This is the best time of month to see the Milky Way. The season eventually takes the rapid move as the road to Kaza from Manali over Kunzum Pass also opens by the second week of June. Head for Nubra Valley and stay overnight at Turtuk The season for Spiti starts to open in these two months only when adventurists from various parts of the country start planning their trips to Spiti Valley. Day 06 : Kibber/Kaza Langza Komic Hikkim Kaza I am setting aside 15 days for the same. One resource you can look to is the International Dark-Sky Association, which keeps a list of officially recognized dark sky locations around the world as well as typical weather patterns for them. It is expected to open in weeks time but nothing certain. Day 30 | Sangla/Chitkul (if you cannot extend, skip) 4. The name Milky Way describes our galaxys appearance from planet Earth: a hazy, milky band of light stretching across the night sky. Even though the Milky Way can be seen from mildly light-polluted areas, it will only be visible here as a brighter wash across the night sky. Can I spend Day 4 night at Chitkul or would you recommend a day trip only to Chitkul and go over to Kalpa to spend the night. There are many tools for this. If you stay at Kibber then you can travel to Chichcham and further to Chandratal directly and explore a new route too. This is especially true after a long day of exploring, when you can take the time to lay out for an evening under the dark night sky. Whats it like to sleep in a rooftop tent? Day 1 Thursday, head to spiti from manali on bike reach spiti and rest. Is it a good time to go ? We are 4 friends from chandigarh planning to go spiti around 22nd of august via shimla by vw polo so what do suggest is safe to go at this time of year and is polo compatible according to the route? After 3.40am light from the sun had started affecting the pictures as it was astronomical twilight although it was still dark for our eyes. Not only are they incredibly dark, but there is almost never any cloud cover. Shooting during a new moon can significantly reduce light pollution your shot. CEF_Beasts, DevilzzzzOwn, digitalnirvana, Dr.AD, Evyas, graaja, GTO, haisaikat, InControl, Jeash.vk, katoom, kiranknair, rahul1407, Rehaan, Samba, Samfromindia, supertinu, surajspai, thirugata, UD17, vattyboy, Venkygupta, Voodooblaster, YanTra Makto. A must visit in Kaza. All the stars you see from Earth are part of our home galaxy. Overnight at Leh, Day 15 | Leh Sham Valley Leh You can take the rented self drive car but once you will reach Leh, you need to park it and cover Ladakh sightseeing places by local LAdakhi taxi or some places like Sham Valley and all can be covered by rented bike from Leh. 2. The best time to see and photograph the Milky Way is usually between May and June with maximum hours of visibility on both hemispheres Fri 28 May 2021 02.00 EDT Volcano and cross - Tomas. Thank you for sharing the contact details, will surely let you know whenever in future I will plan a trip. We had decided to skip staying the night and plough through and reach Manali. See the Moon Phase Calendar for your area. Its just me, the mountains, the stars. The moon is amazingly complex! According to our guide the guys that were already there started moving around in the open which the leopard noticed and moved to another spot nearby to hide itself. Get exclusive benefits and discounted fees for a limited time. Should I post the question again in the Q & A section. Both time windows shall be fine, July will be better as crowd in lower towns will be less because vacation finishes. Before you reach Mud village, there is a small village called Tailing across the river and you have to reach it using a. O/n Mud village. If you need some snow then June is better. Do not forget to check what things and clothes to pack for Spiti trip? Key Monastery is perched at a hill top, and looks like an out of the ordinary structure surrounded by barren mountains. I was able to spot the milky way on 3 consecutive nights in Spiti valley in the second week of July 2017. Pangong Tso, Ladakh 3. Capturing the Milky Way is tricky. Its late July but the night is freezing. Can you please tell the how can we get the rohtang pass permit or is DL very necessary in those areas? Taking into consideration of my situation, what should be my itinerary? Where: Bickley, 35 kilometres (22 miles) east of Perth. Request your suggestion on our trip and dates. Stargazers under this kind of night sky might see 30 or more meteors per hour. Overnight at Jammu or Patnitop, Day 2 | Jammu / Patnitop Srinagar I also conduct a weekly Q&A session every Saturday evening on Instagram, so see you there !! This was indeed useful! A new Moon night with clear skies is the best time to visit Al Quaa, where you can also camp overnight. The Atacama Desert is on our 2022 Best of Travel list. Planning is key to capturing the best Milky Way images. I am planning to do the Spiti circuit, in mid October. Its a beautiful sunset. Jul 2, 2016 - Milky way rising over Kunzum La The Galactic core rising over Kunzum la, a highest mountain pass in Spiti valley from our camp near Chandrataal. What else is up this month? This year we were planning a trip to Spiti valleyAlso a full circuit going in via shimla and exiting via Manali.In early June. I have talked to locals and they echo my feelings as well. You can even go to Nubra Valley on rented bike if you have experience