Kalpa is the place where mountains stop being scenery and become an argument. The village sits at about three thousand metres on a ledge above the Sutlej valley in Kinnaur, and directly across the gorge rises Kinner Kailash, a peak of over six thousand metres that Hindus and Buddhists regard as the winter home of Shiva. At sunrise and sunset the snow on its flanks turns pink, then gold, and the effect from the village rooftops is hard to forget. Apple and apricot orchards surround Kalpa, and in autumn the trees are loaded with fruit.
The road that brings you here is the old Hindustan-Tibet road, which follows the Sutlej upstream through a dramatic gorge, hugging cliffs, crossing landslides and passing through hamlets of timber and slate. It is a serious mountain road: narrow, often broken by rockfalls, and in the monsoon, from July to September, it can be closed for days at a time. Early starts help, because the afternoon brings cloud and rain, and small stones fall from above without warning. Keep your speed down and your eyes on the cliff as well as the surface.
Recong Peo, just below Kalpa, is the district headquarters and the place to stock up on fuel and supplies. Above this point, the road toward Spiti goes through remote country, where petrol pumps are few and far between, so fill the tank here and carry spare if you can. Kalpa itself has guesthouses, a monastery and a small market. Local food includes dishes of rice, lentils and mountain greens, with apple products such as juice and jam.
The old part of Kalpa has temples with carved wooden doors and a mix of Hindu and Buddhist traditions, reflecting the crossroads at which Kinnaur stands. Take time to adapt to the altitude, since three thousand metres is enough to cause headaches, and drink plenty of water. Come between May and October for the best weather. The road onward into Spiti climbs into a bare and wide land, a different world from these green slopes.