Things to do in Chitkul with Kids?

Chitkul is a delightful place to visit with kids. The snowy peaks, blue sky, Baspa river, a pretty school and lots and lots of free space and time make Chitkul a fun and activity filled place for kids.

My dear reader

Why am I writing to you about Chitkul so late?

As I sit down to write to you about Chitkul, a small village in Kinnaur in Sangla Valley, I ask to myself- what took me so long to write about Chitkul? The truth is : There is so much written on the Chitkul like ‘the last village in Sangla Valley’, ‘Heaven in Kinnaur’, ‘the most beautiful village in Sangla’, that I dreaded to even think about writing something on this small village.

Every traveler with a presence on net has done Chitkul. Sangla though is not much explored, at least on the net. I did my share by writing about Sangla Kanda Trek though there is still more to Sangla which I hope to write someday.

Rakcham gets lost between these two biggies but has its fair share of vistas and a walk to Rakcham from Sangla is worth doing. You can read the walk from Sangla to Rakcham here.

My experience of Chitkul

I did not know what could I add as a writer on Chitkul? You may call is as writer’s block.

But I call it as a place which I observed mostly lying down along Baspa river on a sunny day, half dreamy and half awake in a state of fever running 100-101 degree Farenheit.

It was difficult to distinguish between dream and wakefulness for whenever I opened my eyes I thought I was dreaming a river, tall mountains of bare brown, leafy green and snowy white under an endless blue sky.

When I closed again my eyes, what I saw in dream was a reality in which I was sleeping. I am confused till date.

Sangla to Chitkul by Car

From Sangla, the road climbs up to meet the rising altitude of Rakcham and Chitkul; Baspa river on the other hand lose gradient as it travels in opposite direction.

Rakcham is a very small town with its flowers, fruit orchards and two-storeyed wooden houses situated in the close guard of high and mighty kinner Kailash range.

We kept getting down from the car to walk in the village and to climb on the moraines enroute Chitkul. We again climbed down to meet the shepherds of the herd of sheep and goats resting on the boulders along the road.

Reaching Chitkul

We got off the car somewhere after the ITBP checkpost before Chitkul. I did not wish to ruin my cherished trip to Chitkul being done in a cage we glamorously call the car.

The village looked appealing and unappealing at the same time although always in a perfect setting.

While most of the houses in this heavily boulder strewn village still had slated roofs, many new buildings adopted tin roof which were the only ugly spots in an otherwise out of worldly look.

Village life is not easy here for everyone. Most people earn by agriculture and by livestock rearing but some do not own any land and earn their bread as laborer.

Sheep is the most important of the livestock for its milk, meat and wool. You will find many ladies busy with spindle to spin wool.
Potatoes grown here are high in quality and demand.

Life goes in slow lane. A government school adds energy to the otherwise quieter village. This school had the envious setting, at least from a traveler’s eye.

Reaching to the Baspa River in Chitkul

We moved past the village and found a spot along Baspa. It was not that we had to search for a spot for being away from crowds for you are most likely to be alone there on any given day.

Mountains running along on either side of Baspa river in Chitkul were two entirely different entities.

On one side was the bare brown mountains, then other side was fully green. Mountains on the side, where Baspa seems to be flowing from, stood steep with sparkling snow.

All this was arranged under a silent, clear and bright blue sky. To add sound to this theater, Baspa gurgled, birds twittered, wind whistled and a highly audible silence spread from earth to the heavens.

Kids did their part in adding the sound by throwing pebbles in Baspa and adding some bright colors with their clothes.

By the Baspa River

I collapsed as soon as kids decided a spot for us. I saw kids dipping their hand in Baspa river only to pull out immediately with a shout. Water must be icy cold, I found.

It had to be for the Baspa was flowing down there directly from Glaciers without losing much in altitude. Numbing their hands, they got busy with throwing pebbles.

Manish kept on moving restlessly. There were some pretty birds keeping Manish enamored. As a loyal husband, he kept coming to me to check the temperature and to show his changing pretty friends.

All the plans to venture onto walks from Chitkul laid waste because of my fever and because of the trek we dared to do to Sangla Kanda the previous day with our four-year old kid.

When kids got tired of throwing pebbles, they got going to climb to the brown mountains. Manish had to run. Younger one too wanted to do what elder brother was doing. I moved not an inch, soaking sun at the banks of Baspa.

Honestly speaking, Chitkul is only an extension of views in Sangla and Rakcham. Its added tags of being the last village towards this side of India and higher altitude keep it in traveler’s good books.

I am not saying that it is not worth going. You must when you are in Sangla valley for its 270 degree surroundings of peaks. Beyond that, walks are prettier in and around Sangla and Rakcham than Chitkul.

That was Chitkul as seen by me, lying down at Baspa and as seen by Manish and kids, roaming in and around Chitkul.

With Love from Chitkul
Jaishree.

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