with riding. When the months of April May come, the snow starts to melt, and some link roads within Spiti Valley start to open up. This Calendar is very straightforward, and it shows the main astronomical factors you need to consider to see the Milky Way: Date: We take as a reference every Saturday of the year. At the same time while Sikkim is a great place you can't spend the night at highest altitude locations like Gurdongmar Lake, Zero Point, and Spiti has lot more locations and stay options that suited for my objective of astro-photography. Nishu, the roads have just opened from Manali side, Kinnaur side the road is still closed. In order to avoid any unfortunate incidents; it is best to wait for the sun to come up. It can be a great thing to go look into the infinite in solitude. So you can see the Milky Way tonight if you stay up until late night - say, around . Hi Dheeraj We would have early dinner and if weather permitted come back up here for shoot before 9pm. Well PRashad, please read: 5 Reasons to Avoid Manali Kaza Road in October. In June July, mostly all the link roads to various sightseeing places in Spiti or remote villages in Spiti Valley also get open in this period. I will mostly try to keep a buffer day so that if by chance the pass is closed, I will have to return via Shimla. Thank you in advance. O/n Manali, Day 12 : 16th June : Manali local sightseeing, Day 13 : 17th June : Manali to Chandigarh for evening flight to Mumbai, Sorry Dhiraj, but I couldnt locate your answer. It was 7.45pm as we left the parking. Once your eyes adjust to the darkness, simply taking fifteen minutes to be alone with the Milky Way during these moonless nights, is rejuvenating. It was 7.30pm as we left the monastery parking. You can find star parties spread all across the country. TIP: When you view the Milky Way, try looking througha camera which canaccumulate light that the naked eye can not. From 6:30pm, between 12th May - 23rd May. Is it good thing ? California has some of the darkest skies in the U.S. View on a new Moon or within a few days of the new Moon. Best wishes for the trip sir, if possible keep sharing the updates as it may help others too. Hello sir, is it possible to take lancer cedia for the trip. Drive out to the country one evening or on the weekend. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. If you happen to be in Maui or the Big Island, Haleakala National Park and Mauna Kea are also ideal for astro. Hi Dheeraj, Sonmarg, Jammu & Kashmir 10. In Western Australia's capital, the Perth Observatory has been around for more than 120 years. , My pleasure buddy !! So, in all this period, life is not that easy. The valley experiences the balmy and warm afternoons and the perfect time to explore the valley. We would leave early around 6am, do lot of hiking, find blue sheep, and maybe a snow leopard too. Diskit has monasteries with tallest lord Buddha statue and Hunder has sand dunes and bacterian camel safari It is actually no road. The road is same but I can confirm from the locals and update. Tips to grow your RV rental business. Also, in order to enjoy Spiti valley, you need about 78- days from Manali side and 10-11 days from Kinnaur Shimla side. I switch on my headlamp readjust the tripod and change the settings of my camera to manual focus. Is it ok..? Out east, its much much harder to find truly dark skies. The next morning we leave for Chandra Taal, a crescent shaped lake, at 14100 feet altitude even higher, and with no human habitation except a campsite. 1121 Main Street | P.O. We turned back towards our destination for the day: CEF_Beasts, digitalnirvana, Dr.AD, Evyas, GTO, InControl, PetroNerd, Rehaan, Samba, Samfromindia, supertinu, UD17, Venkygupta, Voodooblaster, YanTra Makto. Thankfully, Georgia has plenty of wide-open spaces. As you plan to stay at Chandratal, I will suggest keeping it simple and stay either at Langza or Kibber. The more your referral link gets used, the more money youll start earning. You should read my tips on traveling to Kinnaur and Spiti Valley in monsoon time. After understanding the Spiti Valley weather for these months, you can evaluate which month or season shall work out best for you to plan a Spiti Valley road trip. Stars & Milkyway Tribal India Rural India Portraits Landscapes Travel SIA Photography Founded by Saurabh Chatterjee . The speed never went above 10-15km/h on bad roads till Gramphu. From Mid-August through September, the best time to spot the Milky Way is soon after the sunset, once the sky has grown dark. Capturing the Milky Way is tricky. Me and and my friends planning for a bike trip to Spiti on 16 oct ,I want to know it will be at that time? With just 4 days, it is possible but like, Manali Kaza The food will be pretty basic as available in the homestay. By continuing to browse our website, you agree to our use of cookies. Overnight at Leh, Day 9 | Leh Local Sightseeing + Inner Line Permits I am absolutely alone. Music, Writings, Travels by Writers of Color. Here are ten of the best locations in the United States to see the Milky Way in all her splendor. It was extremely annoying and disappointing. Spiti Valley is located at an altitude of (9680 - 13450 ft) above sea level. However, the most photogenic area, also known as the Galactic bulge/center, is only visible during a few specific months depending on your location. The presence of the moon will wash out the light of the stars, just