Fastfacts When to Go The best time to visit Lahaul-Spiti is from May to September Getting There One could start either from Shimla or Manali depending upon one’s convenience and the state of the very moody Rohtang Pass. Rohtang is of course open only in summer, whereas one can drive to Spiti from Shimla, Sarahan and Kaza anytime during the year Where to Stay Besides a few guest houses and hotels there are homestays all around Spiti
were surprised to see patches of green in the surrounding landscape. We later discovered that these were pea farms, that villagers cultivated using ingenious ways of irrigation, wherever flat ground could be found. Our next destination was Komic at 14, 025 ft with a population of about 114 souls. Immersed in legend and folklore, the inhabitants of this village are cut off from the rest of Spiti for greater part of the year. Komic is also known for its wildlife sighting and is visited by photographers from across the world. The 900 year old Komic Gompa is situated at about 15,050 ft
and is perhaps the world’s highest monastery. Our entry into the old monastery, which was quite small and non-descript, compared to some of the others we had been to, was greeted by the horrific sight of a stuffed dead snow leopard! After offering our prayers, we quickly made our way to the grand new monastery which looked elegant in its colourful coat of paint and decorated windows. Here too, the resident monks graciously offered us tea and lively conversation. One of them also played the flute for us! As we were leaving Komic, we offered a local, Karam Singh, a ride to Kaza. Karam turned out to be a resident of Hikkim, and insisted that we see the ruins of an abandoned Tangyud monastery at Hikkim before returning to Kaza. So we took a detour and in the bargain also glimpsed at the snow laden Shila Peak (20,i18 ft) popping out its nearly perfect triangular head, from behind the brown arid
66 | EXPLORE THE UNEXPLORED | MAY-JUNE 2012
BROWNSCAPE: Barren terrain en route Kaza from Nako
mountains. Having reached the now abandoned monastery, we were spellbound by the panoramic views of Kaza village, thousands of feet below on one side and a valley and canyon on the other two sides. The next day saw us en-route to Kye Monastery. Situated at 13,615 ft, Kye is the biggest monastery and Buddhist learning centre in Spiti Valley. The Kye monastery complex is a haphazard growth of box-like structure, overlooking the Spiti River and is often referred to as Little Tibet. Inside the monastery, a monk showed us 800 year old thangka paintings, murals, musical instruments and several carefully preserved manuscripts – many of which were brought centuries ago from Tibet. But what really filled us with amazement, was the panoramic view of the valley from the monastery’s terrace, where colourful lungtas were strung from ornately decorated pillars.