Varkala Tales: Humans of Varkala

Varkala Tales is my new travel series based on my latest travel to Varkala in Kerala. This series will cover sunsets, teas, people, solo travelling and ofcourse places. Brace up for some poetry too. This is part three of Varkala Tales, Feedback welcome and highly appreciated.

I have said this earlier, I will say it again. One of the best things about travelling is the people you meet- some give you life goals, some lend a fresh perspective, some just make you smile and few more humble you down, the nice way. Here is my share of experiences from the humans I met in Varkala, may be also the humans who make Varkala what it is.

Meet Stephen.  Actually Stephen has a personality interesting enough that it will find you, even if you may not necessarily go looking for. In the last couple of days of my stay in Varkala, it almost became customary to halt by this small shop selling small artifacts carved out of marble and say hello to Stephen.  From London, Stephen is in Varkala to train as a yoga instructor. I first met Stephen at the marble artifacts shop, where he has been spending a couple of hours each day to learn how to shape marble pieces perfectly. Here he poses with his yoga instructor; the picture below is the shop is where he sharpens his artifacts skills.

At Varkala’s famous Coffee Temple I met Lovely, I approach her curious to know if she owns the place. Lovely does not own the coffee shop, but helps manage it and has been there for close to ten years. In a small chat we have, Lovely tells me before joining the tourism industry she worked as a software professional in one of the big cities. It is amazing what people do for the love of travel and tourism- from a big city to a beach destination with a creek- Lovely surely does not seem unhappy about the decision.

                                  I forgot to get a picture of Lovely, so here is  Coffee Temple for you instead.

I call him boat uncle, because my memory is of no aid as I try to recollect his name. I dare not name misname him. So yes, he is boat uncle. He was the boat man for my twenty minute ride to and fro Golden Island in Varkala. Though I do not remember his name, trust me I am a fan. What does one do if you are the only one in a boat and the only other person is the boatman-strike a conversation. I ask him about his family. “ Kids?” “One, adopted,” he says with a smile. I hope that is reason enough for you too to like him. If you still don’t, I don’t like you my reader.  Boat uncle talks very warmly about his school going son, where he adopted him from and about his wife who works as a nurse. “ We both earn enough to have a decent living,” says. Boat uncle understands and also speaks hindi. “ How come?” I ask. I have worked as a plumber in Dubai, fell three floors down in an accident, gave up the job and returned to Kerala,” he says. When in Kerala, be sure to meet a Middle-east return.

It is a tie between whom I like the most- the boatman uncle or this European couple. Both gave me life goals of different kind. Meet Ayesgul and her partner- Lorris. Ayesgul is Turkish and Lorris is Italian. Lorris met Aysegul in Turkey and they both later decided to go on a trip to Sri Lanka. Post the trip, Ayesgul returned to her office job and Lorris went ahead to explore India. At his last destination in India- Varkala, Lorris decided to start a new life in this beautiful beach destination.  “ Lorris told me I have found our future,” says Ayesgul as she narrates her story with a big smile. “ We did the maths and saw how much we have and decided we had enough to start a business in Varkala,” she says. I ask them how long they have known each other, “We celebrated our fourth anniversary on 7^th October, it is my lucky day,” says Ayesgul. You need to see that sweet smile to know how lucky. God bless the couple. You can know them personally by staying at keeratheram when you plan to travel to Varkala.

Give solo travel a try!

“What will you do alone,” was a frequent question when I first told anyone I am planning to travel solo. Once I returned, the question merely changed its tense to “What did you do alone.”

Good question. Honestly, I did not know what I will do alone and I still don’t know what one should do on a solo trip. To each his (read her) own may be. But here is why I wanted to give solo a try and I ain’t complaining.

               For solo travel either be good with selfies or you might click random pics like the above

First. I am on a life mission to be ferociously independent in this ever changing world. How sad it would be to not be able to travel to some nice place, for the simple reason of not having the right company. Rule one of solo travelling- your company is the best company.

Second. “Your parents aint accompanying you?” asked the boatman who rowed to Golden Island in Varkala. I wonder if he would have cared to ask a guy travelling alone the same question. So go travel to prove to the world and more to yourself that a girl/woman/young lady/old lady/lady in her thirties/ lady who does not care/ single lady/married lady/ divorced lady…I guess you got the point now, can and is normal to travel alone.

