Kinnaur Sangla Chitkul Kalpa Tour Package 5 Nights 6 Days

Chitkul: Twenty-five kilometres up the Baspa at 11,320 ft, the last inhabited village before the border. Wooden houses under slate, a small Mathi temple, and a stretch of white riverbed you can walk along.

Kamru Fort: Above Sangla, a five-storey tower fort that was the seat of the Bushahr rulers before the capital moved to Rampur. A Badrinath temple sits within the walls.

Afternoon: The orchards around Sangla, at their best during the September apple harvest.

• Top Places to Cover: Chitkul, Baspa riverbed, Mathi temple, Kamru Fort, Sangla orchards.
• Importance of Each Place: Kamru is a working temple as well as a monument, and visitors are asked to wear a cap and cloth belt provided at the entrance. Chitkul marks the effective end of the old Indo-Tibetan trade route.
• Things to Know: Chitkul is cold in every season and has almost no mobile signal. Foreign nationals need an Inner Line Permit beyond certain points in Kinnaur.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner | Overnight: Sangla

Back to the Sutlej: Down the Baspa and up the opposite side of the main valley, roughly 60 km through Reckong Peo.

Kalpa: The village faces the Kinner Kailash range directly across the gorge. At sunrise the rock face turns copper for about ten minutes, which is why the itinerary gives you two nights here rather than one.

• Top Places to Cover: Reckong Peo, Kalpa village, Kinner Kailash viewpoint, Narayan-Nagini temple.
• Importance of Each Place: Kinner Kailash at 19,850 ft is considered one of the winter abodes of Shiva. The 79-ft rock pillar near its summit is the focus of an annual parikrama that takes three days on foot.
• Things to Know: Ask for a room facing the range and check the direction before accepting it. Reckong Peo has the last dependable ATM and pharmacy in the district.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner | Overnight: Kalpa

Sunrise: From the hotel terrace, before anything else. This is the reason people stay in Kalpa.

Roghi: Seven kilometres along a cliff road to a village with a viewpoint locally called Suicide Point for the sheer unguarded drop below it.

Kalpa Village: The Hu-Bu-Lan-Kar monastery, said to have been founded by Rinchen Zangpo, and the Narayan-Nagini temple beside it - Buddhist and Hindu structures sharing a courtyard, which is common through Kinnaur.

• Top Places to Cover: Roghi village, Suicide Point, Hu-Bu-Lan-Kar monastery, Narayan-Nagini temple, apple orchards.
• Importance of Each Place: Kinnaur sits on the cultural boundary between Hindu and Tibetan Buddhist practice, and many villages here observe both. The apple orchards were introduced in the 20th century and now underpin the district economy.
• Things to Know: The Roghi road is narrow with no barrier in places. Do not walk out beyond the marked area at the viewpoint.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner | Overnight: Kalpa

West Along the Sutlej: Roughly 120 km back down the valley and then a climb to Sarahan at about 7,600 ft.

Bhimakali: A tiered wood-and-stone tower temple, one of 51 Shakti Peethas, and among the finest surviving examples of Kinnauri temple architecture. The older of the two towers leans visibly after the 1905 earthquake.

Evening: The temple courtyard at dusk, with the Srikhand Mahadev peak behind it.

• Top Places to Cover: Bhimakali temple complex, Sarahan village, the pheasantry, Srikhand Mahadev viewpoint.
• Importance of Each Place: Bhimakali is built in the same kathkuni style as Chehni Kothi - alternating stone and cedar with no mortar - which is why it survived an earthquake that levelled stone buildings nearby.
• Things to Know: A cap and cloth belt are provided and must be worn inside. Leather items including belts and wallets are not permitted. Photography is prohibited in the inner sanctum.

Meals: Breakfast, Dinner | Overnight: Sarahan

Morning Darshan: A last visit to Bhimakali before the drive, when the courtyard is quietest.

The Road Back: Around 175 km to Shimla, six hours, retracing the Sutlej gorge. The tour ends at Shimla.

• Top Places to Cover: Bhimakali temple, Rampur, Narkanda, Shimla.
• Things to Know: Book onward travel from Shimla for the following morning rather than the same night - arrival time depends entirely on road conditions in the gorge.

Meals: Breakfast | Overnight: Journey ends at Shimla