Mystic Mountain

A trans-Himalayan holiday doesn’t come easy. Least of all in mountaintop villages that offer the patient traveller a sweeping view of the great Tibetan plateau. Nako is one of those, an oasis approachable only by a rough, isolated road.

- Parikshit Rao

Standing at the intersection of the Dhauladhar, Zanskar and great Himalayan ranges, Himachal’s Kinnaur district is notorious for its difficult terrain. Getting here is half the battle won. Though road connectivity has considerably improved in recent years, once upon a time the topography restricted invading feudal armies to erstwhile Bushahr State (presentday Rampur). The mighty Sutlej still tumbles unrestrained, devouring patches of the ancient Hindustan-Tibet road when it overflows during the monsoon, and till date the mountains remain insurmountable barriers for monsoon winds and clouds arising from the subcontinent.

In hindsight, these obstacles seem benevolent as they helped create Kinnaur’s unique blend of Hindu and Buddhist cultures in a trans-Himalayan atmosphere. In this zone of extreme mountains and climatic variations, the arid stretch of Hangrang Valley stands out. Spreading out from Khab to Sumdo, this is where Kinnaur meets Spiti. The valley is also known as Upper Kinnaur or Lower Spiti, depending on your perspective. It’s a landscape unlike any other in the Indian Himalaya, where villages straddle rocky mountain slopes and not river banks. Taking cues from the cold, desolate mountains of the Tibetan plateau right next door, Hangrang Valley is a cluster of nine large villages separated by their remoteness yet fused in their Tibetan Buddhist culture.

High Oasis

Nestled in Hangrang’s easternmost corner, Nako is the valley’s largest and most scenic village. From its dizzying height of 3660 m along the India-China border, the sky seems close enough to touch. The rarefied air in this part of the transHimalaya is known to play many such tricks on hapless travellers.