Day 17 - Delhi

Our 4 herores completed the famed Kardon LA, tge highest motorable road in the world at 5,359 metres (17,680 ft) claiming it to be one hell of a tough ride !

Despite being up to 5,328 metres at Tanlangla this cycle involved 42 kms of straight climbing starting in Leh for a breathtaking gain of 1,900 meters.

Times from the 4 varied from 3 3/4 to 5 1/2 hours all pretty damned good considering the last 15 kms were completely off road on rock and gravel.

The descent claimed two of the 4 riders when first of all Danish Mike tried to jump a ditch at speed that came out into his riding line causing his tyre to burst and him to come off his bike - thankfully shaken and not too badly hurt.

Dr Geoff also came off in sand on one of the bitumen corners on the long descent and also thankfully only ended up with grazes and small cuts.

While the four were doing themselves proud the rest of the group were doing some last minute walking around town and taking in the more interesting sites including the monastery and palace that serves as a backdrop to the city.

We departed from Leh the morning after on different flights through some of the strictest security procedures imaginable given the issues in Kashmir and nearby Pakistan.

This gave us a final look at the stunning Himalayas around Ladahk.

Arrival Delhi was a different world, hot' humid and a sea off humanity with people competing for living space everywhere !

Traffic here can be horrendous battling with the cities 20 million inhabitants. Not too comforting also is the fact that Indian has the highest road fatality rate in the world !

We had one final dinner at the amazing Indian Imperial hotel a setting of opulent Raj splendour where our total dinner bill was (I'm told) enough to feed a family of 4 for 1 year - embarrassing but nice !

So after nearly 4 months in the saddle and a fabulous Indian adventure now completed it is time to head home and dream of the next one !

See you in Melbourne !

Days 15/16 Leh

An official rest day before the battled hardended cyclists of the group Dr Geoff (Aussie), Danish Mike, Naveen (Indian guide), Ian (Scottish now Aussie citizen) and Glen (English) tackle the world famous Kardong La Pass at 5,359 meters reportedly the highest motorable pass in the world !

Leh the former capital of Ladahk owes its history to being a central staging point on a former major trade route between Tibet and Kashmir.

Effectively sitting in a dry dust bowl surrounded by towering snow capped Mtns Leh is also a major motor cycle destination for enthusiasts tackling the famous Leh - Manali route the same one we did by bicycle.

Hired Royal Enfield's with their distinctive sound ply this 600 km stunning route although our experience in passing a no. broken down out in the middle of nowhere was that it might be a better idea to stick to a group tour !

The township of Leh is predictably dry hot and dusty with little rain at this time of the year. Cars and motorcycles ply the small streets using their horns incessantly to inform others of a) being on the wrong side of the road b) I'm not going to stop c) I'm turning left or right or sometimes both at once d) I don't care if you are a pedestrian and there is no footpath get out of my way !

The street shops all come with portable generators to deal with the towns regular load shedding (euphimism for regular daily power cuts!)! Hawkers try to sell the shirt off their own backs, gutters are open and often filled with rubbish, cows wander trying to any greenery in this greg coloured area and hundreds of unkept dogs scrounge a living as best as they can do !

So in short not too different to many an Asian town in poorer parts of the sub continent !

On a positive note the town though is overlooked by a beautifully situated palace and monastery and does have a number of good cafes, restaurants and so called German bakeries

For some of the group including self its just a matter of winding down after a tremendously strenuous trip.

Our previous evening saw the presentation of the groups cycling shirts depicting the route taken as a fitting momento.

Tonight sees a final celebration with the group parting ways most going back to Delhi for a day or Two before flying home.

All in all an amazing trip and many hours of video editing to be done !

Day 14 - Leh - 3,500 meters - 70 kms !

We left our well situated campsite for our last day of cycling on this amazing Manali - Leh route.

The day got off to a flying start with a magnificent 20 km downhill ride weaving its wave through a rocky river gorge.

Only 5 minutes in at speed i heard what I took to be a mechanical sound and began to slow down just before my tyre blew out causing a rifle shot effect to echo through the gorge making Danish Mike ( just in front of me) think that he was the target for some local terrorist group.

