Lapas - A Sunlit Village in the Cold Himalayas

One of the best ways to explore the Himalayas is through the villages in these mountains. These villages are mostly small settlements with a few houses and their farmlands in the mountains, a bit away from the main villages. Villages in the Parvati Valley give easy access to different geographical sides of the valley with the convenience of roads and accommodation.

Plus, if you’re interested in the cultural side of mountain life, villages are your best option to experience life in these extreme terrains.

Lapas is a lesser-known village in Parvati Valley, famous for the good sun they get throughout the year. If you’re living in this part of the Himalayas, where the temperature often goes to minus degrees Celsius, getting good sunlight is huge!

I have travelled to Lapas twice last year, 2025. Both times, the goal was to meet a family and source natural wool. Since I live in Shilha now, Lapas is closer and easy to reach by walking all the way. It’s a few kilometres of walking through the main road and then a trek to the village. There used to be a road that allowed 4*4 vehicles to reach the village. But it was partly destroyed during the monsoon with landslides.

So, we decided to walk to the village and find a good route as well. I went to the village with friends both times. The first one was with another homestay owner here, and the next time with a friend who came as a guest.

This is also a glimpse of how I find interesting spots to offer our guests to travel or hike.

Since the landslide happened in the middle of the road to Lapas, we had to take an alternative route that goes through another village called Kiyani. There is an easy trekking route, but I highly suggest you take this route since it is very pretty and scenic.

Our first stop was a village called Kiyani. It took us almost 3 hours to reach there from Shilha by walking. You can easily go there by motorcycle or car, a 4*4 would be the best option since the road is made of soil.

We found this cute little cafe and a homestay in this village, which was quite unexpected since this is not a touristy village at all. It is called Paradisol. We had something to drink and got some chocolates from the nearby shop.

It was already 3.30 pm, and we had to continue before it got dark. Since the duration of the day is short in November, we tried to hurry after taking a break at Paradisol.

The best part of the whole trek was the route from Kiyani to Lapas.

This route had stairs till Lapas, which made the climb easier. The stairs went through the middle of what looked like a forest, which made the hike very dreamy. Tall trees with fall colours, unique plants with unique seeds, and so much more.

It is for this route that I ask my guests to take this route to Lapas instead of other trekking routes. You might also get to see trees that are worshipped and not allowed to be touched.

We reached Lapas at around 6-ish on my first trip to Lapas, and unfortunately, the family I wanted to buy the wool from had gone to a wedding in another village and wouldn’t be back by the next day.

So, we decided to stay in Lapas and started searching for a homestay. A local helped us find one- it is called Rupender Homestay, if anyone is interested in visiting Lapas. It was a gem of a homestay with a stunning view. Moreover, the place got sunlight, a lot of it!

We were dead asleep after dinner and woke up to a very sunny morning. Going from Shilha, where we got sun for only 2 hours, this was a dream!

We had a very homely breakfast and decided to climb down. We met some really friendly people on the way and had fun conversations. The host was also amazing and helped us with whatever we needed.

Lapas is one place I would recommend anyone to go to enjoy the sun during the winters in Parvati Valley. The village still has wooden houses mostly, and they are often painted in bright colours. You will get to see seasonal crops growing on the way, which is a refreshing sight.

The other time I visited Lapas was with another friend to collect the wool we couldn’t get the other day.

This time, we reached Lapas at around 4 PM and the villager I was meeting asked us to climb up more uphill from the village.

We kept going, thinking he might have kept the wool in his other house uphill. Upon reaching the place, we got to the surprising reason why we had to hike all that way. He felt it would be dark soon,n and we won’t be able to go back. So, he arranged a stay for us to spend the night in his second home, where he keeps his livestock.

We were surprised at this gesture and a bit confused since it was in the middle of nowhere. I mean, there are no other houses around, just the land, mountains and the sky. We were almost at the top of the mountain.

After some thinking, we decided to take the offer and decided to spend the night here and leave in the morning. He took care of his sheep, cows and goats, and got them inside their shed. Then he showed us our room. It was an attachment to the shed and the house since they don’t allow people from outside into their home.

It was a room made of stones, a wooden cot inside with many blankets for keeping ourselves warm, and a tandoor in one corner of the room. There is no bathroom or toilet at this place, but he said we can just go free out in the open since there is no one around.

The best part of the place was that it was in the middle of his farmland. There were cherry tomatoes and meeta-karela, a vegetable right next to our room. He said we can make something out of it and have it for dinner.

This is the most off-grid experience we've had so far.

He made us some tea and offered a snack with it. Then he explained everything and left. We were overjoyed, surprised and moreover way too excited. As I mentioned, Lapas gets good sunlight throughout the day. We enjoyed the sun, every bit of it. Soon it started to get dark and cold. Then pitch dark. I can’t explain how good it was looking up at the sky from this height. It was full of stars and a dark blue background. My phone’s camera is no good to capture it, but let me tell you it was soo good.

We made dinner with the vegetables we collected and the other supplies he gave us before leaving. We were way too tired after the hike and planned to go to sleep after dinner. The Tandoor was turned down when we went to bed.

Slowly, it hit us. It was cold! Like, really really cold!

It was already 2 am, and neither of us could sleep. There was wind that swept inside through the holes in between the stones. And we finally gave up and decided to light up the tandoor again.

Hours went by, and we still couldn’t sleep. Finally, the sky slowly started to light up. And it was getting sunny after some time. We started sleeping when the sun hit the room. But by then it was time to leave.

Well, the morning routine was also pretty funny since everything was out on the farm. Let’s not talk about it, but it was a fun experience too.

Well, we climbed down from Lapas and went in different directions after collecting the wool.

The route back is through a place called Raskat, which is a hike under an hour. There is also this small shop on the way, which offers small breakfast items.

I had a bread omelette for energy, and we rushed back before we got hit by the energy crash from not sleeping the night after the hike. Needless to say, I have no idea what happened in the world for the rest of the day, I was fast asleep in my bed.

I highly suggest visiting Lapas for its scenic view, sun and farm-fresh vegetables. And, Lapas is also one of the cleaner villages I have seen in this part of the valley. A one-day trip to Lapas would be a good choice to enjoy the sun in Parvati Valley.