Planning your Spiti road trip: a pre-read

It would be wrong to call this a Spiti road trip because the road starts long before that, outside the valley. Think of the trip as a loop rather than a straight line. Depending on the season, road conditions, and how much time you have on your hands, you can ride it in either direction. And that is probably the first learning I’d share about planning your Spiti trip: don’t get too attached to the map. The map is useful. It tells you where you are going, gives you a sense of direction and what to cover along the way. It cannot tell you what the road will look like the morning you ride. Let’s get down into giving you the maximum visibility so you go into this journey with comfortable room for detours and misadventures. If you take the route in from Shimla, the road first curves through Kinnaur, following the muddy brown Sutlej river and then gradually turning towards the Spiti River, turquoise with glacial melts at Khab Sangam. It is only after Tabo, Dhankar and the villages beyond that the landscape begins to feel unmistakably Spitian. The other way in is through Manali, across Rohtang and Kunzum Pass, where you eventually drop into the valley from the north-west.

The route we traced on the map: Chandigarh → Shimla → Narkanda → Sangla/Chitkul → Reckong Peo → Kalpa → Tabo → Dhankar → Kaza → Kee →  Langza/Hikkim/Komic → Kibber → Kunzum → Chandrataal → Sissu/Jispa → Manali → Chandigarh

Note: this is a very bike-driven guide. A lot of what follows comes from our own experience on the road, supplemented by notes, conversations and information gathered from other travellers. Your bike, your riding ability, the weather and the condition of the road on the particular day can change the experience considerably. The Atmosphere Planning your Spiti trip will come with tons of reading (and scrolling!) and I went down that rabbit hole too but there were some things I wish were clearly laid out before my trip. I’m jotting the learnings down even though it reads familiar.

#1 The first thing that comes from that isolated, pure and raw beauty is altitude. Kaza sits at about 12000ft above sea level, Chandrataal at 14000ft, and Komic at 15000ft. It’s no longer a vacation about covering it all with quick pit stops and lounging at your resort. Add the physical exertion of riding the bike and moving your body with limited oxygen in the air, and you’ve got an itinerary that needs to be calculated in kilometers, time, and height.

The village of Losar at 13420ft, Enroute Chandrataal

Learning: Acclimatize slowly and steadily. Make sure you’re climbing within 1500ft/ day and resting plenty. Remember that Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) starts showing symptoms like headache, nausea, lack of appetite etc hours after your body has started to work with reserves so be gentle and observe your own thresholds. Drink 4-5ltrs of water, carry a portable oxygen cylinder, and have a Diamox (acetazolamide) 24 to 48 hours before ascent. #2 Seasons change your trip and experience drastically. The Kinnaur route is the more reliable approach for much of the year, while the Manali-Kaza route depends on the opening of Rohtang and Kunzum Pass and is generally a seasonal road. Most roads higher up stay closed during winter months as they pose high-risk. Only a few, skilled riders attempt a winter Spiti trip as it is x10 more demanding and if you’re thinking of one, a 4x4 might be a better bet. Learning: Even in the warmer months the temperature can drop sharply once the sun disappears. Being a cold desert, the sun is harsh in the daytime and the nights bite at your extremities. Places like Chandrataal can drop sub zero so ensure you’re carrying thermals and extra layers even if it’s meant for a few hours – trust me, you’ll feel as if it’s still not enough.

#3 Rain is an underrated variable no matter the time of the year. Coming from Bangalore you’d think, it’s just a bit of water; what's the harm. Talk to the locals and you’ll learn that even a drizzle up in the mountains spells hassle the next morning: muddy patches, slush that makes you skid, higher water levels at river crossings, and overnight landslides that block roads for hours on end till the JCB comes to clear it up for daily business.

Rain over Dhankar Monastery, Enroute Kaza

Learning: A perfectly dry morning does not necessarily mean the road ahead is fine. The sun was shining at Tabo but by noon we were sprayed till our shoulders with watery clay. At Dhankar, in the middle of lunch, we spotted gray clouds and that sent us packing super quick. The locals guided us on a path that went higher up the mountains away from the clouds so we could cross over rather than pick the same trail downwards and end up on flooded roads. Always ask locals for an alternative before using the city brain to be independent.

The Geography

Let me put things into perspective well before planning your Spiti trip so you can feel the weight of the epic proportions involved here. This is a border landscape. Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti sit along the Indo-Tibetan frontier with deep roads into sensitive border areas. The army is stationed at most ‘tourist’ spots like Gue, Shipki La, and checkpoints into the valley. Civilian movement, photography, and certain roads are restricted. You're travelling through a landscape where roads have had to serve two purposes at once: connecting villages and maintaining access to one of India's most sensitive borders.

Chicham Bridge, Asia's Highest Suspension Bridge, Built by BRO.

History nugget: The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has been building and maintaining strategic roads across Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti for decades. Their projects have been responsible for major stretches of the Hindustan-Tibet Road, creating local employment and other strategic infrastructure in the region. Once you start looking at the road through that lens, the BRO signs become more interesting and a sense of pride swells up at their achievement. 

The region is full of little geographical oddities. At Chitkul, India’s last village on the Indo-Tibetan border you’ll aptly find India’s Last Post Office. At Hikkim this turns into a new title, The World’s Highest Post Office at 145000ft. It’s not that these spots are even spread out; travel 20 min from there to Komic and you’ll step into The Highest Monastery accessible by a motorable road. There’s even a cafe named ‘World's Highest Cafe’ right next to it. A little local humor is that if you chase the titles, you'll cover most of what needs to be seen. With my background in brand building, this is a nightmare for recall, but it somehow still works. 

