Hikkim- Home to the World’s Highest Post Office

There is a charm to things that are getting obsolete and redundant in the world. In the modern age where the biggest scares are weak network, low battery and no data, writing letters to your loved ones seem like walking back a few decades. While telephones over the years reduced the number of letters sent, mobile phones have made postal letters and post offices almost obsolete. Many post offices in India still function as they do provide other services apart from sending letters.

I love post offices and take a picture every time I find one. Many villages and small towns in India still have post offices and the most fascinating one I found is in Hikkim. Up in the mountains of Spiti in Himachal Pradesh, Hikkim has claims of being home to the highest post office in the world at 14,567 feet above sea level. Wedged between the villages of Langza and Komic which are known for their monasteries, Hikkim gets a few visitors who come here to send home a couple of postcards. Though it may sound touristy for some, I am glad that the concept of sending letters is still alive in such tiny villages in the country.

The village also has credits of being the highest polling station in the world. Apart from the post office that has made Hikkim popular among travellers, all that you can find here are a few houses, kids playing and people working in the fields.

Hikkim is about 16 Kms from Kaza and there is a bus which leaves from Kaza to Komic and Langza (and connects Hikkim) once or twice in a week.