Well after Marijke was reading some funny stories of a ciclist , who cicled in India, we where a little bit more convinced that our decision of quiting our "India cycling Tour" was the right one.
INDIA = I Never Do It Again
No offenses.
Anyway, we met two days ago a couple of cyclist from France, very nice people, the cycled from China on a tandem bycicle, they suffered but they are doing very well, Yoyo (Johan) is very experience cyclist and Andoline, first time, but very brave. They are doing very well. Today they left for Leh, they will do the 5 passes! afetr that they are going to visit Alchi and Lamayuru, then back home after 11 months of adventure!
Congartulations friends, Marijke and I wish you the best and a safe journey. See you in France!
Au Vento!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
A sad decision
After doing a trekking, the hampta Pass trekking in 4 days, we decide that we wanted to go to Tailand as soon as we can, we want climbing!
The Hampta Pass is 4 127 metres, we hiked on two beautiful valleys, always acompained by sheperds, amazing how these people move from one valley to another, many times on steep snow patches, crossing rivers on top of humungus snow bridges, with goats and sheeps. Definetly nice experience. What need to be improved is the way to do the things here, the company we hired was ok, but they definetly need to improved service, food, logistics and transportation.
Finally I decided to sell my bicycle, the decision of ending our cycling trip was taken, so I found a buyer, yesterday I sold my beautiful bicycle to an Indian guy, who, I assume will apreciate that bicycle. So my bicycle will stay in India, in this beautiful location call Manali.
Thanks to my two wheel lady for the nice moments on the road and be with me all the time. Definetly a sad decision.
The Hampta Pass is 4 127 metres, we hiked on two beautiful valleys, always acompained by sheperds, amazing how these people move from one valley to another, many times on steep snow patches, crossing rivers on top of humungus snow bridges, with goats and sheeps. Definetly nice experience. What need to be improved is the way to do the things here, the company we hired was ok, but they definetly need to improved service, food, logistics and transportation.
Finally I decided to sell my bicycle, the decision of ending our cycling trip was taken, so I found a buyer, yesterday I sold my beautiful bicycle to an Indian guy, who, I assume will apreciate that bicycle. So my bicycle will stay in India, in this beautiful location call Manali.
Thanks to my two wheel lady for the nice moments on the road and be with me all the time. Definetly a sad decision.
Leh - Manali road
After the bad night we had at Korzak, camping area, at Tso Moriri, we decided to take off from that area next morning as early as we can, trying to get a lift from somebody. A group of indian tourist, very nicley, offer us to take us back to Leh.
On our arrival to Leh we decide to go to a nice Guest House call, Oriental Guest House, excellent place to chill out, but we decided to "fly away" from Leh ASAP,to manali, 480kms away, went to the agency of friends, Discovery ladakh, the good energy was with us, we'd got a jeep with three canadians, super cheap. The trip? 18 hours my friends, crossing 5 passes, one with more than 5000 metres, was nice and spectacular at the beggining, but when as we reached the Rhotang la (Pass) near Manali, big traffic of trucks, fog, bad road codition and very danegrous, with part of the road almost falling apart, so I can imagine how bicycling this road would be, We calculate, 10 to 12 days to climb all 5 passes, but no guaranty that we can complete all of the road because of the conditions of the road. More than one time the road was under a river.
So basically that was the end of our bicycle trip. As we reached Manali we decide to take it easy, do some trekking, climbing etc... we are doing that right now!
On our arrival to Leh we decide to go to a nice Guest House call, Oriental Guest House, excellent place to chill out, but we decided to "fly away" from Leh ASAP,to manali, 480kms away, went to the agency of friends, Discovery ladakh, the good energy was with us, we'd got a jeep with three canadians, super cheap. The trip? 18 hours my friends, crossing 5 passes, one with more than 5000 metres, was nice and spectacular at the beggining, but when as we reached the Rhotang la (Pass) near Manali, big traffic of trucks, fog, bad road codition and very danegrous, with part of the road almost falling apart, so I can imagine how bicycling this road would be, We calculate, 10 to 12 days to climb all 5 passes, but no guaranty that we can complete all of the road because of the conditions of the road. More than one time the road was under a river.
So basically that was the end of our bicycle trip. As we reached Manali we decide to take it easy, do some trekking, climbing etc... we are doing that right now!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
This picture my friends it's from one of the many Boat Houses on Dal Lake in Srinagar, where we started our cycling journey.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
The adventure Continued
We said goodbye to Kargil at 730am, our next destination would be Mulbek, a small village, like many. That day we cycled like 54 kms. we decide to get a good place to pitch our tent, after looking for 30 minutes without success, we decide to ask at the police station if we could set our tent nearby. After 15 minutes they decide that we could pitch the tent infront of their main office. So it be. Marijke that day started to be ill on her stomach very badly, next day se was in bad shape, we spend all day at that location waiting for her to be recovered. On the third day we hired a Jeep to take us to Lamayuru, 60k aprox. away from Mulbek, Marijke was'nt in good shape to cycle 60kms that day.
Lamayuru it's a small village, beautiful, with one of the most beautiful and well conserved Monasteries in Ladakh. We decide to spend two days there visiting the place, talking to the people, resting and eating well. Marijke was ready to cycle again...
