17,580 ft! Taglang La, the highest pass we'll be doing with our bicycles fully loaded. That's a good thing because it's quite difficult to peddle or push 50kg of bike and gear up any sort of hill, much less at that elevation. The day we did this pass we climbed 4000ft over 40km and it pretty much took us the entire day. Not only is it physically hard to bike up something like that but it is also mentally hard to be grinding at 6km all day without going bonkers. At any rate, we got up and over and thankfully found a clear water source about 10km down the other side to camp at as the full moon rose.
Heading south from Leh towards Manali is still a desert. Because it's a desert, no one lives here. There are a few people but they are mostly running the parachute tent rest stops. Those rest stops spring up when the road opens in mid June and the tents all come down mid September when the snow flys. (The only way to Leh from Sept-June is airplane.) The parachute tents serve decent food and I was pleasantly surprised how quiet they were when we wanted to sleep. Our fellow guests were the truckers and since driving on these roads is hard work no matter what your mode of transport, those drivers wanted a good nights sleep as well. The distance between Leh and Manali is 485 km but the trucks take two days to drive it. The super fast (and super rude) SUV drivers can push it in 14hrs, so that should give you an idea of just how bad these roads are.
This time we got to go over four passes which made our first three look like kindergarten. The first one was Taglang La (17,580ft) which I already talked about. I'm glad we did it and I'm glad it's over because it hurt.
The second one was Lachlung La (16,600ft) which had the delightful feature of having a 800ft drop from the summit then straight back up 600ft. But, the road up to Lachlung was really pretty, winding our way through the Gorges of Pang (Pain?), watching the sun playing with angles and colorful rocks. Unfortunately, we didn't find a clear water source to camp at that night, so we pulled into a parachute tent about an hour after dark. Actually, I'm pretty proud of ourselves that we have only done that twice now - biked in the dark. It's hard to plan each day to land in a spot where you can sleep.
Three was Baralacha La (16,200ft) which is when we started to see more green scruffy bushes and we crossed a cultural line. People on the other side of the pass started to speak to us in Hindu instead of Tibetan. So, maybe the people who work up here for the summer come from the Manali side instead of the Leh side?
Four was Rohtang La (13,050ft) which had a delightful fall of 6,000ft into Manali. That pass was another major water shead. This side is quite green, Olympic peninsula green. This is also where a lot of Indian tourist come and play in the snow. There was even one tiny patch still around for them to pose for pictures on. So, we're starting to see a lot more people and traffic now, maybe we'll get a taste of the population density as we head on to Dehra Dun!
While taking a rest day in the middle of all of this, I found out that my Grandmother had passed away on August 30th. Before we left the states back in January, she was already starting to wind down, mostly just of general old age. I am grateful that my parents have decided to hold off on the memorial service until Matt and I return from our trip in November. It is very patient that they wait; thank you Mom and Dad! Among other memories, I will think of my Grandmother waiting at the window for our family to arrive for visits. As far back as I can remember I could see her smiling face in the window as we'd pull up. The permanence of that chair by the window makes me believe that my Grandma spent a bit of time there, watching the world go by. Now that she is gone, I would like to think she's with those who love and remember her; she is now with us, watching our worlds go by.
We're now enjoying the coffee and chocolate chip cookies of Manali getting ready to head off to Dehra Dun! Should we take the main highway, with lots of trucks and cars, or the roads less traveled who's conditions could be sketchy?
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