The inviting roads, the terrain, the landscapes and topography…….
Making up our minds for doing the 11 days road trip with a little baby was not easy at all. It was the first time ever that we were so anxious about our ‘Travel’ plans!! Post baby, the lifestyle changed every bit and traveling together (particularly the adventure trips) were difficult to fathom. However, our zeal for road trips couldn’t keep us away for a very long time and after an occasional break of a year we decided to pack our bags and set out on a road trip along with our 11 months old little love to the revered Spiti Valley, the Land of Lamas in India. Interestingly, we discovered our baby boy shares the love for Travel 🙂 This trip wasn’t his first though, he had been on few short trips already before Spiti.
Spiti is as stunning as it name sounds!! Lahaul–Spiti lies in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Spiti is predominantly occupied by Tibetan refugees and hence the region has pretty much feel of Tibet.
We covered the region via Shimla. It was thrilling as well as challenging to drive on these roads. We were bracing ourselves for the drive on one of the most treacherous and deadliest roads of the world. This time it was the thrill of NH-22 and Hindustan-Tibet road. The hairpin bends, the narrow dimensions, encountering natural waterfalls, close encounters with trucks and buses, the frequent bad patches made us feel ecstatic and sometimes insane. Take a virtual tour of the roads here.
The region is heaven for photography enthusiasts, to hone skills and experiment with different styles, today I’m sharing the essence of the ‘Spiti Valley’ captured in pictures, a random compilation of awe-inspiring sightings. This is going to be a series of posts and I hope you travel along 🙂
This is a landscape view of village – Dhankar. Dhankar stands tall at an altitude of 12,774 feet. Dhang/dang means cliff, and kar/khar means fort. Hence, the fort on a cliff is popularly known as ‘Dhankar’. The confluence of Spiti & Pin Rivers from this height is incredible!!!
Dhankar houses a 16th century old fort monastery; however one can see the new monastery now in the tiny village of Shichilling. The old monastery complex is also known as Lha-O-pa Gompa; it has five different halls and includes a number of multi-storied buildings. The highlight of the monastery is the a statue of Vairochana or Dhayan Buddha with 4 figures seated back to back. The monastery is associated with Gelukpa order of Tibetan Buddhism and has around 150 lamas residing in it.
The natural settings are so beautiful here that we were compelled to take breaks and soak in the beauty, this capture is a humble attempt to share the beauty with the world.
The river makes way through the rugged terrains, mostly the areas near river are made into the vegetation belt. However, during extreme winters the area is frozen! In fact, for five months of the year, it’s totally cut off as the snow fall makes driving here too dangerous.
These colorful pictures are from Gue village, ‘Gue’ is famous for being the abode of 550 years old mummified Lama – Sangha Tenzin.
This here is one of my favorites, the backdrop of hills and meticulously perched houses makes for an incredible view.
This is how the inviting roads look like, it’s a never ending adventure !!
Until next post, keep exploring ‘Untraveled Routes‘ 🙂
oh… these are breath taking pictures!!!
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Thank you so much 🙂 🙂
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Amazing pictures! Such magnificent pics always make a post worth reading. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this one!!
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Thank you Nikesh! Your positive feedback means a lot 🙂
Have a good day!
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You’re most welcome
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Wow, such amazing pics.. eagerly waiting to take this breathtaking trip with you 😇
You guys are very courageous to take your little one on such long road trips. Kudos… 👍
Waiting for your next post.
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Thank you Deepika 🙂 Initial days were very difficult to travel with baby but gradually we got the hang of it. I have seen great positive impact on my baby boy because of travel 🙂
So glad to keep you interested 🙂
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Beautiful!! Seriously images are beyond words!! Exceptionally beautiful!!
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That makes me so happy🙂🙂 Thank you
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My pleasure 😇
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🙂🙂🙂
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Astonishing, captivating, beguiling …. your pictures and words always make me want to BE there, wherever there is that you are writing about but this time I literally ACHE to be there … just so spectacular – I feel this itch is beginning to take me over!!! ❤️
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💛💛 How have you been dear? It’s always a delight to read your comments. This one makes me feel so so positive and inspired! Thank you for reading all my posts and giving amazing feedback 🙂🌸😇
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I’m very good thank you …. we are having beautiful weather here in Grenoble with bright sunny days and unseasonably warm so I am making the most of it. It is always a pleasure to read your articles and see your beautiful pictures. Writing good feedback is very easy when the material is so evocative! 😊 🌸
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I do wish I meet you and your beautiful family someday💛
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I very much hope that we will meet some day. It would be the greatest pleasure 😊
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💛💛
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Beautiful, and remote! Thanks for sharing. –Curt
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Thank you Curt, glad you enjoyed the post 👍
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Such beautiful mountains and countryside. Thanks for sharing.
