A solo trip to Chitkul, the last village of India
Heartwarming at -10 degrees!
One realization I had while authoring my birthday essay was to get out of home often. Travel the world, explore the unknowns, take risks, meet new people, and the like. While most of my birthdays are typically spent indoors, possibly a ~5km outdoor visit at best, I wanted to do something different this year — travel to a new place, preferably cold.
During my brief research, I stumbled upon Chitkul, a place touted to be the last village of India towards Tibet. I checked the weather there and it was -10 degrees Celsius. I was sold! I decided I’m visiting Chitkul this birthday, with or without company. As you might have guessed from the title, it ended up being a solo trip — one I won’t forget anytime this decade.
The Itinerary
Reaching Chitkul from Bangalore involves three major stops, at least on the route I chose:
Bangalore
Chandigarh
Shimla
Sangla
Chitkul
Mode of Transport to Reach Chitkul
Here’s what the mode of transport looked like from the source to the destination:
Bangalore - Chandigarh (flight)
Chandigarh - Shimla (bus)
Shimla - Sangla (bus)
Sangla - Chitkul (bus)
Day 1: Shimla
The agenda for the first day was fairly straightforward. Catch the flight, board subsequent buses, and reach Chitkul by the end of the day. However, it didn’t quite play out that way in reality.
After a delicious Punjabi breakfast from Chandigarh, I was all set for my journey to Shimla. “Everything is going as per the plan, nice!” I thought. The lunch was fairly disappointing at Shimla and I was in for more disappointment. After stocking Shimla apples for the journey and the night, I faced a situation that I hadn’t anticipated — the frequency of buses.
As it turns out, the next bus to Sangla (the second last stop to Chitkul) is at 7:15 the next morning. I figured out three options:
Take a cab from Shimla to Chitkul
Take an alternate bus to reach the village close to Sangla & figure out a way to reach Chitkul
Stay in Shimla for the night
While the first option seemed like a comfortable way to reach the destination, it was pretty expensive (~Rs. 10K). Sure, there was an alternate bus in the evening that goes close to Sangla. However, I got to know it’s close to impossible to find a taxi or accommodation in that village at that hour. After considering the uncertainty of option 2 and consulting with my genius gf, I decided to go with option 3.
Naturally, I booked an Oyo near me and was anticipating my Uber driver. A few minutes later, I got a call from the driver informing me that he wasn’t allowed to pick up passengers from the bus stand, thanks to local lobbying. That’s when I met H, a taxi driver in Shimla. I told him the drop location and I had to settle for a relatively higher “fixed” trip fare.
H, however, turned out to be a good chap. He informed me how the Oyo I booked was in a remote place of Shimla surrounded by the woods and pitched a much better place, a resort. After a few moments of contemplation, I obliged in hopes of exploring the streets of Shimla (Spoiler Alert: That didn’t really happen, but more on that later).
I guess H is a little too extroverted for my taste. He just won’t stop talking. He gave me a history class on Shimla and not gonna lie, it was fairly informative. Almost 30 minutes later, H dropped me off at a highway. Reaching the resort involved climbing a lot of steps. I eventually made it to the top and checked in. The tired me took a nap seconds after seeing a warm blanket. However, later that day, I thought I might as well explore the streets of Shimla.
The resort manager told me there are two ways to get to the main road — going all the way down or climbing a little up. Naturally, being the lazy ass I am, I chose the latter. I started climbing and it was all good until I saw multiple monkeys approaching me. 🐒
While I don’t usually count monkeys in my “OMG! run” list, I didn’t want to risk getting scratched. So I decided to come back and climb down instead. Until….you guessed it…I saw more monkeys on the way down. I went to bed, ate a couple of Shimla apples (they taste so yum!), set the alarm, and called it a day.
Day 2: En Route Chitkul
I had an early start to the day, thanks to the infamous frequency of buses to Sangla. I got ready and was all set for the journey. I called H up and he came to drop me at the bus stand. Although I was initially skeptical that he might not make it, he did show up, albeit a little late.
Anyhow, he dropped me at the bus stand 10 minutes before the bus departure. On the way, he gave me tips on booking the right seat for the trip. I rushed to the booking counter to secure my seat and fortunately, I got a window seat. At least, that’s what I thought.
