Sangla & Raksham, District: Kinnaur, H.P.

Location : Sangla (2680 M), Kamru, Raksham (3050 M) and Chitkul (3400 M) villages are all situated in a beautiful valley named Sangla Valley at the South-East part of Himachal Pradesh. The word 'Sang' means ' bright'. The valley is surrounded by high mountain range. The Kinner Kailash range, the peaks of which are clearly visible from Kalpa towards east, is on its north and the Garhwal range is on southern side of Sangla. The orientation of the valley is 95 KM stretch east to west i.e. from Rakchsm to Baspa valley. The river Baspa flows through the valley with a newly built dam at Sangla. The river starts flowing from a glacier at the extreme east near Indo-China border and meets the river Sutlej at Karcham. The National Highway 22 from Shimla passes through Karcham and goes further north towards Powari-Kalpa and Kaza. At Karcham after crossing the river Sutlej, turn right for Sangla in 2 hours drive. It takes about 12 hours from Shimla (226 KM) and 2.30 hours from Kalpa. The mountain road towards Sangla - Rackcham - Chitkul is extremely fragile and very often blocked by land slide in rainy days. Kamru village was once the capital of Busahr kingdom is just above Sangla. Rakcham is in between Sangla and Chitkul village. Chitkul is the last village on this road and the high mountain and glaciers give passage to the river only.

Safety : Safe; Roads to Sangla: Motorable mountain road. Delay may occur for road blockage due to land slide in rainy season; Road traffic: Careful and slow driving in hill roads suggested; Medical support: Not adequate; Fuel Pumps: No, Nearest at Tapri and Powari; Car repairing: No; Market & Shopping Center: No; Tourist Information Center: No; Railway & Air Ticket: No; Hotels & Restaurants: A few; Sports & Game Centers: No; Cellular service: BSNL & Airtel; Car rental: No, sometimes the private cars are put into service. however, cars are available at Recong Peo or Kalpa

Places of interest : Minimum days of stay: One day. Sangla is most important to the the tourists for its scenic beauty. Due to availability of accommodations at Sangla and higher altitude of Chitkul, most of the tourists prefer to stay at Sangla and visit Chitkul (28 KM) early in the morning and return to Sangla within 3 to 4 hours. However, the tourists may visit Kamru village (2800 M) above Sangla and the village on the mountain slope is clearly visible. A densely populated area on the northern slope of the mountain. The village is so strategically positioned that the inhabitants get sufficient sunshine hours and natural spring water without suffering from heavy snow and glacier flow. Kamru village was the capital of Bushyr kingdom. The Kamru fort is 1 KM north of the village. The armoury is opened on special days. The temple at Kamru is famous for its architecture. It is made of wood with beautiful carvings. The temple of Goddess Kamakshya is also visible from a distance. It was built by the king of Rampur in the style of the Bhimakali temple at Sarahan. The name of the village Kamru has come from Goddess Kamakshya. The temple has other deities too i.e. Sri Badrinath and Goddess Annapurna. A temple known as Beri Nag dedicated to Naga God and a Buddhist monastery may also be visited by the tourists. The tourists can obtain licence for fishing at the trout fish farm from the Fisheries Department, Sangla at the river Baspa where the trout fish farm is situated.

Transport : The nearest airport is at Shimla. The full size buses ply from Shimla, Rampur, Kalpa, Recong Peo, Chandigarh,etc to Sangla. The HRTC bus from Roghi village 4 KM south- west of Kalpa comes to Recong Peo at 10.30 AM with a stoppage at the gate of Hotel Golden Apple Kalpa and Kalpa bazaar and goes to Chitkul via Sangla, Rakcham and after waiting for 30 min. at Chitkul, it returns to Recong Peo at about 4.30 PM. The first bus for Shimla starts at early in the morning from sangla and reaches in the evening. The tourists for Sangla should start early from Shimla in order to avoid night driving in the Karcham-Sangla section for its numerous bends, narrowness of the road and possibilities of stone felling from mountain slopes.

Special mention: One should not miss the taste of Sangla apple if visited during apple harvesting season i.e. 4th week of Sept to mid-Oct. Saffron is plucked and dried in Oct-Nov. Road to Chitkul from Sangla normally remains snow covered till last week of March.

Accommodation facilities:

The advance booking can be made directly or through www.arraytours.com. Please call +91 9433001192, (Phone) +91 33 24427635. The above data are indicative as provided by the respective hotel or collected from various sources. The author is not responsible for any difference with the actual.

Last Updated on Sunday, 16 May 2010 22:37