Third. Hey, its fun. Okay, it aint the kind of fun you would have with a group of crazy friends doing crazy stuff, but it is still fun. For starters, you are more inclined to make new friends and more aware of people and experiences around you. On this trip, I had a lovely dinner with a young medical professional who was also travelling solo. It is always nice to meet people of a different age, different work profile, different city and different thoughts.

Fourth. Just like you don’t learn to swim until pushed into the pool, same is the law with the intuition to know whom to trust and whom not to.  Solo travelling will help you be more confident about your sixth sense of danger and its absence.  

Fifth. I like strolling the beach for hours and then returning to my room and falling asleep instantly happy-tired of all the beach-walking. I am not sure how many of my friends really like that idea. Solo travelling is a good trip to do what exactly makes you feel nice-no one to judge and no one to compromise for. Choose a destination you like and you can also drop it last minute just because the sun isn’t shinning bright enough today. No one to answer and no one care.

If these are reasons enough for you to go solo or if you have found a sixth reason, go ahead. Here are some tips which might come handy- carry books, lets admit it – self company may get boring sometimes. Load your smart phone with a long playlist for the same reason.  If you have a pet project in mind which you wish to execute in solitude, stay back in one place for a longer period. In the instance of lack of a pet project, avoid longer stays at one location, keep moving, cover more locations in one trip, it will keep you entertained with new people, new sights and new experiences each day. Finally, be prepared for an emotional turmoil, whether you intend or not, soul-searching will come searching for you on a solo trip and then there is no escape. But there is always a brighter side- clarity at the end of the tunnel.

“Give solo a try” – is part of my new travel series from my first solo trip to Varkala in Kerala. Reach out with your solo travel experiences, queries and for any safety tips.

Varkala Tales: Sunset chornicles

Varkala Tales is my new travel series based on my latest travel to Varkala in Kerala. This series will cover sunsets, teas, people, solo travelling and ofcourse places. Brace up for some poetry too. This is part one of  Varkala Tales, Feedback welcome and highly appreciated.

                                             Image location: Paapnasham Beach, Varkala

I sat by the shore of its beauty,

And then it was time to leave to find new wonders

It was then she pleaded to stay back a little longer

Each time I rose, each time she smiled with a more intense hue.

Like the moon and the wave, one trying to pull the other trying to push away

She and I were in a tug of war and that is how the evening went.

And then the sun set, and I wondered now where to go.

                                         Image location: Black Beach, Varkala

                                                       Image location: Black Beach

There is no greater illusion than the sunset.

Who did what?

The sun gave up on the sky and chose the sea?

Or the hungry sea gobbled the sun for its beloved moon to show.

But never did it occur on any rotational day to the human eye.

The sun stayed,

The sea stayed,

It is the cheater earth doing a round-about.

                                                    Image location: From Varkala Cliff

And then when the sun bid adieu, the sea started singing to me.

How impolite to not listen in and walk away.

I now sat on those rocks listening to the endless melody,

Sometimes singing a duet with the sea

Sometimes being its audience.

That is how the night fell.

Himachal Diaries: Tiny tales

No doubt places you see and people you meet and the time you spend make up for most of your travel memories. But most times, there is a little more, which remains longer in your memory.  Tiny beliefs, tiny serendipities, tiny instances and tiny lessons- all of these make for a beautiful travel tale.

Green Peas

A good number of villages in Himachal’s Spiti valley make a living out of the cultivation of peas. The cold weather in the valley do not allow for many options of vegetable cultivation.  While driving by Himachal’s difficult Spiti roads, our driver hopped out of the car at one such green peas field. He insisted we should taste the green peas grown there.  While we expected him to return with a couple of them, he came back with two hands full of green peas, something the Mumbai vegetable seller would have sold for a good price.  To us, on this beautiful Spiti trip, these peas were given free of cost, fresh, sweet and served with a big smile. In the later part of the trip, our driver also treated us to peaches and other such fruits. May those fields and their farmers prosper.

