Meet the world’s highest post office, situated at an altitude of over 4,400metres (almost 15,000feet) in the small village of Hikkim, India’s Spiti valley [OC]
This occurs because as per Indian Government rules every district MUST have a post office hence there are post offices in the middle of lakes and on the top of the world!!
Never heard about a post office being situated in nonsensical places like that. This post office also fulfills a real need since it’s situated in a village with 100+ inhabitants and has, as far as i know, nothing to do with the “every district needs a post office”-requirement since there are like 7 bigger towns/villages in this specific district, all with their own post office.
okay but that's literally Srinagar, they can absolutely build it on land. you worded it as if there's a situation like spiti where they have to go out of their way to have it in the middle of a lake
I work for India Post so I think I can clarify this. It is true that every district in India has Post Offices. But those are what's called the Head Post Offices, of which some larger districts can have more than one. Now, every major city and towns in that district also has Post Offices, and just like HPOs, there can be multiple of them in the same city if it is larger. These are called Sub Post Offices, which are subordinate to their respective Head Post Offices. These are completely government run establishment, and come under the Central Government, which is like the Federal Government equivalent in India. Now, Hikkim is what's known as a Branch Post Office. These are built to provide last mile connectivity to remote villages. You will find Branch Offices like these is every few villages in India. These are not completely government run establishments though, these are government aided. So that's why you find Post Offices in such remote areas of India. This is the reason why India has the largest Postal Network in the world.
Edit: Indian Post Offices also double as Banks for. Thus, even the remotest villages get access to government run financial services through these Post Offices!
judging by the notes in the window it's closed, how annoying to climb 15,000 feet to post a letter and then see 'short staffed, open monday' or whatever.
I am not sure how many locals use it, but there was a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge queue of visitors! It's nice to know that postcard-sending is still a thing - it has died out in much of the world.
Hikkim, Komic, Chicham bridge, Dhankar and Key monastery have become the standard stops on every domestic tourist tour group itinerary so are overcrowded by default… leaving relatively isolated villages like Tashigang and Demul and all the more remote natural wonders for the rest of us:)
This the highest one year around. When I was the Everest Basecamp in Tibet they had one over there at 5300 meters. They only operate in the summer though.
Yes? Even higher altitudes aren’t always snowcovered. Anyway, what are you even trying to argue when a simple google search about this place proves you blatantly wrong.
Nono i just think it is weird. But i know it can be like this. For my europeen point of view : high = cold = snow. But it is funny that some places as high as mont blanc dont get as much snow
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u/No_Willingness_8750 22h ago
Went on my honeymoon to Spiti 10 years ago. Sent a postcard to my wife from this post office. ❤️