I had dreams of Langza village though when I woke up, it was a lazy morning at Lhalung village ;)… As soon as I woke up, checked the fever it was still ON 🙁 … Few more episodes of motions but still somehow I gathered the strength to go over to breakfast which was again arranged at Rakesh ji place.

Langza Village – The most beautiful village I ever saw
Langza Village - The most beautiful village I ever saw

Day 6 | Lhalung Village – Rama Village – Lingti Village – Kaza

Well, the breakfast was utterly delicious, one of the best so far, with porridge being the best dish and helped me regain some strength in the body 😀 … We walked down to the parking in front of the school where we executed the DoW Causes though I was struggling to enjoy the moment, I remained lying inside the car while others executed the causes in the school. Here is the story: DoW Causes – GYAAN 500 | Lhalung Village – Spiti Valley

Spreading Smiles in Lhalung Village

After the causes were executed, we all moved towards Kaza where our stay was arranged in Sakya Abode and other hotels run by Tsering including Kumphen as well as Snow Lion. We enjoyed the drive back to Kaza and in an hour or so we were there at Kaza. In between I was loosing strength and senses were also getting low. By the time I reached the room at Sakya Abode, I was totally down and hence, went into the quilt after taking medicine right away. The whole day went by and I could not move, kept sleeping. Finally, in the evening Tsering bhai took me to Kaza Hospital where I was given an antibiotic because due to stomach bacterial infection I was suffering from the fever too along with motions. Others enjoyed the stay up there and were having fun. Gain some strength by night as medicines were running their effect and hence, went in the lawn where dinner was served. Finally, got moment to interact with the group since morning and came to know that Tapan da car is stuck in Kibber village as it got punctured. The unfortunate part of the puncture in XUV is that if you do not use the jack before putting pressure to open the nuts in the wheel, the nuts deform themselves and get stuck in the bolt. The only provision then is to cut the nut all together 😯 😯 … Anyways we were at a safe place thankfully and everything is under reach in Kaza. Had it been the case 100 KMs here and there, it would have been a different story altogether 😀 😀 … After the dinner at Sakya Abode, we all went to respective rooms and went for the sleep.

A parting view in Lingti Valley
A parting view in Lingti Valley

A parting view in Lingti Valley
Lingti River running through Rama Village
Lingti River running through Rama Village
Devils on Leap of Faith
Devils on Leap of Faith

Devils on Leap of Faith
That’s my ride – Battered yet beautiful 😉
That's my ride - Battered yet beautiful ;)
All set to enter Kaza
All set to enter Kaza

Day 7 | Langza – Komik – Hikkim

Next morning I was very much restored with energy and fever had resided too. Antibiotic was working for the matter and I can finally smile after a day 🙂 🙂 … I was in mood to rest so decided to hire Tsering bhai taxi for a trip to Langza – Komik – Hikkim, one of the most amazing places or circuit of villages in entire Spiti Valley. You go over to Spiti Valley and miss the chance to see Langza – Komik – Hikkim, I am sure you have missed the heart of Spiti Valley… It is that amazingly beautiful terrain with Chau Chau Kang Nilda towering over Langza Village at a staggering height of 6300 Mtrs odd. The whole setting looks just breath-taking.

Well, the whole gang had left and we had plans to execute causes up there too at Langza village. However, the moment we reached the diversion point to Langza from Kaza, I realized that I forgot to change the memory card so hesitantly I asked Nama bhai to return to hotel and get it back because I did not wanted to loose an opportunity to capture this amazing terrain we are going to witness for next 3-4 Hrs. Yes, it will just take about half a day to explore this winding beauty of Langza – Komik – Hikkim with Komik village sitting top of other too. You can go from Hikkim and come from Langza back to Kaza covering Komik or you can do it in clockwise direction from Langza to Komik to Hikkim too. We decided to go clockwise, from Langza to Komik to Hikkim.

