Hikkim, Komic and Langza — Spiti's high villages above Kaza
Above Kaza, on the high shelf of land east of the town, three small villages sit at heights where few people anywhere live all year: Hikkim, Komic and Langza. Each is known for one thing. Hikkim has the post office, Komic the old gompa, Langza its fossils and the mountain behind it. They are usually seen together in one loop from Kaza.
Photos: Nrr1729 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Sumita Roy Dutta (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Avantikac98 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Mike Shaw (CC BY-SA 4.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
Hikkim and its post office
Hikkim sits at about 4,400 m, with homes between about 4,330 and 4,400 m, which makes it one of the highest places in India lived in through the year. It is cut off for half the year by snow on the passes. Its post office opened in 1983, and Rinchen Chhering has been postmaster ever since. The mail goes down to Kaza on foot, the office doubles as the village savings bank, and it closes in the heavy-snow months. Wikipedia ranks it among the world's highest post offices and the highest in India; the sign on its wall says the world's highest. Many visitors post a letter from here, and the PIN is 172114.
Hikkim once held another record. It was listed in the Limca Book of Records as the world's highest polling station, a title that later passed to Tashigang, another village in the same district.
Komic and the Tangyud gompa
Komic, also spelled Komik, lies about 2 km south-east of Hikkim, and its homes reach about 4,520 m. Wikipedia counts it among the highest villages in the world that a road reaches, with 130 people at the 2011 census. Its monastery is the one Wikipedia calls the 500-year-old Lundup Tsemo Gompa; we cover it, under the name Tangyud, in our page on Tangyud Monastery.
Langza under the Princess Mountain
Langza, with 136 people, sits at the foot of Chau Chau Kang Nilda, the snow pyramid also called the Princess Mountain. It is known as the fossil village of the Spiti valley. That is all Wikipedia says about the fossils, and we will not add to it from hearsay. A large seated Buddha statue stands on the rise above the houses, as the picture above shows.
Getting up there
Wikipedia gives Hikkim two distances from Kaza in the same article: 15 km, and 46 km by an arduous track. Our own road router cannot follow this road at all, so we do not print a drive time for any of the three. Ask in Kaza how the road is and how long the loop takes on the day, start early, and plan to be back before dark. At these heights walk slowly and carry water and a warm layer in any month.
Around Kaza
For the rest of the valley, read things to do in Kaza, the monasteries of Spiti and the offbeat places near Kaza. Key Monastery and Kibber are the other high places most visitors reach, and the two-day Kaza plan puts them in order.
Places around Kaza
The Kaza guide →
Nearby destinations
All destinations →
Questions people ask
Is Hikkim really the world's highest post office?
Wikipedia ranks it among the world's highest post offices, at about 4,400 m, and the highest in India; its own signboard says the world's highest. It has been open since 1983, with Rinchen Chhering as postmaster, the mail carried down to Kaza on foot, and it shuts in the snow months.
How far is Hikkim from Kaza?
Wikipedia gives two figures in the same article: 15 km from Kaza, and 46 km by an arduous track. Our own road router cannot follow this road, so we quote no drive time. Ask in Kaza how the road is and how long the loop takes before you go, and go in daylight.
Why is Langza called the fossil village?
Wikipedia records that Langza is known as the fossil village of the Spiti valley, and that it sits at the foot of Chau Chau Kang Nilda, the Princess Mountain. It does not say more about the fossils, so neither do we. Fossils found here are part of the land; leave them where they are.