previous page: II

tour homepage

next page : IV

day 4 - sarchu to brandy nala (jul 11)

by now we are accustomed to hitting the sack as soon as it gets dark and waking up real early. one reason you need to get up early in places like sarchu and pang is that you don't want too much "competition" when you go for the call of nature. bathroom facilities on this entire road are of course rather primitive.

we slept above 4000m tonight. nobody is any the worse for it. as we get acclimatized, something in the brain tells the bone marrow to produce a lot more red cells - needed for transporting the rarefied oxygen. amazing why we have such a system in our genes, when for all i know all my ancestors may have lived in the plains of africa and eurasia... but then i have about 4000 generations of human ancestors, and if it's a dominant gene then all it would take is a single mountain experience somewhere...

bio-philosophy aside, we need to fix a puncture on nandini's bike. we start off after a hearty egg breakfast...

Tenting at Brandy Nala

approaching brandy nala, we crossed a point where the baroda cycling group had pitched tents. the main cycle group hadn't arrived yet, and we went forward. but then before long we were at the gata loops, and it didn't seem there would be water here, so we went back and got some space well above the river next to the other group. their workers had already set up their tents. there were a few groundwater sources that were drinkable.

after relaxing on the stones by the river, we started the cooking session. it took the portable propane stove nearly an hour to get the pressure cooker whistle to blow for a 5-person hearty meal of khichri.

Fact Sheet: Sarchu to brandy nala

	27km Brandy Nalah.  foot of gata loops.  

	Lodgings:  Need to carry tent.				[+27k 256k]

	Food:  In the car, we were carrying a pressure cooker, potatoes,
		rice, dAl, etc. for a nice khichuri meal.

	[Those travelling light need to do the whole stretch, climbing the
	two big passes of Nakeela and Lachulung La, directly from Sarchu -
	total of 90k.  The Spanish couple we met were carrying tents, though
	what they did for food we don't know. ]

day 4 - brandy nala to pang [nakeela, lachulungla 5070m) (jul 12)

Despite their fearsome reputation, the gata loops - climbing about 440m in 9km - is actually not that serious a challenge. but all those switchbacks - 21 of them - do leave an impression on the mind. at the top, you leave the tsarap chu which you have been following for two days, and head up to some serious 5000m passes.

mohua isn't feeling upto it today, most of the day she is in the car. even saumyen has had a toothache since yesterday, and is worried it may be an infection. but he is riding fine. .

Nakee La and Lachulung La

the top of the gata loops is about 4650m, but the road beyond keeps climbing. it's another 10km till our first big pass - the nakee la - nearly five km above sea level.

it's a desolate place. a few tibetan flags collecting benedictions on the breeze.

after nakeela its a sharp downhill on terrible rubble-filled roads to "whiskey nala" [perhaps the local name used to be bisky nala, but the temptation is too great!]. here there is a feisty family in serving lunch and providing accommodation in a parachute tent; but it would be risky sleeping here at 4800m. in fact, that is really why we decided to break our trip and do a night at the accommodation-less brandy nala. this is perhaps the most desolate place where we found hospitality on this road.

at whiskey nAlA a large bengali tourist group emerged from a tempo traveller. they had come up from the suburbs of calcutta and some elderly ladies seem to be suffering from the altitude.

about 8 km past whiskey nala, over terrible roads with occasional truck traffic, we reached lachulung la, at 5070m. here there seemed to be a government built tea shop - but it was unmanned.

the road down to pang was really bad and at times, dangerous. but the road is beautiful, passing through some lovely gorges.

there are a lot of parachute tents at pang. also the army has a big presence here and first-aid is available.

today all day saumyen's tooth has been acting up and in fact he has been riding with a mild fever. he always carries a well-stocked medical kit, but he has been holding off on antibiotics since you can't do serious exercise while on antibiotics. we have some long discussions here and decide that if the fever persists, he would have to take antibiotics, and we should not risk things at high altitude. we might then do the stretch to tso-kar by car tomorrow.

FactSheet: Brandy nala to Pang

JUL 11:  Brandy Nalah (4222 m) to Pang (4522 m) Total 52.5km
	        CROSS Nakeela La (4937 m) and Lachulung La (5077 m).  
   *** Dates after JUL 11 may be +1 if extra day taken at Sarchu
		[nonstop climb 800m over 20km; all above 4000m ***no water]

	0km Gata loops -  start 21 zigzags 4222 to 4627m
	9km top of gata loops [carry water]
		[nonstop climb 800m over 20km]
	19.5km Nakee la 4937m  [?gmaps: 4739m]
		[a small downhill (130m 4km) now]
	24km Whisky nala [Biskynala]  4802 m 
	     [another climb starts 275m in 8km]
	32km Lachulung La (5077m) [gmaps: 5065m]
	53km Pang  4550m  stay at Parachute tent		  		[+53k 309k]
		Pang is a military camp town - a large army truck stop

Note: there is no phone or mobile connection from well before patseo, for
pretty much the whole route.   if you are nice, the army people can sometimes
hook you up over their BSNL wide area network.   but even this is not there
after Patseo itself.  At pang you may get a phone connection.  Even power,
for recharging camera batteries etc, is problematic. 