By the time I reached up there at Langza most people in the group had lost patience to wait and have moved ahead to Komik but my gang of Samar bhai, Pawan sir, bikers and Shamsheer was up there still waiting to execute the causes. I was lost in the beauty of the terrain so again nothing had moved me or my feelings of being late, I was suffering from illness but guess we all have priorities, personally too. No regrets, I was enjoying whatever was there to offer. We had great time with the school children up there in Langza who interacted with great fervour with us. Langza is situated at an altitude of 4300 Mtrs and is extremely picturesque, so do not miss a chance to see it when you visit Spiti valley next time.

That aerial view of tiny little Rangrik Village
That aerial view of tiny little Rangrik Village
On the way to Langza Village – Chau Chau Kang Nilda
On the way to Langza Village - Chau Chau Kang Nilda
In its Glory – Chau Chau Kang Nilda
In its Glory - Chau Chau Kang Nilda
Road to Langza Village
Road to Langza Village
Adding Charm to Langza Village – The Lord Buddha Statue
Adding Charm to Langza Village - The Lord Buddha Statue

After that we decided to move to Komik Village from Langza. Komik is at an altitude of 4587 Mtrs and offers some amazing views around it. In case you have time, it is an amazing trek route from Langza to Komik to Demul to Lhalung Village, with some covering Hikkim too in it or perhaps sometimes people start from Kibber to Langza and then to Komik, Demul, Lhalung. We had good time exploring the monastery where in one of the monasteries, females are not allowed. That snow leopard skin filled with husk is right there in Komik monastery only. Lamas at the Komik monastery up there served us Tea – biscuits and they were as humbling as they always are with their amazing hospitality. It was time to move on, so we had a big group picture and moved back to Kaza as rest of the day was packed with full of events like DoW Cricket Cup, Causes at Kaza Monastery and Kaza Nunnery.

That’s Komik Village
Komik Village
On the left, head Lamaji of Komik Monastery
On the left, head Lamaji of Komik Monastery
Thats the gang of drivers who supported us on trip
Thats the gang of drivers who supported us on trip
Komik Monastery
Komik Monastery

Komik Monastery
The DoW Gang at Komik Village
The DoW Gang at Komik Village

We skipped to enter Hikkim village and clicked few shots from the top itself. The route from Hikkim to Kaza is one heart pounding extremely narrow road with a free fall of thousands of meters right on the left side of ledge 😉 😉 … You can see a tiny little settlement of Kaza village from the top of the mountain that is visible right from Snow Lion hotel and Sakya Abode. A view not for the faint hearted 😀 😀 … Finally, after around 3-3.5 Hrs we were back to Kaza where Tapan ji and his friends were in the hotel. One of his friend prepared Tehari dish (form of khichdi but with vegetables in it) and it tasted light and healthy that moment of the day.

On the way to Hikkim Village
On the way to Hikkim Village
That’s Hikkim Village
That's Hikkim Village
Hikkim Village – That amazing landscape
Hikkim Village - That amazing landscape
Hikkim Village – Another beautiful view
Hikkim Village - Another beautiful view
Remains of Old Komik Monastery
Remains of Old Komik Monastery
Narrow, scary roads to Kaza from Hikkim
Narrow, scary roads to Kaza from Hikkim
That tiny little view of Kaza Village
That tiny little view of Kaza Village
Our Convoy – Getting back to Kaza
Our Convoy - Getting back to Kaza
Spiti Valley – Amazingly beautiful till eternity
Spiti Valley - Amazingly beautiful till eternity
Airstrip?? No, that’s road to Rangrik Village
Airstrip?? No, that's road to Rangrik Village

Day 7 to be continued in next part.

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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.

12 Comments

  1. Hi Dheeraj,

    Thanks for your such a good and warmest trips experience. Please guide us that we (3-4) friends are planning to go Lahual Spiti in this or next month (Oct-15). Please guide the route and tentative time through self driven car (Dzire).

    regards,
    Madan

    • Madan, you will have to go through the Kinnaur Valley and I will suggest that you come back from Kinnaur Valley only because mid October is not really a good time and risky affair to travel between Manali – Kaza road over Kunzum Pass.