Entering the bus, I witnessed that my allocated seat is already taken by an uncle. When I asked him about it, he said he had been assigned the same seat from Delhi and he’d get down in ~25km. Fine, I thought. I looked at the three-seater in front of me and noticed two empty seats and a cute young woman.
“Is this seat taken?” I asked her. “Why are you asking me, ask the conductor,” she replied. How rude! Anyway, I decided to settle down there and eventually forgot about my actual seat, thanks to the scenic view I got from the front seat (To be clear, I’m speaking about the mountains and btw, my gf is not imaginary).
Hours went by and the multiple turns the bus took left me a little dizzy. Since I didn’t have neck pillows, I couldn’t even sleep with proper neck support. Out of desperation, I decided to ask the rude cute young woman if I could use her shoulder to sleep for a while.
For the sake of simplicity, let’s call her RCYW going forward. To avoid coming off as creepy/awkward, I first asked if she wanted to sleep on my shoulder. She said no. Then I proposed my actual request, wanting to sleep on her shoulder. She smiled and said no again. :( Emotional damage!
Takeaway: Buy neck pillows before the next trip or flight.
Not gonna lie, at this point, I was feeling a little awkward and sleepy at the same time. So I decided to distract my mind with the TV series I had thoughtfully downloaded offline before the trip — Shrinking.
A few episodes go by and I spotted an empty two-seater to my left. It also didn’t have sunrays that slightly affected the screen visibility and disrupted the viewing experience in the current seat. I moved to that seat and continued my journey, splitting time equally between enjoying the magnificent view outside and catching up on TV series.
Things took a turn when a mother of two requested the seat citing her kid is likely to vomit (She was right, the kid did vomit :3). I obliged and went back to my seat near RCYW. By this point, the view outside was getting so beautiful that I didn’t care about RCYW. I kept snacking apples and grapes I bought from Shimla and eventually reached Sangla.
After getting down, I noticed that RCYW’s mother (presumably) was there to receive her. I went to the ticket counter to enquire about the next bus to Chitkul and he told me something devastating — the last bus to Chitkul just left. Right when I was about to lose hope, he also mentioned that the bus stops in the market ahead for a while and I might be able to make it if I go fast.
Hearing this, I channeled my inner runner and ran at the best possible speed with ~10kg of luggage. I almost felt like Geet from Jab We Met, except that I managed to catch the bus (Yaaay!). RCYW and her mom saw me running too :3. While I felt accomplished to have managed to board the bus, that feeling faded after the bus didn’t start for another 10 minutes. I could’ve easily made it had I walked. But then, I didn’t know it would stop for 10 more minutes, so I don’t regret running. :)
My joy knew no bounds when I saw the Welcome to Chitkul board. Later that night, I reached Zostel Chitkul and got all settled in. Got to know about my roommate P who was thoughtful enough to buy whisky from Chandigarh and generous enough to share. We got a lil tipsy, talked for a while, and eventually went to bed.
Day 3: Chitkul and Chill ❄️
The third day of the trip turned out to be the most memorable one. I woke up early in the morning and had breakfast from what’s allegedly the last dhaba of India (Narrator voice: It wasn’t).
Over the course of the journey, I visited this dhaba multiple times, just for their amazinnggggg tea and the mountain view. They won’t tell me the recipe though :( (trust me, I tried :3).
A Cycle Ride to the Indo-Tibetan Checkpost
I then rented out a cycle from the folks over at Zostel Chitkul. The familiarity of a Rockrider mountain bike put a smile on my face. :) It was -10 degrees when I set foot on the MTB and started my journey to the Indo-Tibetan checkpost. Albeit short, the journey was rewarding and a visual pleasure. There were highs and lows, and I carefully navigated every corner as I admired the mountains around me.
Having reached the checkpost, I saw an armed security officer. A few friendly chats later, I was on my way back. Right when I was about to reach Zostel, I saw another route that led to the river. Naturally, I took that path too and reached the river bank. The climb back, however, was steeper than the mountain ride!
I went back to the room and prepared myself for the next activity — mountain hiking! I got to know from Zostel that there’s a national flag trek that lets you witness, well, the national flag. Intrigued by the idea, I decided to do it! I asked the natives for the best possible route after lunch and found the way.
