Spiti Valley Circuit: Shimla to Nako

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 Reckong Peo.

2. 2. Reckong Peo

   Reckong Peo is the district headquarters of Kinnaur, in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, and it sits on the old Hindustan-Tibet Road, a route that clings to the walls of the Sutlej gorge. The town is at roughly 2,700 metres, among apple orchards and pine, and the peak that dominates the view is Kinner Kailash, a rocky, glittering mountain of about 6,000 metres that is sacred to Hindus and Buddhists. On a clear morning the first light on its flanks is something to see.

   Read the complete Reckong Peo write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Reckong Peo comes up about 222 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 333 km.