Warmth

Do we find the warmest people at the coldest places possible? May be yes you find them in Himachal, definitely yes you find them in Spiti. This incident will be always close to my heart and will always manage to put a smile on my face. We were roaming around aimlessly climbing some uphill pathways in Kibber. While, I was climbing one such uphill pathway, my photographer friend was walking behind me and asked me to turn around and smile for her camera. As I do that, the next moment someone warmly puts her arm around my waist. I turn to see a lovely sweet looking middle aged village woman smiling at me. We both once again flashed a bigger smile as we hugged tighter and posed for the camera. 

Serendipity

Halfway through our trip, it was one of my friend’s suggestion we should offer a lift to anyone who asks for it. This required some of us to adjust a little, but then her suggestion sounded a good one. Once the suggestion was accepted, we in total offered lifts to three human beings- a villager who forgot his wallet and missed his bus, a foreigner who was hitch hiking and the third one. Well, the third one I will name serendipity. We met this young boy waiting at one of the cross roads on our way to the Gue Monastery. The gue Monastery is famous for it being home to a ‘Mummy’ which has been naturally preserved. The young boy was on a vacation from his merchant navy training in Chennai and was going back home which is in gue village. We offered him a lift and when we reached the village, he got down and asked us to wait for him. “I will help you with the keys to the monastery,” he said. Five minutes later he returned with another young man, who got into the car with us, took us to the monastery, opened the doors and showed us the Mummy.  In all our research, nowhere did we know the monastery is locked and the villagers need to be asked for its keys. Had we not met this young man, our more than an hour long drive to this place would have been fruitless and  we would have returned not seeing the famous ‘Mummy.’

First kind, then cash

For places which thrive on tourists, to ensure tourists buy their goods is essential. However, on our trip we did find some kind hearted souls, who put kindness first and cash later. We had decided on purchasing silver jewelry of about more Rs.2000 in Kaza's market, but realized if we paid all of it we may run out of cash. While we were still contemplating, buying the stuff and thinking about finding an ATM later, the shopkeeper advised otherwise. Concerned we may or may not find cash at the nearest ATM, he first asked us to go check if the ATM had cash withdraw it and then come pay him. He was not worried about the ATM not having cash and he losing out on a customers. Kindness first.  To reward his kindness, the ATM did have cash and I am glad we could buy the silver jewelry.

Himachal Diaries is a series of some short and some long blogs from my recent 10-day trip to Himachal with four of my friends. These blogs will cover places we saw, people we met, funny experiences and some instances which amuse us at a personal level. This is the fifth part of the Himachal Diaries series, Hope you enjoy, feedback is welcome!

Himachal Diaries: Chandratal Lake

There is something very contagious about Himachal which makes it impossible not to fall in love with that place. Himachal holds the old travel adage true- a piece of you stays back in that place and a piece of that place stays back with you.

Chandratal Lake- An artist’s perfect sketch

If perfection was a sight, Chandratal Lake would be it. No photographer’s lens, no writer’s words and no artist’s pastels can do justice to this place. I could write a thousand lines for its beauty, but in one line this is what it would be. “Listen to your favourite music that soothes your soul, now imagine you could see it and now feel it. That is Chandratal for you.” Surreal? Well that is what it is. One of the many people we met on our Himachal trip described Chandratal as the most beautiful place in the world and has been there thrice already.

Nature has its own way to make its humans appreciate its beauty. Chandratal Lake lies protected between mountains on all sides. If Chandratal is as artist’s sketch, the mountains guarding it are the artist’s colour palette. To see the colours of these mountains change as you get closer and as the sun sets in- is an experience in itself.

The only way to set foot in this beautiful water body is to trek from the base-where cars drive up to. The trek from the base to Chandratal Lake is 30-45 minutes. At that altitude for someone who has no trek experience, the 30-45 minutes could prove to be quite grueling. We had skipped lunch that day and that made the trip a little more difficult.  But the moment you get a small glimpse of the beauty that awaits you, peeping at you from the mountain ranges, it definitely becomes one of your best travel moments. My friend and I, forgot hunger, forgot the trek drill, forgot everything and all we could do was smile. The lake was inviting us, as it enveloped us with the warmth of its beauty, to come drown in its splendor. And we did.

