After a night in the hotel (with brekkie in bed!) we hit the road again. A beautiful sunny day. I had the solar panel tied on to the back rack to maximise the charging power for the camera batteries that night. The Sunday traffic was generally light and many of the locals were out doing the washing. Boys from the road crew camps were everywhere either washing themselves or hanging their cleaned clothing on any available space - usually the safety railings on the side on the road. Namaste was the word of welcome as we passed by. Many Nepalis were part of the road crews.
Several big river crossings broke boredom of the dusty rock strewn surfaces we faced most of the day. Several large convoys of Indian Army trucks passed in the opposite direction - returning empty to that big supply depot somewhere south?? I laughed to myself wondering how many Made in China items the Indians move up here.
As the morning disappeared the road became sealed and we entered the township of Jispa. A young guy was out riding his bike and stopped to chat. He was the local post master and invited us home for a cuppa. The cuppa lead to lunch and lunch lead to an overnight stay.Gailchhen , his brother and mother were just so welcoming. We toured the family farm, shared photos and we were just so fortunate to have a window into local life. I asked Gailchhen if he invited strangers home very often and he recounted a story from 6 years ago when a Bollywood star stayed the night. So Prue and Ian from Wangaratta were up there in the Jispa social stakes! Guess what we had for lunch? Yes the old D and R! Preparing dinner involved Prue and G's mum cutting up vegetables on the front verandah and G's brother Tanzin making chappatis. I took the opportunity to wash the bikes and lube the chains. The next morning Mum (55 year old - so bonded well with Prue) was up at 5:30am and off to work in the fields. We had a leisurely brekkie with the boys and after photos headed north again. We both couldn't believe our luck at meeting Gailchhen on his Sunday day off.
As the morning worn on the weather deteriorated. A very deep waterfall crossing didn't help. By 1:00pm we reached a remote parachute tent cafe. A young couple with a 1 1/2 year old had taken up residence the day before. A bowl of two minute noodles and vegies went down well. Our bike mojo (mascot) - a stuffed kangaroo came out and entertained the baby for 30 minutes. When we left, the kangaroo had a new owner. It rained most of the afternoon and a soggy pair finally arrived at the the foot of our next big pass at another parachute cafe in the Zingzingbar area. A warm night was had but we had a lot of wet clothing with no chance of drying it.
The next morning snow was falling and we both decided that what laid ahead was quite dangerous with our lack of back up warm clothes.
At this point of the blog Christos Milliankos needs to look away.
Christos bussed the Manali - Leh Highway several years ago. He said to us " There is no way you will be able to cycle all the way. I'll bet a bottle of Moet on it." A handshake sealed the bet.
If anyone sees Moet on special between now and when we get back, please buy a bottle for me to give to Christos.
In the snowfall I organised a lift up the hill in a diesel carrier. A roof box over the cabin was ideal for our bikes and panniers.
We left at 8:00am
An hour and a half up the road we came to a stand still. A "roll over" in front of us caused the problem.
4:00pm we were on the move again.
Half an hour later at the top of the pass (4500metres) we came to a complete standstill again as about 100 trucks created a traffic jam. Think Mt Hotham around Mt Blowhard. A snow tunnel 2 metres high. Everytime a truck moved another truck moved into the space until no-one could go anywhere. No shovels No chains and No one going anywhere! Our driver shugged his shoulders, cooked up a meal in the cabin and settled down for the night. I scrambled up on top to get our sleeping bags and the three of us had a very cosy night. I drew the short straw sharing space with the gear stick.
The next morning nothing happened until 10ish when someone managed to orchestrate a move that unlocked the puzzle. A very rushed descent had Prue and I a little worried. The driver relaxed with smoke filled with some Kashmiri hashish. We filled him up with some chai and an omlette at the first parachute tent we came to. Just down the road a major bridge was out. We had already had to rearrange steel plates on another bridge. But this one was suffering sub-structure issues. We sat in the truck for an hour and a half while BRO road crews fixed the problems. Finally Sarchu - the agreed drop off point, came into view. The rain and cold snap at Sarchu lead us to re-negotiate a new drop off at Pang. We arrived at 7:00pm. What was to be a two hour tour ( as per Gilligan's Island for all of you Baby Boomers) turned into a 35 hour cabin fever inducing 110kms.
Clean the crystal Christos.
Photo album can be viewed at http://picasaweb.google.com/106588479237837990839
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Blog 1 The Journey to Leh
We arrived in Dehli late on the 29th of June and slept in the new Domestic Airport awaiting our 6:30am flight to Kullu. The clouds withheld the views until we were ten minutes out of Kullu. The excitment grew as we could see the foothills of the Indian Himalaya and the amazing landuse. A quick trek up from the airport to the main road and we were lifting our bike bags onto the top of a local bus heading for Manali - an hour and a half away. The traffic was hectic to say the least and I wished our bikes were fitted with massive air horns for when we were to join the throng the next day.
