Dhankar
town · 46 min from Kaza
1 night · 2 daysFirst visitClassicrelaxed
Two days in Kaza — the monastery circuit and Dhankar
A two-day Kaza plan: Key Monastery, Kibber and Chicham Bridge on day one, Dhankar and its lake on day two. Free, copyable plan on HimLocal, with real distances.
A second day added to the one-day loop, reaching Dhankar — a monastery built on a spur above the confluence of the Spiti and Pin rivers, one of the most dramatic settings for a gompa anywhere — and Dhankar Lake above it. Day one covers Key Monastery, Kibber and Chicham Bridge; day two is a slower, single-destination day built around the climb to the lake.
It doesn't reach the Pin valley monasteries further out — see the three-day full-circuit plan for those.
Photos: Deepank Ranka (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Sumita Roy Dutta (CC BY-SA 3.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
Who this is for
Anyone with two full days in Kaza who wants both the closest monastery circuit and Spiti's single most photographed monastery setting.
Day by day
Day 1
Key Monastery, Kibber, Chicham Bridge
Spiti's best-known trio on this side of the valley.
- 09:00Ki GompaSpiti's largest monastery, on a hilltop above the Spiti River, a religious training centre for lamas since the 11th century.
- ↓ 15 min by road · 7 km11:00KibberOne of the highest villages on the circuit, with a monastery of its own and a base for the wildlife sanctuary nearby.
- ↓ 17 min by road · 3 km13:00Chicham BridgeA suspension bridge at 4,145 m over the gorge between Kaza and Kibber's side of the valley.
Day 2
Dhankar and Dhankar Lake
One of Spiti's most dramatic settings — a monastery on a spur, a lake above it.
- 09:30DhankarA fort monastery on a 300-metre spur overlooking the confluence of the Spiti and Pin rivers — one of the world's most spectacular settings for a gompa, built like Key Monastery on the central Tibetan fort pattern.
- 12:10Dhankar LakeA high-altitude lake above the monastery, reached by a trek from it — the reward for the climb is the view back down over Dhankar's spur.
Getting there
Kaza is reached from Shimla via Kinnaur (NH505, open year-round except landslides) or from Manali via Rohtang Pass and Kunzum La (closed roughly October to June). See the hub guide for the full arrival table.
Where to stay
Kaza works as a base for both days — Dhankar is a round trip, not an overnight move, though Dhankar village itself has a handful of guesthouses if you'd rather break the day there.
Know before you go
- Wear proper shoes for the Dhankar Lake climb — the path is a real trek, not a stroll, even though the return trip fits inside a day.
- The confluence view from Dhankar's own terrace is worth lingering over before starting the climb — many visitors rush straight to the lake and miss it.
- Carry more water than feels necessary for the lake climb — there's nowhere to refill along the way.
Places on this route
Other ways to do it
All Kaza itineraries →
Day plan · First visitClassic
One day around Kaza — Key Monastery, Kibber and Chicham Bridge
A single-day Kaza loop: Key Monastery, Kibber village and Chicham Bridge over the gorge, with real drive times. Free, copyable itinerary on HimLocal.
Best Jun–Sep
See the plan →2 nights · 3 days · First visitClassic
Three days in Spiti — Kaza's monasteries and the Pin valley
A three-day Kaza plan: the monastery circuit and Dhankar on days one and two, the Pin valley's Kungri and Lhalung on day three. Free on HimLocal.
Best Jun–Sep
See the plan →Questions people ask
Is Dhankar worth a full day from Kaza?
Yes — the monastery's own setting is remarkable on its own, and the climb to Dhankar Lake above it takes a good part of a morning or afternoon. Treating it as a single-destination day rather than rushing it is the better way to see it properly.
How far is Dhankar from Kaza?
About 46 minutes by road, roughly 27 km, on the way towards Tabo. Dhankar Lake sits a further climb above the monastery itself, reached on foot rather than by any road at all, whatever the season you happen to visit in.
Can I combine Dhankar with Tabo Monastery on the same trip?
Many longer Spiti circuits do, since Tabo sits a similar distance further along the same road — but that makes Dhankar a stop on a longer day rather than the slow, single-destination visit this two-day plan is built around.