The inner line, and why we still start through Kinnaur

Spiti asks for an inner line permit if you are not from Himachal. We arrange it with the plan. You do not need to stand in a queue in Shimla and hope the officer is in a good mood, unless you are riding completely on your own and you like that sort of morning.

The paper is not the hard part. The order is. Shimla to Kaza through Kinnaur climbs you in stages. Manali to Kaza throws the pass at you while you are still remembering which lever is the front brake. That is why the summer bike tours we prefer go up through Kinnaur and come down, if they come down that way, after you have already slept high.

Winter is a different road. Kunzum closes. The expedition uses the Kinnaur side both ways, the days are short, and a permit does not make a closed gate open. If a form is delayed we say so before you buy a bus ticket. We do not discover it in Narkanda.