Mountain Hiking 🧗♂️
After deciding to climb the mountains, I started the preparation phase to make sure I had everything to support me along the way. I charged the phones, power banks, earphones, filled hot water (more on this in the Appreciation section), took tissues, gloves, and bought energy drinks.
I took multiple breaks along the way and it felt like the mountain kept growing every time I reach a corner and think I’m almost there. Somewhere along the middle, it started snowing! I screamed in joy after experiencing the first snowfall in my life. ❄️
As I went higher, the snowfall’s intensity kept increasing and I eventually made it to the top. There it is, the national flag I was looking for. Well, almost. It was torn and 90% of it wasn’t there. I won’t comment on the possible causes for this, but it was a little sad to witness, even for someone who wouldn’t call himself patriotic.
Lost in thoughts and joy of witnessing the snow marvel, I forgot one thing — the route back. Yup, that happened. I looked back and all I saw was snow and mist. For a moment, I did panic, just a little bit. However, I was determined to find a way.
Going downhill through a random path involved hopping through multiple rocks, crossing various thorny plants (my poor butt :( ), and being extra sure I don’t slip and rest in pieces. Hours later, I managed to find the right path and make it downhill. Yaaay!
Came back home, took a warm shower, indulged in some well-earned rest, had dinner, and dozed off. The next morning, I got to know that the power went off due to the weather. It never came back, at least until I left.
Day 4: More Chitkul; Return Journey Starts
While it’s sorta cool that Chitkul is the last village of India towards Tibet, it also comes with caveats — connectivity. The buses are not as frequent as you would expect and at times, they may even get canceled due to extreme weather and snowfall. In fact, the bus that was scheduled before mine got canceled, while mine fortunately arrived.
The snow from last night started falling from the roof as the sun gradually showed up. I then played what I call snow cricket — wait for the snow to fall and hit it with the cleaning stick. It was fun! 🙈
Having decided the return journey, I was in the common room with limited battery left to scroll away. Thanks to that, I grabbed a book from the shelf, picked a blanket from the room, and started reading a book. Somewhere around the third chapter, I met E.
E seemed like a cool person and she was also solo-tripping. We played Uno for a bit (I won, btw) and headed out. She was planning to board the aforesaid canceled bus. That said, she didn’t wait for the bus I was waiting for and decided to start her journey in a tempo traveller. For what it’s worth, she saved three hours. 🫡
My bus eventually came and there, I met S. We bonded over our shared love for KitKat and kept each other company until her stop arrived.
I must say I got lucky on the return journey. I got to occupy a three-seater (body) and a two-seater (legs). While I had to eventually give up the two-seater, I had the three-seater to sleep until I reached Chandigarh. Although the journey was fairly comfy, there’s one part where my planning went wrong (other than the neck pillow) — keeping my feet warm.
In an attempt to get extra cozy, I removed my shoes and started sleeping with socks. Big mistake! My feet got really cold to the point where I was uncomfortable and couldn’t sleep. I even tried improvising with what I had to keep my feet warm: I put the tissues I had and inserted my feet in a cloth cover. It sorta helped, but I knew it wasn’t sufficient to make it through the night.
So where is my bag with extra socks, you ask? Well, I had kept it in the bus’ luggage section for effective use of space. I tolerated the cold until the next rest stop and rushed to pick up my extra pair of socks. Huge sigh of relief! My feet got warm and comfy in a few minutes and I went back to the seats for a nap.
Day 5: Exploring Chandigarh
By the dawn of Day 5, I arrived at Chandigarh — the last stop of the trip where I board the flight back home. Since I had sufficient-ish rest on the bus journey, I decided to charge my devices for a while from the accommodation and set out to explore Chandigarh.
At this point, exploring Chandigarh felt like a side quest to fill the time until my flight takes off. But, I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw when I got out there exploring Chandigarh.
The first stop was a lake called Sukhna. I was planning to go on a boat ride, but unfortunately, they didn’t allow single rides. :( I looked around and got to know there was a place called Rock Garden nearby. I also noted the timings of a double-decker touristy bus that shows the city around.
I decided to walk since the garden was a few meters away. Trusting Google Maps, I ended up at the back gate that was closed and not accessible to the public. That’s where I met R and S, two gentlemen from Malaysia. They were also misled by Google Maps and we ended up being buddies during our garden exploration.
