Day1 through Day 3
Day 1 September 7th, 2014 Manali to Marrhi(1900m – 3303m) After a very nice few days in Manali, we head off!
The first day is said to be the roughest and it is further said that those who complete it are most likely going to re-think their resolve to complete the entire route. It is a whole day of riding uphill with nothing but a 50 metre reprieve of flat cycling! Circumstance had us cycling this route in September which is said to be the best month, unfortunately the monsoon season was not yet over so we experienced some rain. The real challenge though lay with the amount of gear I was carrying. I was told it was wise to carry a tent and camping equipment as there was a possibility to be caught in between sleeping places. This extra gear added considerable weight to the essentials I was already carrying and after even just a few kilometres, I got a little grumpy at my slow pace and the work it took to get myself up the steady incline.
We did finally make it to our destination of Marrhi, dead tired but very glad to have bagged one of the only accomodation places in the ramshackle little town. We stayed the night in the dilapidated Government building that is used to house officials that come to ‘town’. It seemed though that not even officials stayed there too often! It was a little rough! Despite this, we were happy to have a roof over our head and a sit down toilet! We were allotted an ice cold bucket of water for cleaning and toilet use and were given a warning that if it rains heavily… the roof leaks right over the beds! Well, it rained heavily that night without either of us realizing and the roof leaked right over Heather’s bed! Her sleeping bag was soaked but it didn’t seem to have bothered her sleep!
For this ‘luxury’ we paid 1,000 rupees! Dinner at the Snow Lion Restaurant was very basic. I went for my default safe food of tomato soup and rice from the not very large menu selection. The plentiful food choices we enjoyed in Manali were now a thing of the past. From here on we would be offered a breakfast of bread omelet or perhaps the odd porridge, and a lunch and dinner of Thali… the perennial Indian meal of dahl, mixed veg, chapati and rice. If lucky maybe chow mien or a bowl of Thukpa, the Tibetan version of noodle soup. The higher in altitude we got, the smaller the menu got. But thankfully everywhere we went, there was always a hot cup of chai waiting for us! Day one was over!! We had made it through the toughest day of the entire route… and with two fully loaded bicycles. We walked back to the Government house in the chill of the night happy with our accomplishment. Though not too thrilled that we would be carrying so much gear the rest of the way. Wait.. Heather’s load was manageable so I was solely unthrilled! Soooo much gear. What was I thinking?! Day 1 Photo Gallery
Day 2 September 8th, 2014 Marrhi (3300) to Sissu (3086) via Rohtang La(3978m) It was in Marrhi that we met up with a group from India who were also cycling from Manali to Leh. They were travelling with a support vehicle, and they offered to help us out with some of our bags. After spending the entire first day struggling up the first pass, I was more than glad to accept their offer and offloaded my biggest and heaviest bag with them! This made cycling soooo much more pleasurable! At this point, I still thought I could do the entire route fully loaded, but I knew it would be a hard grind. Offloading even one bag was a huge relief! Marrhi to Sissu had us going over the Rohtang Pass. At only (only?)3978m, this would be the smallest of the four passes we were to cross before reaching Leh. It was the smallest, yet the toughest and as luck would have it, we experienced extremely wet weather on the far side of the pass.
The descent was chilly to say the least and complicated by the fact that the road was not well paved and slick with mud and gravel. A couple of times we hit some backed up traffic. Thanks to being on bikes, we were able to skirt around the dozens of cars trapped behind the crews working to make the washed out road accessible again. Crazy that on the far side of the pass I also randomly bumped into a friend of mine who I had met more than a year ago in a hostel in Shenzhen! Janny was just coming back from her trip to Leh and lunching in the same spot as we were! A quick photo snap and a brief catching up was all that time would allow us. Though as she said, “We are travellers, we will meet again somewhere!”
