British tourists take on India’s Spiti Valley in an auto-rickshaw

Forget the SUV or adventure motorcycle. Two British tourists exploring one of India’s most spectacular mountain regions have chosen a rather more unconventional ride — an auto-rickshaw.

The pair have attracted attention online after they were spotted driving the familiar Indian three-wheeler through the rugged roads of Himachal Pradesh’s Spiti Valley.

Indian solo traveller and content creator Vishal encountered the tourists while travelling from Tabo to Kaza and stopped to find out what they were doing there in an auto.

“I was travelling from Tabo to Kaza when I met two foreign travellers on the way,” Vishal wrote while sharing a video of the encounter on his Instagram account, according to India Today.

The two travellers, who are from England, appeared perfectly at ease with their unusual mode of transport despite Spiti’s rocky roads, high altitude and demanding terrain.

And this was no short sightseeing excursion.

According to reports, the tourists are travelling across India in a Bajaj auto-rickshaw, with their journey taking them from Manali through the high-altitude landscapes of Himachal Pradesh before eventually heading towards Jaisalmer in Rajasthan.

Vishal’s encounter with them took place on the stretch between Tabo and Kaza.

“After a little conversation, I learned that their journey is no less than an adventure,” he wrote, according to India Today.

The video shows the brightly coloured auto against Spiti’s dramatic mountain landscape — a vehicle more readily associated with India’s crowded city streets navigating an altogether different environment.

Spiti Valley is known for its remote settlements and dramatic high-altitude terrain, making road travel through the region an adventure even in vehicles normally chosen for mountain conditions.

Vishal posted footage of his meeting with the tourists on Instagram, where the unusual sight quickly attracted attention.

Social media users praised the pair’s sense of adventure, while some described them as “superstars” for attempting the journey in the humble three-wheeler, according to reports.

The British tourists are not the first travellers to discover that an auto-rickshaw can be pushed considerably beyond its normal urban habitat.

Earlier this month, Sumit Kumar Prajapati from Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh also made headlines after taking an e-rickshaw through Spiti Valley. He documented the difficult journey on Instagram, including how he charged the electric vehicle along the way.