Well well after such dramatic days on a trip you could feel by reading what all it was being in the middle of all that happening. Today I will present the next day of the trip and describe what happened after a knap in the car. In case you have missed any of the action please visit the following links

The journey so far

Day 2 – 24th April, 2010 | Kalpa, Kinnaur Valley

Yesterday was an unforgettable day for each one of us however right now it was a new day with new hopes and most importantly new LUCK. It was this day when we got the justification for the statement, “Everything happens for a cause”. May be god wanted us to stay here for the day and see what 7 out of 10 haven’t seen before, maybe he wanted us to tell that there is more of this ahead so better relax here, enjoy the vistas and head somewhere better.  Just a preview…

We tried to sleep in the car and as everyone was exhausted to what all happened at night most of us slept right away. Around 4 AM I feel it was first break of the sleep in our car followed by a series of short knap. Finally at 5.30 AM my cousin called inside the hotel and Thank God some picked it up. Everyone was overwhelmed with joy and as we all stepped out of the car we were more delighted to see the beauty of daunting Kinner Kailash peaks. That was the moment I felt a sigh of relief for the very first time in the trip. Breeze was filled with extreme chill in the morning with snow cladded Kinner Kailash so close to you. Everyone rushed into hotel and as my cousins negotiated over the prices, I stood in front of the car and kept contemplating the Kinner Kailash range. I thought to myself, how could I miss this amazingly beautiful place earlier in my life. I don’t have words to describe how vistas of Kinner Kailash range converged from dark end of the spectrum to first rays of sunlight but I took some shots in which I tried to capture the conversion process. Check out yourself and please give some compensation for the fact that I was half asleep 🙂 in taking these pictures…

Dark Views of Kinner Kailash Peaks…

Bright Views of Kinner Kailash Peaks…

First Rays of the Sun on Kinner Kailash Peaks…

Some Views of Kinner Kailash Range…

Of course this day we were not going anywhere from the hotel, no matter what happens. We badly needed rest and this was it, even if it’s good bye to Spiti I was ready for it. Since it was day of enjoyment with rest, hence it implies lots of photographs and camera plus weather didn’t disappoint us a bit. I went into the hotel and meanwhile negotiations were settled along with an order of 10 tea. Cool, but pleasant hot thing to have in such chill and after a terrible experience. After sipping the tea we all wanted to have rest but due to our empty tummies courtesy last night, we all wanted to have breakfast to kill the hunger. So we ordered a lot of paranthas, French toasts, omelets and bread slices with one more round of tea. Yes, that was it as soon as the breakfast came it blew away in a matter of minutes as if we won’t have it again 🙂 and the foodtea was really yummy. At around 8.30 AM we all went to sleep happily to get ourselves relaxed into the lap of nature :D…

Around 12.30 PM everyone started to wake up and as we looked out we could hardly believe what our eyes saw…We were above the clouds and they were like floating in the midst of the valley…Just watch the video of clouds we shot after 3-4 Hrs but it will give you an idea as it was almost similar when we wake up…

Just imagine you wake up, open your eyes, get off the bed, open the door of the room and you see pictures like this…WOW !!!! I believe, it was because God wanted us to see this amazing views offered by nature which none of us would have seen in our lives. We all knew rain was not far-off and it started raining heavily. The chill factor begin to rise however we enjoyed every bit of it.

Rainfall will be here anytime…

More clouds are coming…

Rainfall at Kalpa, Kinnaur Valley…

Suddenly the holy surprise was there but this time surprise was something different, something pleasant, something not like yesterday night, something which none of us expected in the scorching heat of this April… Guess what was it??? Well to see the surprise try to figure it out in the video below…

Yes, it was SNOWFALL (a bit difficult to figure out in the video) and only 3 of us had seen us earlier. So for everyone else (including us as well) it was like great pleasure and kindness of nature. If that’s what you see mingled with mighty snow-clad peaks and clouds all around hovering over you after such a rough night, I believe it’s worth it!!! Do I feel happy by the words??? I tell you I was really for sure and each one of us had come alive into the pleasure state of trip. It started the photo sessions, snow fights, experiencing the chill with the wind, sipping the hot soup and curry etc as the happy days are back again :)… By these pictures we tried to capture those merry moments…

Snowfall at Kalpa, Kinnaur Valley…that too in summers :)…

He never stops posing :D…

Let’s play some snow…

Walking or Sleeping…

I know it’s cold…

After 3-4 Hrs snowfall stopped but drizzle continued and we got the chance to cross over to kitchen to order food for the lunch. We were the only tourists of the hotel, so our orders got maximum attention by the chef and he cooked some really great food. The food had a punjabi tadka flavor to it and in such chill when it was served hot right from the kitchen, the taste just got even better. We had a perfect lunch, now it’s again time for vistas and some fun out there in the open. Some of us played with the snow that got accumulated in the lawn of the hotel while others went on sipping the tea and taking pictures. So why not share some of the pictures with you guys…