day 5-6 - pang to tsokar; tsokar to leh (by car, jul 13-14)

saumyen's fever is no better and we decide to pack the cycles and go on the truck. it was a good decision actually, since after climbing up from pang we reach the morey plains (also spelt "morei", "more"). after some time, the tarmac-ed road finishes and we find that we will have to go some 20 km on what is essentially a high-altitude desert. there are trucks stranded here and there, with their wheels unable to find traction to proceed.

there is a large group of workers who are working on a new tarmac highway. meanwhile, bhimsen manages to find a path for our two-wheel truck. we ask people for directions to tso-kar, a high altitude lake, which was part of the sea millions of years ago, and still has large fields of salt along its bank. though it is fed by freshwater streams, its water remains saline, though less so than tso-pangong.

we reach tso-kar where we find a luxury tent resort. yes, they have space, we are fortunate. saumyen lies down to take rest.

in the large dining tent, they serve us a gourmet lunch - pasta with garlic-sauteed vegetables. M N and I go for a long walk. Nandini has some close encounters with the elegant tibetan wild ass or kyang. the bathrooms are also tents, but they have commodes.

we are still at 4500m. saumyen is on crocin, but his fever keeps coming back. he is worried about getting altitude sickness. another well-equipped group arrives (a group of U. Pennsylvania students), and yes, they do have oxygen and if it's an emergency they could possibly help us.

himalayan pika (or tibetan pika)

Here is a video of the pika digging the entrance to his tunnel. these little creatures (about the size of a human palm) have powerful rear feet!

after dinner, we decide that unless saumyen improves dramatically, we will not risk things, but simply drive on to leh tomorrow. in the evening,

the hotel is organizing a bonfire at night, but we crash early.

Factsheet: Pang to Tsokar

JUL 12:  Pang (4522 m) to Tso Kar (4515 m) Total : 47k

	0km  cross army camp, short climb through 5 switchbacks
	7.8km Morei Plains  4700m  heading N
	        	[steep hills to right (W) climbing to 5350m ridge]
	        	[marmots, pika, herds of tibetan wild ass (kyang)] 
	33km - may be able to see Tso Kar lake - 2km to E below a ridge]
	40km Tso Kar Turn Off  
	 	["jeep track" - LS; but "new road" (41km) may be ready]
		Pongunagu village [area in Rupshu wildlife sanctuary]
			[endangered back-neck crane]
	47k Tso Kar camp beside a stream  [lake alt. 4515m]			[+47k 356k]

  	   	Nearly flat, an easy 3 hour ride.  Relax the PM by Tso Kar in the tents.			
		   	Chang-Pa nomad settlement at Thukje 4424m 10km to E
			deserted in summer - herding goats w Pashm --> pashmina]

Factsheet: Tsokar to Leh

Though we made this part of the trip by car, here are the facts for those planning to do this route later.

JUL 13:  Tso Kar (4522 m) to Lato (4021 m)  Total 73 Km
	  	Cross TagLang La (5300 m)

	7km Tso Kar-Highway Junction
	16km end of plain valley -road starts rising steadily 
	  	continuous climb, no major switchbacks
	27km Debring
	34km Taglang la 5300m abt same as Khardung La 
		Khardung La is signposted 5602m, but more accurate
	  	   GPS has 5359m, while Taglangla may be 5360m
	     	road circumnavigates small hill to the right 5450m
	42km-57km - six long switchbacks climbing down over 15km 
		     from 5150m to 4500m to Gya river
 	Rumtse village - parachute tents, maggi
	69km Gya village
	73km Lato - 4021m  Home Stay or Tent [rs50 camping charge]	[+73k 429k]

	   Continuous climb (800m / 27km) from Highway Jn to Taglang La
	   continuous descent to Lato.  If we reach Lato at reasonable 
	   time, we can continue to Upshi (another 23 Km downhill).

	THE MAIN CLIMBS ARE OVER now...

JUL 14: Lato (4021 m) to Leh (3563 m). Total 72 Km.

	      	Miru 3712m - gorge with scenic geological formation
	 22km 	Indus river, road turns left (N), 1km to Upshi
	 23km 	Upshi cross Indus at Mahe bridge; follow river upstream
	 33km 	Karu - road to	Hemis monastery across bridge- 
	 	famous  11th c. monastery - 7km detour 300m climb
	 45km 	prominent Stakna gompa on hill across - 2km detour 
		stak-na = tiger's nose = shape of hill [drugpa sect; 16th c.]
	 54km Thikse 3243m - huge 12story monastery on hill by the highway
		[gelugpa sect; 15th c.]
	 65km Choglamsar [3230m]
	 	 [climb 300m]
	 72km Leh [3560m]  

		[can go via main bazar to outlying Changspa area]
		Milarepa (expensive hotel) - ~ rs 1k - 
		some rooms w views of stok kangri			[+72k 501k]
		Khardung la: 40km - abt 7 hours - 5 going, 2 back

manali-leh cycling pages:

* page I: day 0-1: [manali-leh trip homepage]
* page II: day 2-3: [keylong-patseo-sarchu]
* page IV: day 7-9: [leh, pangong lake, masked dance, zanskar]

[bumpy trails bicyclists homepage]     

---

html index automatically created on Sun Jul 29 IST 2012. Last update: 2014 Jun