I had some posters of the Spiti Valley mounted, but lost them during the last house move when something spilled over them. I have one left showing the interior of a monastery wall.
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Oh the poster must look amazing, the interiors of the Monasteries are so beautifully decorated, no photography is allowed though so u couldn’t capture the same. Thank you for your comment 🙂🙂🙂
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Sorry I meant to write ‘so I couldn’t capture the same’ as in interiors..
. Typo error
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The words awesome or awe-inspiring are overused and have lost much of his emotional impact, but in your amazing blog on the majestic village of Spiti I can’t think of a better word. I marvel at your courage to travel with your baby to such a remote location in India.
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Thank you, Peter.
Your feedback is always very encouraging especially this one is so inspiring. Thank you for traveling along ☺️☺️. Traveling with our little one was very tough in the beginning we took him for a short road trip of 3-4 hours at the age of three months… Gradually we increased the duration. However Spiti was very difficult given the harsh weather conditions, with God’s grace he was well throughout and enjoyed the trip.
Good day.
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Traveling with God’s grace is a passport toward inner peace in whatever you are doing, my friend. I liked this reference to God very much.
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Amazing pics and thanks for sharing this with us 🙂
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Thank you for reading and appreciating!!
Cheers 💛
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Your post and images leaves me speechless.
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Thank you Cornelia💛💛 for the love and support!
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Always welcome.
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Loved the post. Brilliant pics _()_
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Thank you dost☺️☺️ for the appreciation.
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What can I say? Wooooooooooow!
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Thank you so much ☺️☺️ glad you liked the post.
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wow u really are brave to be travelling with a baby to spiti! nice pics
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Thank you! 🙂 Yeah, that required lot of courage 🙂
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Awesome post guys.The vibrant colours of the temple seem to take over and pop right out of the photo. I would love to see this side of the world one day. Your son is extremely lucky to have these experiences and I am sure he will continue to travel throughout his life. Lorelle 🙂
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Thank you, Lorelle 🙂
The region is all rustic brown coupled with whites from snow, the colors of the Monastery, Mane Stones and Tibetan Flags create beautiful physical elements making it appealing. Yes, Aayansh will have so many stories to tell 🙂
Cheers.
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Nice post
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Breathtakingly beautiful photos!
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Thank you Diana 🙂
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Most welcome. ^^
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The valley is glorious! Your photos speak volumes.
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Your photographs are awesome. Thank you.
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Thank you so much 💛
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Great story and photos! Now I have yet another place to add to my list of travels! Keep traveling!
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Thank you Shawn! That makes me feel so positive ☺️ I’m so glad you are here.
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A very courageous journey to experience such wonders. Stunning photography! Wonderful post, ❤
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Thank you so much! Makes me happy to receive such beautiful feedback 🙂
Apologies for the late reply
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🙂
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Wonderful photos and such a beautiful place. Sounds like you’re having an amazing adventure. Safe travels.
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Gorgeous!
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Thank you 🙂
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Amazing photos, good job!!
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Thank you so much🙂🙂
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beautiful landscapes! these are the places not most of us would travel to. but this blog kinda tells us why we should! happy travels!
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That’s a beautiful thing to share☺️☺️
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Stunning photos!
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Thank you so much!
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Beautiful photos – they really capture the atmosphere of the place!
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Thank you so much! Yes, we have tried our best to do that, though with the baby in tow we could capture limited pictures, still got some nice shots.
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Nice pics
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simply awesome !!
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Goodness gracious sakes alive!!!!!!! Those pictures are so lovely. Man. Cheers and thanks for sharing! 🙂
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Gorgeous photographs, such an amazing region! I can empathize with traveling with baby…it’s not easy 🙂
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Thank you 💛💛 Spiti really is beautiful and every season is different here. Have you been also traveling with Baby?
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Not recently but many times … He was a good traveler though. 💛
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Congratulations on completing the 11-day trip to Spiti with your 11-month old. The pictures are stunning and description is pretty interesting.
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Thank you Somali ☺️ Spiti is beautiful and this journey gave us lot of happy memories to cherish.
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magic!
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Thank you ☺️ It sure is Magic.
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