Rain, Ruins & A Sudden Turn to Dhankar — Riding Through the Heart of Spiti
Some days the road gives you everything you wanted. Some days it tests how badly you wanted it.This was the second kind.
I had just left Gue, that quiet village with its 500-year-old mummified monk, and was racing the weather to Kaza. The clouds had been heavy all morning. The rain gods, who had been generous with the rest of Spiti this summer — too generous, really, with landslides and flash floods every other day — were now circling above me. And between Gue and Kaza lay two more places I had been promising myself I’d visit for years. Tabo. And Dhankar.
I told myself I’d push through. Reach Kaza dry. Visit them next time.I lasted exactly until the Tabo turn.
The Ride from Gue to Tabo
The road from Gue back to the main Spiti highway was familiar — winding gently down through barren slopes, past prayer flags fluttering in a wind that was getting colder by the minute. Within twenty minutes, I was back on NH505, heading toward Tabo.
And just as I crossed the bridge into Tabo, it started raining.Properly raining!
I’d been to Spiti three times now, and somehow, this was my first time experiencing rain in this valley. Spiti is supposed to be a cold desert. Bone-dry. Sunny enough that locals joke “we don’t have weather, we have temperatures.” But the past few summers have been changing this, and 2025 had been worse than most. Rain in Spiti isn’t just inconvenient — it’s dangerous. The terrain has almost no vegetation to hold the soil. Every drop of rain is one step closer to a landslide somewhere or a flash flood downstream.
I parked outside the monastery gate, helmet still dripping, and walked in.
A Quick Stop at Tabo Monastery — The Ajanta of the Himalayas
Tabo Monastery is one of those places that doesn’t announce itself. From the outside, it looks like a cluster of low, mud-walled structures — humble, almost shy. You’d never guess it’s over a thousand years old, founded in 996 AD, making it one of the oldest continuously functioning Buddhist monasteries in the world.
Locals call it the “Ajanta of the Himalayas” because of the murals inside — wall after wall of intricate Buddhist art that has somehow survived a millennium of cold winters, summer rains, and changing dynasties. No flash photography is allowed inside the prayer halls (and rightly so — light is what’s slowly fading these murals). Just stand quietly and let your eyes adjust.
I had maybe an hour. Not enough. Tabo deserves at least a half-day or a day stop. I made a mental note for next time, walked through the main hall in slow steps, lit a butter lamp at the back, and stepped out to find — to my absolute relief — that the rain had stopped.
The clouds were breaking. Patches of blue were starting to show through. I exhaled for the first time in three hours.
The Detour to Dhankar Gompa
I should have just pushed straight to Kaza. That was the smart move. Reach Kaza, drop my bag, eat something hot. The rain had paused, but the sky was still moody. Anything could happen. But about thirty minutes past Tabo, there’s a small road branching off to the right that climbs steeply up the hillside. A small board points up toward “Dhankar.” And I knew — I just knew — that if I didn’t take that turn now, I’d regret it the entire ride to Kaza.
I took the turn.
About Dhankar — The Gompa on the Edge
Dhankar Gompa is the kind of place that makes you wonder if the people who built it had a death wish. Perched on a 300-meter-high spur of crumbling rock at the confluence of the Spiti and Pin rivers, it looks like it might fall off the cliff at any moment. In fact, parts of it actually have — over the centuries, sections of the original 1,200-year-old structure have collapsed into the valley below.
That’s why a “new” monastery has been built lower down, where the monks now live and pray. The old gompa above is preserved as a heritage site — fragile, sacred, and absolutely worth the climb.
I parked my bike and walked up the path. The view from the top stops you mid-step. On one side, the Spiti River cuts a turquoise ribbon through the valley. On the other, the Pin River merges in from a different direction. And in the distance, the mountains keep folding into each other like waves frozen mid-motion.
There’s an even higher trek from Dhankar to Dhankar Lake — a sacred glacial lake about 4,200m up. It takes 1.5 to 2 hours one way. I didn’t have time. The clouds were starting to gather again. Another mental note for next time.
