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Cycling in Central Asia, Cycling the Himalayas, Cycling in North India, Cycling in Nepal
Cycling the Leh to Manali Highway
Contrasting landscapes, starting with stunning Ladakhi villages and white washed mountain clinging Gompas and culminating in the luscious alpine descent into Kullu valley. The route lies mostly above 4500m with very tough and challenging climbs including the mighty 5300m Taglang La. It's the classic Himalaya route that every tour cyclist wants notched on their bed post.
Day 1 - Leh - Rumptse (84km)
Tis a stunning first day's ride out of Leh with flat and quiet roads, desert landscapes with wonderful sandy mountain backdrops and snowy peaks. Holy white washed buddhist Gompas straddling the hillsides watching over the shanti little Ladakhi villages - it's no wonder we passed a large Bollywood film set during our days ride. It's just a few km outside Leh before you feel lost in time in the little sweet gompa village of Shey. Just 7km further on and the village of Thiksey has an impressively sprawling Gompa (bottom left pic) . There's a guesthouse opposite making it a shanti place to stay for a day or two and explore the Gompa. Karu (after 35km) or Upshi make good food stops but not the most attractive option for sleeping as they are basically just truck stops. At Upshi, the road forks, take the right (lower road). As you leave Upshi the road begins to climb and it was here that we experienced a convoy of trucks heading into Upshi as we left, but the road soon becomes quiet again as it follows the blue Gya river through narrow valleys with large dramatic mountain crags which eventually give way to more desert and colourful mountains. The valley opens up into a display of subsistance farming at the picturesque village of Muri. Just beyond Muri, after 75km is tiny Lato, a great place to stop, consisting of a handful of houses, two home stays and a few paid camping spots in beautiful surroundings. It's another 9km of gentle uphill to Rumptse with impossibly colourful desert mountains and some mountains resembling the hide of an elephant or rhino. There are guesthouses and places to eat, although only one parachute tent was doing food when we arrived. Lato makes a much nicer stop but we favoured Rumptse for it's higher altitude, and stayed in the home stay which is the last building on the right as you leave the village. Very cosy place with lots of floor matresses, but next to a bus/truck stop means it's not so quiet.
Day 2 - Rumptse - Taglang La - Tso Kar Lake (58km)
From Rumptse it's a magnificent 27km of slight uphill, on a remote, silent (apart from Shepherds and their impossibly agile goats) meandering wide valley road, passing a Police Check before reaching the switchbacks: All 22km of them: Sun cream on, ipod on, drink, sweet in mouth - go! It was a typical switchback climb, slow but possible, the only difference to other switchbacks we'd done is that we could see that you got a real sense of the altitude; we were as high as the peaks of adjacent mountains and clouds seemed like halo's literally just above us. With 12km until the top the altitude was beginning to take it's toll, i guess we were at 4900/5000m at that point. Breathing had to be deep with concentration. Ian was in front and handling the altitude well although not enjoying the cliff edge switchbacks. At 7.5k from the top, I (Toby) was having problems:
pins and needles from toes to knees, pains in my back and my heart racing for the first time this entire journey. it was racing as if I had sprinted 400m...this is fine for a minute or so, but it would take me another 1 or 1.5 hrs to the top and i couldn't possibly imagine how my heart could cope with that!!? Just under 6km to go i got off the bike in a bad way. I got myself in the position which is best for heart attacks (on arse with knees bent towards the chest) and just stared at the ground focusing on breathing. My legs were jelly, i was dizzy, my neck was very stiff, it felt like it was cramping, i had trouble moving it...no longer was i looking up and marvelling at the scenery. After about 15mins of concentrated breathing, i struggled back onto the bike, like a wounded cowboy, like in the movies when a cowboy is wounded, gets flung onto a horse, slumps over the horses head and the horse bolts - this was me, but the horse wasn't bolting, i was slowly pedalling. At this point it was mental torture, i had demons dancing all around me, i was in a dark place, my ego was torn apart, i was physically and mentally very weak, insignificant, a fool. I felt like a boxer who has been pumelled, is totally disorientated and the referee has stopped the fight but the boxer wants to continue even though the boxer hardly knows where he is. I had synched my bicycle computer with the road signs so i knew when we would hit the top, but the road signs are often inaccurate (the mile stones are better but they had vanished), so when my bicycle computer signalled we were just about to hit the top as we turned a corner, i was devastated to see the road switched back yet again, around a basin, following the mountain side all the way along and out ofsight!? What little morale or energy i had - deserted me.
