nako

The restaurant at the end of the world.

Or #Nako

Same thing

#portal #Nako

I'm going to now try and take you through the grandeur that is the #SpitiValley between #Nako and #Tabo. We did the route on Tuesday, but I've been avoiding putting up pics.

Pictures and videos are too small the capture the vastness, the other worldliness of this place. The only way to know it is to bite the blue pill and come on over to see it for yourself.

Some pics from the #Tabo #monastery. We experienced the monastery and left #Tabo yesterday (Thursday) afternoon. By the evening we had reached #Kaza. We spent our evening in the most beautiful café ever (more on that later). This morning we left Kaza for #PinValley. We reached Mud (मुध) village and then turned around. Then we drove through #Tabo and #Nako to #Pooh.

We have lots and lots of pics to share. Will try my best with the limited connectivity we have. Also pics from the phone and the camera have gotten mixed up, so the time lines are a little off.

We had tea at #Nako. The restaurant owner was the nicest man. His restroom was covered in requests, in Hindi, to travelers, asking them to please leave the place clean. Common sense suggestions. It is sad that we send tourists up to these places without imparting them basic civic sense and lessons in hygiene.

#vanlife

About an hour before #Nako, on Tuesday, we lost phone signal. We did get a #BSNL SIM, and Nako is supposed to have #3G connectivity, but there was no signal at Nako. The restauranteur at Nako was elated that #Jio would soon bring #4G connectivity to the entire #Spiti Valley. We reached #Tabo by nightfall on Tuesday. We parked in the lot opposite the Monastery. We had lovely dinner, including pizza with olives. Sleep came easily after a long day of driving. We were #cozy in the #caravan inspite of the cold winds and rain outside.

It was supposed to #snow on Wednesday morning but that did not happen. The kids weren’t too dissappointed. We got busy looking for a place to shower. The lovely people at Kunzom Cafe offered us the use of their solar heated shower at no cost. As I sat there chatting with the owner, he told me that we all need to keep ourselves fully covered and warm. Weather changes suddenly around here, and the temperature difference between night and day is high. People coming from the plains fall sick easily.

Just as he was telling me this, I felt illness take over me. I moved indoors into his cafe and just lay down. Maybe it was the fatigue, maybe the altitude, maybe the cold. I don’t know. In no shape to walk back to the caravan, I rented a room and slept off right there. I must have slept all day. The kids had a whale of a time, running around the place, eating delicious food, showering, playing with kids, and gorging on candy.

M1 was dissappointed that we weren't staying in the caravan. Wasn't that the whole point, he asked. Perhaps. One has to adapt. Also, once you've seen the scenery between Nako and Tabo, nothing really matters. You are in another world. You just want to soak in the scenery. Tell yourself this is real. Are we still on planet 🌏?

A #highaltitude #game of #cricket at #Nako

Lots of #donkeys in #Nako today

This is an inflatable boat with paddles etc. Should we carry this with us? Will there be any water bodies between Kalka and Kaza where we can safely use it? Safety first, after all.

#boat #vanlife #caravan #inflatableboat #Kaza #HimachalPradesh #Chitkul #Sangla #Nako #Tabo #Narkanda

This is what our route looks like. #Gurgaon to #Nako in #HimachalPradesh, and likely on to #Tabo and #Kaza. Looks like the #KMPExpressway will let us bypass all of #Delhi.
#experientialtravel #vanlife #mosttreacherousroadintheworld