I lost my "Happy Place" - Spiti
Hello old friend,
It has been a while.just wanted to check in with you and share some thoughts about my recent revisit to Spiti.
i know, i know, you must be thinking " Haven't you been there a thousand times already ?"
Well, ....no. i have been there 3 times but that's not the point Yaar!!. This place HAD my heart.
I'm sure you also have your, very own, "happy place". A place you visit when the world becomes too much, a place that puts us at ease. For some it could be being with a close one, taking a hike or their own bedroom, in the world of books and music.
For me Spiti has been my special place for many years now.
A chance encounter in 2013-14 led me to this place and it was love at first site.
The scenery played an important role in it but mostly it were the people.
It had a rustic charm to it.
The last time i was in the Spiti valley was 2019. Life kept me occupied for few years. Summer of 2024 i got an opportunity to share this place with couple of my colleagues. Leading up to the date of departure, I couldn't stop praising the beauty of this barren landscape.
old school mud-houses, where people were still unadulterated and pure. I always longed for its warmth.
I have told you how bad certain patches are to reach Spiti, it tests you and when you finally make it through, it feels like you have earned your right to be there. I was so ecstatic. After waiting for 4 long years, i was about to visit it again.
It so Funny you know, I kept getting flashbacks of old memories and stories i had shared with you before. Like the time when a local stranger took us to see the Dhankar lake in 2013, The time spent talking to a monk at Dhanker monastery in 2018 or the humble mom & pop ran shop, in Losar, where i enjoyed a plate of kadhi chawal over some conversations or the grueling ride to Komic, in a snowstorm, in 2019. I was ready for new adventures!!
And there i was, amongst the Himalayas, yet again. i felt amazing being on the road, that was the best part this time around. I rode routes that i hadn't ridden on before and it was magical.
There is something so meditative about being on two wheels. Your mind is so focused on the road ahead that everything quiets down. you become still. I know that you're not into riding bikes but just once, give it a go. The pavement running past your feet just couple inches away, you're exposed to the elements around you be it heat, rain or cold. you experience your environment in its raw essence.
But this visit was bittersweet for me. As i said before, the riding was the best part about this entire journey. As soon as i entered the towns and villages, expecting the charm i had experienced before, something felt missing.
it was as if, someone sucked the soul out of these places. These weren't the places, as I remembered them to be.
(Tabo)
The old has been replaced by the new. Travel agencies have taken over, replacing the humble homestays. People from different states have leased land and opened hotels. I barely even saw old architecture in Kaza. The town has completely transformed over the years, replacing the mud houses by concrete and cement.
Tourism made these places trade authenticity for comfort.
I still had hope though, i remembered that the restaurant at Komic served a Spiti thali, with an assortment of local dishes and i was eagerly waiting to have it. Hoping it to be the saving grace of this trip. But, alas, when i got there and saw the menu, there was not a single traditional dish on it. When i asked the owner about it, he said they stopped making those as the tourists demanded pastas, maggies and regular junk food. It broke me completely.
The quaint village of Hikkim became a tourist hot bed for sending out postcards and it was so overcrowded, I barely stopped there. There was a similar situation at Chicham bridge. People were busy making reels instead of taking in the place they were in.
Maybe I'm being selfish. I wanted to keep these places for myself. The mountain life that i felt has charm, simplicity and warmth is also very tough to live. I understand that tourism helps the locals financially and gives their generation a chance at a different kind of life. In the end, It is a balancing act between preserving cultural authenticity and catering to the demands of the tourism.
I left the place heavy-hearted with no desire of ever returning back. Maybe there still is a valley unexplored, tucked away in a corner somewhere for me to explore. If i ever find it, I'm not mentioning it to anyone. Apart from you of course.
I'll leave you now, will wait for you to write back.
with love,
Yours Truly.
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