like light pollution from the cities. Day 32 | Narkanda Chail / Shimla Delhi, Im finding short of words to thank you on helping me with the detailed itinerary. If it would be heavy rainfall during this time then it would be difficult as there could be land slides . You can see it in the surrounding months earlier or later in the night, but it will be more on the horizon than straight overhead. So decided to go to Kaza and then turn back to Pin Valley. Hence, running water is a luxury at this time of the year. Regarding making the complete circuit, especially after mid of October, yes you can come from the Kinnaur side and go via the Manali side BUT do check the weather updates for few days before making the trip across Kunzum Pass in late October or November when you are at Kaza or Losar. or should we stay in the camps there. This took lot of crop even after 300x zoom. Its a bit worse but it connects to the highway ahead and as such shorter overall. Yes, the roads especially Manali Kaza is worse than Ladakh roads. In the winter season, Lahaul & Spiti hides under the thick blanket of snow. Milky Way. As a result, you can generally see and shoot the Milky Way two days before and two days after the best days.. When you are at such a high altitude you have easy access to a clear, glittering sky. For more stories from some of the world's most exciting destinations click here. In the ancient worlda world free from bright lightsits something you couldnt help but marvel at. And we want to mix home stays and camping along the way. The southwest deserts are almost surefire winners tooif you can take the summer heat, that is. The snow clearance operations begin in March and continue till May end or June the first half when the road from Manali to Kaza gets open. The Milky Way visibility is defined by the first columns: Moonlight: This shows the percentage of moon brightness. On the way we both got a scare as we saw an old lady(?) Yes Mayoor, I will go with Chitkul on Day 4 but then again it depends if you are really interested to ease out, go for it and skip Kalpa altogether and move on further towards upper Kinnaur and Spiti. Cheers for such a wonderful post. October onwards months cause the Milky way to appear more vertical than horizontal. Best Time to See the Milky Way From September to October: The Milky Way is visible in the evening. You canfollow me on Instagramand subscribe to my YouTube channel to ask your travel questions in a direct message on Instagram or comment on my YouTube videos. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. We planned to come here late night after 9pm and spend the night till sunrise. Kunzum Pass gets closed by November for the next 6-7 months, so one cannot complete the circuit from Shimla Kinnaur to Manali during this period. They are also incredibly quiet, which makes the experience all the more magical. Winter Nights Summer months are generally clear at night. or in july will there be chances of rain/land slide conditions. You can read more about me in detail by checking out About Me section from the main menu. It would be great if u can help me out. A portable chair that you can recline back in, like a beach chair, is a great way to enhance the experience. The awesomeness that is the Milky Way is hard to wrap your head around. Try to confirm the weather conditions before . The sun and all of the objects within our solar system lie about half way out from the centre (or about 25,000 light years). My question was, any info on the possible rumour that due to less snowfall this year around Kunzum, the Manali-Kaza road will be thrown open by April end possibly ? Its humbling and, for many, spiritual. My BiL dropped out but uncle wanted to tag along even though it was still cloudy. If youre a couple, it doesnt get much more romantic than gazing at the night sky together in a quiet place. To overcome the light and air pollution, go as far away from the urban areas and highways as possible. You see, stargazing in Iceland is possible almost all year round. For stay options in Kinnaur and Spiti, check the link: Some Good Options of Stays in Spiti Valley / Kinnaur Valley. Leave Chandigarh at 12 noon and go to Narkanda via Chail (Is a short visit to Chail Palace possible?). Usually, driving inland away from a city is your best bet. The route via Shimla Kinnaur is also commonly known as Hindustan Tibet Highway or NH-05. 9 days+1 day buffer. The Milky Way visibility is defined by the first columns: In the rightmost column, you can see the angle of the Galactic center in the sky. A pristine night sky reveals these regions of the Milky Way. How risky is the drive here on an SUV and what should we keep in mind while driving ? We spent around 2 hours here watching the Ibex move and graze while also enjoying the sunset views. This is like an encyclopedia into Spiti. The Spiti Valley temperature in winter can go well below -20 deg C, so you must go well prepared with proper woolen clothing. Winter Nights Also, keep in mind that August is also the peak time of apple season and crop transportation, which creates a good amount of traffic jams owing to a high number of trucks that ply on the Kinnaur Valley route. Head straight to Padum, Day 5 | Padum Local Sightseeing Ovid, a Roman poet, later wrote about the Milky Way in The Metamorphoses in 8 A.D. Its estimated that there are several billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy.