August 27, 2014
Today we drove about halfway from Leh to the start of our trek. We were in two 4-wheel drive vehicles.
Today we drove about halfway from Leh to the start of our trek. We were in two 4-wheel drive vehicles.
Saturday, October 11, 2014
August 26, 2014
Shopping around Leh and an evening trip to Shanti Stupa with the group. This massive stupa was built by the Japanese. We got a little exercise hiking up. I had earlier ridden up on my bicycle.
Shopping around Leh and an evening trip to Shanti Stupa with the group. This massive stupa was built by the Japanese. We got a little exercise hiking up. I had earlier ridden up on my bicycle.
 |
| Shanti stupa, Leh. |
 |
| Me at Shanti stupa on my bike tour visit. |
 |
| A decidedly Japanese Buddha image. |
 |
| Birth of Buddha Sakyamuni. |
 |
| Paranirvana of Sakyamuni. |
Introduction.
I was fortunate to travel again to the Indian Himalaya on August and September of 2014. Thanks to the forbearance and cooperation and help for family, professional colleagues and friends I was able to get away for this fantastic break to this beautiful and interesting area.
This blog will be roughly chronological and include selected images and short clips. The Overview will also have a summary and some equipment notes.
Overview.
My trip had four phases:
1) Getting to the start of the trek. Emirates Seattle to Delhi, Air India Delhi to Leh with a 4 hour transfer at terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi Airport. Arrive Leh August 23. First actual day on the rail was August 29, 2014.
2) 15 days on the trail on a commercial group trek with Project Himalaya (their web site can be found easily) led by Jamie McGuinness. The title of the trek was "Exploring the Great Divide"and a few notes from Jamie can be found in the Project Himalaya "about us...previous treks…2014 Indian Summer" section. Trek dates were August 29 to September 12.
3) 15 days on a solo bicycle trip from Sarchu, in the Indian State of Himachal Pradesh on the Manali-Leh highway, to Rampur, also in Himachal Pradesh, coving about 600 kilometers. Bike dates were September 12 to September 26.
4) Getting home. Last day on the bike September 26; arrival in Seattle October 2.
Gear and preparations were therefore two-fold. A lot of the clothing and camping equipment did double duty for the hike and bike phases. Because horses and mules did most of the carrying on the trek, I took Jamie's advice and brought mountaineering boots as well as trekking boots. It was cold the day we climbed the 6,250 meter peak and I was glad for the warm boots. I took a tent, air mattress and water filter but no stove/cook gear for the bike phase; this worked out. These are the biggest mountains in the world and it is not a good idea to skimp on waterproof/breathable gear, warm clothing, and so on. On any given day it can rain or snow and this trip was no different.
My bicycle was a Surly Troll prepared by the excellent folks at Counterbalance Bikes in Seattle's Ravenna neighborhood, especially Phillip and Glen. Modifications included a Thudbuster seat post, Schwalbe Mondial tires, Tubus front and back racks, Ortlieb handlebar and front and back panniers, basic SPD pedals, 4 water bottle cages and a Salsa anything cage, a basic Cateye wireless odometer set to metric, smallish Ergon bar end grips, and an almost-flat front handlebar replacing the fancy H-bar. The professional packing job at Counterbalance did just fine. Emirates and ANA took the bike from Seattle to Delhi and back without complaints or extra charges, Air India charged about $90 to fly it from Delhi to Leh.
Lessons learned, in random bullets
Health
*Sleep can be difficult at continuous altitudes > 5,000 meters as on the hike portion of the trip.
*Internet/media/news/family communications withdrawal syndrome: no cell phone X 2 1/2 weeks, no internet X 4 weeks. Best to be prepared for this.
Bike
*Mudguards would have been nice on the bike. The road in Lahaul coincided with the river at times.
*For the same reason boots would have been nice. Amongst the 600 km on the bike I estimate about 10k of walking the bike up steep and/or rough patches.
*I should have learned how to change the Avid BB7 mechanical disc brake pads and generally adjust them prior to the trip. When I got back my local bike shop told me that the pads on both the front and back were worn to zero, and in addition the rear rotor was bent. The brakes had 1000 mellow US miles on the prior to the trip and ~360 miles of decidedly unmellow miles on the trip.
*Be careful with gear lashing to the bike. My sleeping bag was affixed with a single bungie without carefully ensuring a foolproof connection, and bounced off the back Tubus rack about 10 days into the bike trip on a very rough section of road. Yes I was listening to music on an MP3 player so maybe I missed the sound. I backtracked the few km since I had last seen it, but was unable to find it. Most likely a vehicle driver spied the stuff sack and has a nice down bag. Fortunately I was able to make do in hotels with blankets after this point.
