Today, our last full day in Leh, was spent doing a cycle from the top of the highest motorable road in the world to Leh below – a descent of over two kilometres, straight down. It was really insane stuff; definitely one of the best experiences of the trip! We headed up at ten or eleven with a bunch of Israeli tourists in a bus and we watched Leh slip behind and below us.
The trip up held some amazing sights. It wasn’t long before the “motorable” roads became pretty treacherous and the snow began to drift in! It’s amazing the difference the altitude – I know it’s two kilometres in the air, but you forget what it’s going to do to you; the snowdrift got thicker and thicker as we went up and up and when we finally climbed out after several false alarms on the way when we were sure we could go no further, the air was impossibly thin! It wasn’t VERY difficult to breathe but you certainly notice the change it makes. It’s really only a problem if you want to do anything that requires a bit more oxygen than normal; otherwise you’re fine – but if you try to run, or climb, or pretty much any of the things you’re likely to be doing on a mountain-side that high up, you’d better get yourself on O2 tank!
Also, it was freezing. We were very lightly equipped, not really knowing what to expect. I guess we should’ve put two and two together and realised that if Leh is 3500 metres in the air, then going up another 2000 is definitely going to have some effects. The snow and the air was so, so cold! We were at a base with a kitchen where they sold us hot, syrupy tea, but they hadn’t even bothered trying to heat it to any degree; the most it did was keep the wind off. We were all terrified! It would’ve been treacherous to cycle down from there – it was treacherous going in the bus, but I guess we didn’t have another choice except to walk, and all we wanted to do was get down out of the snow – so we hopped back in the bus and headed on down.
It took about five or ten minutes to get out of the snow cloud, and once we were able t see more than ten feet in front of our faces, we decided it was doable! We got our bikes and our helmets and after a brief safety talk started scooting on down.
For the first part of the descent, there was no real road to go on – just a dirt track, so we followed that. It was hard to enjoy the first part because, while it was no longer a blizzard, it was still pretty damn cold and our hands were numb with it. Anyone who cycles to college during the winter like I do at home, you’ll know the feeling – it hurts, quite a lot! It’s that aching behind your fingernails – your thumb is the first to go and then the rest of your hand just collapses into a state of non-circulation as your body tries to draw all your blood into your core to stop you going into shock. It’s pretty painful!
After an hour or two, it started to get very enjoyable. The sun was once again out and the more we went down, the warmer it became. Also, a tarmac road appeared about halfway. By the last seven or eight kilometres, we were having the time of our lives, scooting around the mountain bends in the sun and the warmth! It was really fantastic, and the entire thing was downhill, which meant it required precious little effort on our part. It also got better as we went along because of the views – it became easier to look up once in a while once we hit the road and weren’t encircled by a cloud of blizzard. The Himalayas – as always – are breathtaking. You may have seen the photos I posted yesterday – here are the ones from the cycle, in case you missed them.
5600 metres up…
Me in my fabulous cycling gear, looking all adventure-loving and ballsy. Go Team Fabulous.
One of the views from the bottom, looking back…
And the panorama…
That’s Dan on the left. Hey, Dan!
This one is just to show you how desert-like the Himalayas are – when they’re not covered in snow, of course. It’s pretty arid and barren – the view was spectacular, though.
We cycled back to the shop where we began – grumbling about the tiniest of uphills on the way that would’ve meant nothing to us in another situation – and collapsed when we got in the door. It was surprisingly exhausting, but in the best possible way. I’d do it again in a heartbeat – but next time I’d bring gloves!
The Sisterhood of the Travelling Bantz 