The conical hill
Stacked buildings.
Pranav perspective — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Footloosedev — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Deepank Ranka — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Deepank Ranka — CC BY-SA 4.0 · DebSnap09 — CC BY-SA 4.0
Key Monastery is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Gelugpa school on a hilltop at 4,166 metres near the Spiti River, in the Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh, India, about 12 km north of Kaza by road and 210 km from Manali. It is the largest monastery in the Spiti Valley and a training centre for monks, reported to have had 100 monks in 1855. Its founding is credited to the 11th century, though that account may refer to an older monastery in a nearby village. Its white, flat-roofed buildings with coloured windows are stacked on a conical hill like a small fortress, in a dry brown and grey mountain valley where the Spiti River braids between the peaks. The scene is loveliest at sunset. The altitude is high, so acclimatise in Kaza for a day or two first and take the stairs slowly. Roads into Spiti are usually open in summer, while the mountain passes close in winter. It is a working monastery, so respect the monks and prayers.
Stacked buildings.
A river between peaks.
The loveliest time.
Spiti Valley, Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, India
Yes, acclimatise first.
June to September.