Important Details
Important Details
About Chicham Village
Situated at 4150 m, the barren beauty known as Chicham, is a placid village in Spiti Valley. It is quite famous for the bridge that connects the village with Kibber. Rumors around say it’s the highest bridge in Asia, but it’s not. Although, it presents a picturesque setting for a good photo session. The village was inaccessible before, from the Kibber side as it is now, because of the absence of the bridge. Earlier, people used to travel across the gorge on a basket attached to a metal rope. The bridge is a new addition to the infrastructure of Spiti Valley and thus, enhancing the connectivity between Kaza and Chicham.
How to reach Chicham Village
Trip to Chicham has two ways to explore: the first one would be from Kaza to Kibber, and the other one would be from the Manali side via Kiato to Chicham. The Kiato-Chicham route was the only way to reach Chicham earlier because the bridge was not built at that time. Thus, if you were to stay in Kibber, you would have to come back to Kaza and then head towards Kiato to reach Chicham, which made it an unappealing place to visit. But now, the dynamics have changed.
Kaza to Chicham Village
The route to Chicham Village from Kaza is around 22 Kms, and it should take around 2 hours to reach there. When going to Chicham from Kaza, you will pass through Kibber and logically, you should explore Kibber before proceeding to Chicham. Kibber is famous for its snow leopard sightings during the winter season. Also, a lot of treks originate from Kibber region in the summer months like the Parang La Trek to Leh, Ladakh.
Kaza to Chicham Bridge
In the summer season, the route from Kaza to Chicham Bridge is smooth. However, come winters, the road conditions become very difficult, owing to black ice and snowfall in the region. If you wish to come to Chicham or Kibber while coming from the Manali side rather than stopping at Kaza first, then this can be done by taking the road towards Kibber from Kiato that will save you a lot of time.
Kaza to Chicham bus
The bus for Chicham Village leaves Kaza at 5:00 PM and reaches Chicham via Kibber. The same bus makes its way to Kaza via Kibber at 8:00 AM from Chicham. However, during winter months, the service is non-functional and shared cabs ply on weekdays.
Activities in Chicham Village
There is not much to do in Chicham Village, but there is this strange allure of the suspended bridge, which attracts tourists from all over India. You can enjoy the stay at Chicham Village at homestays, and spend some days in the quiet of Spiti Valley. I will say this, the gorge on which the bridge was built is a hangout spot for the mystical snow leopard of the Himalayas during the winters. This place offers some good chances of spotting the Snow leopard than Kibber, that is if you want to spot it on your own rather than the commercial setup in Kibber.
Homestays in Chicham Village
There are a few homestays available in Chicham Village. Don’t go expecting anything special there. But the homestay owners do make an effort to make you as comfortable as possible. Chicham is a small Village and thus, it has a few homestays. You will get better prices in Chicham than in Kibber because a lot of tourists flock to Kibber for most of the year. The rush here is also less than Kibber and thus, you will find more solitude here. The contact details of a few homestays are below. Call in advance because the network is patchy a few kilometers out of Kaza. Otherwise, you will have a lot of homestays in Kibber which is nearby.
Treks around Chicham
There are a lot of treks around Chicham. When I say around, I mean Kibber because of the proximity. Now, there are a lot of things you can do like the ParangLa Trek to Ladakh. It is a challenging trek and people having no prior experience in high altitude trekking should avoid this trek. It passes through a glacier and opens up at Tso Moriri in Ladakh. Apart from that, there is the Kanamo Peak, considered the alternative to Stok Kangri in Ladakh. At a whopping 6134 meters, it is the highest trekkable summit in India. But both Stok Kangri and Kanamo Peak are off-limits. Due to excessive pollution of their water streams by tourists, the local village authorities decided to shut the trekking route. So before going to attempt Kanamo, check with the locals once.
FAQ's
What is the height of Chicham Bridge?
The Chicham bridge is situated at a height of feet
What is the distance between Kaza to Chicham?
The distance between Kaza and Chicham is kilometres.
Kaza to Chicham bus timing?
The bus to Chicham leaves from Kaza bus stand at PM.
Are homestays available in Chicham?
Yes,Homestays are available in Chicham.
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