Hikkim — World's Highest Post Office

Hikkim is a small Spitian village in the high desert above Kaza, roughly 16 km off the main road and sitting at around 4,400 metres. There are about a hundred residents, a few stone houses, barley fields, and a single low building with a faded blue board outside that reads "Post Office Hikkim". That post office is why almost everyone comes up here. It has been functional since 1983, run for most of those years by the same postmaster, Rinchen Chhering, who became something of a folk figure for handling mail at altitude that most courier services would refuse to touch. India Post operates it as a regular branch office, so the postcard you stamp here moves through the same network that delivers mail anywhere else in the country, just slower. A card sent from Hikkim can take anywhere from one week to a month to reach an Indian address. Foreign destinations take longer, occasionally much longer. Honestly, the visit itself is short. You drive up, stamp a few postcards, take a photo with the board, maybe sit for a cup of tea at the small cafe across the path, and move on to Komic or back to Kaza. The reason it feels worth the detour is partly the post office and partly the drive itself, which loops you through some of the highest inhabited country in India. Treat it as a 30 to 45 minute stop, not a destination, and the place delivers exactly what it promises.