Expeditions stories...

...3, 2, 1 START!

We can say: that one of our dreams – a cycling expedition across the Himalayans – was realized. We went above 1200 km only in mountains. We crossed 6 high passes, including 2 of the highest motor road passes in the world: Khardung La and Tanglang La. But the cycling expedition is not only going uphill to the passes but also a journey along the beautiful valleys and contact with other culture.

After 8 months of preparations, we were sitting in the plane we realized that our adventure had just started.

The plane was landing, when we saw the glow of the sea - it was Delhi.

From that moment India would surprise us every day in many situations. We didn’t know that then, but it was to be like that until the end of the expedition..

Delhi for the first time.

Delhi welcomed us with omnipresent humidity and very high temperatures, which are unprecedented in our climate zone.

Initially we thought we were along a corridor, which led us to the wet sauna not to the arrival lounge.

Even though it was the middle of the night the air outside was hot and sticky, replete with the scent of incense and smoke. Within 1 minute our cloths got wet and we were still sweating. In front of us awaited the ride to the hotel.

Indian people are known for their great bravura in driving. But there is a difference when you read about it and you experience yourself. Still the frequent use horn and high lights shouldn’t surprise anyone. Both of mirrors were folded in – it helps during pass paint to paint. Our chauffeur didn’t need them, because his car was the fastest car on the road.

46 hours in Delhi was spent exchanging money, hiking across the bazaars, which was like being in complicated labyrinth of narrow and crowded streets and unsuccessfully searching maps of restricted region, where we were going to go and train in refusing local con man their offers.

At last in mountains

To Leh, capital of Ladakh, we journeyed by Indian Airlines plane. One here, we got on the bikes with our full equipments.

First few days we spent covering routes around Leh, beat our altitude record. It wasn’t easy because Leh is located on 3500 m above sea level and has very dry climate, which effectively drain the body. Possible distance limit to cover is determinated by water reserve and level of acclimatization.

We planned to climb to Stok Kangri – which means snow summit towers over the valley.

On the starting day the weather was excellent and nothing suggested it would worsen. The first day we reached the last place with available water. The next bivouac was determined just under a glacier. Unfortunately during the night the weather had changed very much. In the morning it was a strong rain, which turn into hail and vice versa, and lasted 3 hours. Summits were buried in thick and navy clouds. So, we decided to go down and we were going down in rain. Decision was right, because next days weren’t better and summits still were buried in clouds.

The road from Leh towards the north leads to the highest motor road pass in the world – Khardung La. On the other side of that pass there is Nubra valley, where we wanted to go but didn’t. Nubra valley and Khardung La pass are an area where special permits are required, so we had to organise them. After receiving permits we started to the pass.

Two stages of going up to Khardung La.

The gale in the night brought the first snow above 4800 meters. For us it meant going to the pass in winter weather. In the morning looked bright, but about afternoon the weather got worsen, when we reached South Pullu. There, we found out that the road was closed due to the bad weather and we had to reconcile ourselves to the army’s decision to stay in South Pullu. Thereby, we enforced to bivouac at 4600 m. above the sea level.

It was still drizzling. Next night snowed and we worried about the possibility of continuing our trip. Fortunately daybreak was bright and nobody tried to stop us, so we were able to continue our going uphill to the pass.

The road to the pass was long and hard. Above South Pullu the asphalt completely disappeared and existing surface was substituted for stones. The compensation for the difficulty was the beautiful view of wide valley, where was situated Leh.

When we reached the pass we was surprised by our measurement. The exact height of the pass was 5377m above sea level. Most sources announce that the height of Khardung La pass is 5603 meter above sea level. We did our measurement by GPS with accuracy 5.6 meters.

We weren’t the first people who got the pass by bicycle and for sure not the last ones, but Agata, there’s no doubt, was the first polish woman, who did it. Bravo!

The weather, which we had during trekking to Stok Kangri and the stage to Khardung La weren’t typical for this region but the weather condidtion of high mountains are unforeseen and this case should be taken into account.

Set out across the Himalayas.

28th of August we left Leh and set out to south direction across the Himalayas range.

On the distance from Leh to Keylong, which was less then 400 km, there were a lot of challenges. We had to cover a distance at a very high altitude and also survival on the rock wastes.