*No flats! Good job Schwalbe Marathon Mondial HS428, Evolution line, folded bead. I thought these were 26" X 2.25", but the web site only lists 26" X 2.15". In any case these were close to 900 grams each and cost USD90 each. The tires had 1000 mellow miles on them prior to the trip.
*A grinding drive train noise during active pedaling turned out to be due to rotation of the front derailleur around its fixation to the down tube. A few seconds with the Allen key to center and tighten fixed this. This was necessary twice.
*Water: I had four water bottles, but it was so muddy and dusty they got disgusting on the outside including around the mouthpieces. I definitely used my MSR water filter. I should have used it more and purchased less bottled water (waste stream). Locally purchased bottled water comes in bottles that are so flimsy they fail quickly.
*Bell. Nice to have, used it a lot. In India it is expected and considered polite to honk your horn whenever passing in either direction. Having a bell helped me meet local expectations.
*I rarely used the SPD pedal side and two-sided platform pedals would have been better considering the very rough roads, low speeds, traffic hazards and heavy touring load. Boots would have been nice for some of the same reasons.
Other gear
*During the bike trip I really only used my tent one night at Batal and even that was not 100% necessary, I could have rented an inside space. Ditto the air mattress during the bike trip.
*It can rain or snow any day of the year with no warning in the Himalayas, to state the obvious. Necessary to have warm hat, full Gore-Tex or similar, warm gloves, and insulating layers within reach 24/7.
Chronological posts.
August 23, 2014.
After a long series of flights I arrived in Leh about 8 AM local time. The airport was crowded including locals in traditional costumes awaiting a VIP. After wrestling my stuff into a jeep-taxi and backing up out of the queue there was a short trip to the Gangba homestay. This is a nice place in lower Changspa. It was a 10 minute walk to main Leh and 5-10 minutes to the main tourist part of Changspa. My room was quiet and everything worked. Breakfasts were the usual (toast omelette tea) but I did have a lunch and dinner there for a small extra charge and they were quite good: typical Indian vegetarian. 90% of the guests were Indian and all were pleasant and interactive. I put my bike together and went for a ride to a local gompa (monastery).
I was fortunate to travel again to the Indian Himalaya on August and September of 2014. Thanks to the forbearance and cooperation and help for family, professional colleagues and friends I was able to get away for this fantastic break to this beautiful and interesting area.
This blog will be roughly chronological and include selected images and short clips. The Overview will also have a summary and some equipment notes.
Overview.
My trip had four phases:
1) Getting to the start of the trek. Emirates Seattle to Delhi, Air India Delhi to Leh with a 4 hour transfer at terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi Airport. Arrive Leh August 23. First actual day on the rail was August 29, 2014.
2) 15 days on the trail on a commercial group trek with Project Himalaya (their web site can be found easily) led by Jamie McGuinness. The title of the trek was "Exploring the Great Divide"and a few notes from Jamie can be found in the Project Himalaya "about us...previous treks…2014 Indian Summer" section. Trek dates were August 29 to September 12.
3) 15 days on a solo bicycle trip from Sarchu, in the Indian State of Himachal Pradesh on the Manali-Leh highway, to Rampur, also in Himachal Pradesh, coving about 600 kilometers. Bike dates were September 12 to September 26.
4) Getting home. Last day on the bike September 26; arrival in Seattle October 2.
Gear and preparations were therefore two-fold. A lot of the clothing and camping equipment did double duty for the hike and bike phases. Because horses and mules did most of the carrying on the trek, I took Jamie's advice and brought mountaineering boots as well as trekking boots. It was cold the day we climbed the 6,250 meter peak and I was glad for the warm boots. I took a tent, air mattress and water filter but no stove/cook gear for the bike phase; this worked out. These are the biggest mountains in the world and it is not a good idea to skimp on waterproof/breathable gear, warm clothing, and so on. On any given day it can rain or snow and this trip was no different.
My bicycle was a Surly Troll prepared by the excellent folks at Counterbalance Bikes in Seattle's Ravenna neighborhood, especially Phillip and Glen. Modifications included a Thudbuster seat post, Schwalbe Mondial tires, Tubus front and back racks, Ortlieb handlebar and front and back panniers, basic SPD pedals, 4 water bottle cages and a Salsa anything cage, a basic Cateye wireless odometer set to metric, smallish Ergon bar end grips, and an almost-flat front handlebar replacing the fancy H-bar. The professional packing job at Counterbalance did just fine. Emirates and ANA took the bike from Seattle to Delhi and back without complaints or extra charges, Air India charged about $90 to fly it from Delhi to Leh.
