How we check facts
Every page answers its question in the first two sentences, then gives the detail. Every fact that can change, such as a road closure, a fee or an opening date, carries the date it was last checked and a link to where it came from. If we can't confirm something, we leave it out.
Where facts come from
- Official sources first: District Lahaul and Spiti notices and the Deputy Commissioner's orders, the Border Roads Organisation, Himachal Pradesh PWD and HRTC.
- News reports of official orders, such as The Tribune's Himachal edition, dated and linked.
- Reference data: Wikipedia for fixed facts such as altitudes; OpenStreetMap for road distances; the Open-Meteo historical archive for climate averages.
- Our own experience, from the family that lives and works in Key, clearly written as such.
Road status
We don't watch the roads ourselves. The Is Spiti open? page shows the latest official notice or news report for each road, with its date and source, and the date we last looked for a newer one. Mountain roads change by the hour: always check locally on the day.
Dates and updates
Each page shows when it was last checked. Month pages are re-checked every year before that month comes round, and the year in their titles is updated. The road tracker is updated whenever a new order or report comes out.
Photos
Most photos are the family's own. Where we don't have one, we use photos from Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licences, credited under the photo and on the photo credits page.
Independence
Spiti Villa is our hotel, and Himalayan Brothers trips are our family's. We say so wherever we mention them. We don't take payment to mention other businesses, and we don't mark up ratings as review stars.
Corrections
If something is wrong or out of date, tell us at spitivillakaza@gmail.com or on WhatsApp at +91 75600 39999. We check it and fix the page, and the last-checked date changes with it.