Ever known how it feels walking in a pool of refrigerated water? I don’t. But I am sure it would feel similar to walking at the Chandratal Lake. Cold water at your feet, dazzling beauty around you and just nature’s song to hear- that is how it feels. One of the best things about Chandratal is, very few tourists visit it. Our driver, who was a local from Himachal Pradesh, had never been to the lake before.

You feel blessed to have a piece of heaven to enjoy with no one else vying for the same pie. We decided to lie by the lake and devour the clear blue sky’s beauty. Do that and you would know what ‘overwhelmed’ means. Chandratal’s charm is capable to disarm and over power you as you stand helplessly like a speck in a vast sea of beauty.  

Once back, someone asked me is the water salty. The lake is music to ears, beauty to the eyes, soothing to your skin, then how can it disappoint in taste? The water was as sweet and as fresh as first love could be.

P.S. The lesser mortal in me chose to leave a part of myself there by making the eight -stone structure of small stones in the lake. The mini stone structures are a common sight in Spiti which was earlier used to mark ways for fellow trekkers to follow.

Himachal Diaries is a series of some short and some long blogs from my recent 10-day trip to Himachal with four of my friends. The multiple blogs will cover places we saw, people we met, funny experiences and some instances which amuse us at a personal level. This is part three of the Himachal Diaries series, Hope you enjoy, feedback is welcome!

Himachal Diaries -- Lost and Found

Himachal Diaries is a series of some short and some long blogs from my recent 10-day trip to Himachal with four of my other friends. The multiple blogs will cover places we saw, people we met, funny experiences and some instances like the one below which amuse us at a personal level. This is part two of the Himachal Diaries series, Hope you enjoy, feedback welcome!

It is a nice rainy morning, perfect drive from Chembur to the Mumbai airport, no traffic, no delays, no queue at the check in counter and no great delay at the security check too. We walk happily towards the boarding gate and then we realize Indira’s boarding pass is missing.

With this starts our first walk of the journey from gate A-7 of the Mumbai airport to the security check area, this would safely be  the fastest we would have ever walked. Boarding was to start in the next ten minutes. As we walk we scan the airport floor for one piece of paper- the boarding pass, but nowhere to be found.  And then, Indira spots a kid playing with a boarding pass. Before we can react, the kid has walked past us.

We rush to the security check-in counter and a lady police official is busy screaming “Sardarji ki checking kisne ki?’ The poor Sardarji to my eyes looked quite law abiding, wonder what caught the woman’s attention. Amid the significant question of who ‘checked him out’ we pop our humble question “ Koi boarding pass mila kya” As we brace to hear a earful from the police officials, to our surprise they help us search for it. Within in sixty seconds it is concluded, there is no boarding pass to be found, so we make a new one at the boarding gate.

Now starts our walk to the boarding gate again, this time at a faster pace. The smiling young lady at the boarding gate then directs us to the check-in counter again, which now seemed to be the other end of the world. She adds a word of caution, we start boarding soon, if you do not get your check-in done in time, I am sorry you may miss the flight. We thank her for the kind information.

“Anyways what is your name? “The lady at the boarding gate asks, so she can make a note before we head to the check-in counter.

“Indira Thakur” the friend answers.

“Oh take this,” the lady says.

 That was quite quick to make a new boarding pass, I wonder.

“No, we found it,” the lady says.

 “Did you find it with a kid,” Indira asks.

 “No, our airline porter found it,” she says.

“Not a kid, oh how boring,” we both think.

 And then, that is how we fly. 

Beaches and the night!

                           

                                      

The sun surely brightens the sea shore, but it is the moon that illuminates it.  Never miss to see a lovely beach its starry night glory.

Each beach is someone’s first love

 I fell in love with the beaches and night at the most predictable place- Goa. There is something very beautiful about the darkness, the stars in the sky and the moon drawing the perfect white line on the sea waves with its light. I walked this private beach in Goa a few years back close to midnight and the love has been eternal.

                          

Each beach has its own night glory.

For me surreal came to life at Puri Beach a couple of years ago. It will always be one of my cherished moments. We as a group had just managed to convince the policeman to let us stroll the beach and promised we would not be a nuisance. A few minutes of dipping our feet in the Puri waters and we saw the water come to life with small shiny particles across. These first shined a little and then a little more and after a while in its full glory. The effect these had on the water was similar to that of the fluroscent plankton, but these were not planktons. They were small very fine particles. I attempted picking one on my fingertip, it stopped glowing. My heart skipped a beat, did I just kill a life unknowingly. Thankfully, I hadn’t. The minute you dip your hand back in the water, the particle would shine again. I am still to find what they are exactly called and if they are regularly seen at Puri. But, for the longest time, this would be my best beach memory.

