This is the day the world truly changes. Leaving the snow-heavy villages of Kinnaur behind, you slowly climb into the Spiti cold desert. Trees disappear, mountains turn brown and metallic, and everything becomes quieter, wider, and more extreme. By evening, you arrive in Kaza, the frozen heart of Spiti. The temperature drops sharply, and your body begins to feel what real winter at 12,000+ ft means. The night is for rest, warmth, and proper acclimatization.

Stay: Kaza

Today is about feeling Spiti, not chasing it. You move through:
Snow-covered monasteries, frozen village lanes, iced water channels, and sun-warmed mud homes that trap heat inside. You witness how locals survive six months of snow with firewood, stored food, and slow living. Every meal is heavy, hot, and local, made for warmth and energy. This day changes how you look at comfort.

Stay: Kaza

Another full day in Kaza lets your body sync with altitude and cold. You experience Spiti at its most raw - no tourist noise, no café culture, only deep winter stillness. This day is about walking slow, sitting longer, feeling the silence, and understanding how life breathes in extreme cold. Evenings here feel heavier, quieter, and deeply peaceful.

Stay: Kaza

You leave Kaza and move toward Nako, one of the quietest winter villages in the Himalayas. The famous Nako Lake lies completely frozen, reflecting white skies and brown mountains. Smoke rises from chimney tops, and homes remain sealed against cold winds. This is winter isolation at its purest - a night wrapped in silence, stars, and freezing temperatures outside, with warmth only inside your room.

Stay: Nako

Today you slowly descend from the Spiti cold desert toward Chitkul, one of the last inhabited villages near the Indo-Tibet border. In January, Chitkul is not green - it is a frozen river valley, with snow-loaded wooden houses and the Baspa River flowing silently beneath ice. This night blends icy air outside with warm wooden interiors and stories by the heater.

Stay: Chitkul

The return journey brings you back from deep winter isolation to civilization. You retrace the roads carved into snow and rock, slowly leaving behind frozen rivers, brown-white mountains, and firewood-heated homes. By night, Delhi returns - louder, brighter, and very different from the silence you’re carrying back.