Thankfully Mike did ride back and kept me company while we waited for the support vehicle to catch up and replace both tyre and tube both with gaping holes !

Back on the bike we're caught up with the rest of the group who had waited further down the river and from there we cycled more sedately until we reached the junction of the mighty Hindus river.

Here the scenery changed dramatically to much wider plateaus and much drier areas other than directly around the river itself which provided a striking contrast between its green banks and the desert like surrounds.

Our riding now became undulating meaning some pretty steep small tiring hills mixed with flatter sections as we moved closer to Leh.

This part of India and Kashmir / Ladahk showed signs of recent troubles with a number of huge army bases (with dangerous and difficult to see speed humps) providing a rapid response potential to India's troubled border regions including territory disputed with China in the Ladahk region.

The area also serves as home to many displaced Tibetans and some of these towns and nearby temples are part of a curent visit by the Dalai Lama much to the annoyance of China, his first visit to this area in nearly 30 years.

We took lunch near the impressive Potala like structure of Tiskay afterwards setting off for the final 20 kms of our journey.

The landscape now becomes almost totally desert like, a sign of so little rain in these areas.

Rounding one corner the group came to am emergency stop as some of the front cyclists, our silver haired smoothies', spied 3 Polish damsels in distress, one with her chain jammed around the derailleur !

Naveen and Raju came to the rescue much to the girls thanks and we were on our way again this time on a final 3-4 km enerfgy sapping climb to the outskirts of Leh.

Entry to this dusty / desert looking town was by way of a busy roundabout and having negotiated it was a final push uphill to reach our hotel amidst much backslapping and handshakes to celebrate am amazing and incredibly tiring bike ride from Manali to Leh !

Our hotel although basic was like a god send providing for warm showers, normal toilets, Wi-Fi (although irregular) and the ability to have our dirt stained clothes washed.

It was time to crash !

Once revived we met up for dinner and attended an outdoor performance in the hotel grounds by a Ladahki cultural troupe of performers and dancers who played traditional instruments and danced wearing traditional costumes.

One dance had the front grow packing' as the warrior looking performers drew their bows and appeared to release their arrows directly at us causing a few to nearly fall of their seats !.

What a welcome to such a different culture and a great way to celebrate our fantastic achievement !

Day 13 - Rumpste - 3,700 meters - 58 kms !

Our penultimate day of cycling and what a day it was to be crossing the Tanglangla pass at 5,328 meters or an incredible 17,582 feet, supposedly the 2nd highest motorable road in the world !

The day at least started in sunshine as we first took a desert like track to link up with the bitumen near Debring .

A 15 km rides followed through magic valley scenery with nothing but an occasional yak herd or an occasional tea place for company. This was so looking like the Tibet I cycled in 2010 !

Now came the mother' of all challenges ! To tackle the Tanglangla Pass we had a 20 km climb mainly on off road surfaces gaining over 700 meters taking us literally to breathtaking heights at 5,328 meters nearly 200 meters higher than our campsite near the Everest base camp !

For self it was 3 hours of focus and pain - at times barely seeming to move as the affects of altitude became more pronounced ! The only difference with this pass ride was that you could actually see the finish line in the distance a huge motivator until you got swept down one of the roads side branches having to climb another 2-3 kms to get back !

With some back up from our support crew e.g. bananas, water & encouragement I was able to just keep the pedals moving finally reaching the highest point I have cycled to anywhere in the world after some 3 hours of arduous riding

The rest of our group although tired seemed to have had few problems so after a few celebration photo shots it was time to descend !

The descent was another story ranking highly as one of the most amazing downhill rides you are likely to do anywhere in the world !

The series of beautiful bitumen switchbacks took us down 1,200 meters of altitude as we pedalled downhill for nearly 30 kms !

The last few kms to our campsite at Numpste took us into an entirely different world, timeless rock formations, irrigated land near the river, stupas (religious monuments) at every turn and a land and people that bore much resemblance to Tibet !

Our campsite at 3,700 meters had finally taken us away from the rigours and cold of altitude and allowed us to settle back and have a few beers later on in the night celebrating with our support crew and those not making the journey into Leh !

