Determination at Frozen Spiti

We have heard that it is not about the destination, it is about a journey. Because, it is all about an experience, a struggle and it’s about learning and understanding the culture and way of living of other people. The meaning of travel has changed over a period of time. Million-dollar travel companies have changed the meaning of travel to luxury. Directly reaching the destination and staying in luxury resorts have minus the journey. That is also a kind of experience but at least not a travel experience.

This is a story of the 26th January, a Republic day. We prefer to travel mostly by road. As we are mountain lovers, the Himalayas is our all-time favorite destination. A trip was planned with my brother and my travel inspiration Sidhdharthsinh Mahida. A trip to Spiti, a trip to FROZEN SPITI.

Spiti, also known as Spiti Valley, is located in the northeastern part of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The meaning of “Spiti” is “The middle land” i.e the land between India and Tibet. It mainly incorporates the valley of the Spiti River. Spiti is bordered in the east by Tibet, north by Ladakh, east by Kullu and west by Kinnar. Population centers of the valley are Kaza and Tabo.

The most suitable time to visit as a tourist is between March to June, which is summer, but as an adventurist, it is in winter, also called FROZEN SPITI. Temperature goes up to minus 32-degree celsius during winter, all hotels are closed and there is not much vehicle movement and hardly any tourists.

We started our journey by road from Vadodara and reached Dolker village near Kaza on the 25th of January. It was freezing cold. It was minus 32 and the sky was pitch dark. The stay was surrounded by mountains. We managed to live in a homestay. The Spiti river had turned into a frozen river. Wherever you look, all you see is snow and mountains. Snow showers are almost every day and your walking path is covered with 2 to 3 ft of snow. You have to keep your vehicle engine on for the entire night to keep the engine warm, or else it will be a nightmare to start the vehicle engine the next day.

Due to the weather change, you hardly get any sleep. I woke up very early to enjoy a beautiful mountain morning. It was the 26th of January, so a National holiday. There is only one reason to wake up early on that day i.e for flag hoisting. My business place is hardly 1.5 km from my home in Vadodara but I don’t remember walking to the office and National holidays are mostly to enjoy late morning sleep. I noticed that a 7-year-old, granddaughter of a lama, where we stayed, was getting ready for school at around 6:00 AM. I wondered why she was getting ready so early and I curiously asked her grandfather. He replied she is going to her school to celebrate republic day. I was shocked to know this. I was not even ready to do anything because of the freezing cold temperature. I just recalled my eagerness to celebrate flag hoisting during my school days but after that, it became a matter of availability of time. Undoubtedly, I have respect for INDIA and many people like me love our country but the patriotism and determination of this 7 year old was unsurpassed.

She wore her cap and wrapped her muffler around her neck. I requested her grandfather to let me go with her to the school, considering the school must be nearby. The walkway was entirely covered with snow due to the snow shower the previous night. So finally, I started my journey for the school with the 7-year-old and her pet street dog. Well walking in snow is not a cakewalk, also the school was farther than I expected, it must have been 1 to 1.5 km away.

As soon as we reached the school, I felt like I had walked for almost 10 km. Windy and cold weather just drains all your energy. But wait, what I saw over there was mesmerizing. The teacher was waiting for the children with a huge smile on her face and there were already a few students playing enthusiastically at school. As it was time for the flag hosting, I got a chance to talk to a teacher. She said they loved to teach the students and the weather hardly made any difference to them. They conducted the classes, even with a single student present.

Wait, this is not it, a 6 years old boy was coming with his father in his all-winter clothes. And his father was eager to drop him off at school. All of them come to school by walking in such harsh weather conditions, forcing me to think that there is nothing impossible if you have the will.

You often come across situations during your travels, which you have not previously encountered. It transforms you as a person and inspires you for your further travels. I guess that’s what travel is meant for. See you soon with another amazing story.

–Shaktisinh Maharaul