                                   

Each beach has a night lullaby to sing.

If you ever wanted to feel part of this whole universe, one sure shot way to do so is to fall asleep to the sound of sea waves crashing. A group of friends and I did this close to Ladgaon beach, Dapoli in Maharashtra. We hired a house which was exactly a five minute walk from the beach. We chose to sleep on the terrace of the house gazing at stars and listen to the sea waves crash. The sound of cricket and other night animals also create a fear of the unknown, but listen to sea waves alone and you would feel home. The experience has been awe inspiring that it puts a smile on my face even as I write this. Do allow yourself this privilege in this lifetime.

PS: I lack both the right camera and the right intent to waste my lovely night moments with the beach on clicking picture.

PPS: The pictures shared in the post were clicked over a span of five years, bear in mind the mobile camera quality and bear with me too!

Himachal People Diaries-Which story are you?

      Image Courtesy-Indira Thakur Photography (https://goo.gl/23KONr)


My desk at my new workplace has a window. In the last one fortnight, that window has been my main attraction as it offers a view into a vacant ground, with a few trees and few strangers trespassing the textile mill ground every few hours. Last afternoon, I saw a group of four school boys waking that ground. The other day, there were two men of identical height and built and color coordinated. My first day of work, I had seen two small nursery kids walk with their mother. Do they all have a story? Were the two men twins? Were the boys discussing their crush back in school, what does the mother worry about?

City life most times leaves these questions unanswered, but travel lets you have them- like I found in Spiti and beyond.  Everyone has a story, a foreigner who is now a local in a once unknown land, a son travelling with his father, a journalist who works at a bar, a village woman who knows love and many more.

Which story are you?

Meet George from London. We met George at the highest motorable village in the world –Komic in Himachal Pradesh. George is hitch hiking his next ride to Kaza in Himachal with a group of Indian travel organizers. Before you brush him off as the regular tourist, George has been in India for five years- in Dharamshala. He has made India his base, to fly and back to other Asian countries. We decided to take a group picture with George and the travel organizers- but George wants to apply lipstick to look good for the picture. He pulls out his lip balm as we happily smile for the camera.

Unlike George, Dolly has spent most of her lifetime in the place of her birth. Dholkar or Dolly as she likes to be called is a married woman with children. At the Dhankar monastery, Dolly welcomed us with a sweet smile and a cup of tea. The village women were out for their monthly visit to the monastery that day. A happy bunch looked like being on a picnic than out for spiritual purposes. But then why should men have all the fun? Dolly and her other women folks want to know if we are married. To their dismay we aint.  They want us to return as couples next year, we say we cannot find good guys. The women are generous enough to suggest sons of the older women around, we politely decline.  We ask Dolly, was her marriage arranged? With a blush she says she chose her husband on her own, we ask the other women around, all seem to have chosen their life partners out of their own choice. In a beautiful place like Himachal, it is difficult not to fall in love.

At Dhankar we also found a love story of another kind. Rose, was hitch hiking with us to our next stop –Tabo and she identifies a hindi song playing in the car faster than us. “Is that from the movie, mera brother ki dulhan,” she asks. “My ex-boyfriend whom I met in Kathmandu showed me the movie in a theatre there with subtitles,” she explains. Love needs no subtitles though.

Rose is a Polish, who works in Paris and is a journalist. “I have two jobs,” she says. “What is the second,” I ask. I work at a bar in the evenings, she says. Rose, being a journalist, has met more interesting people at the bar than on the work field. Cheers to that.  

We try to set Rose up with Tomer, whom we met at Pin Valley before we met Rose at Kibber. Tomer is an American and all of 23 years old. Rose dismisses it calling him too young. Tomer is on a bonding trip with his father.  Young as he is, Tomer has questions, specifically for Indian women.  He shoots some of them to us. First, “Do you tell your parents when you go out with your friends both male and female?” “Do you tell your parents when you go out alone with a guy? The conversation steers to the mention of sleepovers. “No No. I would put sleepovers as a question may fifth or sixth on my list for Indian women,” he says. Then what would be the third or fourth question? “May be asking a girl how old she is”, he says.

