Revisiting Old Memories: Surabhi’s Family Trip to Spiti with Thrillophilia
Who says a family trip to Spiti cannot be fun?
My dad always used to talk about his college best friend who he lost contact with over the time. He talks about their college memories and different places they travelled together back in those days. One trip that he cherishes the most is when they both did a bike trip to Spiti.
To quote him, ‘We were the Jai and Veeru of our times who travelled the country together on our bikes. We spent the best of our days in Spiti, a truly wondrous place!”
After listening so much about Spiti, even the rest of us got drawn to it and we decided to surprise dad with a trip to Spiti. To make things easier, I decided to book a package from Thrillophilia, so that we can enjoy the trip without worrying about anything.
Exploring the Enchanting, THE Spiti Valley!
We chose to go on this trip in our own car as my mother strictly said no to bikes. Anyways, a car would have been more comfortable for them.
So, before reaching Spiti, we did a little tour of a few other beautiful destinations of Himachal. At first, we visited Narkanda which is famous for its apple and cherry farms. One of the main reasons why we took the risk of travelling in the rainy season was to witness the apple and cherry farms in Narkanda.
There were these vast lands in Narkanda, loaded with cherry and apple trees. I was too tempted by the huge red apples and couldn’t help but ask a local if I could take one apple from the tree. He was sweet enough to find the best ones and offered one apple to each one of us.
On our way to Chitkul, my dad played some Bollywood retro songs. I could see that he was enjoying and having the best time of his life. We had the iconic pahadon wali maggi for breakfast in Kinnaur Village. Continuing our journey, we passed through the Sutlej and Baspa rivers.
The Last Village of India
Finally, we reached Chitkul, the last inhabited village of India. At night, we all gathered around the bonfire, where my dad attracted other nearby travellers with his fascinating stories. I am pretty sure that all of them were enjoying his stories and the way he was telling it, he should have started a podcast by now.
From Chitkul, we drove all the way to Nako. There we covered the two prominent attractions- Nako Lake and the monastery.
The next day, we were going to enter Spiti Valley through Kaza.
As soon as we entered Spiti and saw the sign ‘I love Spiti’, my dad exclaimed with joy and asked my mother to stand in front of the sign. We all took pictures there, after which my dad added, “There was no such sign in my time or else I would have definitely taken a picture here.” We also visited the Key Gompa Monastery and Hikkim which is renowned for having the world's highest post office.
From Kaza, we travelled to the gorgeous Chandratal Lake. There, me and my brother recreated a picture of my dad and his best friend, sitting on the rocks, right next to the lake. The highlight of the day was that we got to camp at night near the lake. At night, while most of the travellers chose to go inside the camp and sleep, I spent a good amount of time outside, enjoying stargazing. Although it was freezing at night, the experience was totally worth it.
The next day, we reached Manali. It was our last moments of the trip so we made sure to enjoy every bit of it. We listened to some more stories of my dad, sang songs, played games together and ended the night with a wholesome meal.
How was the overall trip?
“The Thrillophilia team was very quick in guiding and replanning our stays. We will definitely plan another trip with you guys.” This was my quick reply when the customer representative called me after the trip for feedback.
This trip has to be one of the most amazing journeys of my life. Firstly, because it was a surprise to my dad. I could actually see it on his face, how happy he was. All of us got to see a completely new side of dad which was a great feeling.
Secondly, I don't think I would have planned a trip to Spiti on my own. I think all the credit goes to my dad, because of whom all of us got so interested in Spiti and decided to plan a trip . Also, it was really great to go out with the family after a long time. I think as we all grow up, we start spending time with the outside world so much that we forget about our families.
This trip made us realise that going out with your family can also be fun and memorable. I am sure this is one of those trips that I would like to narrate to my kids one day.
Overall, Thrillophilia provided us with a great itinerary and a wholesome package. Planning this surprise was way easier with their packages. Also, our stays were amazing with modern decor, great food, warm hospitality and spacious rooms.
I am looking forward to another trip and creating more wonderful memories with my family that I can cherish forever.
Read More: Thrillophilia Spiti Reviews