Sangla

Sangla is the beating heart of the Baspa valley, one of the loveliest in Kinnaur. At about 2,700 m, the town sits beside the fast, clear Baspa river, hemmed by apple orchards and, above them, a wall of snow peaks. It is the valley's natural hub, larger and more serviced than the hamlets beyond it, yet still built in the slate-roofed, carved-timber Kinnauri style that gives the whole valley its character.

History sits just above the town. The fort-village of Kamru, reached by a climb through orchards, was once the capital of the princely state of Bushahr and keeps a Badrinath (Badri Vishal) temple within its old timber tower; in Sangla itself, the Bering Nag temple honours the local deity. The valley runs on apples and trout, a hatchery on the Baspa supplies the streams, and the road continues past the villages of Rakcham toward Chitkul, the last inhabited village civilians can drive to on this route.

MyTripMyTravel uses Sangla as the acclimatisation base for the upper Baspa. We stage the ascent here before the higher, thinner air of Chitkul, arrange orchard and Kamru walks, riverside time, and the drive up-valley, and keep the pace gentle at altitude. The approach, a turn off NH5 at Karcham onto a steep, narrow valley road, is spectacular but slow, so we drive it in daylight with buffer for weather.