[abhi182]

Time for my annual Himalayan piligrimage and focusing on Kinnaur - Spiti region this time
The rough itinerary is to reach shimla on 26th

Part I: leave from Shimla on 27th December and make it to Kalpa by the evening (Innova)
a) Is it possible to make it to Kalpa in a single day
b) Would I find any accomodation in Kalpa this time of the year

Part II - use kalpa as a base to explore Kinnaur Valley - Head to Sangla - Chitkul
a) Should I earmark 2 days for Sangla/Chitkul or 1 day is adequate?

Part III - Head for Kaza via Sumdo
a) How'd be the road to Kaza from Kalpa
b) Possible to do it in a day?

Part IV - Explore areas around kaza

Now what are your suggestions? Does this sound like reasonable itinerary
I'll be taking adequate precautions, and I wouldn't mind turning back if the road conditions look precarious
If I turn back, I always have the choice to head to narkanda and later manali to pursue a more sensible albeit less exciting itinerary

PS: Need to be back in Delhi by the 6th of Jan

[mobike008]

Incidentally, i too will reach Simla on Dec26th !!

Rest of the areas that you described makes no head or tail to me at this moment

[simply_sunny001]

Kalpa was -1.5 last night and there is a possibility of snowfall in next 3-4 days due to western disturbances.

so i hope it will be very cool at least the nights below freezing point near 25th

[abhi182]

^^ I don't mind the cold.. was loitering around in Leh last december
What I am concerned abt right now however is whether the roads would be in driveable condition or not :(

[wanderernomad]

Yes Shimla Kalpa in one day is possible and easily doable. again Kalpa Kaza is doable in one day provided you find no obstructions especially at malling. Roads will be just about ok in some patches and ok to good rest of the way. early snows might distrupt your plans but I would be more worried about the cold. It would be colder than Leh in some places.

[abhi182]

Back from the trip
Day 1 - Shimla
Day 2 Kalpa - (The HPTDC hotel in Kalpa is brilliant BTW)
Day 3 Sangla - Chitkul
Stayed for the night in a guesthouse in Raksham (Between Sangla and Chitkul). Unfortunately, one of my travel partners was a guy from Chennai who had never experienced winters in his entire 27 years of existence and he started feeling unwell in Raksham... We had to cut short our Kaza plans due to this and we proceeded towards Manali via Jalori pass.. Spent the rest of our vacation in Manali :( which wasn't bad but not a shade on Spiti

Will post the pics in the travelogues section soon

[ar_anupam]

Hi guys,

I was planning to have a end of the year trip to hills so made bookings for 30-31st Dec at HPTDC Hatu, Narkanda. But now my wife wants to have either a white Christmas or new year.
So Manali comes into picture which will definitely have snow.

Is it possible to do Gurgaon-Manali-Narkanda-Gurgaon from 25th Dec to 1stJan ?
Which routes to follow, please suggest.

[Roan J]

Hi, looking for some advice on driving to Narkanda. We (2 adults, 2 teen kids) are planning to drive from Parwanoo to Narkanda on 31 Dec. I would appreciate your members' feedback on the pros and cons of the various routes, latest road conditions if known and possible conditions around 31 Dec. Also, I have a LUV-D and Estilo-P and would appreciate feedback on which car to use, given the road and weather conditions. Hope to get some insights from members.

[wanderernomad]

Originally Posted by Roan J

Hi, looking for some advice on driving to Narkanda. We (2 adults, 2 teen kids) are planning to drive from Parwanoo to Narkanda on 31 Dec. I would appreciate your members' feedback on the pros and cons of the various routes, latest road conditions if known and possible conditions around 31 Dec. Also, I have a LUV-D and Estilo-P and would appreciate feedback on which car to use, given the road and weather conditions. Hope to get some insights from members.