Actual fun fact: If you have a phone on iOS, head to Gue Monastery and watch the time automatically update to China Standard Time, ahead by 2.5hrs, due to the close proximity to the Tibet Border. The Wheels There’s no one way to do this so I’ll list out all the options and leave planning your Spiti road trip with your choice of vehicle up to you. If you're an experienced rider and comfortable with long days, rough surfaces, altitude and uncertainty, riding your own bike can be deeply satisfying. You know the machine, how it handles and what it can do. The cost of transporting it varies by the carrier and the distance. From Bangalore it can cost you anywhere from 10-20K depending on how many bikes share the truck.  Renting is easier logistically, you can choose the best bike and model for the terrain you’ve mapped out. We chose this option from Chandigarh, at 2K per day for the bike with saddle bags, bungee ropes, helmets et all. But the rental bikes come with their own quirks and challenges as these have been heavily used on the same route with little to no maintenance in between. It also limits you – you’ll need a LA number plate to cross into Leh from Spiti unless its your personal registered vehicle.

A small tail of riders on the Spiti Biking Circuit

If it was an ordinary road trip, I would’ve vouched for solo riding but in Spiti even a small group can help immensely. Just need one other person to judge a water crossing to help push you out when you’re stuck knee deep in mud. Group rides organized by Deyor and the like come with a Bolero to dump your luggage and ride freely as well as a mechanic that rides with you for any ad-hoc repairs and  day-to-day maintenance. The only downside is that it’s a fixed itinerary and often rushed. There is also a middle ground that I really like. Ride for the parts you want to ride. Hire a car for a day when your body needs a break. Stay somewhere an extra night. Don't make the entire trip prove a point. We hired a Jimny to cover Langza, Komic, and Hikkim and it came with an exceptionally skilled driver who took us safely and back within 3-4 hours. The same route would’ve demanded the entire day and fetched us pictures in the same biking jackets. If you're travelling as a pillion, here’s a small note just for you. A comfortable seat matters. Good gloves matter. Your own rain and cold protection matters. Keep your essentials accessible rather than buried deep inside. Don't assume you can shout instructions to the rider over wind, helmets and a mountain road. Whenever there’s a tricky crossing, feel free to hop off it that makes you more comfortable. The mountains aren’t going anywhere. The Stay Accommodation in Spiti has changed considerably that it need not even feature as a task when you’re planning your Spiti road trip. There are hotels, guesthouses, homestays, hostels and camps, and the range has expanded enough that you don't necessarily have to compromise on comfort just because you're travelling somewhere remote. Prices, however, behave differently in peak season and the same rooms come for a steal during off-season. I had almost 80% of the bookings in place and after experiencing the trip, I would leave some room for spontaneity and do the whole trip impromptu. Roads can delay you. You may reach somewhere exhausted and decide that another hour on the bike isn't worth it. You may love a village and want to stay (this was Chitkul, Kalpa, and Kasol for me!)

View from LAP Stays Wanderer's Nest At Chitkul

There are practical advantages to booking on the go. You can see the room, check the bathroom, ask about hot water, electricity, and speak to the person at the desk about more of your needs. For example, at Kee, we switched stays and chose the one hotel that served food to all of the smaller homestays at the village.

Sometimes, you don't need a full night's accommodation at all. If you've arrived in a larger city or town between stretches of the trip and simply need somewhere to shower, change clothes, charge everything and reset before continuing, an hourly room can be a quick fix too. 

The Luggage It may be tempting to throw in things for ‘just in case’ when packing and planning your Spiti road trip but remember that all of it, eventually, has to be strapped onto the motorcycle. I had a large trekking bag to transport everything during the flight which I later broke down into the saddle and tail bags. Here’s what I’d absolutely recommend outside your usual list that surprisingly came in handy. 

• A multi-pin adapter: for places that have a single power outlet, lets you charge multiple devices quickly during the few hours Spiti has electricity. 

• Paper soaps, wet wipes, sanitizer: for times when water is scarce or bathing is almost like a cold plunge. 

• A tripod for timelapses, astro photography, pen drives and power banks 

• A compact mirror that doubles up as a signalling device if you’re stranded

• Vacuum bags with a pump to make all the heavy woollen items fit into your limited bags 

• A handheld weighing scale to evenly pack your saddle bags so the bike is balanced 

• A foldable water bottle that can fit into odd yet accessible spaces on the bike 

• Lots of extra bungee cords, plastic bags, ziplocks that magically prove useful

• Nail cutter, bottle opener, safety pins, earbuds and toothpicks (you may never know)

Bundling up luggage on a bike using saddle, tail and tank bags.

None of these things are particularly glamorous. But this is one of those trips where I would rather have a tiny tube of Feviquick than spend half an hour wondering how to repair something with duct tape and some optimism. And don't overpack. Kaza and the larger towns have shops. You can always buy things along the way if you fall short, and these end up in your home reflecting the local character. 

Spiti is beautiful, but the beauty isn't separate from the difficulty of moving through it. The altitude, the weather, the roads, the border, the rivers, the villages and the people all shape the journey. So plan enough to be safe. To keep going anyway, through all the odds. And, whenever the road gives you a choice between getting there exactly on time and stopping for a while to look around, I would always consider taking the second option.