  2. Hi Dheeraj,

    Kudos to you for your efforts and hugest thank you for bringing the stories and back and showing us the way!

    For the past 3/4 days i have been literally eating your travelogues to gather whatever information i can for planning a trip to Spiti this month. And here are some questions that i have in my mind. Will be grateful as ever if you can help with your suggestions.

    We (4 of us) will be travelling from Simla (2 will join from Sarahan), on two bikes. The tentative plan i have been able to come up with after going through your write up is this:

    Day 1 – Simla to Sarahan
    Day 2 – Sarahan to Nako (Tabo might be difficult to reach considering the new road from Tapri to Karcham)
    Day 3 – Nako to Dhangkar (covering Gheyu in between). Dhangkar monastery and lake (trek)
    Day 4 – Dhankar to Mud
    Day 5 – Mud to Kaza (Ki and Kibber)
    Day 6 – Kaza (Langza-Hikkim-Komic)
    Day 7 – Kaza to Tabo or ahead
    Day 8 – Tabo to Sarahan/ Rampur

    Now my questions are:
    1. Does this look fine or do you think it will be hectic?
    2. In this plan is there any chance of fitting Losar?
    3. Do we let go mud and add Sopono lake trek (as per your write-up on it)?

    I would probably bug you a couple of more times once the plan gets finalised. Thanks again for providing us (the readers/ followers) with priceless information 🙂

    Sayonee

    • Sayonee, before I answer about the plan, any specific reason why you want to return the same route and does not want to go or exit from Manali side?

      • Hi Dheeraj,

        Thanks a lot for responding, and also sorry for posting my query at a wrong place (i realised i should have posted it in the itinerary section).

        The reason is because, two of us stay in Simla and the other two in Sarahan. So we do would like to come back the same way.

        Also, on second thoughts, i was considering whether we can let go some of the places i mentioned in my previous plan to include Chandratal in it.

        See, our main aim will not be to cover maximum places, but to cover some and spend enough time there to experience and explore nature. We can go back there and cover the left-out places again in any case.

        Your expert suggestions please!

        Thanks again
        Sayonee

        • Sayonee, okie I understand that and will suggest below to spend quality time:

          Day 1 – Simla to Sarahan
          Day 2 – Sarahan to Nako (Tabo might be difficult to reach considering the new road from Tapri to Karcham)
          Day 3 – Nako to Dhangkar (covering Gheyu in between). Dhangkar monastery and lake (trek)
          Day 4 – Dhankar to Kaza
          Day 5 – Kaza (Langza-Hikkim-Komic), spend time up there, will love it
          Day 6 – Kaza (Ki and Kibber) – then to Chandratal
          Day 7 – Chandratal to Tabo or ahead
          Day 8 – Tabo to Sarahan/ Rampur (long but doable)

        • Thanks!

          Day 4, can’t we do Ki and Kibber on that day?
          Day 5, can we stay in Komic, instead of returning to Kaza that day, i mean what would be your advise on that?

        • Yes, that can be done too. In fact from Kaza to Ki Kibber on fourth day, while coming back you can go to Langza and stay instead of Kaza, then do a trek from Langza to Komik and then day do Komik to Chandratal.

      • Perfect, thanks a lot!

        Now i would re-visit your logs/ replies and search for staying information and phone numbers you have provided there for this purpose.

        Might again bug you if i am unable to find certain related information 🙂

        Thanks a lot again.

  3. Wah! What a trip! So you did feel a bit of the altitude sickness? The medicines help well?

    • Param it was not AMS but bacterial infection. When you are hit with AMS the only cure is either remaining at that altitude or descend. Medicines just support your body fight it but do not cure AMS, AFAIK. Hence, it is always recommended that one prevent the AMS.