Tomer looks forward to bump into us some other time some other place in this lifetime and promises to then ask, “ Tum kitne saal ki ho?” We also added “Sahi hai” or too cool to his hindi dictionary. No, he already knew the choicest hindi abuses.

Himachal is filled with stories- stories of those workers who clear stones all day from some of the most difficult mountain roads. Stories of a village woman who thinks it absolutely fine and adorable to hug a stranger without permission and yes it is. Stories of a 24 year old delhi girl travelling solo, stories of the locals who shift base between Himachal and Goa to make a living. Stories of a small family that waits for hours on a vacant road for a car to pass so they can sell fossils to them. Stories of the youngest child of household who was sent to the Monastery to be a monk and stories of those who refused. Stories of a group of Israeli youngsters finding peace in Himachal after a rigorous warfare training back home.

Stories of a young merchant navy student who has travelled from Chennai to Delhi to Manali to Spiti and then waits patiently where the bus dropped him last, hopeful for a lift for the last leg to reach his village home.

As I sit at the desk of my new workplace, I wonder, what tears of joy would those be when the son was finally home. Does he miss the mountains when in Chennai as much as I do now here in this city of dreams?

I would never know.

For Pictures of Spiti Valley, check this link https://goo.gl/23KONr

Plan your Mumbai to Spiti and back trip in less than 19k

If you are an awesome group of five friends and plan a budget travel to Spiti in Himachal Pradesh

next all you are going to need is this- 19k each and loads of fitness and health.

Here is how we did it.

Route- Mumbai—Delhi—Manali—Rohtang Pass--- Chandratal— Kaza--- Kibber --- Lhangza--- Komic--- Pin Valley---Dhankar---Tabo---Nako—Sangla---Chitkul----Shimla—Delhi---Mumbai

Duration- 10 days

Budget- 19,000 per person

Grand budget-  Rs95,000 for five people (For convenience we pooled in all the money together)

Day One

Choose a flight from Mumbai which helps you reach Delhi airport around 1-2 pm. Buses from Delhi to Manali leave post 5pm and from the ISBT-Kashmiri Gate which is roughly an hour from the Delhi airport is medium traffic scenario.  Websites like redbus.in and general bus inquiries will help you find various Delhi-Manali  bus services starting as cheap as Rs800 per ticket. Volvo buses operating between Delhi and Manali can also be booked in advance online through HDRTC website, suggest you book in advance as they are fast filing.  The HDRTC buses are slightly expensive at about Rs1300 per ticket.

Book your air tickets two-three months in advance. We managed a Mumbai-Delhi flight for under 3k per person.  

Total Bus travel budget- Rs4000 (Rs800 per person)

Total flight budget- Rs.14500 (Rs.2900 per person, all taxes inclusive)

Discount tip- Book using airline apps, or travel portal apps

Airport taxi fare- Rs800

Day Two

The buses reach Manali early morning between 5am and 6 am. Be ready to lug your baggage around and do some early bird bargaining. We managed to find two rooms to accommodate five people on spot booking basis at RR Villa, close to Mall Road.

Total Manali stay budget—Rs.1800 for five people for two rooms

Bargain tip- Some hotels may insist Rs500 extra as early check-in charges, DO NOT AGREE

Spend the remaining part of the day exploring Manali’s markets. If you have not chosen a travel agency earlier for a car for your Manali-Spiti-Shimla stretch, you will find many local car operators at the Manali market.

Visit three to four operator offices, until you find the best deal.

Car budget- Rs25900 for a Tavera to accommodate five people

Car tip- Choose a Tavera over an Innova if given a choice, as it's more comfortable.

Driver tip- Ask for an experienced driver, insist on an adventurous driver, Spiti roads are dangerously beautiful.

Day three

Leave from Manali for Chandratal lake, via Rohtang Pass. This drive will take you anything between four to six hours depending on how many U-turns your driver took and how bad the roads were.