I managed bit further and got off the bike, again panting like a dog in the sun for air. Ian could see the top about a km away and offered to push my bike up there...but like the fighter that doesn't want to give up even though he is beaten, i got back on the bike and struggled up to the summit. Ian was about 30m ahead and as he hit the summit i could hear some foreign motorcyclists give him a big cheer, and at that point i could've burst into tears, but i guess there was a shred of ego left as i wouldn't allow myself that tearful relief. I got to the top, put my bike down and didn't move for 5 mins. Ian had handled the climb much better, less affected by the altitude. It's a fantastic pass though, and what an achievement, man defeats mountain. There's no chai stall at the pass. We didn't hang around, keen to drop in altitude. We hoped for a free wheeling descent as a reward for our efforts, but unfortunately, the road on the descent was atrocious, bone shaking loose scree that had to be done with great concentration and slowly so as not to slide or split a tyre. What we'd hoped would be a 30kmph descent was in fact about 10/11kmph. The occasional truck or speeding jeep would pass us leaving us in a thick choking cloud of dust.
After 17km of descent, the rough road enters the plains where the temporary restaurants and parachute tents of Debring can offer a refillable thali plate for 35Rps! A further 2km from Debring are two more parachute tents on the left side and just past them, a narrow road heads into the desert plains - this road takes you to Tso Kar lake, mostly newly asphalt with a bit of sandy off road to get to the lake...or if you continue on the main road from those two parachute tents, 2km further and there is a left turn which is a much shorter route to Tso Kar but it's all sandy off road...still it's a better and more thrilling option. As we cycled to Tso Kar, the sun was sinking and the sunlight cast on the sandy mountains was breath taking (bottom right pic). The actual camp site by the lake is disappointing though, and some of the canvas tents ridiculously expensive, try and avoid it and camp elsewhere, or use the parachute tent at the camp site for 150Rps.
Day 3 - Tso Kar - Morei Plains - Pang (50km)
We cycled back through the sandy desert to the small asphalt road which takes us back to the main road and a parachute tent where we grab a chai and coffee. The main road was poor loose scree, quite a bone shaker, but it only lasts 5km before the road becomes newly laid asphalt, so new, only one half of the road was done - and before you know it you are cycling the atmospheric, enigmatic, moody Morei Plains (bottom left pic), probably the jewel of this route. It's an expansive and windy plateau covered in yellow and green shrubs, with the road cutting through the middle and smooth mountains all around the panoramic horizon. The weather changes dramatically here, while we were cycling across the plains we had blue skies, rain, blue skies, snow and always moody looking storm clouds looming ahead in the distance. The road descends slightly during the first half of the plains before ascending after the half way point. The road seems to go on and on in this expansive environment, and you have to stop every now and again to take in the humbling majesty of the place. The road eventually swings to the left where the mountains (on the right side) seem to trick the eye with a psychedelic colour and pattern. At the end of the plains on the left side is a breath taking water hewn canyon (bottom right pic). It's a stunning view from here back across the plains from where we cycled. From here the road leaves the plains clinging to the edge of the canyon and descends in glorified desert switchbacks to the military base and truck stop of Pang. It's a good stopping point due to the stunning desert valley and numerous friendly and comfortable parachute tents in which to stay for 100Rps. It seems to be quite a popular place as we met other cyclists (with support vehicles) and motorcylists here.