We started along the Indus River with all richness of Tibetan culture – monasteries, gompas, chortens and prayer mills. In such interesting scenery we made for the Tanglang La pass.

After leaving the Indus valley we had a problem with water. Behind the Tanglang La pass, the road led to Morei plain, which is completely devoid of any water and possibility to buy it. However water resources in the area of pass are very rare and difficult to locate. Other difficulty is the lack of good maps of this region. Most maps, which are available, usually are a draft without scale and contour lines and their accuracy is so little that it was questionable to use them.

Before the pass we came across only a wadi or temporary stream. The situation didn’t seem too good; a few hours of cycling reduced our water resources up to 1 litre.

We were lucky to locate source of water on other side of the pass. Exact 5 km below in the midst of stones surfaced cold water. We are not only who used it. Near stood a truck and the driver filled the radiator up with water. With reserves of water we continued going to desert valley.

The night spent on the desert in the midst of mountains.

On the Morai plain we experienced the power of the Himalayas and their unpredictability. After the ghastly light night of sleep, due to the full moon, we woke up in very cold daybreak. Summits, which we left the day before, were snow-capped. 45 km to Pang looked like a trifle and we thought we would cover this part during 3 or 4 hours. The plain strengthened in us the belief that the Himalayas never are so flat to have a rest. The road went little up and went little down but didn’t lead flat. In addition our direction didn’t agree with the direction of wind, which blew with the speed about 50 –60 km/h.

Two passes during one day.

Before us next passes, another uphill and still changing views. Each next valley looked different. From wide and huge Morei plain we got to narrow canyon, which led us to Lachalung La pass. The road sometimes was perfect sometimes was damaged by the forces of nature. We got to use to that. But the pass turned out a nice place to admire surroundings. The landscapes weren’t marred by industrial buildings just like on Khardung La and Tanglang La. From this point we also saw switchbacks to the next pass – Nekee La

Going uphill wasn’t so difficult and took one and half hour but going downhill was a fantastic rally in the beautiful scenery of mountains. If the road to Sarchu didn’t lead next plain where there was strong wind blowing into face, everything would be all right.

After dark, in completely darkness, we went above 1 hour. We went in the hope that we would find a place to bivouac with ease. Fortunately, people in Sarchu weren’t asleep yet. And the lights were kept in tents – our signposts.

Finally, we got to Sarchu and found the place to bivouac. We put our tent in the middle of hotel complex, which consisted of only tents. We were extremity exhausted, so after drinking water we slipped into sleeping bags. Until now it was the hardest and the longest day during our expedition. We felt asleep very fast with new experience.

After 8 days of cycling.

Two days later we were in Keylong, crossed the last pass, which was on our way to civilization – Baralacha La. It was the coldest region on our expedition. Temperature fell below –3 degrees of Celsius in the night.

We needed to stay 2 days in Keylong to charge all batteries for our electrical devices. Our bodies also needed to charge the battery. Even though we had lyophilised food, which was necessary during previous distance, time spending on preparing meals was reduced to minimum by the hard road. In the end we ate not so much. After resting and replenishing our shortage of energy we started to continue our trip.

The distance between Keylong and Gramphoo was very mentally exhausting. We could stand a huge traffic of trucks on the road. On the narrow Indian road we still had to pull over to let through trucks. We hadn’t dreamt about such the Himalayas.

In Gramphoo the road turned to Lahaul valley leading across Kunzum pass and next to Spiti valley. There we felt very happy that all the trucks made for the Rothang pass. At last we could go side by side and share impressions with each other.

A few dozen kilometres on the way to Kunzum pass.

The next two days were the hardest and very difficult day from a whole expedition perspective. Although, the highest altitudes and passes were after us, the Himalayas surprised us something exceptional.

Until now, the surface of roads happened very badly. But the next a few dozen kilometres there are no surface on the road and the road looked like trail in mountains - stone pavement with rocks laying in disorder. The road was sometimes crossed by a stream. Very often there were no difference between going uphill and going down, the speed was the same 5 km/h. Also the distances with very large rocks lying on the road happened. In this situation cycling was less effective then walking.

The Spiti valley was rich in water and a few streams felt down in cascades, crossing the road. The streams weren’t a big difficulty for us; you could say they were a kind of attraction. The real challenge was crossing 3 undisciplined streams. For cars crossing 20 meters in the stream, undoubtedly was attraction for passengers, for us was as puzzle from childhood like how to transport a goat, a wolf and a cabbage on the other side of river.

