Reporting and Departure

Report to the boarding point at Kashmiri Gate or R K Ashram, Delhi, by 7:00 PM. A short briefing follows, and the bus departs at approximately 8:15 PM. If your itinerary shows a different reporting time, please confirm the exact figure with the team before travel, this detail has varied across our own materials and we want you working from the correct one.

Return to Delhi

You'll be dropped back in Delhi by approximately 8:00 AM on Day 9. Book onward flights or trains after 11:00 AM to allow a comfortable buffer for the final stretch of the drive.

Altitude Through the Trip

Winter Spiti moves you through some of the highest inhabited ground in India. Roughly, for reference:

• Kaza, base for most of the trip: around 3,800 metres
• Key Monastery: 4,166 metres
• Kibber: around 4,270 metres
• Langza and Hikkim: around 4,400 metres
• Komic: among the highest motorable points in the region

None of this requires prior high altitude experience, but it does mean the cold hits harder than the temperature alone suggests, and simple things like walking uphill or carrying your own bag will feel more tiring than they would at sea level.

How Winter Actually Changes Through the Season

Not all of winter is the same trip.

• October, cold but manageable, first snow beginning to appear at higher points. Good for travelers who want the winter landscape without the most extreme temperatures.
• November, snow becomes more consistent across the villages, temperatures drop further, the valley starts to look genuinely white.
• December, the edge of peak winter, temperatures falling toward minus 20 to minus 30 degrees Celsius overnight and the Spiti river beginning to freeze in stretches. Travelers booking a late December departure specifically to be in Spiti over New Year's should check the Winter Spiti New Year Special batch dates directly.

Batches run weekly through this window, choose based on how extreme you want the experience to be. For a full month by month breakdown across the entire year, not just winter, our best time to visit Spiti Valley guide covers how this season stacks up against summer and the shoulder months.

Why This Route Goes Through Shimla, Not Manali

The usual summer route into Spiti, through Manali and Kunzum Pass, closes completely once heavy snowfall begins, typically by October, and does not reopen until early summer. For that reason, this entire winter itinerary uses the Hindustan Tibet Highway instead, entering and exiting through Shimla and Kalpa. This is not a shorter or lesser version of the summer route, it is the only road that stays open, and it takes you through Kinnaur, a region most summer Spiti itineraries skip entirely. For the full picture of what this region looks like across the rest of the year, the Spiti Valley location page covers the broader destination beyond this one winter departure, and the Spiti Valley itinerary guide lays out how the summer route via Manali differs from the one this trip actually takes.

Mobile network becomes patchy to nonexistent for long stretches once you're past Kalpa, and disappears almost entirely in Tabo and Kaza except for BSNL in some areas. Withdraw the cash you'll need before Shimla, ATMs beyond that point are unreliable and sometimes out of service for days during winter.

What to Actually Pack

• A down jacket rated for at least minus 10 degrees, minus 20 if you run cold
• Thermals worn as a base layer throughout the day, not saved for evenings
• Full sleeves and full length bottoms at all times, regardless of how mild any single afternoon feels
• Sunscreen and UV protected sunglasses, daytime sun at this altitude is sharp even in freezing air
• A basic personal medical kit, including anything you take regularly, pharmacies beyond Kalpa are extremely limited

Altitude Sickness and Safety on This Trip

Altitude changes can bring headaches, nausea, dizziness or breathlessness. The captain stays with the group and carries oxygen in the vehicle, 24x7.

• How the route helps: the itinerary climbs in steps: Rakchham, Tabo, then three nights in Kaza.
• If someone feels unwell: tell the captain early. Rest, drink water and stop going higher.
• Rules on the trip: no alcohol and no smoking. Both raise dehydration and breathing risk at height.
• Who should talk to a doctor first: anyone with asthma or breathing problems.