Manali is the Bright (NE Victoria) of the Himachal x 100. Thousands of Indian tourists and a few westerners. A $12.50 a night hotel was comfortable and had plenty of balcony space for putting the bikes together. We had already sent extra clothing over to Leh with Barb and John Griffiths from Wang and now realised we still had too much gear to to cycle over the second highest road in the world with. A trip to the P.O. was required. How long did it take? Post your guesses and the nearest answer will receive a year's supply of Dahl and Rice.
Steps.
1 Find the P.O.
2. Be there at the right time
3. Follow all the rules
4. Box the goods (We were ahead here as we brought over an Aust. P.O. 5 Kg box as padding for the bikes and in anticipation of the Manali job.
5. Take your box to a Tailor.
6. Find a Tailor. The tailor sews a tight fitting cover of cheese cloth, hand sews the last edge and then drips wax over the sewing at 5 cm intervals.
7. Back to the P.O. (No they weren't closed for lunch)
8. Stand in Queue. Get annoyed as locals push in.
9. Finally - label check and pay the rupees.
A quick lunch and then on to the bikes.
The ride up to our first pass (Rotang 3978 metres) was a quick reality check. Why didn't all the proposed training eventuate?
The early stages of the highway were lined with ski hire and ski clothing outlets. Shacks, sheds, tents - all displaying their Shop Number. I have a couple of photos to sent up to Ray's Ski Hire at Myrtleford. Pete and Kylie - the closest tele gear I could make out was an old set of alpine skis with only the front binding screwed in! Cars were flying past with skis hanging out the windows,
The next concern which would be a problem for the next 12 days was the diesel bletching trucks and buses. The Manali - Leh Highway is only open for 3 -4 months and was late to open this year. It is a strategic route for the Indian Arny to restock their offensive against the Pakistanis and the Chinese ( $1,000,000 US/ day since 1988 - that's a lot of rupees!) It is also the restocking route for diesel for industry in Leh and for the Air Flights in and out. Consequently the road can be very congested and not a good place for two cyclists in their 50's needing clean functioning sets of lungs.
Those who have ridden with me on long rides will know I'm a dreadful cramper - its in the genes as my sisters will attest to. I have now had international cramps!
We finally pulled into a road workers' camp half way up at Gulaba. Initially the workers didn't want us to stay but we charmed our way in. Within minutes we had an audience watch as we unpacked, put up the tent and generally got organised. The brave on-lookers had a ride on the bikes and I was quickly challenged to play volleyball. Two hot black teas appeared for and gradually the crowd thinned and went about cooking their own dinner. We walked back down the hill 200 metres to a food stall for an omlette and chai.
We woke to the audience again! We packed up and headed back up the hill.
The day traffic of tourists heading up to the snow was incredible. Every so often a car would stop for a photo shoot with the cyclists. Lots of " Do you know Ricky Ponting?" "Have you ridden all the the way from Australia?" and of course " Do you know my brother. He lives in Canberra?" Everyone was very very friendly. Plenty of young bucks who wanted to sit on our bikes and have their snap taken - we should have charged 20 rupees a pop. Finally reached the top late in the afternoon. The resort area everyone was heading to was not a pretty sight. Late spring snow, big carparks, stalls selling everything an Indian tourist wants. The most interesting thing for me was the equivalent of a "Towies" cricket match happening in a carpark. Very passionate and very skillful.
Over the top of the pass. Warmer clothes put on and we headed down 30 or so switchbacks. Road conditions were mixed. Full on streams, boulders, mud - all in poor light. Finally we camped on a sloping meadow between switchbacks. A herd of wild horses kept us company. Chocolate and sweet biscuits for dinner and a few cramps before sleep!
Day Three we cruised down to Koksan for brekkie and a passport check.
Our destination for the night was Keylong. A very hot day and again, challenging road conditions. You name it and we had it today. Rocks, stones, dust and big creek crossings. Prue is getting very confident at powering through the water, although one required a shoes and socks off and a bike carry. Everyone we pass greets us with a "Jullay"
First flat tyre on Prue's bike. It took so long to pump up the new tube at altitude. Later on when we were crawling up the highest pass all I could think about was how we would inflate a tube if we had to.
Keylong came into view and we booked into a hotel for the night. The wash in a bucket was so good. Two Indians motor-cycling the route were great company. One had completed his Masters at Monash several years ago. We strolled down to the lower town to an up-market guest house for dinner and FIFA match on the big screen. What a day of contrasts.
