Manali to Keylong

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As we rode out of town, I saw a dog ahead asleep in the middle of the road with trucks and buses just driving around it. I couldn't believe that it could be some comfortable in that situation so I stopped after I'd passed it and took the photo of it.

This day was a real test of the flexibility of the bikes as we crossed the Rohtang pass (3978m). The rains had brought down a number of slips onto the road and at one point we had to pass one that was still live. A bulldozer was pushing the rocks off the side and a couple of vehicles were being let through at a time before the next lot came down.

The road over the pass looked like it may have all been sealed, at one point, but by now there was very little left in the upper reaches of the pass. The unsealed bits were sometimes running rivers and other times deep mud churned up by the hundreds of trucks, buses and Mahindra jeeps that were all queued up waiting to get through the slips.

Our tour leader, Mike, told us what to expect and stressed that we were to keep our feet on the pegs as putting them down put the bike out of balance. Not sure if I should tell him but I saw Denise, his wife and business partner with both her feet down while riding several times! The mud was so deep and sticky in places that you just couldn't keep enough momentum on to stay upright otherwise.

We learned another thing about these bikes. The clutch is not up to much when you are having to use it a lot as you wait for a gap in the traffic or for one of the other bikes to get restarted after a stall. After a while it was so overheated that it wouldn't withdraw and you might be stuck in second or third gear. On top of the fact that we were quite high up so it was exhausting having all the physical effort, it was also very misty and cold so my specs kept steaming up. I can't see well enough to ride without them so I had to take my helmet off and place it on my arm while I negotiated my way through the worst of the traffic jams.

I got to the slip and saw the way through without realising why everyone else was stopped waiting so road into the danger zone. People in front and behind were yelling at me to stop and in my confusion, I did, and stalled, right as another shower of rocks came piling down towards me. A couple of bystanders helped me haul my bike back and I waited while a bulldozer pushed the latest lot off. I was then told to go again but just as I started, a policeman in front yelled to me to stop again. Too late, I had some way on and wasn't going to stop in the middle of that mud hole again so got out the other end and kept going.

Over the top in the mist so I didn't bother stopping at the bedraggled group of roadside stalls despite the gestures to come have a drink. Just wanted to get out of the cloud and put my helmet back on.

We found out just how hard that was on the clutches a few days later when the mechanics had to replace 11 (not mine, I'm pleased to say).

Down the other side which was still a really rough road but nowhere near as bad for mud so I made good progress. I found it was a lot less hard on my back if I stood on the pegs over the roughest bits so it was a bit like trail riding. We were now in a beautiful river valley with mountains on both sides complete with snow caps and glaciers. We stopped at the bottom and had chai and lunch at Khoksar then on alongside an impressive torrent of a river to Keylong. Plenty of stops along this stretch to photograph the mountains.

Then, just before Keylong, riding around a u-shaped valley, I saw a yak walking down the side of the road towards us. Stopped and grabbed my camera out and took a photo then realised I was right in its path and it didn't look like it was going to stop so I hastily paddled the bike forward into the middle of the road so it could pass behind me.

Interesting little ceremony going on in a courtyard just before our hotel with the army doing some drilling. Not quite the faultless display that we would later see at the border crossing closing near Amritsar but the soldiers were very earnest in their efforts so it brought a smile to my face at the end of a hard day.

Neil and I foolishly agreed to a room on the 3rd floor. We found out that 3350m makes a significant difference to how much puff you have and soon learned not to rush up the stairs. Tim sensibly went for a room on the 1st floor.

Kingfisher beers in the garden of the hotel with the mountains around us so what a great end to the day.

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