It’s one hairpin turn after another as we descend from Nako and head towards Spiti valley. As the elevation drops and we get closer to the blue green river, the snow thins out and the bare brown mountains come into view. Kaza, our next night halt, is only 2 – 2.5 hour drive from Nako but our plan is to take a small detour midway and visit the Gue village and monastery. Situated within touching distance of the China border, the Gue village is known for its monastery and the mummy of a monk, housed in a separate structure next to the monastery.
The roughly 9 km long road, from the National Highway 505 to the Gue monastery, steadily rises as we go up the mountain until it finally opens into a valley where the village is situated. Every turn along the route is a photographer’s paradise. The monastery is built on a small hill beyond the village. The village, the hill on which the monastery is built, and the majestic peaks behind the hill are all cloaked in snow. In the afternoon sun the glare from this white heaven is blinding but it is still impossible to not gape in wonder.
The road leading to the monastery is covered in ice and consequently as hazardous as it is beautiful. We switch to 4×4 and carefully drive to the top of the hill. There road terminates into an open ground at one end of which is the monastery and a small hut housing the Mummy. The hut and monastery are closed and till someone from the village arrives with a key, there is some time to kill. The flat level ground and 2 feet of even snow provide an ideal opportunity to attempt some snow drifting and some of us sneak a few spins – enough to calm the itch but hopefully not enough to rouse the ghost of the mummy.
On the way down, I get a last glimpse of the village, the monastery and the mountains beyond and the only thought that crosses my mind is that if there is a heaven, this is how it must look when it freezes over.
