Happy Yatara!
Trip Start
Aug 03, 2007
1
3
10
Trip End
Oct 18, 2007
Leh,
India
Sunday, August 26, 2007
We have heard the horrors stories of biking in India. Lots of traffic, lots of noise, lots of people. Thankfully Kashmir isn't much like the rest of India. This is part of the reason we came up here. Of course there is traffic and of course they drive like maniacs, but not nearly to the extent we saw around Delhi. In fact, the trucks are down right civil; giving us space and rarely honking. The fancy SUV drivers up from Delhi are the ones who rarely break and almost always blare their horn. We bicycle by a ton of people but not as many as we have seen in other countries, Malawi for example. Also, we're not so much the "animals in the zoo" here. They might watch us go by or say hello, but we don't attract the crowds. Thank goodness, I was never a fan of that.
The Army is continuously on the move up here. Trains of 3-30 trucks go by multiple times a day. We were very close to the "Line of control" which was drawn by the UN and neither India nor Pakistan recognizes it as an official border. What that meant for us was the army kept taking down our passport number and asking where we were going. Once we got away from that line in the sand we found the army over near Leh worried about the Tibet (China) line in the sand. They sure are a busy group of people.
We got to go over three passes on our way to Leh. Zoji La (11,650ft) (La = pass) was the water shed between lush green Kashmir and dry tan Ladak. It was much like crossing Snoqualmie Pass. The last 10km was quite steep and not paved so pushing the bikes up that tried the patience. Thankfully our next pass Namika La (12,800ft) wasn't as steep and it was paved. Finally Fotu La (13,500ft) dropped us into Lamayuru where there is a very pretty Gompa (Buddhist Monastery) which looks like it was built from the rock it sits on. In fact, a lot of their buildings over here blend in well with nature, Frank Lloyd Wright would be proud.
The people living around here are already getting ready for winter. They are collecting wood and hay and are already harvesting their wheat crop. The road we are biking on is only open three months a year due to the snow and they have one month left. Of course most of what we're biking through is a desert so I wouldn't think they'd have much snow anyway. Speaking of desert- for living in one they sure have the irrigation system down. They dig channels from the rivers to the various fields. By moving rocks around in the moats they flood individual fields. Who needs fancy gate valves!
Two more days of bumping along brought us up to Leh. We had a good time relaxing and enjoying the colorful town of Leh. There seem to be prayer flags flapping in the wind everywhere. There are more Gompa's dotting the hills and a palace overlooking the city. People over here have more Asian facial features which I assume is because of the overwhelming large population of Tibetan refugees.
For bragging rights we spent one day slugging up 6,000ft to Khardung La (18,380ft) the highest motorable pass in the world. Like everything that says it's the best, there are people who challenge that. But anyway, it was right there and we figures since we were checking off passes in India might as well add that to the list. For those of us who spend each night in a new hotel (of sorts) it's very nice to take a day trip. You already know where you're sleeping and (if the electricity is working) there's a hot shower. The ride provided nice views back down into the Leh valley. The road service was very nice (except for the top 10km) so riding down was a ton of fun.
So, after kicking around Leh for a few days we're heading south down to Manali. We've seen a few other bicyclists here who have come up from Manali, so we know it can be done. However, their bikes weigh about 30kg ours weigh about 50kg. Oh well, more cookies for us!.
Kashmir's side
Comments
Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday, Gretchen. I wish I could bring you a chocolate cake. Hope your birthday is full of mountains, cute animals and lots of hugs from Matt.
Love you, always, Mom