I was very excited for the day mainly because of 2 reasons; first the Ki Monastery which is the biggest monastery of Spiti Valley and a religious training centre for Lamas and another was to witness the ropeway that connects Kibber to Chichum. Mud village to Kaza is around 50 KM and we started around 9:30 AM and it took us around 2 hours to reach Kaza. Every bit of the drive is enjoyable throughout the windy Pin Valley to Attargoo. From Attargoo, we took left towards Kaza (about 19 KMs away) on state highway where we were joined by the Spiti River again alongside highway.
It was around 11:30 when we reached Kaza and checked into Zostal for the breakfast. Zostel lies on right hand side just before you enter Kaza. By the time we were done with our breakfast Amit, Varun and Gaurav also joined us in Zostel. We met the them in Chitkul first then in Mud village and in Zostel again. We had initially planned to stay in Zostal for 2 days in Kaza but after meeting them all of us decided to spend the night Ki Monastery. After eating our breakfast we went to the mechanic shop in Kaza and asked him to check the bike once. Although there was no problem with the bike but it’s always better to take the precaution especially when you are driving at a height of 4000 meters. As, we were running out of fuel as well so we decided to refuel on the world’s highest petrol pump as claimed by Indian Oil Corp.
At around 2 we started for Kibber, although Ki Monastery lies on the way to Kibber we didn’t stop there are we were planning to spend the night in Monastery. About 9-10 KMs from Ki Monastery and at an altitude of 4205 Meters, lies Kibber. You will surely enjoy the drive from Ki monastery to Kibber while the road is not that good but the views are nice during the whole ride. The houses in Kibber village are unique to Spiti as most of them are made of stones instead of mud or brick. The vistas surrounding the Kibber village are all mountains which adds more colours to this beautiful valley. For those who wants to experience the life and culture of mountains Kibber is a good place to stay for a day or two. Kibber also acts as the base for the amazing 3 day trek to Mount Kanamo at an altitude of 6000 Mtrs.
After passing through Kibber we decided to head towards the ropeway that connects Kibber to Chichum. Kibber – Chicham Ropeway is one amazing example of the will power of people of Spiti. It’s a simple mechanical ropeway connects Chichum village with Kibber in Spiti across the Parilungbo canyon and save the locals from the steep uphill climb. With the river flowing almost 200-250 meters down this the ropeway in itself is a thrilling adventure. It’s better to find someone to pull you to the other side of the ropeway as pulling yourself sitting in the trolley is quite tedious and most of us will not be able to do it. This local engineering feat is worth a ride for the stunning views of the gorge below.
After experiencing the chilling ropeway we decided to head towards Gette and Tashigang. Getter is around 7KM from Kibber towards east. A road goes up just before entering Kibber, which will take you to Gette village. The same road goes up towards Tashigang, at an altitude of 4500 Mtrs where the motorable road ends. 5 of almost drove for around on and half hour but we were still not able reach Tashigang the last village on the motorable road. The drive on this road is one of the most scenic one among the Spiti Valley. Just like entire Spiti valley the trip is not about the destination but more about the vistas and landscape throughout the valley. We tried to reach Tashigang but as it started to get dark we turned back to reach Ki Monastery on time. It’s always advisable not drive in Spiti during night as the roads are dangerous in itself and there will be no one to help you during night if you need any.
It was already 6:30 when we reached the Monastery, as we were late the kitchen of Monastery were already closed. Fortunately there is a small shop just outside the Monastery which was still open and we had some paratha and Maggie there. By the time we reached the Monastery it was closed so we decided to explore the Monastery next morning and call it day.
As much as you read about Spiti you will not be able to get an idea about the sheer beauty of Spiti unless you hit the road and witness these amazingly beautiful places by your naked eyes. So start packing and get ready to experience the awe-inspiring sights of Spiti.
The Itinerant Analyst 
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