We left Lamayuru at 7am that day, I forgot to tell that the day after we met 5 polish cycling on the opposite direction, that means towards Kargil, but they where cycling very light, spending nights at guest houses and hotels and eating at restaurants, they didn't have much time. So our next destination would be Alchi, another nice old town, with beautiful Monasteries, but honestly, the poeple there it wasn't as friendly as in other places, don't missunderstand me, they are nice in general, but we felt that we where the foreigners came from Mars, etc.. strange feeling, our bycicles recall more the people attention, so after lunch we decide to camp out of town, next to the exit road (Alchi is located 4 kms out of the main road to Leh).
Alchi - Leh, very nice trip, but really long, beautiful canyons,peaks everywhere, like almost all the trip so far. The arrival at Leh was not that good, uphill full of smoking trucks, people, dirty place, so we where desperately looking for the "nice"down town, no info at any place.... we were tired and really wanted toget a place to stay. Finally we reached a place owned by muslims, was OK, we spend in Leh 4 days, trying to combine something, like rock climbing and mountaineering, but really, sometimes this people don't have any sense of good service or just service, so we decide to quit to our attempt to do something through an aganecy, we took our bikes and cycled to the Tso Moriri lake, 220 kms away from Leh.
We started biking from Upshi, a small village 60 kms away from Leh, on that way we avoid the trucks and crowds on the road. By the way, 19 kms from Leh there is very nice village call Tikse, with its monastery and old town, really worth it to visited.
Upshi - nowhere Near Kiari. 56kms
Kiari - Sumdo, few kms, after this beautiful small village, on which Tibetan refugges lived. Since we haven't had enough food that morning, our stomachs, at least mine, needed food, so we take the dirty road to Sumdo, looking for a small store or something, after buying some biscuits and noodles, we ask where we could have some chai, "At school" the woman said, so we went there... sorprise! the teachers, specially two of them recieved us in very good english, offered us chai, wheat, then ask for a donation, for the school on which there ar 63 tibetan refugee kids, we geve them some money and then they invite us to see some handicraft stuff, we spend like 1 hour at their room watching nice things, and be offered tibetan tea, butter, milk and salt, we drank like 1 liter each, at least we felt that, we eat tibetan homemade bread, was nice and of course we boughtb few things... we said goodbye and thanks for everything. Our next destination Tso Moriri. This day we cycled 60 or more kms. reaching 4900 metres, the altitude level of the lake.
Marijke had headache for the last 3 -4 hours, we had a regular night.
The lake is amazing, along the way we photographed marmots, yaks, hinalayan horses, wild ass, etc... beautiful and quite place.
Lamayuru it's a small village, beautiful, with one of the most beautiful and well conserved Monasteries in Ladakh. We decide to spend two days there visiting the place, talking to the people, resting and eating well. Marijke was ready to cycle again...
We left Lamayuru at 7am that day, I forgot to tell that the day after we met 5 polish cycling on the opposite direction, that means towards Kargil, but they where cycling very light, spending nights at guest houses and hotels and eating at restaurants, they didn't have much time. So our next destination would be Alchi, another nice old town, with beautiful Monasteries, but honestly, the poeple there it wasn't as friendly as in other places, don't missunderstand me, they are nice in general, but we felt that we where the foreigners came from Mars, etc.. strange feeling, our bycicles recall more the people attention, so after lunch we decide to camp out of town, next to the exit road (Alchi is located 4 kms out of the main road to Leh).
Alchi - Leh, very nice trip, but really long, beautiful canyons,peaks everywhere, like almost all the trip so far. The arrival at Leh was not that good, uphill full of smoking trucks, people, dirty place, so we where desperately looking for the "nice"down town, no info at any place.... we were tired and really wanted toget a place to stay. Finally we reached a place owned by muslims, was OK, we spend in Leh 4 days, trying to combine something, like rock climbing and mountaineering, but really, sometimes this people don't have any sense of good service or just service, so we decide to quit to our attempt to do something through an aganecy, we took our bikes and cycled to the Tso Moriri lake, 220 kms away from Leh.
We started biking from Upshi, a small village 60 kms away from Leh, on that way we avoid the trucks and crowds on the road. By the way, 19 kms from Leh there is very nice village call Tikse, with its monastery and old town, really worth it to visited.
Upshi - nowhere Near Kiari. 56kms
Kiari - Sumdo, few kms, after this beautiful small village, on which Tibetan refugges lived. Since we haven't had enough food that morning, our stomachs, at least mine, needed food, so we take the dirty road to Sumdo, looking for a small store or something, after buying some biscuits and noodles, we ask where we could have some chai, "At school" the woman said, so we went there... sorprise! the teachers, specially two of them recieved us in very good english, offered us chai, wheat, then ask for a donation, for the school on which there ar 63 tibetan refugee kids, we geve them some money and then they invite us to see some handicraft stuff, we spend like 1 hour at their room watching nice things, and be offered tibetan tea, butter, milk and salt, we drank like 1 liter each, at least we felt that, we eat tibetan homemade bread, was nice and of course we boughtb few things... we said goodbye and thanks for everything. Our next destination Tso Moriri. This day we cycled 60 or more kms. reaching 4900 metres, the altitude level of the lake.
Marijke had headache for the last 3 -4 hours, we had a regular night.
The lake is amazing, along the way we photographed marmots, yaks, hinalayan horses, wild ass, etc... beautiful and quite place.
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