Photo album can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/106588479237837990839
Manali is the Bright (NE Victoria) of the Himachal x 100. Thousands of Indian tourists and a few westerners. A $12.50 a night hotel was comfortable and had plenty of balcony space for putting the bikes together. We had already sent extra clothing over to Leh with Barb and John Griffiths from Wang and now realised we still had too much gear to to cycle over the second highest road in the world with. A trip to the P.O. was required. How long did it take? Post your guesses and the nearest answer will receive a year's supply of Dahl and Rice.
Steps.
1 Find the P.O.
2. Be there at the right time
3. Follow all the rules
4. Box the goods (We were ahead here as we brought over an Aust. P.O. 5 Kg box as padding for the bikes and in anticipation of the Manali job.
5. Take your box to a Tailor.
6. Find a Tailor. The tailor sews a tight fitting cover of cheese cloth, hand sews the last edge and then drips wax over the sewing at 5 cm intervals.
7. Back to the P.O. (No they weren't closed for lunch)
8. Stand in Queue. Get annoyed as locals push in.
9. Finally - label check and pay the rupees.
A quick lunch and then on to the bikes.
The ride up to our first pass (Rotang 3978 metres) was a quick reality check. Why didn't all the proposed training eventuate?
The early stages of the highway were lined with ski hire and ski clothing outlets. Shacks, sheds, tents - all displaying their Shop Number. I have a couple of photos to sent up to Ray's Ski Hire at Myrtleford. Pete and Kylie - the closest tele gear I could make out was an old set of alpine skis with only the front binding screwed in! Cars were flying past with skis hanging out the windows,
The next concern which would be a problem for the next 12 days was the diesel bletching trucks and buses. The Manali - Leh Highway is only open for 3 -4 months and was late to open this year. It is a strategic route for the Indian Arny to restock their offensive against the Pakistanis and the Chinese ( $1,000,000 US/ day since 1988 - that's a lot of rupees!) It is also the restocking route for diesel for industry in Leh and for the Air Flights in and out. Consequently the road can be very congested and not a good place for two cyclists in their 50's needing clean functioning sets of lungs.
Those who have ridden with me on long rides will know I'm a dreadful cramper - its in the genes as my sisters will attest to. I have now had international cramps!
We finally pulled into a road workers' camp half way up at Gulaba. Initially the workers didn't want us to stay but we charmed our way in. Within minutes we had an audience watch as we unpacked, put up the tent and generally got organised. The brave on-lookers had a ride on the bikes and I was quickly challenged to play volleyball. Two hot black teas appeared for and gradually the crowd thinned and went about cooking their own dinner. We walked back down the hill 200 metres to a food stall for an omlette and chai.
We woke to the audience again! We packed up and headed back up the hill.
The day traffic of tourists heading up to the snow was incredible. Every so often a car would stop for a photo shoot with the cyclists. Lots of " Do you know Ricky Ponting?" "Have you ridden all the the way from Australia?" and of course " Do you know my brother. He lives in Canberra?" Everyone was very very friendly. Plenty of young bucks who wanted to sit on our bikes and have their snap taken - we should have charged 20 rupees a pop. Finally reached the top late in the afternoon. The resort area everyone was heading to was not a pretty sight. Late spring snow, big carparks, stalls selling everything an Indian tourist wants. The most interesting thing for me was the equivalent of a "Towies" cricket match happening in a carpark. Very passionate and very skillful.
Over the top of the pass. Warmer clothes put on and we headed down 30 or so switchbacks. Road conditions were mixed. Full on streams, boulders, mud - all in poor light. Finally we camped on a sloping meadow between switchbacks. A herd of wild horses kept us company. Chocolate and sweet biscuits for dinner and a few cramps before sleep!
Day Three we cruised down to Koksan for brekkie and a passport check.
Our destination for the night was Keylong. A very hot day and again, challenging road conditions. You name it and we had it today. Rocks, stones, dust and big creek crossings. Prue is getting very confident at powering through the water, although one required a shoes and socks off and a bike carry. Everyone we pass greets us with a "Jullay"
First flat tyre on Prue's bike. It took so long to pump up the new tube at altitude. Later on when we were crawling up the highest pass all I could think about was how we would inflate a tube if we had to.
Keylong came into view and we booked into a hotel for the night. The wash in a bucket was so good. Two Indians motor-cycling the route were great company. One had completed his Masters at Monash several years ago. We strolled down to the lower town to an up-market guest house for dinner and FIFA match on the big screen. What a day of contrasts.
Photo album can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/106588479237837990839
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