Only 1 more cycling day to go !

Day 11 - Debring - 4,700 meters - 74 kms !

A pretty cold night sheltered between two mountain ranges at Whiskey Nullah had most reaching for their season rated sleeping bags to ensure a tolerable nights sleep !

This trip feels at times like groundhog day - go to sleep, tackle a really tough climb at altitiude and do it all again the day after - this day was no different !

By the time we were ready to hit the road just after 8.00a.m. the sun had at least made an appearance taking the early chill out of the air !

Our climb this morning was for a 400 meter gain over 8 kms of switchbacks competing with trucks and another cycling groupe although a few of them obviously affected by altitude's were simply being trucked to the top !

After yesterdays extended rest I was feeling a tad better improving my average climbing speed from 6 km/hr to about 6.5 !

Thankfully while long the switchbacks weren't all that steep !

Having ascended to 5,100 meters we then descended through an amazing rocky landscape with absolutely stunning views on every corner of this tightly walled valley.

The technical descent on rocky roads added to the wildness of the area and a last descent from the pass gave fantastic views as well as some nerve wracking glimpses looking over the edge !

Having reassembled, Aussie Geoff repeated the prior misfortune of Scottish Pete by stepping in a tar pool and had to painstakingly remove debris to allow him to cleat back up. These tar pools are everywhere as a result of left over bitumen from barrels left mostly buried by road workers many who live by the side of the road in tents permanently maintaining the mountain roads on behalf of the border regional authority

Riding to Pang a lonely outpost, we took lunch before our 2nd climb for the day 400 metres back to 4,900 meters again on switchbacks !

The group paused on the top to let a storm and strong winds go by before adopting almost peletonic precision as the 8 of us cycled this time on near perfect bitumen for a good 35 kms to lunch by the roadside !

All good things come to an end and so did the road with the next section dirt and rutted similar to painful memories of Tibet !

We arrived at our campsite on the wide open plains near Debring and a nearby salt lake and took stock of our days effort over not too cold a beer planning to do it all over again tomorrow !

Day 11 - Whiskey Nullah - 4,800 meters - 64 kms !

Hardly a protein' of energy left after a really tough day I was able to pull the sleeping bag roll out to use as a pillow, grab a jumper to keep warm and immediately fell asleep I was trashed after day 11 !

The day started well enough with a 30 km down hill ride past amazing valley scenery with the landscape looking like it was part of Gods' initial playground !

The good news was that we'd dropped 600 meters in altitude the bad news was that our two following climbs over the next 20+ kms were going to take us back up to just short of 5,000 metres.

The first of those climbs was the stunning Gata Loop 21 switchbacks over 8 kms for a 400 meter gain in altitude.

Each loop sat right on top of the other with some short and others long and most having a steep off road pinch at the end of each switchback.

While most of the team did well it was a slow grind for me with altitude again kicking in. Never the less after 1 1/4 hours I finally made it up for fine views of the valleys and loops below.

After a drink it was straight into our 2nd climb. A bit longer and a bit rougher than the first as we closed in on the 5,000 meter mark. I thought about joining Alan in the support bus but just had enough energy to make the pass although all the climbing and altitude was beginning to take its effect - headache, blocked nose, nausea, stomach acid - the lot !

The descent following to Whiskey Nullar a former road camp that built some of these so called roads, was in a rocky dirt roads that did little for my headache !.

We had lunch at the bottom cycled another 1 km to camp with tomorrow's Mtn climb staring us right in the fave !

As mentioned aboved I crashed Imediately upon reaching my tent and was later visited by the groups Dr as a precaution. His provision off a myriad of tablets and some 3 hours of sleep helped no end !

Another hard effort but a spectacular days ride !

Day 10 - Rest day Sarchu ! 4,200 meters !

A much needed rest day in a fairly isolated area provided a great incentive to do nothing as there was nothing to do !

With a pretty hot morning reading was the go while late afternoon most of us had re-energised enough to eat chips and drink beet while watching an approaching storm in true Raj" style !

A marathon card game of 500 ended just after the tents generator shut down for the night sending us to bed all set to hop back on the bikes for some more daunting climbing !