Spiti Circuit · part 1

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Shimla

   Shimla is where the British came to escape the heat of the plains, and it still has the look of a Surrey town that took a wrong turn into the Himalaya. Built along a ridge at roughly twenty-two hundred metres, with pine and cedar trees and rows of red-roofed houses, it served as the summer capital of British India, and decisions affecting hundreds of millions of people were made here between May and October. The Ridge, an open promenade in the centre, is lined with Christ Church, a pale yellow neo-Gothic building of the 1850s, and the Mall, a long shopping street, runs alongside. Vehicles are restricted on the Mall and the Ridge, so you will park below and walk up.

   Read the complete Shimla write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Shimla is where the day begins. Next is Kalpa.

2. 2. Kalpa

   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.

   Read the complete Kalpa write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kalpa comes up about 223 km into the recorded legs. Next is Nako.

3. 3. Nako

   Nako is a village you reach after a day of mountain road, and you feel the effort as soon as you arrive. It lies at about 3,600 metres in the Hangrang valley of Kinnaur, in Himachal Pradesh, close to the border with Tibet. The village is built of stone and timber and clings to a hillside above a small lake, with willow and poplar trees around its edge and the great peak of Reo Purgyil standing in the distance, more than 6,700 metres high.

   Read the complete Nako write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 321 km.