Day 4 - Pang - Sarchu (84km)
Stunning desert scenery cycling out of Pang (bottom left pic view of Pang) and we passed a golden natural arch of rock next to a bridge over a little glacial river where we had a freezing body wash before climbing a few switchbacks and then it's a meandering 17km slow climb on 50% road and 50% off road, up to a very windy and panoramic Lachulung La. No issues with the altitude this time, 5065m, perhaps because we took it easy and we'd now had a few days at altitude. When we got to the top, a solo Austrian guy was pushing his bike up towards us, he had a good 30km on the back of his bike!! The road doesn't improve on the descent to Whisky Nallah, still half of it off road. Whisky Nallah is a deep basin with mountains all around, the only way is up on either side. We felt it had a bit of an isolated and eerie atmosphere, however, the one parachute tent with a few beds has a friendly old couple cooking up a basic thali plate. It was so windy we decided not to hang around, a quick chai and then we pedalled our way out of the basin to Nakeela La pass, 4740m. It's a merciful pass in this direction with only 150m of switchbacks to the peak; which we would've done in one go had Ian's saddle post not comically slipped to his frame! Then it's a long and meandering decent over mountain tops at high altitude on narrow, mostly tarmac roads that often cling to the mountains edge with gaping abyss like drop offs whose bottom you can't see. It's a dramatic and humbling ride that needs to be done with great care. After about 45mins of traversing the mountain tops we reached the top of the Gato loops. The scenery is one of the highlights of this route: The loops, long sweeping switchbacks dropping down the mountain side to a valley bottom which has a large rough river that heads off down the valley drawing your eye with it. Our timing wasn't great, just as we were taking in the scene we noticed that a convoy of trucks were heading up the loops. Although the road is better here, it's quite narrow in places and the idea of zooming down the loops with big trucks ploughing towards us didn't fill us with joy, so most of the descent was a case of zoom, pull over, zoom, pull over. It took a good 30mins to descend the loops to the valley floor. It would make good camping here on the river's bank, however, we had a thali plate in mind and thus decided to cycle on to Sarchu. It's slightly uphill, a climb of 200m over 23km. The road follows the river and actually heads away from Sarchu in order to reach a bridge crossing at the narrowest point of the river before you then head back along the other side of the river to reach Sarchu. We were already tired after two passes and the taxing Gato loop desecnt, to make things worse a cruel headwind made the last 23km even more painful for our tired legs. When we eventually got to Sarchu, I (Toby) was in a bit of a state, the last bit of the journey had sapped all my strength and my body was buzzing with pins and needles. We hadn't eaten well, only a small breakfast and a few nuts and dried fruit on one of the toughest cycling days to date. A chai and thali plate recharged our batteries. Sarchu consists of two rows of colourful corrugated iron sheds: Some were restaurants and some were cosy dormitories, big enough to wheel the bikes into, a snip at 150Rps. A further km along the road, and over a bridge stands several large canvas tents which are mostly used by tour groups as a stop off on the way from Manali to Leh; as Sarchu is rougly the half way point. Having had a tough day's cycling and arriving late in the day, we stayed in Sarchu the next day to rest, eat and read.
Day 5 - Sarchu - Jispa (82km)
It was a cold early morning start with some iced puddles as we left Sarchu, crossing the bridge and passing the canvas tents. At first it's picturesque, cycling through the middle of the valley, but as you get towards the end of the valley and start to climb, it's like cycling through an endless desolate quarry, with bleak grey and dark rocks piled everywhere, utterly inhospitable without a trace of life or blade of grass. The travellers stop of Bharatpur is a welcome site in all this gloomy scenery. It's a unique place with almost designer buildings lined on both sides with clean comfy rock beds. The unique bit is that the roofs of the buildings have translucent blue tinted windows so that when you are inside, everything has a blue hue. All the places cook up thali plates and also sell snacks and even woolly hats and socks. From Bharatpur it's 5.5km to Lachalung La pass 5056m. It's a rough ride generally and very steep in places and the pass itself is signified by a zillion prayer flags - so many that the pass marker is completely covered by fluttering flags. The descent is quick on mostly excellent new tarmac all the way to Patseo. As you zoom down the switchbacks, you pass the higher 'Zing Zing bar' which is possible to stay and feed. Further down is another 'Zing Zing bar' but this is basically a military base; as is Patseo. At Patseo, having dropped altitude, the environment is much greener and once you cross over the Patseo bridge you're on a cliff hanging road above a verdant valley all the way to Darcha. The wind was getting up making us a little nervy on the cliff edge roads. From Patseo the road descends, then climbs a little before descending again, and getting increasingly dusty the closer we rode to Darcha. Instead of heading into Darcha the road hairpins and takes you down towards the valley floor and across a bridge to the opposite mountain side. Here the road is good tarmac and we noticed the different landscape: Much greener with more trees - as we made the easy gentle descent 7.5km from the bridge to Jispa: A pretty little place with some fantastic old rock houses topped with ricks of straw, a disproportionately large Temple (to the Dalai Lama) and a few over priced guesthouses. We stayed at Padma Guesthouse for 1000Rps, but got a dose of telly for that!
