I made roughly a dozen mistakes on my first Spiti Valley trip. Some were minor (bringing the wrong shoes). Some were genuinely dangerous (ignoring altitude sickness symptoms). All were avoidable.
Here's the unfiltered advice file, organized by the categories that matter.
Everyone wants to drive from Manali because it's shorter (200km vs 410km). Bad idea for first-timers. The Manali route takes you from 2,050m to 3,800m in one day. Your body doesn't have time to adjust.
The Shimla-Kinnaur route takes 2 days but climbs gradually — Shimla (2,200m) to Rampur (1,000m) to Kalpa (2,960m) to Nako (3,660m) to Kaza (3,800m). By the time you reach Kaza, you've had 3-4 nights of adjustment.
Then leave via Manali for the dramatic Kunzum Pass crossing. Best of both worlds.
Travel forums obsess over hiring private jeeps. The HRTC government bus costs 500-800 INR (vs 8,000-12,000 INR for a private taxi from Manali). It's slower, it stops a lot, and the seats are hard. But the drivers have been running these routes for decades. They know every blind corner.
I felt safer on the HRTC bus than in a private taxi driven by a Manali driver who'd done the route twice.
A landslide can close the Manali-Kaza route for 2-7 days. Rohtang Pass and Kunzum Pass open mid-June, close mid-October — but these dates shift. Check with the Kaza SDM office or local drivers the day before you plan to travel. Build 2-3 buffer days into your itinerary.
Kaza is at 3,800m. Most attractions are above 4,000m. Chandratal Lake is 4,300m. Even fit, young people get altitude sickness — headaches, nausea, insomnia, breathlessness.
Buy Diamox (acetazolamide) from a pharmacy in Manali or Shimla before entering Spiti. Start taking it 24 hours before reaching high altitude. Drink 3-4 liters of water daily. Don't exercise on your first day in Kaza.
The nearest proper medical facility is in Manali, 10-12 hours away. Kaza has a small health center for basic issues. If you have a serious altitude emergency, you need evacuation — and there's no helicopter service. This isn't fearmongering. It's logistics. Carry a basic first-aid kit with altitude meds, painkillers, oral rehydration salts, and anti-diarrheal medication.
At 4,000m+, UV radiation is 40% stronger than at sea level. I got sunburned through a cloudy sky in 2 hours. SPF 50+ on all exposed skin, reapply every 2 hours, and wear sunglasses with UV protection or the glare off the barren mountains will give you snow blindness.
Kaza has one SBI ATM. It runs out of cash regularly. It goes offline when the power cuts (which happens daily). It sometimes just... decides not to work.
Carry enough cash for your entire trip. Budget 2,000-3,000 INR/day minimum. That means bringing 20,000-30,000 INR in mixed denominations (100s and 500s — many shops can't break 2,000 notes). Withdraw in Manali or Shimla before entering Spiti.
Jio, Airtel, Vi — none work in Spiti. Only BSNL has coverage, and it's patchy at best. You'll get 2G data in Kaza town and nothing in most other locations. Download offline maps (Google Maps allows this) before entering the valley. Tell people at home you'll be unreachable.
This is a cash-only economy. The few places that claim to accept Google Pay are lying — it needs internet. No hotel, restaurant, or shop has a card machine. Cash. Only cash.
Guesthouses in Kaza charge 1,000-1,500 INR for mediocre rooms. Homestays in smaller villages (Kibber, Hikkim, Langza) charge 500-800 INR and include home-cooked meals. The food is better, the experience is realer, and you're putting money directly into local pockets.
Book via phone (ask your guesthouse in Kaza for numbers) or just show up — outside July-August, there's always room.
Thukpa (noodle soup), momos, tingmo (steamed bread with dal), butter tea, and chhurpi (dried yak cheese). These foods exist for a reason — they're calorie-dense and warming at altitude. Skip the menu items that say "pasta" or "pizza" — they're sad imitations made with limited ingredients.
The best momos I've eaten anywhere in India were at a homestay in Hikkim. 100 INR for a plate that would cost 400 in Delhi.
Between villages, there's nothing. No chai stalls, no dhabas, no convenience stores. On the drive to Chandratal or on any trek, bring nuts, energy bars, biscuits, and water. Dehydration and low blood sugar at altitude is a fast track to feeling terrible.
Every tour group arrives between 10AM-2PM. If you go at 6AM for morning prayers, you'll have the monastery nearly to yourself and witness the actual spiritual practice. The 1km walk up is steep but manageable if you go slow. Allow 2-3 hours including the walk.
Most people do Chandratal as a day trip from Kaza (7-8 hours round trip driving). This is madness. The lake deserves a sunset and a sunrise. Camp 2km from the lake (500-1,500 INR per tent with meals). The night sky at 4,300m with zero light pollution is — I don't have adequate words. Best June to September.
The world's highest post office at 4,400m. Send a postcard home (5 INR to any Indian address, 15 INR international). It actually arrives. The postmaster stamps your postcard with a special cancellation mark. The village itself is 15 houses and the post office. That's it. That's the whole village.
Langza village has marine fossils scattered on the ground — ammonites and shells from when the Himalayas were under the Tethys Sea 450 million years ago. You can pick them up and examine them (leave them where you found them). The village also has a large Buddha statue with the Spiti Valley as a backdrop.
Summer days hit 15-20 degrees C. Nights drop to 0-5 degrees C. A single heavy jacket won't work. Bring: thermal base layer, fleece mid-layer, windproof outer shell, warm beanie, gloves. Mornings at the monasteries will have you wearing everything. Afternoons in the sun, you'll be in a t-shirt.
Power cuts happen daily, sometimes lasting hours. Your phone flashlight drains battery. A simple headlamp (200-300 INR from any trekking shop in Manali) is essential for navigating guesthouses and homestays during blackouts — and for midnight trips to outdoor toilets.
Spiti runs on its own clock. Buses leave when they leave. Roads open when they open. Landslides clear when they clear. If you need things to happen on time, you will suffer. Bring a book, bring card games, bring the ability to sit in a chai shop for 3 hours watching clouds move across a monastery and consider it time well spent.
Because honestly? Those unplanned hours in Spiti — waiting for a road to clear, drinking butter tea with a family who doesn't speak your language, watching the light change on a 4,000-meter peak — those ended up being my favorite parts of the trip.
Not the destinations. The delays.
Spiti teaches patience the hard way. And it's a lesson worth the altitude headache.
