I am still not getting my blogging flow and some people have asked for practical information about this trek. I will try to compile it here.
Delhi to Manali 570 km (by so called deluxe bus, private, don’t ask me how we ended in one, yet again) tickets cost around 560 rupees per person. It took us bloody 20 hours to cover this distance but that is a blog post in itself.
Night stay at Manali, lots of hotels available for all budgets. This time we splurged a bit.
Manali to Kaza, 200 KM (Government Bus, Starts around 5 am from Government Manali Bus Stand, tickets can be bought the evening before) Tickets cost around 150 rupees per person. A seat in private taxi costs around Rs 1000 per person or so I am told. Booking an entire taxi would cost even more. It took us 11 hours to reach Kaza and the return trip took us around 13 hours. The route is beautiful.
Stay at Kaza- At Rs 400 per night we had a good room.
We trekked through an NGO called Ecosphere (Muse) and you can find the trek route and other details from this excellent thread at Indiamike. I promise I will do each day of the trek as a separate post.
For six days Ecosphere charged us Rs 5900 per person. This included all the meals, taxi where required and the home stay cost. I felt they gave us a good price.
I hope this will be of some help to those who want to head that way. Do let me know if I have missed on something that I should have added.
Thanks Mridula 🙂 it’ll be a great help.Mk
Madhukar, I am glad you found tis useful. One caution that I forgot to mention in the post is that at the altitude above 4000 meters (the starting point Langza is above 4000m) requires acclimatization and some amount of fitness. My husband exerted himself on the first day and vomited at least six time through the night. We thought that was the end of the trek but mercifully he recovered the next day and we completed it.
the prices sound really good..right now I am suffering from severe withdrawal symptoms after coming back from Spiti. And your posts are not helping 🙂
Arun, same here, I just can’t take the city driving and though I like my work a lot, I am struggling 🙂 And I thought it happened only to me. Glad to know I am not alone.
The pic appears to have been taken in the evening or was it early morning?
Sidhu, it was evening and I must say Dhankar is an enchanting place.
Dear Mridula,me along with my galfrnd n 2 other pals r planning to visit spiti during the 2nd weekend of august…so wat i wanna knw is as follows:1. wat is the frequency of buses to kaza frm manali? coz we dun intend to stay in manali at all aftr reaching thr frm delhi…rather, wanna head straight to kaza n spend 2 days thr n thn cm back2. also, kindly name the main n unique tourist attractions 2 b covered in 2 days3. however, we also wish to see rohtang pass…so, do these buses going to kaza halt at rohtang for smtime in between or not?thanx a lot in advance already…really, ur article was a great great help as i was unable to find nething substantial about spiti till date…especially on costs involved…now, awaiting ur reply most eagerly…also, if u can, plzzz email ur reply to my queries at mitinkkumar@gmail.com
Hi Mridula:What were the places you covered in 6 days of trekking ? How long were the treks everyday ?Were there any really steep uphills/downhills. I am thinking of reaching kaza and deciding on the trek based on how i feel at the altitude.Thanks!Anu
did you go to dashaur lake, chandra tal lake and suraj tal lake? how far are they from kaza? if i want to cover kye monastry, dhankar, dhahaur, suraj tal, chandra tal and langza, how many days do i need? what route should i follow? what is the distance between each destination?wots d frequency of buses from manali to kaza or manali to keylong and back?is there any other org with which such a trip may be planned, apart from esosphere? do they let you add/delete destinations or is it a fixed route?please answer asap. i love trekking and have been often to the naddi-chamba treks. never to lahaul/spiti. (anjali1102@gmail.com)
Hi Mridula,Really nice work with the blogI just had one queryIs the route from Manali-Kaza open all year round? I was planning a tour in mid-April..Thanks in advance!
Arun, it is the Shimla Kaza routes that opens early, in fact at Indiamike someone already reported reaching Kaza using this route. Manali-Kaza open much later. End May or the beginning of June is more likely. Hope this helps.