Chronicles of Spiti - Key Monastery
This is Paradise
If you ask me what's my coziest place to sleep in today, I will staunchly and repeatedly say it's the Himalayas. The same question 4 years ago would have a completely different answer.
So what changed? Honestly, it's hard to put into words the tsunami of emotions at the first sight of these mountains. I was completely awestruck, gazing at the mountains, wishing the moment would never end. I can now define the view as my source of happiness, my place of calm and peace, a permanent frame in my mind palace. With all of this going on, it was a privilege to travel this enduring destination on earth called the Key Monastery.
Day 4 (not Thursday) of my Spiti Winter Expedition, I woke up at 4:30 AM like an insomniac peeking out of my blanket into the darkness while stirring my head in that dead silent dwelling room. Pin drop silence with pitch black all around, I just couldn’t go back sleep on this frosty morning. I did what any sane person would do, destroy this sense of calm and quiet with my phone.
My body has never had a problem bearing the cold to a greater extent, but this time it was a true test of endurance. My senses were numb and my sensory organs lost their function. I was numb holding my ice-cold phone struggling to navigate to the weather app for the temperature. Astounded to see the number -28°C, wiped my blurry eyes to confirm I wasn't dreaming and the numbers were in fact correct. Yes, -28°C and feels like -34°C. This explained my body being in shambles at my first experience in such low temperatures. Almost made me miss my cozy bed back home. It's natural to seek comfort in hard conditions, but this reminded me of a quote I read a long ago.
Don’t confuse comfort with happiness
With this quote to motivate me, I decided to step out. At this point, the thought itself was adventurous. Toiletry pouch bag in hand, down jacket on but barefoot, I stepped out bravely with the mobile flash. It was dead cold, every breath colder than the last, I felt iced out. Got some hot water from the landlord’s house and freshened up, every drop of warmth a blessing. But this sense of comfort was short-lived and I couldn’t stay out any longer. So back to homestay I rushed, and down on my bed for an hour or two, waiting for the sun to shine its warmth on these grateful fools, waiting for my comrades to awaken.
The sunrise was refreshing in itself, aside from the lovely breakfast, hot tea and instructions to move on to our next destination. The place we stayed at was a village called Kaza. It’s the hub to most of the destinations around at such an altitude. One can plan their stay here to visit places like Key Monastery, Spiti Valley, Kaza Monastery, Langza, Hikkim, Pin Valley, Chandratal Lake, Komic Village & many more.
While we were drawing towards the Key Monastery, our vehicle broke down. There was around 2 ft of snow accumulated on the trail and nobody was around to guide us on the conditions ahead. The team did a commendable job of coming out of the depth and putting spikes on wheels for our next odyssey.
We reached a dead end and the vehicle couldn't go any further. I was sitting on the first seat in the traveler and plunged into the ice to see the stunning landscapes with mountain walls around. Literally 360° snow all around the place and I was lost to its majesty. Our guide (Rahul Ji), who is my new friend from the mountains, told us that the destination is around 2-3 kilometer's from here and asked our group if we were comfortable to walk. My heart already answered yes before he could ask for my opinion. I was sure. no matter what, it will be the best me who comes out at the other end of this trail. With my adrenaline pumping, I walked unrhythmically, every step tougher than the last. Enduring the struggle against the snow, we reached the destination of this divine monastery. The gate at the entrance looked like the door to heaven, mesmerizing. Upon entering the gates, we see the history of the key monastery. The picture below should compensate for my lack of words.
As we walked ahead in the slippery snow to enter this diviningly built oratory of Buddhism. The architecture here was unlike anything I've ever seen before. I was lost in the labyrinth of the little paths inside the monastery, exploring till my heart was content. One of the Bhikkhu (A practicing monk) offered us some organic tea inside the temple. The tea had to be the best I’ve ever tasted and an instant source of rejuvenation. The cup of tea in hand, stories by monks about the histories and survivals on the lap of beautiful mountains, it was pleasant and my heart craved for nothing more.
Our guide calls out to us:
Tour Guide: Do you want to see the best view of the Key Monastery? Do you want to take the best picture of Key Monastery?
Me: Obviously Yes!
Tour Guide: In that case, you have to trek for another 3 Kms to reach the heights with the view.
He just showed some mountain farby and absolutely no path to reach.
Me: Would it be possible for everyone to go there? I see some are already prepping to head back.
Tour Guide: Let’s go in a squad of 4, only those who are enthusiastic to join.
Me: Sounds like a plan! Let’s do it.
We reached out to every member of the group to check if they would like to join us because I didn't want anyone to regret later. Since majority of the folks were enthusiast like us, we had a resounding YES from them. We decided to go following the footprints of our tour guide.
I was driven by excitement and devotion to reach that view, I was ready to trek this place at any cost. My research before led me to a ton pictures of this place on Google. However, some pictures looked like they were snapped from a bird's eye view. I wanted to see this view with my own eyes, since the architecture was already phenomenal from the ground and was nothing short of a dream come true.
Our group decided to stop at a point along the path to rest and encouraged the rest to continue hiking. Honestly, the view at this spot was nothing short of spectacular. But I had made up my mind to stop only at the pinnacle of this trail. So it continued…
The final stretch, this was what it was all about. The constant praises it got from the tour guides, my own enthusiasm to be here, we were short of breath reaching the place. I felt like I couldn't breathe the thin air here. I had to get unlayered myself and set free. Took a couple of minutes to catch my breath while admiring the gorgeous view, I knew I had made it! Even got to click that epic shot of the Key Monastery from a semi aerial 360° view.
Despite the many ups and downs, the hard trek and the freezing colds, I had a sense of accomplishment. But a day here was too short a time to take all of this in, I still feel incomplete. This little piece of heaven will remain unchecked on my bucket list until I experience the magical vibes to completion. Experienced inexperience. It's always calling yet unanswered. Not so normal to visit and the vibrations will alchemize you eventually.
You may be a different being when you head here but I assure you, you cannot come back the same.