Day 7
September 13th, 2014
Whiskey Nulah(4802m) – Pang(4522m) via Lachung La(4927m)

Being on the bike is the best part of this adventure. Of course! And both bikes worked perfectly. All the contingency we made for breakdown was unnecessary. Neither bike experienced any mechanical breakdown save for a bit of chain suck that a quick wipe of the chain and cogs easily solved. All the effort and expenditures in anticipation of what might go wrong bike-wise was in vain. We both pretty much nailed the attire as well. Each of us had just enough clothes to keep warm and dry while biking and also warm and dry of the bike. Sure it wasn’t pretty not washing clothes in several days, but hey! We were warm!

We had also hit the weather perfectly. No snow, no rain, okay… a bit cool during the nights but beautiful for day time riding.

Leaving Whiskey Nulah had us instantly climbing up to the Lachung La and then screaming down the other side past incredible landscape of hoodoos set ablaze by the sun. The road down was not paved and made for slow going, but the scenery warranted many stops for photo taking and breathing in the beauty of it all.

The pleasant downhill from Lachung La brought us into Pang, a bustling little parachute tent settlement where the residence clearly had a sense of humour. Naming their scant tent operations things like Saajan Hotel, when in fact all that was provided was one or two sleeping spots on the ground of a tent or the make shift rock beds in the restaurant. But at this altitude and this far from civilization, anything out of the wind with a bit of padding was well received.

Heather and I got into the habit of scouting out the best accommodation of each of the small settlements we were to stay. Okay, it was more me than Heather on this one and I believe she chuckled to herself on my search for the perfect rest spot. It paid off though as we usually did bag the best spot! This time it was a tent behind the Saajan Hotel! Thin mattresses on the ground, lined with dust caked blankets and the dirtiest pillows ever. The pillow though were at least brightened by red bunny rabbit pillow cases! I was so thankful to be spared resting my head on these dirt magnets by my sleeping bag and bed sheet!

We walked down the small settlement of about 15 parachute tents to a similar ‘hotel’ whose new and neatly painted menu sign drew us in promising clean safe food. We settled on chow mein and of course the perennial chai that had become a staple of our diet. And well before 8:30 pm we were back in our cozy little tent to watch the remainder of Apocolypto, the only movie I had on my laptop. I forgot how disturbingly brutal it was and cringed that I should choose such a movie to fall asleep by, though Heather insisted that she enjoyed it nonetheless. The laptop battery lasted longer than I did and Heather shut it down soon after. We never did watch the ending!

Falling asleep so early had me wake up in the night… wrestling the need to keep covered with the need to keep the filthy blanket off my face. Yecchhhhh! Turns out I would rather be cold than sucking in the dust off the covers!

Day 8
September 14, 2014
Pang(4533m) – Debring(4620m) via the Morei Plains

I am not a morning person, and it turned out neither is Heather… yet we both almost like clockwork awoke before the alarm rang at six to start our daily ritual of packing up our bedding, changing into our gamey bike clothes, eating breakfast, and setting off.

Thanks John!!
Today would be a reprieve from the constant ascent and descent of passes that we had experienced for the last 7 days since we left Manali. We were on the edge of the Morei Plains, a high altitude plateau that stretched flat for the next 40 kms to our next destination of Debring. Not only was it flat…. it was beautifully tarmaced and we gave thanks to John MacAdam, a Scot who invented tarmac and which sort of bears his name. This tidbit provided by Heather, who insisted that just about everything of practical use was invented by the Scots! Oh did I mention Heather is Scottish?

The smooth ride on the tarmac and the beautiful expanse of the plains coupled with more amazing weather made this a memorable day. Heather and I cycled on, usually side by side shooting the shit and enjoying the scenery, the ride, and the weather. And each other’s company of course. Though I think she may have gotten tired of me telling her just how appreciative I was that she had decided to come along. What can I say… I was still pinched that she had joined me on this epic adventure!

Refelctions of a (formerly) Solo Cyclist
The big lesson I had learned from my epic solo cycle from London to China and more from the isolation I felt while cycling from China to Thailand was that despite my call to adventure at all costs… an adventure was one hundred times better with company… and one thousand times better with good company! The good company I kept as I cycled across Asia are part of me, never to be forgotten and always to be appreciated for the intense time we shared.

