Drive to Shimla and use the evening to walk along Mall Road or simply rest up before the bigger days ahead. This is just the starting point — the real journey begins tomorrow.

Drive through Kufri and Narkanda, pausing for views and a short stop at the Bhimakali Temple in Sarahan. Continue into the Sangla Valley as the landscape grows more dramatic with every kilometre.

Visit Chitkul, the last village before the Indo-China border and one of the most remote places you'll reach on this trip. Drive to Kalpa in the afternoon and settle in with views of the Kinnaur Kailash range right outside your window.

Drive deeper into the mountains, passing through the high-altitude village of Nako and its still, mirror-like lake. Continue to Tabo, a small desert town in the Spiti Valley that has been home to one of the oldest monasteries in the Himalayas for over a thousand years.

Spend the morning at the Tabo Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with ancient murals and mud-brick temples that have survived the centuries in this cold desert. Drive to Kaza, the main town of Spiti Valley, and get your first proper look at the high-altitude landscape.

Spend the day exploring the high-altitude villages around Kaza — Langza with its giant Buddha statue and fossil-rich terrain, Hikkim with the world's highest post office, and Komic, one of the highest motorable villages on earth. Each one is small, quiet, and completely unlike anywhere else.

Drive to Chandratal Lake, a high-altitude glacial lake that sits at over 4,200 metres and is as strikingly beautiful as mountain lakes get. Continue through the Atal Tunnel and descend into Manali, trading the cold desert for green valley air.

Take a slower day in Manali after the intensity of Spiti. Visit the Hadimba Temple inside its forested clearing, soak in the hot springs at Vashisht, and spend the evening walking along Mall Road.

Drive back to Chandigarh, wrapping up one of the most rewarding road journeys you can do in the Indian Himalayas.