Tour De Leh

“Out of the city and over the hill,
Into the spaces where Time stands still,
Under the tall trees, touching old wood,
Taking the way where warriors once stood;
Crossing the little bridge, losing my way,
But finding a friendly place where I can stay.
Those were the days, friend..”

                                                       - Ruskin Bond 
 

Leh-Manali route is a 479km long highway connecting Himachal Pradesh and the Jammu & Kashmir. Border Roads Organization (BRO), Indian army has skillfully designed it and laid tarmac over this treacherous terrain. The route is very popular among the bulleters community. Only a handful of people choose to cycle down the ‘baap’ of all road trips in India.  The journey takes you through 5 high altitude passes, barren lands, beautiful plateaus, and twisted roads in the cold Himalayan desert. 

            There’s so much information about this journey out there in the web – the harsh terrains, uncertainties and the challenges, high altitude and thin air, the AMS fear, bad roads and crazy ups and downs. You don’t need to be an athlete to complete this journey ;) But with some preparations, one can do it with fun!  We started little weekend rides out of the city, started frequent jogging. There was excitement, a little fear, a few unanswered questions... But we had the courage to face it all, the mind was all set for a lifetime ride!  

It’s courage, not luck, that takes us through to the end of the road

The basecamp was located between Kullu and Manali, 20 kms after Kullu. 3 batches of cyclists, each batch containing ~50 people were part of this journey. People from different states, different ages and from all walks of life were there. A young man in his late 50’s was here to take a ride for the second time.  The spirits were high and the mountain madness was buzzing! The plan was to have a day gap between each batch. Each batch contains 2 YHAI camp leaders who will cycle along, support staff carrying water and the repair stuff, backup vehicle which carries the backpacks, a doctor and an ambulance with oxygen cylinders and other basic stuff to handle emergency.  Once the last batch left a campsite, the support staff packs up the tent, moves ahead and sets up everything again. YHAI had setup everything very beautifully, all we had to do was just peddle ;)  

And we were immediately put to test as we started our journey.  It was an all 48-km-uphill-ride. There were rains in the night. During the day sun was hiding behind and it was cold. As the day progressed, rain clouds had engulfed us and the visibility had dropped to ~10-20 meters. And it started raining. The slow drizzle was steadily increasing.  Stopping and taking a break was not an option as the wet clothes and the cold was killing.  Riding ahead was also tough as the uphill were never ending and we had been riding for more than 6 hours already.  Reaching the campsite was the only thing on mind. Slowly, steadily we ended our first day ride at Marhi, 14kms before Rohtang.  Next day was no different. It was foggy and drizzling from the beginning.  Only hope was that there was downhill after the pass. Though the distance was small, altitude was slowing us down.  Downhill ride was not easy either.  After rohtang, two things vanished: Tourist crowd and the road!  Controlling the speed at the downhill and avoiding the potholes and boulders kept us awake! 

Road to Rohtang 

     As we continued the journey onto the rain-shadow areas, sun started coming out.  The valleys were brimming with the greenery. Snow melt water was feeding into the smaller tributaries.  Less people, small and neat villages, empty roads that opened up into the vast stretches of isolation amused us. Ups and downs, roads and bone shattering off roads, sunburns, wind, roar of the river and the strange mountain silences brought the calmness.  We slowed down and pedaled to the melodious rhythm of the mountains.

Many a times we had nothing but a river besides us and miles and miles of open roads ahead of us. We crossed multiple streams and rivers throughout this journey, including Beas, Chandra, Bhaga/Chenab and the mighty Indus and numerous tiny tributaries.  We had the luxury of camping in some beautiful locations. At Sissu, a huge waterfall was plunging into the Chandra River. Next to the river was this beautiful woods, a lake and we camped right next to the river listening to the thunder of the waterfall.  At Rumtse, the campsite was right in the middle of the super green fields, stark contrast to the dry, barren mountains.  This was not the case in many places.  We had to stay at places of altitude of around 4000m in the middle of nowhere.  Water was scarce while the wind, cold was in abundance.

There are a number of small army settlements in this highway. Convoy movements, supply trucks are a common sight.   Whenever we saw a convoy, we used to stop, gave them a salute! Army men would smile and wave back at us.  Most of the bullet riders gave thumbs up whenever they passed us! Once a bullet rider stopped near us, he was tired after the long ride and it was hard for him to believe that we were cycling the same route! He exclaimed “Arey yaar, I am struggling with my bullet, How you guys are managing in cycle?! “ One other time, 2 families from UP were travelling in jeep, stopped at us. They gave us the energy drinks, chocolates and some celebrity status ;) In return, they took selfies on cycle ;) Some of these incidents gave us the goosebumps and the others made us laugh and keep going! We were our own heroes! :) 

 At times, you will be riding alone for miles without seeing a single vehicle! It’s like riding through some alien planet. Occasional burst of bullets, or a fellow cyclist pedaling somewhere in the next bend brings back you to earth!  There are 5 mountain passes in the journey.  Passing the passes is a tricky thing.  As the altitude increases, the oxygen level comes down and the body is prone to the AMS attack. Smallest of activities like walking a few steps seems awkward and demands a lot of breath cycles.  Even if the destination is in sight, it needs a lot of pedaling to reach.   The ride in the ghost haunted Gata loops and the Nakee la needs special mentioning here.   
 

Gata loops, a series of 21 hairpin bends, which takes us 1500 feet higher in about 10 kms.   There’s not a single sign of civilization in the entire ride. There’s hardly any vegetation, no sources of water. It takes a huge effort to reach the gata loops top and seeing the end makes you jump in joy. But the real task is to continue and cross the Nakee la.  Most of the energy was gone during the Gata loops climb. Water bottles were almost empty.  The packed food in the backpack was cold. But there was no option, we ate a little of it, started climbing again. Pass was nowhere in the scene and the water reserves were over.  We stopped couple of bullet riders and asked water, but they didn’t have it.  Tired and helpless, we were pushing ourselves. Fortunately, we got help from a Temp traveler. Refilling that water bottles gave some confidence. Almost immediately, YHAI backup vehicle reached us and told us that the campsite is very close! With some more push, we ended our ride at Whiskey Nalah, where the next pass Lachung la was scaring at us! 

And of course the highest of all, the Tanglang la pass, world’s second highest motorable road at the altitude of 17800 ft, gives us the final test.  Keeping the rhythm was a crucial thing that kept us going. That and a lot of endurance! ‘Keep pedaling and we will definitely reach’ - this was the mantra taught to us in the base camp and we followed it religiously. The sight of the Tanglang la is something that we will not forget for many many days. It was an unbelievable achievement for most of us :)  Out of the 53 people who started, around 40 people made it to Leh.

         Every trip to the mountains makes us richer with more stories, more friends and new experiences, new perspectives that changes the way we live! This trip is no exception. Be it the conversations over the Ginger lemon chai and the hot maggy, or the numb legs while crossing the cold mountain streams- when popped up in the mind , will surely bring a smile in the faces! Insane blue skies, scattered clouds that wanders aimlessly, ever changing landscapes and the cloudscapes, bright sun that burns the skin, cold wind that breaks the bone, vast stretches of isolation, deep river gorges and in the midst of all – the tall mighty Himalayan peaks that keeps calling!  Can you ever satisfy the wanderlust and overcome the mountain madness?  I have satisfied them, at least for now ;)