Some exciting sightings at Himachal Pradesh India

Red fox cubs with mother

I could not complete the Himachal Pradesh series without posting some exciting sightings. Credits for all these pictures go to my cousin Soma Jha.

Bharal

IBEXES - walking down the rocky slope

Leopard cat-Himachal Pradesh-India

A huge Kashmir rock Agama

Birding from my terrace

Purple Sunbird in my garden

This week was quite exciting in terms of sighting birds. Not in terms of sighting uncommon birds though. Typically I only get to see crows and sparrows in my garden so I was elated to spot some other varieties as well.

I was lucky to sight purple sunbirds in my garden, and also a kingfisher, and a black kite near my house. All this from the comfort of my terrace! What fun!

These pictures are not great, I wasn't really prepared for birding, and took these snaps from a 7X camera.

Purple sunbird female

white throated Kingfisher

Black Kite

The Picturesque Kibber village in Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh

Kibber village, Spiti
Himachal Pradesh

Kibber village is around 15 kms from Kaza. It is a picturesque little village located at an altitude of 4300 metres in Spiti valley Himachal Pradesh, India.

What makes this little village so very pretty is the sylvan surroundings. It is quite an amazing and magnificent sight actually, a midst all the snow, you suddenly come actually these green-green fields and blue sky. Agriculture is the major livelihood for the villagers in Kibber.

Kibber also has a monastery and a wild life sanctuary.

Agricultural land in Kibber

Kibber, Spiti Valley

Gete near Kibber

Near Kibber village

Kibber village homes Spiti, Himachal Pradesh

Kibber

Kaza, a beautiful little town in Himachal Pradesh, India

Buddha

I can’t complete this series on Himachal Pradesh without mentioning two more places that are worth visiting, Kaza and Kibber. Kaza is around 12 kms from Kee Monastery. You can approach it from Shimla. It will be a long drive, you can't complete it in one day, you might need to halt in a couple of places before reaching Kaza.

Kaza is a small but popular town at an altitude of roughly 3700 metres in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh. It is the commercial hub of Spiti valley.

Because of its central location it connects all the remote areas of Spiti valley with the outside areas. It is quite popular with trekkers and mountaineers who often camp in Kaza. Near Kaza, there is a Buddha which is so lifelike. There is something so enigmatic about it.

The other must visit places close to Kaza are the Kee/Ki monastery and Kibber village. There is also a Buddhist monastery, Tangyud Monastery, around 4 kms from Kaza. Kaza, because of its geography, has so much of similarity with Ladakh, it almost looks like Ladakh. In fact, Kaza happens to be one of the coldest places in India!

Kaza, Himachal Pradesh

Kaza town, Spiti Valley

Buddha

On the way to Kibber village from Kaza

I love this

Kee/ Ki Monastery, a 11th century monastery in Himachal Pradesh India

Kee Monastery

This Tibetan monastery is located in a place called Kee or Ki in Himachal Pradesh in India. The best way to reach Kee is by road. It is around 12 kms from Kaza. Located at an altitude of 13,700 feet, Kee monastery dates back to the 11th century.

This monastery has survived a lot of attacks and destruction over the years, it has been repaired and revived to some extent by the Archaeological Survey of India.

The monastery walls has a lot of paintings and murals.There is a very good collection of books and Buddha's images in this monastery. The ground floor houses the assembly hall and living quarters for monks, and the floor underground is used for storage purposes. Somehow Kee reminds me of Ladakh. The landscape looks so much like Ladakh.

I will continue to bring some of these less visited destinations in Himachal Pradesh in the next couple of posts. This post is a part of a series of posts on my cousin's Himachal Pradesh trip.

Kee monastery Himachal Pradesh India

Kee monastery

A mug shot of the paintings on the wall:)

Kee Monastery

View from Kee
Monastery