The Lahaul plateau nourished by the Chandra and Bhaga rivers and the Spiti valley linked to it by a high pass the Kunzam la, are together a district in Himachal Pradesh - another region where nature can be seen at its wildest. Lahaul is glacier country and some of its most dramatic glaciers include the Bara Shigri, Chota Shigri, Samundari and Sonapani glaciers.

The narrow Spiti valley carved out by the swift flowing Spiti River rising from the slopes of the Kunzam la is an area of weathered gorges and dramatic mountain scapes. In summer the valleys are green, the meadows carpeted with flowers and a patchwork of fields ornaments the villages. The people are charming, friendly and hospitable.

lose to Keylong is the Shashur monastery. It is perched almost 600m above the valley and a steep and difficult track leads up to it. Khardong the largest Gompa in the area is located across the valley from Shashur. Udaipur in Upper Lahaul is an interesting excursion. It is also the base for treks to the Zanskar valley.

Beyond Keylong the road follows the river Bhaga winding upwards to the Baralacha-la, the pass across the Great Himalayan Range. The Zanskar range and two more high passes the Lungalacha-la and the Taglang-la have to be crossed before the road descends to the Indus plain and on to Leh. The 473-km drive is fairly arduous and the journey can be broken with stops at sarchu the last post at the Himachal border or pang where there are tented camps.

Spiti which means ‘Middle Country’ is a vast highland basin for swift flowing glacial streams that have cut deep gorges into the mountain terrain. Among them pin and Lingti are the main streams that feed the Spiti River. The Lingti valley is a living geological museum noted for its shales and fossils, dating back 250 million years. The pin valley, a protected area with its National Park is the habitat of the ibex and snow leopard.

Spiti valley is barely 3-km wide and most of the villages are located along its wider bank. The terraced fields, groves of juniper and flat roofed houses are set against the backdrop of rocky mountain - sides that seem painted in shades of purple and pink. Some of the hills are eroded through the reveal its undulating strata.

Isolated in the deep valleys the culture of Spiti has developed undisturbed, in a little world that centres around its many Buddhist Gompas. Dhankar, Ki or Kye, Tabo, Mud, Kungri, Lidang, Hikim, Sangnam are the more prominent of the 30 or more monasteries in Spiti.