Kalpa is situated at an altitude of 2759 m from the sea level, on the old Hindustan Tibet Road at a distance of 260 km from Shimla. Earlier it was the District Headquarter of Kinnaur. It is 14 kms. and half an hour’s drive from District Headquarter Reckong Peo. It has all the characteristics of a heritage village.

Kalpa came into prominence in the wake of British Governor General Lord Dalhousie’s visit in th 19th century. The Narayan-Nagani temple is an exemplary of local craftmanship. There are couple of Buddhist monasteries at Kalpa including the Hu-Bu-Ian-Car Gompa, said to be founded it by Rinchensang-Po (950-1055AD).

Kalpa is dramatically located close to the foot of 6050 meter high Kinner Kailash. This is the legendary winter home of Shiva. This is a spectacular sight early in the morning as the rising sun touches the snowy peaks with crimson and gold light.

There are numerous places all over Himachal that are blessed with mesmerizing natural beauty. Some of these places are quite famous like Shimla and Manali; but then there are a few others that are not so well known , but no less in beauty still.

In fact considering the kind of crowd that Shimla and Manali receive, visiting some of these unknown and offbeat destinations can prove to be a much better trip. One such place that I recently went on a trip to and would like to talk about in this article is Kalpa; a small town located in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh.

The name Kalpa would probably be known only to people who have traveled around a lot in the hills; or who have been on the Spiti circuit at least once. Kalpa and the nearby town of Reckong Peo is mostly used as the center point of the journey from Shimla to Kaza.

It is not completely an unknown destination because tourism is a major part of the livelihood of the people around here. You will definitely find tourists here during summer and the place is also very well connected. It however is still not known to many people and it never gets crowded around here.

So if you were planning a trip in near future; wanted to travel to a less crowded place that offers peace and tranquility as well as stunning vistas all around; then Kalpa could prove to be an ideal destination.

Barog is a cute little place immerging as a major holiday attraction to spend a day in. It is a small village in Solan district in the Himachal Pradesh. Set in the mountains Barog is just 60km from Chandigarh on the Kalka-Shimla highway. It used to be an important stop in the early decades of the century when the Kalka-Shimla toy train stopped here for an hour while the sahibs and memsahibs enjoyed a lavish lunch.

The station, one of the prettiest on the line with its hanging baskets of pink geraniums. Barog was settled in the early 20th century during the building of the narrow gauge Kalka-Shimla Railway. It is named after Barog, an engineer involved in building the railway track in 1903. Barog, the engineer, was responsible for designing a tunnel near the railway station. He commenced digging the tunnel from both sides of the mountain, which is quite common as it speeds up construction.

However, he made mistakes in his calculation and while constructing the tunnel, it was found that the two ends of the tunnel did not meet. Barog was fined an amount of 1 Rupee by the British government. Unable to withstand the humiliation, Barog committed suicide. He was buried near the incomplete tunnel.

The area came to be known as Barog after him. Soon another tunnel was built by H.S. Harrington, Chief Engineer in Railways at that time. This tunnel is the longest of the 103 operational tunnels on the route of the Shimla-Kalka Railway, which is 1143.61m long. Barog station is immediately after the tunnel. Barog tunnel is the straightest tunnel in the World. Trains take about 3 minutes to cross this tunnel, running at 25 kilometres per hour.

Height 1680 m. On the Kalka-Shimla highway, Barog has grown from a mere stopover to a full-fledged destination. Surrounded by pine and oak forests, Barog has a commanding setting. The Choor Chandni-which poetically translates as the ‘mountain of the silver bangle‘ is clearly visible from Barog-and when moonlight washes down its snow covered slopes, it seems as though thousands of icy, silver bangles are sliding down in the night.

Barog was settled in the early 20th century during the building of the narrow gauge Kalka-Shimla Railway. lt is named after Colonel Barog, an engineer involved in building the railway track in 1903. Surrounded by pine woods and views of the valley, Barog makes a conveniently accessible destination from the Delhi-Punjab-Harayana region or as a travel stopover to or from Shimla. lt is also a convenient weekend getaway.

Chashma Shahi