By the time we made it to Sissu, our rest place for the night, the pass was long behind us and the weather turned pleasant. There was some confusion as to where the town actually was and our efforts to figure out if we were in the right place were complicated by the very drunk yet friendly man who was trying to help us! It would be a common occurrence to arrive at a destination only to find that accommodation was another few kilometres away. We wearily wheeled our bikes up another incline and settled into a very nice hotel overlooking the beautiful lush river valley below us. A lovely Butter Chicken dinner and hot shower later we turned in after admiring the clear moonlit starry night sky from our balcony, proud that we had completed the first of the four passes we needed to cross to get to Leh. Day 2 Photo Gallery
Day 3 September 9th, 2014 Sissu (3086m) – Jispa (3255m) Morning came to sun peaking over the mountains and lighting up the range on the far side of the river. We enjoyed a breakfast on the balcony taking this all in. And then it was on to changing out of our comfortable ‘off bike’ clothes and into our still damp and somewhat dirty bike clothes.
To conserve space and weight, both Heather and I brought only minimal clothing which meant that we biked in the same clothes day after day. Yuck!! This was actually one of the big tests of this ride! As we gained in altitude and the air got cooler, it was such a challenge to get out of our beds and into dampish cycle clothing. Yuck!! But once on, anticipation of the day’s bike ride over shadowed the grossness of smelly, dirty clothes!
This day proved to be another good one! The weather was perfect for our 9-ish start and not long after dropping off my big bag with the Trek Bulls support vehicle, the vehicle caught up with us a little up the road and the driver, R.K., offered to take ALL of our bags!!! YES PLEASE!!!! We happily unloaded our panniers into the jeep, profusely thanking the driver for such charity! It was a funny thing that they did not know how to take our thanks! Professing time and again that it was really nothing. Yet for us it meant the world and it meant a far more enjoyable trip. We bid the support vehicle good bye and carried on light as a feather! And fully soaking in the granduer of the scenery that surrounded us. It was by far the best day of biking so far. Our load was minimal, the day remained sunny and warm, the grade was mostly flat or even downhill, and there was little traffic. This made it easy to bike and converse at the same time. The ride, instead of a chore became somewhat festive!
Despite receiving much appreciated assistance from the Trek Bulls group, Heather and I kept mainly to ourselves in riding and in our dinner and breakfast plans. The Trek Bulls group were camping and cooking.
Heather and I both were in agreement that where possible, we would stay indoors and eat at restaurants! This was our comfort level and the teasing of the others did not sway us from continuing this pattern of finding the best low budget accomodation the entire 9 days! Even though some of the places we stayed would get a little – how do I put this?- a little gross! We made very good time and arrived early-ish in Jispa. The others set up camp in an open field and the cook got to the business of cooking their dinner while we scouted out the few guesthouses a little up the road. We settled on the Himalayan Guest House which had nice a nice room for 400 rupees(less than $10). They only offered one dinner choice…. Thali and feeling a hankering for pasta, we went for dinner next door at the Ibex Hotel. After a lovely pasta dinner, we went to where Trek Bulls had set up their campsite and enjoyed a bonfire and piece of chocolate cake to celebrate Wishvas’s birthday! Wishvas is the main man behind Trekbulls.com and leader of this pilot cycle tour that saw four participants, and a crew of four support staff wind their way from Manali to Leh. We would come to know this group well over the next several days as our respective adventures intertwined. Walking back from the bonfire was magical as the air was crisp and cool and the sky was clear and bright with stars. The moon had risen over one mountain and was now softly illuminating another. It was simply breathtaking. It couldn’t have been more than 9:00pm but we were done thanks to the effort of biking all day, an we both soon drifted off to a satisfying sleep. Day 3 Photo Gallery
Sounds and looks wonderful,Darren
Thanks mom!! I really appreciate your support!
I am in awe of your trip. Have done some biking in Europe, but this is truly an adventure and I so look forward to your next posting. “Buena suerte” as they say in Mexico.
Thanks very much Gail. It was awesome. My bike is now in pieces being shipped from India to Bangkok. I hope it arrives okay so I have the opportunity for more cycling!
Hi Darren,
Great story mate, whised i was cycling there as well:-)
it’s nice to have all the hospitality from other countries around you.
have a save trip mate and sea ya later.
Herbie
Thanks Herbie,
It was a great trip and now back in Thailand relaxing. The beaches are still beautiful as ever!
Hope all is well!
Hey Darren, just got caught up with your travels…love this new site. So glad that your friend Heather is travelling with you. Happy trails! 🙂
Thanks Ivy,
If you ever decide to do something similar and need some encouragement, you know who to talk to!!! Hope it happens for you!