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Published: September 1st 2008
Okay I admit it. The drive between Manali and Leh was something I had been dreading for a long time. I had read horror stories about the horrible roads, dodgy buses and the insane drivers. To do away with all these issues, we decided to travel the famous road in comparative luxury. We hired our own jeep and driver and spread the journey over four days instead of two. While it cost a lot more than a space in a mini bus, we got the chance to get out of the jeep for frequent toilet stops, photo stops etc.
Yes, many of the stories are true. Some parts of the route have the most serious pot-holes and our heads were banged against the roof of the jeep in parts. While the roads were very, very bumpy - I actually safer on these roads than those up to the Valley of Flowers due to the landslide risk. The amount of traffic was less than expected and we didn’t have any issues of ‘having to reverse for miles in order to let the other jeep pass.’
The scenery on this journey absolutely blew my expectations out the window. From start to
finish, the road is absolutely stunning.
The road climbed out of Manali into an alpine wonderland. Amazing green hills, snow clad peaks, hanging valleys and mountain streams all set against a deep blue sky. I couldn’t believe my eyes. For a brief moment the morning sunlight hit the waterfalls at the right angle and the falls became rainbows gushing out of the valley. It was magic - one of my favourite memories of the whole trip.
Over the four days we passed through the most varied scenery. While the route up to the 4000 metre high Rohtang Pass was all green canyons, valleys and wild flowers, while many parts were barren dramatic peaks and ranging rivers. The temperature ranged from absolutely boiling to freezing cold and everything in between.
En-route we spent one of the nights under canvas at a place called Sachu. Strangely enough, we were the only people staying in the camp until another Indian family arrived late in the evening. I have to admit, I found the isolation of the camp almost scary! I think I have been in London too long - I spent the first couple of hours snuggled up in my sleeping
bag thinking about spiders, snakes, kidnappers and landslides. When I shared my fears with Chris, he laughed of course… until we both heard the distant rumble of rocks smashing their way down the mountain side…
One thing that I didn’t take into consideration once again was the effect of altitude. By the fourth day I had a blinding headache that wasn’t helped by dehydration. I was trying not to drink too much water as toileting on the side of the road wasn’t exactly fun. I certainly paid for this - the headache and nausea lasted for two days and didn’t disappear until I had got through two litres of water in a few hours. Chris on the other hand, was almost unaffected until we reached Taglang La at 5280 m (17324ft) the second highest road pass in the world. We were both exhausted and slumped back in the jeep after posing for the ‘must do’ photo.
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shel10
Sheldon Lewis
beautiful