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Fast Facts Where to stayTimberline Trekking Camps Pvt Ltd runs a tent camp, both at Kalpa and at Chitkul. These camps offer comfortable accommodation, hot water for baths -- a treat in these parts -- and delicious meals, snacks and bed tea. The service is attentive and the camp staff helpful and responsive. They also arrange guided day treks, bird watching expeditions, bonfires and stargazing evenings. The camps are also very eco-friendly, using a solar heating for water and lamps. The camp is closed from October to April.Timberline Trekking Camps Pvt Ltd, 206, 207, Allied House 1, Local Shopping Centre, Madangir, New Delhi -110062. Tel # 011-6982903, 6980749, 6984049, 6984067. Fax: 011-6980746. Email: Timberline Trekking Camps Website: Timberline Trekking Camps The Circuit Rest House also offers quite decent accommodation for tourists. The big rooms are equipped with fireplaces and afford great views of the Kinnaur Kailash. Where to eatKalpa has a few Himachal Tourism guesthouses where the food is the usual standard HP Tourism fare. Timberline Trekking Camps has its own kitchen in both Kalpa and Chitkul and the food they serve is quite delicious. You can choose from Indian, Chinese and continental four course meals and also enjoy a full breakfast. The town boasts a few tea stalls and dhabhas serving a mix of Tibetan and Indian food. Chitkul is minuscule. There is only one guesthouse run by a Vinay Negi that caters mostly to the backpacking crowd. The food there is simple and wholesome.Background InformationUntil 1992 the district of Kinnaur was closed to tourists. Considered a sensitive area, too close to the border, travellers were not permitted in these parts. Even today Inner Line Permits are required to travel to areas beyond Chitkul or towards Spiti and Lahaul.Kinnaur was once a key corridor on the Hindustan-Tibet caravan track. Buddhism reached the region in the tenth century, courtesy the Guge kings who ruled southwestern Tibet. From the the 1500s, right through the British Raj, the Bhushar rajas controlled Kinnaur. The locale for Rudyard Kipling's portrayal of the Great Game -- a favourite Kipling theme that focuses on the espionage battle of the Chinese, British and Russian spies at the turn of the century -- was this corridor into China. How to get thereKalpa is approximately 250 km, and 10 to 11 hours away from Shimla. Chitkul is also 10 to 11 hours away from Shimla. Shimla is also the nearest airport. There is a regular bus service between Rekong Peo and Shimla. It is possible to hire taxis in Shimla to make the journey.Archana Airways flies into Shimla from New Delhi on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The flight, F5 131, departs at 0630 hours and arrives in Shimla at 0740 hours. The one way economy fare is Rs 2,799. The return flight F5 132 departs from Shimla on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 0810 hours and arrives in New Delhi at 0920 hours . It is possible to reach Shimla from New Delhi via Kalka by rail. Several trains pull into Shimla from Kalka daily. The five hour journey from Kalka, in the plains, to Shimla, at 2,000 feet above sea level, by narrow-gauge railway, is very enjoyable. Several trains daily connect Kalka with New Delhi.
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