I spent maybe an hour at the gompa, walked through the small museum showing artifacts and old murals, sat on the edge of the cliff for a few minutes (a respectful distance from the actual edge), and headed back to the bike.
The Final Push to Kaza
I had wanted to take the Demul route to Kaza. Demul is one of those highland villages on a rough, scenic road that loops around through Lalung and back to Kaza — far prettier than the main highway. But when I asked at Dhankar, the locals confirmed what I’d suspected: the Demul road was closed. Recent rains had damaged a stretch, and they weren’t sure when it would reopen.
Plan B. The standard NH505 to Kaza!!
I left Dhankar in a slight hurry, half-expecting the rain to start again, half-praying it wouldn’t. The road from Dhankar back to the highway and on to Kaza is straightforward — about 30 km, mostly downhill into the wide valley where Kaza sits. The clouds chased me but never quite caught up. By the time I rolled into Kaza in the late afternoon, I was dry, tired, and exactly where I wanted to be.
Two days in Kaza were ahead of me. The famous villages — Komic, Hikkim, Langza. The world’s highest post office. Key Monastery in golden light. Chicham Bridge. And a long-overdue rest at Zostel Kaza.
But that’s the next story.
How to Reach Tabo, Dhankar & Kaza
- From Gue: Gue → main road (30 mins) → Tabo (1 hour) → Dhankar turn-off (45 mins from Tabo) → Kaza (1 hour from Dhankar turn-off)
- From Reckong Peo / Kalpa: ~7-8 hours via Pooh, Khab, Sumdo, Tabo
- From Manali: ~10-12 hours via Rohtang, Kunzum (Manali-Kaza only, then Tabo is 50 km east)
- By Bus: HRTC operates daily Reckong Peo → Tabo → Kaza bus, but doesn’t go via Dhankar
- By Taxi: Hire from Tabo or Kaza for Dhankar (₹1,500-2,500 round trip)
- By Bike/Self-drive: Best option — full flexibility for stops at Tabo + Dhankar in one day
📌 Carry: Physical Aadhaar, cash (limited ATMs), warm layers (even in summer), full rain gear if visiting in late summer/monsoon.
Things to Do at Dhankar Gompa
- Visit the old gompa on the cliff — heritage site with stunning views
- The small museum — old murals, artifacts, scrolls
- River confluence viewpoint — Spiti and Pin rivers meet below
- Trek to Dhankar Lake — 1.5-2 hours one way to a sacred 4,200m glacial lake
- Cliff-edge photography — dramatic shots (be careful, the rock is unstable in places)
- Stay overnight — Dhankar Monastery Guesthouse offers basic rooms
Best Time to Visit
- June to September: Roads open, weather mostly clear. Best window.
- October: Cold, fewer crowds, dramatic skies. My personal favorite.
- Late July to August: Risk of rain, landslides — what I experienced. Plan with buffer days.
- November to May: Most roads closed due to snow.
⚠️ A note on rain in Spiti: It’s becoming more common. Always check road conditions a day before travel — call your accommodation, ask local taxi drivers, or check BRO (Border Roads Organisation) updates.
Important Things to Carry
- Aadhaar Card (physical + photocopy) — for area checkpoints
- Cash — limited ATMs, network issues at times
- Power Bank — limited charging in remote stretches
- Warm Layers — even in summer, Spiti gets cold above 3,500m
- Rain Gear — don’t underestimate Spiti weather anymore
- Medicines — Diamox for altitude, basic first aid
- Offline Maps — network is patchy beyond Tabo
- Camera (no flash) — for Tabo and Dhankar interiors
Tabo and Dhankar weren’t on my list for this day. They were detours born of bad weather and worse planning. But that’s how Spiti works — you arrive with an itinerary, and the valley quietly hands you its own.
The rain gods were kinder than I deserved. The Demul route was closed when I wanted it open. And Dhankar — Dhankar nearly slipped past me. But somehow, I made it to Kaza by evening with three monasteries in my memory and the entire valley still ahead.
Have you been to Tabo or Dhankar? Or planning to add them to your Spiti route? Drop a comment — I’d love to know which one stayed with you longer.