And here I was now in the awesome company of Heather, cycling perhaps the most challenging 450 kms of roadway on the planet. So pleased to be sharing this with her!

The expansiveness of the plains filled me up with a sense of well being, representing the feeling of expansiveness that I strive for… even live for. Perhaps that’s what has drawn me to the big mountains of the Himalayas…. this larger than life landscape that can’t help but inspire awe. Here’s a look. Note the lovely tarmac. 🙂

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For better or worse I seem to need to touch these expanses to remind me of who I am and what it means to feel truly alive. I cycled on in awe. Feeling so incredibly fortunate and blessed to be experiencing and be moved by this expansive landscape.

Heather and I throughout the trip expressed, somewhat in jest, at the beauty of our surroundings that, “There is a God!! There must be… look at this!!”

And we decided that the god responsible for all this beauty was none other than Ganesh… the elephant headed boy of Indian mythology. Oops, that is probably offensive on many levels to many people. Sorry. We were just having fun! 🙂

We rolled into Debring, happy and content …and early! The earliest arrival yet. Again we scouted around and found the best place, only to have it snagged away by our friends from Trek Bulls as I hadn’t confirmed with the proprietor that we would take it. Curses!

Have A Nice Dream!
We then found the second best place, A mud hut with a sign on the door that read: Bedroom. Have a nice dream!

How could we not take it? Inside were the rock beds and filthy blankets and pillows that were now standard issue. But it was very quaint and out of the wind. Our ancient proprietress could not speak a word of English, yet we communicated a serving of chai and even gleaned from her that this gig of hers in Debring, like all others on this high altitude highway, was only a seasonal thing and that soon she would be heading back to Leh to spend the winter. We also witnessed her spinning Pashmina wool. Wool, cut from the underbelly of goats whose diet of special grass here on the plains gave the wool enhanced warming qualities. Or so we were told by some of the local folks! Either way, this is the area Pashmina wool comes from!

Taking In the Plains of Morei
Heather and I embarked on a long walk, first off to visit with another cycle group who had camped near us, but they were all huddled in their mess tent so we kept walking. It was nice after a full eight days on the bikes to stretch our legs on a hike. We ended up hiking a fair distance and came across an army encampment tucked up a valley off the main route. It was kinda freaky and we decided it was time to turn around. Walking back to the settlement of Debring as the sun lowered on the horizon provided incredible plays of shadow on the surrounding hills and the grassy expanse of the plains. The dust trails off the always present convoy of trucks provided an eire twilight effect. Couldn’t help inserting a ton of photos from this awesome walk.

Once again the expansiveness of my surrounding touched the expansiveness inside of me. Is this what satori is all about? Was I experiencing a taste of enlightenment? Don’t know! I did feel very present with the beauty that pervaded me… right up until my stomach suggested there was something more urgent to attend to. Heather continued to saunter while I rushed ahead to find a toilet.

Later on we enjoyed a rare dinner with our Trek Bull friends. The cook was a magician and the dinner was delicious.

We retired to our mud hut with the rock beds and filthy blankets, happy to be out of the wind and for the half can of warm water our ancient proprietress gifted us. We acted like children on Christmas morning at the feel of the warm water not present in our travels for many days and took advantage of the warmth to do some spot washing! Again, luxury is a matter of perspective and this small can of warm water was pure luxury!!

Sleep came soon after, conversation in the dark faded as I drifted off first. A familiar habit that we joked about.

We had just conquered the Plains of Morie and fell into a well deserved sleep.

Day 9
September 15th, 2014
Debring(4620m – Leh(3500m) via Taglang La (freakin’ 5238m!!!)

The Final Day of Cycling
We didn’t know it when we started out, that this would be our last day of cycling. Leh was still 135km away and we still had the biggest pass to tackle. The good news of this was that on the other side of Taglang La was a HUGE descent into the Indus Valley. Decent!!!

There was talk among the Trek Bulls about making it all the way to Leh that day, but Heather and I were very undecided about it.  It wasn’t long though before the thought of a warm shower -which we hadn’t had since near the beginning of the trip-  and a nice dinner of pizza and beer quickly lit a fire under our butts and our getting to Leh became our sole focus!!!

