Day 8 (Sep 20): Annual Spiti Festival
Kaza, the sub divisional headquarters of spiti, is a beautiful village, it lies on the banks of Spiti river. It has a good market, almost everything is available. Lots of accommodation and food options. Apart from the Indian and Tibetan food some restaurants also serve Italian food. It has the only fuel station in the entire Spiti valley(opens @ 9:00am) and a Buddhist monastery nearby. There is also a bike mechanic shop(probably the only one in Spiti), so people having issues with their bikes can get them checked here. Its in close proximity to some of the famous places like Key, Kibber, Komik. All of these can be covered in a day's time.
Woke up early in the morning and was welcomed by the chirping sound of house sparrows and other beautiful birds. It was a great sight to see hundreds of sparrows chirping and flying around. It reminded me of my childhood days, when I used to live in my old house which had a big courtyard and had many sparrow nests inside it. The design of the old houses allowed sparrows to make nests inside them. Its really sad to know that the sparrows which used to thrive in Delhi are now disappearing at an alarming rate.
Today was going to be a relaxed day with little riding. The plan was to cover Key, Kibber and Komik. After doing the morning chores I headed for Key. Key is about 20 kms from Kaza, the biggest Monastery in Spiti and the most beautiful too. From the distance it looks like a king's fort, built on a hilltop over 1000 years ago, a masterful piece of architecture. The more you look at it the more you admire it.
Few kms before Key, saw this group of women sitting alongside the road having lunch. Couldn't stop myself from taking this picture with the view of key at the back.
The Majestic Key
Reached Key, there were four more visitors. A lama ji welcomed us and gave us a short tour of the monastery. He showed us some prayer rooms(photography is prohibited), they consisted of wall paintings of lord Buddha and other deities. Some paintings depicting some part of the buddhist history which the humble lamaji tried explaining us but my eyes were so occupied on paintings, lighting, colors, statues, etc inside those beautiful prayer rooms that I couldn't hear anything as if I almost lost my sense to hear.
Some pearl necklaces, stones and postcards were kept on the table outside the main prayer room
Monastery tour was over, I was about to leave but lama ji stopped me and asked me to follow him to the kitchen, where he offered me a glass of herbal tea and biscuits. The tea was not only yummy but also warmed my body like a blanket, I couldn't resist myself from asking more. Being punjabi by nature, ek glass se mera kya hona tha(just one glass was not enough to satisfy my thirst ). Drank three glasses and was all pumped-up to visit rest of the places for the day.
Kitchen @ Monastery
My visit to Key was a spiritually uplifting experience.
As I was nearing Kibber, I could see other mountains dwarfing around me and realized why its said to be one of the highest villages in the world. There was a sense of accomplishment after reaching Kibber, top of the world feeling, as almost if I could touch the sky. Roamed around the village, met few villagers and asked them "What's special about this place". To which they smiled and replied "yahan thand bahut padti hai(the weather here gets very cold)". Reached Chicham bridge, the bridge is under construction, there is a rope-way that takes you to the other side. I so wanted to experience the ride and visit chicham but couldnt as to do that I had to leave my bike behind. So decided to skip it and headed towards Komik. On my way back, saw this huge sand storm coming towards me. I was in no mood to take a sand bath. So, I waited and decided, If it gets any closer, I am going back to Kibber. Luckly it showed its mercy upon me and changed its direction. I could see it pass through from the other side. It seemed like the sand storm from the movie "The Mummy", a little less scary though. I stared at it and said "Go back to Egypt, you dont belong here". I heaved a sigh of relief then looked up, smiled and thanked God. Few kms down and it started drizzling, I could see dark clouds above, an indication that it could rain heavily any time which as per the locals is very unusual at this time of the year. Whether was playing its dirty tricks with me.
Decided not to try my luck any further, so skipped Komik and went back to Kaza. By the time I reached Kaza, there was a massive band of greyish-blue clouds filled with rain water. They could have poured heavy rain anytime but they did not. So I reached my guest house and the owner asked me to come attend the annual Spiti festival which happens every year at the end of September. It comprised of singing performances, traditional folk dance, men and women wearing traditional dresses, dance on some Bollywood numbers. All in all, it was cool and some source of entertainment for the people living in those remote areas. Was surprised to meet the Dhankar folks (The young Frenchman, the Iranian and our Mumbaian), they were all there to see the annual function. Just by looking at the locals faces, one could sense the importance of this function for them, they all looked so excited and happy. It was past 11pm, so headed back to my room and slept like a dog.
Kibber
Chicham village as seen from Kibber
Kibber-Chicham bridge under construction, there's a rope-way here which takes you to Chicham.