After Snow Effects on Hotel Lawn…

After Snow Effects on Hills…

After Snow Effects on Lamp…

It was turning out to be a perfect holiday-day 🙂 and as we started to feel the cold it was decided to hide ourselves in the rooms either to booze or watch some TV. Everyone was shocked seeing my brother-in-law watching star plus serial in the other room when everyone was hooked to “Jailed Abroad”… A lot of chit chats along with that, some booze but pictures remains the highlight of the day and were in numerous numbers. Weather also helped as many times it was like mixture of dark clouds, bright sunlight on the peaks, some blue sky , lot of greenery down at Kalpa and snow covered leaves of tree. The views in between were again awesomely breath-taking :D…I will leave you with some of those pictures…

Clouds Invaded Kalpa, Kinnaur Valley…

Beating the Cold…

What would you say!!!…Isn’t this Heaven

Sun, Clouds and Snow!!!…What a combo!!!

Sun is out and WOW!!! See them all together…

Sun is out in the Valley too…

Well this super relaxing day was setting down so did the blues of the booze and hunger has started to take the toll. So we called it for the dinner and after that it will be a call for the day. Again we had a tummy full delicious dinner having some chicken, egg curry, paranthas, panner and soup. I must say that this soup was the exception and as we went on to check our cars for the first time since yesterday this is what we found there. Thick sheet of snow on the windshield of our cars…

After taking on some belongings from the car, when I checked the temparature in the digital thermometer we carried but left in the car, the temparature was -0.4 Degree Celcius (-0.4 Deg C) 😯 Whoa!!! it was cold in summers…Well we went to our rooms to have a sound sleep as the next day early morning departure was planned. At night my wife had tough time getting her breathe back to normal and we we really worried but eventualy after 20 minutes or her breathe was normal. We thanked god for such a pleasant soul mesmerizing day and letting us see the magnificient beauty of the so called nature at it’s best.

Catch the day 3 to see how we decided to head back missing SPITI 🙁 !!!

The journey ahead-

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I am Dheeraj Sharma - a traveler, techie, and Himalayan lover. Since 2009, I have been helping thousands of travelers every year plan memorable & budget-friendly trips to the Himalayas - Smartly, Safely, and responsibly.

10 Comments

  1. Hello Nayan,
    A little correct: This is Dheeraj 😉 …
    Kalpa itself offer only the magnificient views of kinner kailash and there is a Roghi village few KMs ahead if you want to stroll in the culture and explore a bit more. Local market of Kalpa can be explored too, if you want. Well, not sure of the food joints but we stayed at Hotel Kinner Villa which offered extremely tasty food and we had our all four meals at the hotel only. You can check the review at the following link:
    Hotel Review of Kinner Villa, Kalpa
    Well, how many day you have in hand for the trip.I hope you are doing the Sangla and Chitkul as well. If you are planning to stay at Kalpa only then have a day's excursion like: Kalpa – Sangla – Chitkul – Kamru Fort – Sangla. Then, stay overnight at Sangla and return back towards home from Sangla.
    Regards,
    Dheeraj Sharma

  2. Nayan Shah on

    Hi Girish,

    Planning to visit Kalpa in the first half of June. Can you suggest some must dos while we are there. Also can you suggest some veg eating outlets. Thanks

  3. Deepak Mehta on

    Gud lesson to Drammaaaaa….Well i got chance to read and see very closely every bit of it so far and it was whoop exciting jouney that one can finish reading with…lots of gush pumping and mouthwatering sceneries.

    All credit to dheeraj…Always waiting for the next trip !!! Sh** man…Do u Believe ….!!!

    • Thanks Dost!!! Ofcourse it was a trip with lot to learn, see and feel… Would surely love to head for the next big one..only problem that we have in our way is office leaves 😉

  4. "He never stops posing" yeah right…. drammaaa 🙂

    Waise snow & me are good combination and my pose is also not too bad he he

  5. Girish Khullar on

    I would be going to visit the same along with my office friends soon. This is going to be a great help…..Anyhow…I know Devil would be available on phone 🙂

    • Sure mate, I am always available for you!!! Call me anytime you want and anytime you wanna travel anywhere…I will try my best to provide all possible details for you regarding your travel/trip!!! Live life with travel and explore what mother nature offers us….

  6. Girish Khullar on

    Hey Dheeraj…awesome man!!!! First of all photographs, scenic beauty…..above all snow ball….nice captures…..it made my mind to go and relax at this place. Awesome desciption and thank for the explanatory itinerary.

    Hope to read from you more!!!!!

    • Yups Girish!!! Thanks alot….well ya it was just amazing to see such vistas..it happens only few times in a life and I am lucky to see such nature…No words are there in literature to explain what we witnessed…just the pictures do some justice…