Most of Taglang La had tarmac. Ah John… you rock! And we essentially breezed up the pass. We stopped at the top for the obligatory photo opp with the billowing prayer flags, and rock piles that signify the top off passes throughout the Himalayas, and then layered up for the 90 km descent. Funny to have bought pretty much an entire layer of winter cycling clothing for this one frickin’ ride down! But it was money WELL spent! 5238m up was very chilly and the cold didn’t relent until a good 45 minutes down where we promptly had to layer down!

The big ass downhill was big ass FUN! What a great reward for 8.5 days of slogging it out! And what a treat also to reach the bottom of the mountain and enter a completely different world.

Hidden Valley
Our first indication that we were somewhere special was when we passed through the village of Rumtse  and also when we stopped for lunch in the village of Gya. Both villages were quaint and ancient. Not in the temporary way of the ramshackle accommodation we had experienced over the course of the ride. No, this were clearly the traditional style of architecture here. And the uniqueness of these villages evoked the feeling of a hidden civilization that for the most part adhered to ancient and traditional ways.

Rumtse and Gya gave the promise that the Ladakh which held my imagination for years would not disappoint. The cultural beauty of these two villages soon gave way to the overwhelming display of nature as we passed through a narrow valley with the most outrages mountainscape I have experienced. It helped that we were travelling through this area late in the day and the slowly sinking sun caught and accentuated the serrated edges of the mountains whose layers had been turned vertical. I had never seen anything like this and once again in short order my jaw was slack with wonder!!

Last Push
It was now getting very late in the day… and we were still a good distance outside of Leh. Decision time. Well or lack of decision! Despite all the talk about it, we just pushed on and after grabbing a bite in the ugly little junction town of Upshi, we jumped back on the bikes, determined to make it to Leh. I could feel the hot shower already!

It was not easy going though, as the last several kilometres into Leh were uphill. And about twenty kilometres we pedalled along in the dark, which was actually quite harrowing. About seven cyclists, most without lights or reflective clothing and a support vehicle edging into Leh, still uphill on a very busy roadway in pitch blackness. Not a great end to the ride of a lifetime… though, frayed nerves aside, definitely memorable!

Once in Leh we milled about while a hotel was secured, or at least located. Heather and I had already discussed a little luxury for a few days and upgraded ourselves to a mid-range hotel, the Ladakh Continental, who won our business by promising us hot water for our highly anticipated showers!! Others we checked out could not!

Arriving had become a bit of a scramble. We left the Trek Bulls once we figured out where they would be staying and got about the business of unloading our bags in the hotel and each taking our first in 9 day shower. LUXURY!!

I’m sure we did some kind of back slapping or high five ritual to celebrate the huge achievement of cycling one of the world’s highest and most difficult roadways. I can’t remember. I do remember how very tired I was and, after my luxurious shower, and a nice and also highly anticipated pizza and beer dinner with Heather, how exquisitely  good it felt to hit the sack on a soft bed, with a fluffy pillow and clean sheets where I didn’t need my bed sheet, my sleeping pad or my sleeping bag. Gotta say it again …talk about LUXURY!!!!!

Yup… We Made It!!
No bus rides, no hitchhiking, no baling. We freaking did it!! Heather didn’t fly out til the 19th and so we spent the next several days endlessly congratulating ourselves and indulging in scrumptious meals  from the surprisingly great restaurants in Leh. And of course we did some sightseeing, including one very memorable day motorscootering to the outskirts of Leh to visit several Buddhist monasteries. The highlight of which was Hemis Monastery where we timed as dozens of young monks were getting out from monk school! A lively scene.

Tough Farewell
I must admit to really grasping on to these last moments of time spent with Heather and it was very tough when it came time to say goodbye. We had entered this adventure as friends… and the adventure cemented our friendship. Got us well past the polite and formal stage. I mean 7 days in close proximity without showering or washing clothes is pretty much make or break! Our friendship survived, and deepened.

Shit, it was VERY difficult saying goodbye! This journey signified a change for me. Mr. Solo Long Haul Bike Guy had changed. No longer was it all about gutting it out all by my lonesome, doing it all myself and abhorring even the mention of help from anyone!

No. I think that guy is well gone!

I definitely needed that solo adventure… and I most definitely got my money’s worth. But doing this adventure with Heather really drove home to me how much more dimension an adventure has when it’s shared. Even in the  simpliest of moments.  In stopping to take in a vista and have Heather roll up on her bike to share a smile, and a few words of awe at the beauty before us. That memory, that shared thing… now one more sweet moment that connects us.

Yes. One Thousand Times Better.