Woke up this morning earlier than normal and could not fall back to sleep, so just got up and packed up everything and got ready for the day. Checked my drying laundry which was not dry yet (mainly the socks) but only just lightly damp, so again just put them in top section of camp bag that would be on truck.
After using the toilet, I got all my riding gear on and then took the bag down to the truck to be loaded. I then went back for the camera bag so I could get it secured to the bike. Then put on the tank bag and verified it was good. Then had to make another restroom stop before heading to breakfast.
After eating, we all got together and chipped into a tip pool to give the kitchen/camp staff who will be leaving us tomorrow and not going all the way to Leh with the team. We all put in 1000 rupee (roughly $13).
I went back up to the room then to check that I got everything and attempt one more toilet visit just in case. Then went down to the bike and waited with the rest.
We finally got on the road and retraced our route back to the main highway. Then we took a 15 minute run down the highway till we reached the turn off to head up the hill to Key Monastery which was sitting up on the hillside overlooking the valley.
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| Key Monastery (taken from hotel night before) [300mm zoom] |
This 1,100 year old facility is an active site with dozens of monks living and working onsite. We had to walk up a long hill side road and then several steps to get to the main buildings, which took a bit out of me.
Once inside, got some great views and photos of the valley. Then explored the courtyard and peeked in several of the doorways to see what was inside them. Had to remove shoes to be in this part of the complex, so made walking on the hard surfaces interesting as it was exposed to the outside and covered in dust and dirt in places.
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| View from Key Monastery |
Walked up to the entrance to the main temple, which was a newer addition to the complex. A large group of monks were currently in a prayer session in this hall. It was pretty interesting to watch and hear. I was going to walk the route around the outer part of the room, but the incense burning in the room was very strong and my congestion from my allergies was just not going to deal with that, so changed my mind.
As I was walking out a monk outside pointed to another doorway and said the old temple was up there. This section was really cool. Very old construction, was dark inside, narrow halls and very short doorways that I had to duck quite a bit to get through. Several meditation rooms and other temple spots to view. Outside the main temple space they were making and offering tea to visitors, which was a nice way to warm up and get the morning going.
After standing in the temple for a bit I went back out and thanked them for the tea and left a 10 rupee donation in the jar. Then I went back out to the main entrance and put my boots back on and walked back down to the bikes. Sadly they did not allow photography inside, so only have the memories of this visit.
Once we had everyone back at the bikes we got back onto the road back down the hill, but instead of going back to the main highway we took a turn off to follow a back route that would wind around in the mountains for awhile before coming back to the highway. The main reason for this route was to travel over the Chicham bridge which is supposedly the highest suspension bridge in all of Asia and ride through the Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary area. This section was nearly all rough dirt roads.
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| Chicham Bridge |
The views along the Spiti River valley from the Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary roads were amazing. Some of the most surreal and fantastic scenery I have seen yet.
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| Views along Spiti River |
We eventually reached the main highway again to continue on our way to go over Kunzum pass and then on up to Chandrataal (Moonlake) where we would be camping tonight.
Much of this route was following along higher elevations around the valleys giving some great views. The highway was again paved, and not in too bad of condition.
We stopped in a small village (Losar) for lunch at another café where I had a simple lunch of an Indian staple, the bread omelet (basically an egg served on toast, seems to be sold everywhere up here). Also had a coke to give me some caffeine to perk me up.
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| Serchu Cafe in Losar - Lunch stop |
We then got back onto the road and moved even higher up as we moved toward the pass which we reached eventually.
Kunzum pass is (according to my GPS) at 4550m (14,928 feet).
A local custom in the region is to drive or walk clockwise around a shrine at certain locations to pay respect to the gods/spirits of the region to ensure safe travels. At Kunzum they have a nicely paved road that runs over to the area and around it. We stopped along the route and took some photos while there as well.
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| At Kunzum Pass |
The road then continues down the other side and we soon reached the turn off to go up to Chandrataal.
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| Coming down from Kunzum Pass |
This route was just brutal! It was rough, narrow, loose rocks and dirt in many spots, and heavy traffic as well which always makes things interesting.
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| Road up to Chandratal. |
At one point we had to cross a fairly large water crossing where water coming off the higher regions runs over the road in a river like fashion, and in this case immediately spilled over the edge in a short waterfall to continue on its way to the valley floor below. The water was probably about 1 foot deep (30cm) at the center point and was flowing at a fair pace.
So to make this interesting, a car was currently stuck in the middle of it all, backing traffic up several dozen cars in both directions. We of course could filter through the mess and get up to the edge of the crossing, but no way to get across until that car was moved.
After a few minutes a truck pulled up behind the car and hooked up a tow strap and then pulled him back out of the water. After taking off the strap, the driver then made another attempt (was still blocking road for the most part) and this time got enough speed and better line and made it through (though I had to quickly start and move my bike as I was right in his exit path and would likely have been hit if I had not moved or he would have gotten stuck again slowing and turning to avoid me.)
Now that the crossing was cleared we could start moving across ourselves. Since all of us bikes had crowded to the front and I was pretty close to the edge, I was one of the first few bikes to make the attempt. I made it most of the way across, but on the other end the truck that had helped tow the other car was still parked on the waters edge blocking much of the exit space, so had to move over to the far left side (near the water fall edge). As I was moving into the last few feet of the crossing my back tire rolled a rock underneath and tipped sideways. I was moving too slow to balance via motion, and gunning the engine was out as the roll had also turned the bike a bit and I was now pointing toward the waterfall edge. So just stopped and laid the bike down as I stepped off into the water.
