Dhankar Village

Dhankar was the old capital of Spiti Valley many years ago after that the capital was shifted to Kaza. The word ‘Dhang’ means Cliff and the word ‘Kar’ means fort. So the very name of the village is a fort on the cliff. Total number of houses are 68 with the population around 300 and the whole village seems to be sitting on the ridge.
The village has two monastery a new one along with a old monastery and the most pristine place to visit in Dhankar is none other than the “Dhankar Lake”.

Reaching Dhankar

So before Dhankar I was staying at Tabo and next morning I decided to visit Dhankar Village. The only mode of travel was either a share taxi or a bus. Taxis were not available on that day in Tabo as all the taxis were going to a place where someone from the village has died. The only option was to take a bus to Schilling and then walk for 7-8kms to reach Dhankar Village situated at an altitude of 3894 m above sea level.

The bus was delayed by a few hours due to the breakdown. Finally, after waiting for so long we boarded the bus to Schilling. On reaching Schilling I along with 3 other travelers from England and Israel decided to take a shared cab till Dhankar Village. We decided to stay at a homestay where per bed cost was ₹200 /night excluding food.

Dhankar Lake

After some rest and having lunch we decided to visit Dhankar Lake. The trek to the lake was 5km uphill. I was awestruck with the beauty of the lake, so beautiful.

We were sitting on the opposite side of the lake from where we came. We sat there for 5 hours with our music on and enjoying the peaceful surroundings. I can’t describe the beauty of lake in words. Snow-capped mountains in the background, it was magical, the lake. Words will not do the justice to what I saw and feel on that day

The terrain throughout the way was pretty dusty and rough with stones spread all along making it difficult to walk at times. We have to keep our speed pretty low while going downhill. In such difficult condition the only thing which will save you is your shoes. I always advise everyone to invest in their trekking shoes instead of clothing if you’re on budget. While trekking/hiking one have to walk a lot and if you’re having good shoes with ankle support it will make your feet relaxed at the end and will prevent from getting any injuries too. Also the wind was pretty speedy while we were going back downhill as a result, my camera was floating in the air.

While coming back we also witnessed a confluence of “Spiti River” and “Pin River”