Vistas En-route
The Sand Storm
Kaza
Annual Spiti Festival
Kaza, the sub divisional headquarters of spiti, is a beautiful village, it lies on the banks of Spiti river. It has a good market, almost everything is available. Lots of accommodation and food options. Apart from the Indian and Tibetan food some restaurants also serve Italian food. It has the only fuel station in the entire Spiti valley(opens @ 9:00am) and a Buddhist monastery nearby. There is also a bike mechanic shop(probably the only one in Spiti), so people having issues with their bikes can get them checked here. Its in close proximity to some of the famous places like Key, Kibber, Komik. All of these can be covered in a day's time.
Woke up early in the morning and was welcomed by the chirping sound of house sparrows and other beautiful birds. It was a great sight to see hundreds of sparrows chirping and flying around. It reminded me of my childhood days, when I used to live in my old house which had a big courtyard and had many sparrow nests inside it. The design of the old houses allowed sparrows to make nests inside them. Its really sad to know that the sparrows which used to thrive in Delhi are now disappearing at an alarming rate.
Today was going to be a relaxed day with little riding. The plan was to cover Key, Kibber and Komik. After doing the morning chores I headed for Key. Key is about 20 kms from Kaza, the biggest Monastery in Spiti and the most beautiful too. From the distance it looks like a king's fort, built on a hilltop over 1000 years ago, a masterful piece of architecture. The more you look at it the more you admire it.
Few kms before Key, saw this group of women sitting alongside the road having lunch. Couldn't stop myself from taking this picture with the view of key at the back.
The Majestic Key
Reached Key, there were four more visitors. A lama ji welcomed us and gave us a short tour of the monastery. He showed us some prayer rooms(photography is prohibited), they consisted of wall paintings of lord Buddha and other deities. Some paintings depicting some part of the buddhist history which the humble lamaji tried explaining us but my eyes were so occupied on paintings, lighting, colors, statues, etc inside those beautiful prayer rooms that I couldn't hear anything as if I almost lost my sense to hear.
Some pearl necklaces, stones and postcards were kept on the table outside the main prayer room
Monastery tour was over, I was about to leave but lama ji stopped me and asked me to follow him to the kitchen, where he offered me a glass of herbal tea and biscuits. The tea was not only yummy but also warmed my body like a blanket, I couldn't resist myself from asking more. Being punjabi by nature, ek glass se mera kya hona tha(just one glass was not enough to satisfy my thirst ). Drank three glasses and was all pumped-up to visit rest of the places for the day.
Kitchen @ Monastery
My visit to Key was a spiritually uplifting experience.
As I was nearing Kibber, I could see other mountains dwarfing around me and realized why its said to be one of the highest villages in the world. There was a sense of accomplishment after reaching Kibber, top of the world feeling, as almost if I could touch the sky. Roamed around the village, met few villagers and asked them "What's special about this place". To which they smiled and replied "yahan thand bahut padti hai(the weather here gets very cold)". Reached Chicham bridge, the bridge is under construction, there is a rope-way that takes you to the other side. I so wanted to experience the ride and visit chicham but couldnt as to do that I had to leave my bike behind. So decided to skip it and headed towards Komik. On my way back, saw this huge sand storm coming towards me. I was in no mood to take a sand bath. So, I waited and decided, If it gets any closer, I am going back to Kibber. Luckly it showed its mercy upon me and changed its direction. I could see it pass through from the other side. It seemed like the sand storm from the movie "The Mummy", a little less scary though. I stared at it and said "Go back to Egypt, you dont belong here". I heaved a sigh of relief then looked up, smiled and thanked God. Few kms down and it started drizzling, I could see dark clouds above, an indication that it could rain heavily any time which as per the locals is very unusual at this time of the year. Whether was playing its dirty tricks with me.
Decided not to try my luck any further, so skipped Komik and went back to Kaza. By the time I reached Kaza, there was a massive band of greyish-blue clouds filled with rain water. They could have poured heavy rain anytime but they did not. So I reached my guest house and the owner asked me to come attend the annual Spiti festival which happens every year at the end of September. It comprised of singing performances, traditional folk dance, men and women wearing traditional dresses, dance on some Bollywood numbers. All in all, it was cool and some source of entertainment for the people living in those remote areas. Was surprised to meet the Dhankar folks (The young Frenchman, the Iranian and our Mumbaian), they were all there to see the annual function. Just by looking at the locals faces, one could sense the importance of this function for them, they all looked so excited and happy. It was past 11pm, so headed back to my room and slept like a dog.
Kibber
Chicham village as seen from Kibber
Kibber-Chicham bridge under construction, there's a rope-way here which takes you to Chicham.
Vistas En-route
The Sand Storm
Kaza
Annual Spiti Festival
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