Lessons learned, in random bullets
Health
*Sleep can be difficult at continuous altitudes > 5,000 meters as on the hike portion of the trip.
*Internet/media/news/family communications withdrawal syndrome: no cell phone X 2 1/2 weeks, no internet X 4 weeks. Best to be prepared for this.
Bike
*Mudguards would have been nice on the bike. The road in Lahaul coincided with the river at times.
*For the same reason boots would have been nice. Amongst the 600 km on the bike I estimate about 10k of walking the bike up steep and/or rough patches.
*I should have learned how to change the Avid BB7 mechanical disc brake pads and generally adjust them prior to the trip. When I got back my local bike shop told me that the pads on both the front and back were worn to zero, and in addition the rear rotor was bent. The brakes had 1000 mellow US miles on the prior to the trip and ~360 miles of decidedly unmellow miles on the trip.
*Be careful with gear lashing to the bike. My sleeping bag was affixed with a single bungie without carefully ensuring a foolproof connection, and bounced off the back Tubus rack about 10 days into the bike trip on a very rough section of road. Yes I was listening to music on an MP3 player so maybe I missed the sound. I backtracked the few km since I had last seen it, but was unable to find it. Most likely a vehicle driver spied the stuff sack and has a nice down bag. Fortunately I was able to make do in hotels with blankets after this point.
*No flats! Good job Schwalbe Marathon Mondial HS428, Evolution line, folded bead. I thought these were 26" X 2.25", but the web site only lists 26" X 2.15". In any case these were close to 900 grams each and cost USD90 each. The tires had 1000 mellow miles on them prior to the trip.
*A grinding drive train noise during active pedaling turned out to be due to rotation of the front derailleur around its fixation to the down tube. A few seconds with the Allen key to center and tighten fixed this. This was necessary twice.
*Water: I had four water bottles, but it was so muddy and dusty they got disgusting on the outside including around the mouthpieces. I definitely used my MSR water filter. I should have used it more and purchased less bottled water (waste stream). Locally purchased bottled water comes in bottles that are so flimsy they fail quickly.
*Bell. Nice to have, used it a lot. In India it is expected and considered polite to honk your horn whenever passing in either direction. Having a bell helped me meet local expectations.
*I rarely used the SPD pedal side and two-sided platform pedals would have been better considering the very rough roads, low speeds, traffic hazards and heavy touring load. Boots would have been nice for some of the same reasons.
Other gear
*During the bike trip I really only used my tent one night at Batal and even that was not 100% necessary, I could have rented an inside space. Ditto the air mattress during the bike trip.
*It can rain or snow any day of the year with no warning in the Himalayas, to state the obvious. Necessary to have warm hat, full Gore-Tex or similar, warm gloves, and insulating layers within reach 24/7.
Chronological posts.
August 23, 2014.
After a long series of flights I arrived in Leh about 8 AM local time. The airport was crowded including locals in traditional costumes awaiting a VIP. After wrestling my stuff into a jeep-taxi and backing up out of the queue there was a short trip to the Gangba homestay. This is a nice place in lower Changspa. It was a 10 minute walk to main Leh and 5-10 minutes to the main tourist part of Changspa. My room was quiet and everything worked. Breakfasts were the usual (toast omelette tea) but I did have a lunch and dinner there for a small extra charge and they were quite good: typical Indian vegetarian. 90% of the guests were Indian and all were pleasant and interactive. I put my bike together and went for a ride to a local gompa (monastery).
 |
| View from above Leh on a quick ride. |
 |
| View from the hotel Omasila garden. Most of the trekkers stayed here. |
 |
The owners of the very friendly Gangba home stay in Leh.
Excellent value and location, quiet and nice food.
August 24, 2014. Rest and exploration around Leh. August 25, 2014. Three of the trek group: myself, Arabella, and Len, took a day trip to sightsee to Likr and Alchi gompas. Our driver was Anchuck, a safe and polite gentlemen I had met in 2006 and 2008. The road was in excellent shape so the trip was restful. The artwork in both locations is stunning and at Alchi is especially old, 1000 years in places. Lunch at Alchi was adequate and neither location had that many tourists. We observed a small part of a funeral puja at Alchi. 
Woodcarving at Likr.
Artwork at Likr.
More Likr art.
Outdoor view of Likr with Buddha.
Doorway at Likr.
|
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)