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Published: June 10th 2006
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From Mandi back up the Kullu valley and across the Beas took us toward the Jalori Pass - a steep climb to 3222m… The ride was Poulets first real test… Vertical, dirt roads, landslides in places, rain and loaded to the gunnels with us and our luggage…
It was a hairy ride, we stopped at one point to hide from the thunder storm in an abandoned camp, put on ALL of our clothes (it got fucking cold!) ate ALL of our provisions (biscuits) after Katies scare mongering tactics (“We might get cut off!”) Chris made pathetic attempts to get us water (cups in the rain, a cm of dirty water… we’ll make adventurers yet!) after a harrowing, biscuit munching 20 minutes the rain totally cleared up, the clouds parted and the sun glimmered along the edge of mountains… We started again, Poulet happier for her rest and us happier that the prospect of spending the night under the eves of an abandoned camp a distant memory… never the less we plunged on regardless of the imminent danger (there are still wild Lynxes among other big cats in India, you know!) and reached the most amazing view to date… mountains receding
into the horizon as far as the eye could see, the rain a gentle mist and our spirits high… We had reached the summit, by passed the town we wanted to stop in and were faced with the decision of whether to go on or stop in the collection of rickety dhabbas, frequented by drunken taxi drivers, a difficult decision for us… We decided to go on.
A friendly Londoner shouted ‘Ani’s the place you want’ as we roared out of there… Ani our new destination we coasted Poulet down the other side of the Jalori and giggled gleefully, high after our triumph… Ani was further than we had expected and dusk was settling in as we arrived…Ani has one guest house, horrible energy and is a truly bad place (something later confirmed by another traveller…). It is industrial, a dead end town…having refused to entertain the landlord in our room at midnight, we found someone had loosened Poulets' foot pegs… Thanks Ani! We got out quick, with a violated Poulet... To further our already bad morning Poulet totally stopped working in the next village… The locals crowded round and 3 hours later we had had Poulet operated on
by a local bike butcher… She started though and we left… thank God… The rest of the ride was a little stressful, the bike was making some uncomfortable sounds and we had a bad taste in our mouth after the Ani experience…
We stopped just outside Sarahan around 5 and feeling a little down we huddled together for a cuddle and asked life to provide for us one more time… just a little something to lift our flagging spirits… and 5 seconds later Ingmar and Desmond roar up on their Enfield… We love you LIFE…
We spent the next few hours wandering the Sarahan temple talking to Desmond (a larger than life 9 year old Canadian boy) and his father Ingmar… they were environmental activists, and the perfect tonic for us… The temple was beautiful and peaceful... We both stayed in the same guest house and had a lovely dinner getting to know each other and discussing ‘Lord of the Rings’… they left for Spiti the next day and we left for the mechanics…
The mechanic was brilliant and soon Poulet was purring happily… a new clutch and an oil change… We headed into the massively busy
market town of Rampur to get our funds (Rampur being the last place to get ANY cash before Spiti)… The ATM was not working extending our trip for a few hours by which time the storm clouds had gathered and the rain was beginning to threaten… 20 minutes later the rain was lashing down and we were sheltering in the ATM building… watching the sky we saw blue skies ahead, so we decided to ‘make a run for it’… We are total idiots… we have never been so cold and so wet, 40 km up a mountain in torrential rain wearing t-shirts and shorts… we would like to point out that at this exact moment we learnt that patience is defiantly a virtue and should be a mandatory requirement for travel in India…
We hung around Sarahan for a few days, the guesthouse owner letting us cook our dinner, strolling round the small market in the evening, buying some attractive long johns for Chris, spent a couple of days warming up, and then headed out for Chitkul…
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Caragh
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Soul food
Hiya, am sitting in my unheated spare room where the computer is, the rain is lashing the house and I'm off work with a cold! But your photos are truely food for the soul. And the fact they are taken by someone I know and have a 'story' with them is a reminder that these breathtaking sights are real. May you continue your travels safely. Arohanui Caragh :O)