At the base of Chandratal Lake you will find many tents where you can camp for the night. We chose a camp named Moonlake Camps. These tents had proper beds, cheaper tents may require you to sleep on a thin sheet of plastic. The camp had common washrooms which were good in condition. 

Camping budget- Rs5000 (Dinner and Breakfast inclusive for five people)

Day Four

Leave from Chandratal Lake towards Kaza. This drive again can take you anything between four to ix hours or longer. We left in the morning and reached somewhere in the afternoon. Don your bargaining hats on again and look for cheap stays. We chose to stay at Mahabaudha homestay close to Snow Lion restaurant. Homestay which has good old charm décor and common washrooms. The place seems to be a favourite with foreigners.

Stay budget- Rs900 for two rooms to accommodate five people

Day Five

Leave from Kaza to Kee Monastery, followed by two beautiful villages- Kibber, Lhangza and Komic. End the day with a long and beautiful drive to Pin Valley.  We reached Pin Valley post 9 pm, but still managed to find accommodation at Tara Guest House, which is a homestay run by some beautiful human beings. Highly recommended.  

Stay budget – Rs 850 for two rooms for five people

Day Six

Leave from Pin Valley towards Dhankar Monastery and later proceed for Tabo. We chose to spend the night at Maitriya Guest House in Tabo. Alternately, you call also stay at the Tabo Monastery for single rooms as cheap as Rs200 per room and common washrooms.

Stay Budget- Rs 800 for two rooms for five people

Day Seven

Leave from Tabo for Nako and from Nako proceed to Kalpa. We planned to spend the night at Kalpa to catch the sun rays falling on Kailash Kinnaur in the morning.  As we reached late in the night we chose to stay at Shankar Homestay. Suggest you try reaching early and check out more hotels, which could be cheaper and give you a better view.

Stay budget- Rs1000 for five people for two spacious rooms

Day Eight

Leave from Kalpa towards Sangla and later Chitkul. Our night and final halt for the trip was at Chitkul. Chitkul offers you a wide range of stay options starting from Rs400 to Rs1000 per room. Use your discretion and let your purse strings decide. We chose to splurge as it was our final stay. We spent the night at Hotel Chhitkul Heights. Avoid staying at Sangla or be careful choosing your stay at Sangla as some of thier hotels may have uninvited visitors like wild lizards in the plenty.

Stay Budget- Rs2000 for two rooms for five people

Day Nine

Leave from Kalpa towards Shimla and then board a bus from Shimla to Delhi. We had booked our seats in advance on HDRTC website for a Volvo service which leaves at around 9 pm from Shimla ISBT bus stand.

Bus travel budget- Rs 4380 for five people

Day ten

The bus services reach Delhi latest 7am and the distance between the ISBT Kashmiri gate bus stand and Delhi airport in the early morning traffic hours is less than hour. Choose a Delhi-Mumbai flight accordingly with enough buffer time to factor in bus delays. There are taxi operators who ply between the bus stand and airport for a pre-decided charge. We paid Rs600 for five people, not sure if this could have been cheaper, do cross-check with your Delhi friends.

Having booked in advance, our flight tickets for Delhi-Mumbai cost us about Rs2600 all inclusive.

Airport taxi fare- Rs 600

Flight cost- Rs13000

Flight tip- You can always choose a few hours later flight if it is cheaper and spend some time at the Delhi airport. Every penny counts.

Flight tip 2- Do not binge much at the Delhi airport, will add up to the budget.

((Food bills vary from person to person and choice of food. We managed our total ten day food bills in less than Rs 15,000)

TOTAL FLIGHT COST-Rs27500

TOTAL CAR COST- Rs.25900

TOTAL BUS TRAVEL- Rs.8380

TOTAL STAY COST—Rs. 12350

TOTAL FOOD BILL- Rs.15000

TOTAL AIRPORT TAXI COST- Rs1400

GRAND TOTAL--- Rs 90530/-

Grand Total tip—You can plan your Spiti trip for less than 15k by opting for Train travel between Mumbai-Delhi which will cost you around Rs1500 for an AC coach one way.

Hope this helps you budget your travel better. If you have been to Spiti earlier and at a lower budget, would love to hear from you.

 If you plan to go to Spiti,

watch out this space for more from our travel adventures soon.

Check out Spiti photographs here https://goo.gl/23KONr