Parwanoo to Narkanda is easily doable in any of the cars that you have. I would suggest you take the Chail Kufri road to avoid the chaos of Shimla Traffic. Roads from Parwanoo till Kumarhatti are bad with widening workz going on and be prepared for a very dusty and bumpy ride.

[Roan J]

Thank you for the advice. On my return (to Delhi), I'm considering taking STate Highway 6, (from Theog via Yashwant Nagar, Ochghat and Kumarhatti). Wonder if anyone's been on that route anytime recently.

[atnyia]

Originally Posted by Roan J

Hi, looking for some advice on driving to Narkanda. We (2 adults, 2 teen kids) are planning to drive from Parwanoo to Narkanda on 31 Dec...

Just back from Narkanda after enjoying season's first snow on the Christmas. The road from Timber Trail Parwanoo to right till Solan town are quite bad due to four-laning work. It is going to take extra half hour to cross this stretch.

We went via Kandaghat-Sadhupul-Chail-Kufri and returned via Shimla.

Sadhupul bridge is operational now and the drive is a breeze with excellent roads till Kufri. There is little traffic throughout - except while merging onto Highway at Kufri. On the return leg, we saw traffic running into atleast 5 Kilometers waiting for entering Shimla.

It's a no brainer given the excellent road, far less traffic, much more scenic and maybe better times given the new year rush at Shimla and Shimla Kufri road. The only concern could be the snow on the this road. So, please check the forecast.

Ertiga should be your choice given the road till Solan is quite horrendous to be frank.

There is no harm in having some ropes for snow. We almost got stuck at Hatu peak with (unexpectedly) reasonable snowfall.

A small tire inflator will also be useful, so is the towing cable and jump starter.

You might also want to take a Jio 4G sim there because that's the only place it works a like a 4G with incredible speeds and no call drops.

[Roan J]

Originally Posted by atnyia

Just back from Narkanda after enjoying season's first snow on the Christmas.. ..

Thanks for sharing this experience and advise. Its really timely since I plan on leaving this afternoon from Delhi and on from Parwanoo tomorrow. Hoping to catch some snowfall. I have an inflator and a tow strap and hopefully these should be useful in case of snow.

I plan on taking the Solan-Chail-Kufri-Theog route subject to local advice. Looking at the option of taking some alternate route on return.

[Roan J]

Got back from Narkanda last evening. Had a great experience, it had begun with disappointment when we reached Narkanda on 31 Dec amidst bright sunshine, a warmer climate than Delhi and brown barren hill slopes. Midway to Hatu peak on 1 Jan and the first snow drizzle began. A snow carpet was laid out in the upper reaches of the hill in 30 minutes. Post lunch, it began snowing in Narkanda proper and by late afternoon, it was snow all around. All hill slopes were wonderfully white, the trees were draped in snow. Took care to drive slow on the way back, had some black ice and snow on part of the roads till Kufri but not too tough to drive on. Did not need the inflator or tow rope. The Ertiga's bottom scraped on a couple of occasions at the Hatu peak ride but otherwise it was a smooth ride.

Took the Zirakpur-Parwanoo-Solan-Shimla bypass-Kufri route while going and the Kufri-Chail-Kandhaghat-Zirakpur route on return. Kufri-Kandhaghat was narrow compared to the other route (via Shimla) and required a little slower driving. Parwanoo-Solan had the road widening work on and was a little messy. The stretch on the outskirts of Shimla, both sides, was bad with long traffic jams. Kufri too has some narrow crowded stretches. All in all, a great holiday.

[avisidhu]

Originally Posted by Roan J

Got back from Narkanda last evening. Had a great experience....

Thanks for the update. I'm itching to visit some snow laden vistas, hope to plan the same next weekend. Going by your feedback, should I assume that the route via Chail is better?

I have no plans of Shimla/Kufri anyway, plan to go till Narkanda and whereabouts, and return. Might even make an early start and return to Chd same day. Any inputs on some specific spot I can visit, and options for food/stay would be most welcome.