Astounding Spiti Valley 5N/6D

Five nights in the Trans-Himalayas, entering through Manali and the Rohtang-Kunzum route. This is the classic Spiti circuit: you cross Kunzum Pass at 4,590 metres (the prayer flags will be whipping in wind that hasn't stopped since the Pleistocene), drop into Kaza — the valley's capital, population 1,800 — and fan out to the monasteries, lakes, and villages that make Spiti unlike anywhere else on Earth. Key Monastery on its hilltop. Kibber at the edge of a cliff. Chandratal reflecting a sky so blue it hurts. The road is terrible. The landscape is transcendent. That's the trade.