Destination Features

Kalpa is a little known town situated in the lap of the mighty 19965 feet Kinner Kailash peak, around 240kms from Shimla. Situated at an altitude of 9711 feet, Kalpa is surrounded by snowy peak for almost the whole year. One gets a clear view of the sacred Kinner Kailash peak as well as its sister peaks. I got a chance to bike to this place in Jan 2007, band in the middle of winters! Kalpa used be to a favourite haunt of Lord Dalhousie, who used to visit this place by travelling next to the sutluj river in those days.. But nowadays you can easily drive down, although the road is quite tough! From Delhi, Shimla is a comfortable 9hour drive (355kms via Ambala and then NH22). From Shimla, things get interesting. Carry on the NH22 to Narkanda (64kms, an easy 2hr drive), then Rampur (another 73kms, 2 hours). From here on, for a while roads are good but mostly, turn into a bad shape with work going on (the hydro electric power station). But the views make up for it. From Rampur, you pass thru Jeori (23kms), Wangtu (37kms) and finally Karcham (20kms). The road from Wangtu to Karcham is in a bad state and occasionally the road is blocked for a couple of hours due to landslide. At Karcham, a right goes to Sangla valley, take a left towards Recong Peo/Kalpa (35kms). At Recong Peo, there are two options, a longer 13kms or a shorter steeper 7km route. We being on bkes, took the shorter 7km route, riding between apple orchads, narrow roads, in complete isolation. And if you are here between Dec and Feb, you will be greeted with atleast 5-6 frozen waterfalls by the road between Peo and Kalpa. If you are driving youself, taking a nights stop at Narkanda, around 420kms, 11 hours from delhi. Stay at Himachal Tourism's hotel , Hotel Hattu.

This is a not a place for the avg tourist. Getting here takes a while and the place is devoid of commercialisation which is a great thing. You can spend hours walking in the apple orchads, or just gazing at the snowed out kinner kailash peak, which has snow for almost 10-11 months in an year. You can also take a walk in the many little trails going nowhere... You can also walk/hike down to Recong Peo, which is the main town for major shopping/hotels/food. Kalpa is for those who want a laid back peaceful yet breathtaking holiday. If you are going to here stay here for long, you may want to visit one of the most beautiful motorable valleys in India : Sangla valley. For this, you will have drive back to Karcham, and then its a 18km drive to Sangla. You can further drive to Chitkul, the last town before the tibet borded. Suggested day's visit from Kalpa.

As written in the previous section, you have ntn much to do than to relax. Trust me, the 180 degree view of the 18000-20000 feet peaks from Kalpa will keep you occupied for days. If you are into trekking, discover places around Kalpa by asking the locals around. You can also visit KOTHI: half hour away near Recong Peo. Kothi has a temple dedicated to the goddess Chanadika Devi. Set against a backdrop of mountains and graves of the deodar the temple has an unusual architectural style and fine sculpture. An exquisite gold image of goddess is enshrined in sanctum.

The best bet in Kalpa is Himachal Tourisms hotel : The kinner kailash cottage. Without a doubt, the hotel and its big lawns have the best view of the snow peaks. Imagine, wakin up in the morning, with the sun rays explodin out of the horizon, outling the snow peaks... it is just amazing. Room rates vary from 900 to 1300 but the govt offers discounts in winters/monsoons. BUT, between dec and feb, the hotel is closed as the water pipes remain frozen. Contact number is - (01786) - 226159.

When we visited the place in Jan, all hotels and restaurants were closed in Kalpa as water pipes were frozen. So we went to Peo, 13kms down. There was an open air restaurant in the main bazaar : forgot the name, but the food was tasty. There is also a line up of dhabas serving hot and tasty food. For drinkers, there is a booze shop too.

Everything about Kalpa is offbeat! Refer to "sightseeing" and "things to do" section