Kinnaur Part-II

Sangla Valley (Sangla – Rakcham – Chitkul)

Sangla:

Since the journey from Sarahan to Sangla is only of 4 hours, we started around 9:30 AM from Sarahan. We took the same NH 22, traversing deep canyons, ridges, and some startling rock formations with the Sutlej River following us at every step thousands of feet below. The landscape turned barren as we reached Karcham. There are three hydro-power projects under construction in Kinnaur and the work there has taken a toll on the roads. There was a lot of dust due to the construction going on in this region and it added to the discomfort during the journey. The road climbed up continuously from Karcham (where the Baspa joins the Sutlej) and the many hairpin bends we came across were scary. Frequent halts to take photographs delayed our journey and we reached Sangla at around 3:00 pm.

Sangla is a hill town situated at the height of 2600 metres. The first think that strikes you when you approach Sangla is that all of a sudden the mountains around you open up and a huge expanse of a valley with Baspa flowing through it stares at you. However nature had taken a back seat and Sangla with its commercialization looked very much like a typical town with all modern amenities and comforts starting from plush hotels, resorts and highly advertised camps by riverside. We were a tad disappointed with the brick and concrete structures that have spoilt the beauty of that place and though our driver Manoj had recommended a few hotels there, we decided to move on.

Further up from Sangla are three villages, namely Batseri, Rakcham and Chitkul, which are still away from the grasp of commercialization. We drove to Rakcham which is about 14 kms from Sangla and is at an altitude of 2900 mts.

Rakcham:

Rakcham is a sleepy village located between Sangla and Chitkul which is very sparcely populated. At first glance Rakcham will seem to be a place out from the past – no newspapers, no post office, no internet, no police station - just a couple of shop selling very basic necessities. The place however is blessed with crops, abundant water, and natural beauty. The people in Rakcham (as also in Chitkul) have to migrate every six months during winter to the lower planes and mostly lead nomadic lives. Farming is their main occupation and the time when we went they were preparing their land for the next upcoming season.

The hotel that caught our attention while driving through the small village was “Rupin River View” which is owned by Mr Naresh. The name ‘Rupin View’ is a misnomer (of sorts), because Rupin is a distant river in Kumaon valleys. Rupin View, however, offers view of Baspa. The hotel comprises of two buildings – older one is a wooden structure with colonial air, the newer one is standard format 3-storied building, but offers a better view of Baspa river and Himalayan slopes beyond that and we decided to stay there. It was around 3:30 pm when we finally got the hotel of our choice and by then we were totally famished. We soon realized that apart from amazing and uncluttered view another positive of Rupin View was its food. ‘Mutter Paneer’ stole our heart and I immediately decided to have chicken for dinner.

After ordering our dinner and getting refreshed we decided to go for a walk by the riverside towards the forest and mountains. The beauty of the meandering blue-watered Baspa, the wide valley through which it flows and the tall mountains on both sides of it, with fresh snow still in the upper reaches, create an indelible impression on your mind. There were beautiful green patches in between which gave you the impression of well-manicured lawns with small streams newly formed because of ice-melting in the nearby mountains and variety of pine trees whose leaves has already started changing colours. We walked for two hours and were almost forced to return as it was becoming dark and extremely cold.