I had low expectations for this garden, but I was happy to be proven wrong! There was a lot of stuff to see and most of them were made out of recycled materials. It was creative, thought-provoking, and profound in a way. I also loved being on a swing after what felt like forever!
After the garden exploration, I headed back to the lake to board the double-decker bus. It gave me a nice view of the popular places in Chandigarh and the ride was worth it, despite the blazing sun.
I then went back to the accommodation, packed my stuff, reached the airport, and flew to Bangalore. In typical Bangalore fashion, there was a cab shortage at the airport. But I eventually managed to find a ride home and slept like a baby (in the vicinity of a bunch of dead cockroaches (more on this in the Home Updates section). Fin! :)
Appreciation ✨
I’d like to express my gratitude to the wonderful people over at Zostel Chitkul. They answered all my queries and were very welcoming. I remember making relentless hot water requests even after the power went off (What do I know, I’m a hydrohomie :) ) and they politely obliged.
The hospitality was incredible and they even went the extra mile to come look for me at the bus stop thinking I forgot my jacket. Although it wasn’t mine, I really appreciate the gesture. 🥹
Let’s Talk Money 💸
One of the key aspects while planning a trip is having a budget. And I did have one for this trip. It was Rs.30K inclusive of flight tickets. Throughout the journey, I logged every expense on Splitwise, and here’s what the result looks like (Yup, I overspent by Rs. 2,073):
To put that in perspective, let’s do some math. Going by the fact that the trip lasted for a total of 5 days, let’s consider 120 to be the total number of trip hours. That would mean I spent 267.275 rupees per hour. Or 4.45 rupees per minute. Does that sound a little expensive? Maybe. Do I regret it? Absolutely not! A small price to pay for salvation.
Speaking of planning, I guess I’m getting better at planning stuff. Or as I like to call it, ✨SRAM✨ (Strategic Resource Allocation and Management). I used all the clothes I brought from here (including socks) and everything I brought along had a purpose at some point in the journey.
Is Chitkul the Only Last Village of India?
Of course not! Upon looking up on the internet, I found these other places:
Mana, Uttarakhand (officially deemed the last Indian village, apparently)
Turtuk, Ladakh
Jaigaon, West Bengal
Dawki, Meghalaya
Moreh, Manipur
Wagah, Punjab
Dhanushkodi, Tamil Nadu
Sunauli, Uttar Pradesh
Home Updates
Although my mission to clean my bathroom mirror turned out to be a colossal failure, my plan to get rid of cockroaches was a resounding success. Over 15 roaches lost their lives after I strategically planted cockroach chalk traces, cockroach killer dough (PSA: It looks like atta, but please don’t get carried away), and naphthalene balls all over the house.
I call it “The Great Roach Massacre 2023”. RIP roaches, I’m not proud of the outcome, but it had to be done. Won’t miss you though. 🫡
Sidenote
After coming back, I’ve been catching up and easing into daily life. Doing chores, meeting important people, appreciating Bengaluru flowers 🌸, catching up with shows, etc. And that reminds me, why is Succession unavailable to stream, ugh? I had to put my pirate hat on to keep up. Now that we’re on the subject, here’s the theme song (yes, I won’t stop talking about this glorious masterpiece) for your listening pleasure:
If you ask me, they should’ve launched HBOMax in India alongside Justice League Snyder Cut back in March 2021. It would’ve been the perfect timing for a big movie release, a new home for HBO content, and whatnot. But no, HBO decided to stick to Hotstar for its catalog.
Thanks to infamous streaming wars and licensing deals, we don’t know where the new home for HBO content will be. Under Amazon Prime Video as a channel? Likely. We’ll have to wait and watch how things unfold after March 31.
Treat Dhaba 🍜
I think I’ve finally made peace with the whole self-care vs self-obsession thing after watching this Instagram Reel (or it’s confirmation bias, you never know). But yeah, I have stopped overthinking this part, at least for now. Yaaay!
As I mentioned above, I’d recommend watching Shrinking on Apple TV+. It has Marshall from HIMYM and it’s a good watch! The only sad part is that it just has a single season as of this writing.
Until next time! Hearts if you liked it, subs if you loved it!
Stay mobile,
Subin
Such an entertaining read...you are a gifted writer, and remarkably adventurous.
You wrote this really well 💙 keep exploring ✨ keep writing 😇