The Kunzum pass was great challenge and reached it gave us sense of satisfaction. First, these regions are rare visited by cycling expeditions, second surrounding mountains created exceptional scenery.

Spiti Valley

Our stay in Tabo, small town at the end of world, we will remember for a very long time. We stopped in a monastery guest house for night. After dinner we wanted to eat desert and went to the nearest small restaurant - Café Zion. The name of restaurant sounded European and the décor also was nice. The room was bright, there are clean tables and comfortable chairs and from loudspeakers were oozing Tracy Chapman and Bob Marley.

The owner smiled when he found out that we were from Poland. For our surprise, one moment later from loudspeakers we could hear bows in music from the Tatra Mountains. It was exactly a band “Trebunie Tutki” from the Tatra Mountains. “This is a music from Poland” – said Angelo, the owner of Café Zion. Angelo, who loves rasta music, received this cassette from a Polish guy whom he met in Kaza.

All evening we were talking about music, Poland and his plan connected with the restaurant in Tabo.

One and half kilometre of road was destroyed by a stone avalanche

We were getting to use to the fact that the Himalayas were surprising us. Every day was unlike the previous, but the view, which we saw 4 km before Yangtang was beyond our wildest dreams. One and half kilometre of road was totally damaged by a stone avalanche. It was difficult to find, where original the road led. Nevertheless the traffic on this distance was still going on due to a cable railway, which was serviced by the army. They transported luggage and commodities on the other side of slope.
Travellers had to walk down to the river level about 350 metre above sea level and next climb to the other side of slope.

We were afraid about our equipment and bicycles whether we would see them again. Agata started first and I waited until our luggage was packed into the box and started. At least we wanted to be sure that our luggage was sent. I had mixed feeling when our bicycles were packed into steel box and were going away towards next side of slope and after a few dozen seconds disappeared behind the rock backgrounds.

It was time to start for me. I went with 8 kilograms backpack in full sun during 70 minutes. When I met with Agata I was completely exhausted. Our bicycles stayed safely in the shadow. It was really exhausting day.

From Yangtang the road led to the Satluj River Valley, thought which we travelled the next three days. As we were heading for the south the humidity was getting higher and in the end beame tiring. The road led sometimes the left side of slope at other times led the right side of slope of canyon. In spite of going down and reduce altitude we had a few hard uphill. Thanks to that we had still different view of surrounding.

When we left Reckong Peo, main town of this region, the humidity was so huge that it wasn’t easy to catch sight of snow-capped summits, especially the beautiful view of Kinnuar Kajlaś, about which we had read in our guide. In exchange for it we savoured of view green fields and cycling across forest was teeming with life. It was a nice change for us.

We covered the next kilometres and were approaching Shimla – the last town on our route. At the end we had to go down to 870 metre above sea level and next go uphill to 2700 metre above sea level. Well, it was as a small pass.

Rainy land

The last stage looked like Rainy land, similar to the Tatra Mountains – chill, deep fogs and awaiting better weather. Only the penetrating sound of cicadas and the spectator monkeys didn’t fit with the Tatra Mountains’ scenery. And as usually happens in Rainy Land there it was also downpour. But when we got to Shimla weather bettered and we could admire that beautiful town in entirely.

Shimla was built on a hill. If we looked in a vast panorama we had impression that houses stay one on the other and they created a huge mound. This town was discovered and developed by British, that’s why there are great contrasts there. The colonial accents were mixed with Hindu symbols and created an intriguing view of town.

Delhi for the second time

After 13 hours spent on the bus we were in Delhi. Our bicycles were transported on the roof of the bus and they endured the travel very good. Before us was a trip across the city from bus station to the hotel. When we had been in Delhi for the first time we had thought that it must be a crazy idea, however now we could notice the rules, which managed this traffic.

Even though we had own transport, rickshaw men invited us to their vehicles. One of them smiled and said: “No bicycles, only rickshaw”.

"“Paharganj bazaar is the same as 4 weeks ago but different for us. Now, we could walk in the narrow and bustling streets, watch people and life around. We have to return, maybe next time….”..."

The expedition lasted 39 days. It was finished at 21st September 2004.