a small village located in Spiti Valley at an altitude of 3,280mts close to Tibet border, north of Sutlej river. Ride to Tabo was mesmerising, terrain was changing from green to deserted to mysterious. I was only accompanied by my Enfield and river flowing parallel by my side on these roads. I could clearly feel the lonliness and peace of the place, riding my Enfield was like meditating with its thump. I was getting closer to Spiti, but was stopped by a landslide somewhere closer to Nako, waited almost 2hrs to move. Nako village located near Indo-Tibet border in region of Kinnaur district and is known for its lake and a monastery.

After spending an hour at Nako I continued to Tabo, but Gue is going to be my next stop. Gue is a small village which is famous for the mummified monk, Sangha Tenzin. I spent an hour at Gue exploring and continued my ride towards Tabo. Tabo is merely few kilometers from Gue and ride was not much eventful apart from the scenic deserted land of Spiti Valley. It was 5pm I touched Tabo around checked in to the hotel. There are plenty hotel and home stay accommodation at Tabo. Tabo is famous for oldest functioning Tabo Monastery in India and caves. The Monastery was founded by the King of Guge Kingdom of Western-Tibet Yeshe Od and the great translator Raichen Zangpo and is famous for paintings, murals and sculptures. The Monastery is also called as Ajanta and Elora of Himalayas. I roamed around few hours in the campus of Tabo Monastery and headed to caves. They say monks used to meditate in caves which can be seen on the hills of Tabo. It was a good day spent on roads and the village, Tabo. Next day I continued my ride towards Kaza with lots of good memories from Tabo.