A few guys jumped over to help get it up again and straight and I was then able to ride it the final distance out of the water. Though the exit space was so narrow that I ended up having to put my hand out and push off on the truck to keep bike from leaning into it as I exited (in a odd twist as I pulled my hand away I somehow caught and opened the door!)
I got up the road a bit and pulled over to the side to clear the route so others could get through and to check out the bike. No damage visible, my backpack with rain gear was wet, but not badly and I did not even get water in my boots since I was able to just step off the bike.
The rest of the group were crossing and going on now so I got back on and continued up the road. We soon reached the camp site area with the Swiss tents in several groupings and was pointed down a large hill to get to ours. We rode down this rough, and loose sandy hill and parked at the site. We were then told that the actual lake was another 3km (about 2 miles) up the road. So most of us started bikes back up and went to go back up the hill again to the road. On my way up I hit a rut that pushed me off sideways a bit and I made the critical mistake of slowing down, which then just started me leaning over and when I then tried to throttle out I was not pointing in good direction and went up a large bank along side and just became unbalanced and bike went over. I ended up on my side then rolled off a bit onto my back and my head smacked the dirt as well, but not too hard. Why we wear helmets!
After a few of the guys helped get the bike up again on the incline I was able to get on it while they held it and then ride it rest of the way up the hillside to the road. I then continued on up till I arrived at the parking lot for the lake hike. (Lake was another 5km hike back into the valley, which did not sound too exciting to me at this point).
Of course why let a bad day just stay bad, lets make it even worse. I pulled off my gloves and removed my glasses to get my helmet off. And of course they immediately fell off the tank bag onto the ground. I laid the helmet on the tank bag/handle bars so I could bend over to get my glasses before I stepped on them and must have leaned the bike a bit as the helmet then falls off and crashes to the ground on the face part. When I picked it up the padding was loose on the helmet and dangling some. Then the gloves blow off the bike in a gust of wind, so I laid the helmet back down, and went to grab gloves and of course the helmet shifts and falls to the ground again! Now most of the stuff in the front face of this modular helmet is dangling loose.
So once I managed to get off the damn bike and all my stuff put somewhere it will not fall or blow off, I examined the helmet. The dangling stuff was the interior plastic and the chin air guard, both which were designed to come loose, so would be easy to put back on, however, the thin small spots of impact foam in the helmet face cover had some small cracks and looked like some plastic inside around the latch might have been broken, though it was still latching and unlatching correctly and without issue. So my 2 month old, $800 helmet is now damaged, and technically might not even be safe now, though only appears to have impacted the face module, not the main helmet. I will of course have to use it rest of the trip, and will examine it more when I get back home. I put it back together (which was not easy, might be made to come apart, but who ever designed it needs to be beat over the head with the helmet). Hopefully it will hold together rest of the trip now.
So I now started the 5km hike up to the lake by myself as the others had all just gone on. About half way I was just exhausted and short of breath (I should mention that we are over 15,000 feet here) and said screw it, no lake is worth this. I was tired, frustrated and frankly had no patience or energy left. The only thing so far that was nice were the amazing views from here.
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| View from the hike to lake. |
About then Andy came back down the path and showed me a few photos he had taken and I was satisfied that the views were not worth the effort and went back to the bike and then rode back down to the camp area (Samsong Chandratal Camps)
Now started the usual unpacking and sorting process, changing out of riding gear into camp clothes and a quick bucket bath in very cold water (thankfully it was still warm outside and in the tent). I am sharing this tent with Jerry, one of the other Americans, but at least we have separate beds in the tent. So we both had a fair amount of gear laying around, but could still move around at least.
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| Tent at Chandratal. |
I then hung up the still damp clothes from last nights laundry in the screened area in front of the tent to take advantage of the warm wind blowing at a pretty good speed. Also put my solar charging light outside to charge it back up (not sure how much power it had left, but figured it would not hurt) I then laid down and fell asleep for about an hour.
After I woke back up I finished sorting stuff, got some batteries on the charging packs and put on the extra layers as it was cooling off now. I then went out to admire the mountain views and take photos, then talked with some of the others for a bit. Then we had to get the campsite staff to look at the tent, we could not get the door to zip shut, seems they had the tent stretched too tight in that area. They managed to get it so you could zip it, but still a major pain and not simple to do.
Dinner was soon ready, so went to the dining tent and ate a simple meal. At this point we had the camp staff come in and presented our tip pool to them and we all thanked them for the great job setting up the camps and great meals they had prepared along the way.
We next handed off the Unicorn (This stuffed pink Unicorn was something Jerry introduced to the trip, awarded each day to the rider who messed up the most the previous day. The winner got to strap it to the bike for the following day, and then that person got to choose the next recipient.)
I of course earned the Unicorn for my attempt to use the bike as a submarine earlier in the day, and of course most of the group was there to watch it happen, so could not deny it occurred LOL.
At this point I was ready for bed, as were most of us. So returned to the tent, finished the journal up and then crashed into the bed. Expecting a cold evening as the camp is at 4100m (13,451 feet) See you in the morning.
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| Ride Route (98km/61 miles) |
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