The World¡¯s Highest Post Office Is Not In Hikkim In Lahaul & Spiti And Here's Why That Is

The first time I posted a proud picture of me at Khardung La - ¡°The World¡¯s Highest Motorable Road¡± - a friend commented on it saying, ¡°FYI- Mana pass at 18, 399 Feet is the highest Motorable Road in the World.¡±

I was pissed off and was on the verge on unfriending him. But I did a quick background check and found out that it was indeed true! Contrary to general public belief, local signs, countless websites and social media posts, the fact was that the World's Highest Motorable Road Pass was NOT Khardung La at (17,582 Feet).

And now I was in a similar situation.

Like many of you, and for the longest time I believed the board hanging outside the Post Office at Hikkim, which read, ¡°The World¡¯s Highest Post Office - 4440m (14, 567 Feet).¡±

Then one day, I came face to face with a Post Office at 17,060 Feet or 5200m.

Like many of you, and for the longest time I believed the board hanging outside the Post Office at Hikkim, which read, ¡°The World¡¯s Highest Post Office - 4440m (14, 567 Feet).¡±

The Hikkim post office which is located in the Lahaul Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh has been functioning from November 5, 1983 and is run by the postmaster Rinchen Chhering. Reaching this post office is a back breaking journey and considering the remoteness of this village, one can only imagine how difficult it is to send out the post from here.

As I understood from the locals, mails are sent on foot from Hikkim to Kaza every morning, which is then taken to Reckong Peo by bus, onward to Shimla, then loaded on a train to Kalka, and loaded again on a bus heading to Delhi. From there the mails make their journey towards its destination.

I was impressed by the whole process and after I got back from Hikkim, life went on as usual until a few months back.

Kept on my office desk was a postcard with a BIG White Mountain. I flipped it around and saw that it was addressed to me and was WRITTEN by me!

It was then that memories of a frightfully cold morning began to dawn on me.

More than two years back, on October 3rd, 2014, I stood writing this postcard with shivering fingers and chattering teeth at 17,060 feet. I was standing outside a flimsy green tent which said, ¡°Welcome to the Qomolangma Base Camp Postal Service, 5200m¡±.

Known as Qomolangma by the Tibetian, Sagarmatha by the Nepalis and Everest by the rest of the world, here I was at the Everest Base Camp in Tibet!

More than two years back, on October 3rd, 2014, I stood writing this postcard with shivering fingers and chattering teeth at 17,060 feet. I was standing outside a flimsy green tent which said, ¡°Welcome to the Qomolangma Base Camp Postal Service, 5200m¡±.

Definitely not as pretty as the Hikkim Post Office, this one barely even looked like one! At that time, the Everest Base Camp post office had only three officials, the director, the comprehensive official and the courier. But considering the fact that it is located at 17,060 Feet and endures the harshest of the climate, I reluctantly gave it some credit.

The conditions here are extreme which forces this postal base to operate for approximately seven months in a year. Set up in 2008, the branch is used by the visitors for posting cards to friends and family members and also used by the locals of the nearest settlement. Despite it not being a permanent structure, the China Post Office at EBC, located at an elevation of 17,060 Feet is reputed as the World¡¯s Highest Post Office.

Soon afterwards I got back to India, got busy with life and forgot about the postcard from Everest.

That is, until now.

More than two years later, the postcard had travelled from the ¡®Roof of the World¡¯ to the ¡®Indian Subcontinent¡¯. From 17,060 Feet to 45 Feet above sea level. Across mountains ranges, across countries, across hands, across various modes of transport probably.

The arduous journey of the postcard was testimony to the fact that the post office at the Everest Base Camp did work. And even though the EBC postal base isn¡¯t a permanent structure, it is the highest and does what it is supposed to.

It did take more than two years to reach, but then, Tibet to Mumbai is a long journey.

And even though the EBC postal base isn¡¯t a permanent structure, it is the highest and does what it is supposed to.

Therefore, contrary to general public belief, local signs, countless websites and social media posts, the fact still remains that the World's Highest Post Office is NOT Hikkim.