On my way to Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh, my next stop was Chitkul. It is a last village located on Indo-Tibet border and at a distance of 180kms from Narkanda, Himachal Pradesh. Riding to Chitkul was one of the best ride I had till now. Road offers the view of Sutlej river, the famous cliff-hanger roads of Kinnaur and the beautiful Sangla Valley on the way.
My first stop was at Sutlej view point from where the view was beautiful and one can see the roaring Sutlej. After few snaps at view point I continued my ride and now I was riding along river, Sutlej. Riding in such terrain is always fun and breathtaking, but one should be cautious of incoming traffic. After riding few kilometers it was a cliff-hanger experience, now roads were narrower and I was bit slow. I parked my Enflied on the broadest point of the road, clicked few snaps and admired the beauty of the road. Cliff-hangers are considered to be one of the most dangerous roads around the world. These roads are narrow running parallel to river, with plenty of incoming traffic. Narrow roads continued to Sangla Valley where it gets wide opened.
Sangla
is small village, with number of guest houses and hotel , at distance
of 50kms from Chitkul. It was about to rain, so I decided not to take a
break at Sangla and reach Chitkul asap. On the way one can find many
camps for accommodation near Rakcham, a village at 14kms from Sangla.
Road to Chitkul is un-tarred going through wooden slopes and streams
without bridges. But again rough road offered beautiful view of Baspa
Valley. There is a small army check point before 3kms of Chitkul where
we have to provide identification and no permits are required for Indian
citizen. It was 5:30pm when I finally made to Chitkul. There are few
guest house at Chitkul which remain open in summers and shut down in
winters due to heavy snow. After checking in to hotel, I wandered for an
hour in Chitkul, talked with locals and came to know about Nagasthi. Nagasthi is at a
trekking distance of 4kms from Chitkul, which is the last Indian outpost
on Indo-Tibet border.
Next day I ventured for an hour in Chitkul and left for my next destination Kalpa, Himachal Pradesh.
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| Sutlej View point on the way to Chitkul. |
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| Unknown village. |
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| There are many water fall on the way. |
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| Entering KinnaurValley. |
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| Cliff-hanger. |
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| Cliff-hanger. |
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| Birdyyy.. |
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| Agriculture is the main source income for locals, Chitkul. |
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| Hydro Power project. |
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| Basapa Valley. |
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| First glimpse of Chitkul, Himachal Pradesh. |
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| Chitkul Village. |
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| Store house. |
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| View of my hotel. |
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| Dense forest around Chitkul. |
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| Basapa River. |
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| Wheat. |
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| Splash. |
To be continued to Kalpa, Himachal Pradesh.......