Day 6 - Jispa - Gramphoo (84km)
It's a pretty road climbing out of Jispa (bottom left pic) and onto Keylong, the first few km is rough but then it's undulating good tarmac. Keylong has a lot of character; perched and sprawling as it is across the mountain side. There's plenty of guesthosues and places to eat in this friendly place. Onward, and it's mostly downhill to rough looking Thandi. In Thandi you cross the bridge and then take the road that passes the Indian Oil petrol station. It's then a climb with switchbacks to Gondola (where you can get a chai) and then mostly descent to Sissu; which has three hotels but nothing was open (mid september): The village had an odd deserted feel to it. It's then mostly tarmac and ascent to Koksar, but the closer you get to Koksar the more the road deteriorates as it crosses the green, and very wet, valley floor; thanks to the many nallahs. Koksar is a passport check point and truck stop. It seemed friendly enough with several dhabas in which you can have cheap eats and sleep. From here the road is atrocious, very muddy with deep grooves from the trucks and jeeps. It's a bumpy ride on switchbacks all the way to cold and grim Gramphoo. Gramphoo is a tiny truck stop. The lower part has a few buildings but the higher part consists of two rock restaurants with very basic small rock huts and beds (bottom right pic): in fact it's like sleeping in a coal bunker, but it's warm enough and protected us from the elements. No toilets or even buckets of water, just a hose. While we stopped to have a thali plate some drunken Indians pulled up in their jeep, enjoyed the sounds of their own slurring voices before zooming off: utterly stupid and suicidal on these dangerous roads.
Day 7 - Gramphoo - Old Manali (60km)
It's a climb up to the Rohtong La Pass 3978m, which roughly translated is: 'Piles of corpses pass'. It's all switchbacks with bits of tarmac, uneven, bumpy and in places, very muddy: No wonder there are so many Bihari road workers here. It's a climb of 7.5km but feels more like 10+ and there's an increase of traffic - Indian tourists, based in Manali, take a day trip to the top of the pass and beyond. We passed a Bollywood film set just a few km from the top of the pass, and 2km from the top, merciful quality asphalt appears and kept us company to the pass. The pass is busy with Indian tourists who travel up by jeep, then park about 500m from the pass, they are then bundled onto donkeys which take them to the top - Horrendous tourism. Overall it's a truly magnificent descent, one of the best. There's more traffic though, on mostly good asphalt, but with small rough sections here and there with scores of Bihari road workers at their endless task of road repairs. The view down into Kullu Valley is breathtaking and the more we dropped in altitude the greener the environment, with Poplars, luscious shrubs and honey suckle and the air rich with smells: Floral scents, firs and cows! Goats roam around, horses graze, cows chill out in packs in the middle of the road and vultures circle overhead. It was a real assault on the senses, a striking contrast from the desolate, inhospitable, rocky or desert landscape we had cycled through. Eventually we reached civilization and passed the ever growing village of Vashisht, crossing the bridge over the river into New Manali before making our way uphill into the more shanti and backpacker mecca of old Manali. We stayed right at the very top of old Manali, which avoids the main backpacker drag; passing the Manu Temple to eventually arrive at R.K Guesthouse. The owner was a bit annoying, a young guy who thought he was the dude, but was in fact a stoner twat, but he's harmless and it's only 200Rps for a large room with bathroom and with absolutely astounding views across to Vashist or down Kullu Valley across Manali and beyond: You'd be hard pushed to find anywhere in Old Manali with better views.
