Kinnaur by Road — 7 Nights via Sarahan, Sangla and Kalpa

Your driver meets you at Chandigarh airport or railway station and takes the highway up through Solan to Shimla: about 115 to 120 km, for which we allow three and a half to four hours. Shimla, at about 2,200 m, is here as a staging post. It shortens tomorrow’s drive and lets an afternoon arrival still connect. If you are in early enough, walk the Ridge and the Mall before dinner. Chandigarh is the starting point because Shimla’s own administration names it as the nearest major airport; a pickup at Shimla can be quoted if you are already there.

East along National Highway 5, the old Hindustan–Tibet road, over the ridge at Narkanda, about 60 km out and 2,708 m up, then down to the Sutlej at Rampur and on beside the river. A side road then climbs 17 km to Sarahan, at about 2,300 m. Published distances from Shimla run from 170 to 180 km, and we allow about seven hours with stops. It is hill road all the way. If you arrive before dusk, the first visit to the Bhimakali temple is this evening; if not, it waits for the morning.

The morning belongs to the Bhimakali temple, the shrine of the goddess of the former Bushahr rulers: towers of timber and stone round a set of courtyards, which the Ministry of Tourism traces back some 800 years. Follow the temple’s own rules at the gate. Then back down to the highway and into Kinnaur, past Nigulsari, where slips and falling stones most often hold up traffic. At Karcham the Baspa valley road turns off, and Sangla is 17 to 18 km up it. We reckon the day at roughly 80 to 90 km and allow about four hours at the wheel.

A day in the valley with no packing. Drive up the Baspa to Chitkul, about 25 km from Sangla and 3,450 m up, which the district calls the last and highest village in the valley. The motor road ends there. Walk through the village to the temple of the goddess Mathi and down towards the river, and go gently: this is the highest point of the trip. On the way back, stop at Rakchham and at Batseri for a short village walk if you wish. We allow an hour to an hour and a half each way and aim to be in Sangla again by mid-afternoon.

Before leaving, walk up to Kamru, the village above Sangla, to see its five-storey tower-fort of wood and stone; the climb is optional. Then down to Karcham, along the Sutlej to Powari and up through Reckong Peo, the district headquarters, to Kalpa: about 45 to 50 km on the tourism department’s figures, for which we allow two and a half to three hours. The afternoon is for the Narayan-Nagini temple and the small gompa beside it. Then the reason for coming: Kinner Kailash across the gorge as the light goes.

Be outside before first light, when the sun reaches the snow of Kinner Kailash before it reaches the village. After breakfast the day stays close to home: down to Kothi, the old village between Reckong Peo and Kalpa, with its temple to the goddess Chandika, then the market and the monastery at Reckong Peo, the district headquarters. In the afternoon walk Kalpa’s lanes and orchard paths, or take the optional drive to Roghi along a narrow cliff road, which is not for nervous passengers. No long drive is planned; this is the rest day before the road back.

A last look at the mountain at first light if you want it. After breakfast the Sutlej road is driven in reverse: Powari, Karcham, Rampur, and the climb to Narkanda. By our arithmetic from the published distances it is roughly 185 to 205 km, and we allow about seven hours, longer if the road is held up. It is the longest day of the trip, which is why it stops at Narkanda and not at Shimla, about 60 km further on. Narkanda stands at 2,708 m in fir forest, and the evening is for rest.

The last drive: along the ridge to Shimla and down to the plains, about 180 km in all, for which we allow six hours with a break. Leave early. We ask you to book a flight or train that leaves Chandigarh in the evening, not the afternoon, because a hold-up on a hill road is paid for at the far end. If you would sooner finish with a night in Shimla and a shorter final morning, we can quote the trip that way, with a longer day before it. The journey ends at the airport or the station.