Himalayan India

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Sunday 15 June

Left Jispa at the unearthly hour of 5am to drive over many high passes to Leh. We left early because some of the rivers flowing over the road become fuller in the afternoon due to the heat of the day melting the glacial snow higher up the mountains. This did not work out as expected as when we got to one of the first rivers there was a jeep & a truck that had tried to pass the jeep, stuck in the middle of the river blocking the road. We had to wait for about an hour until the army arrived to help get them shifted.

The first pass was Baralacha-La at 4848m. (La means pass). We passed through Sarchu to Lachlung-La (5060m.). We climbed up into rocky terrain passing many glacial waterfalls & saw some Blue Sheep which disappointingly were not blue! One climb had 22 hairpin bends.

We stopped at Pang's settlement of tented Dharbas which sell food & tea for Brunch. The high plains then swept round to the Tibetan plateau where we saw flocks of pashmina goats, sheep & yaks along with their shepherds dressed in local costumes.

Tanglang-La was the highest pass at 5379m. This road is said to be the second highest motorable road in the world. We started our descent passing grey rocky terrain & then sandstone mountains with many weird & wonderful shapes due to erosion by the wind & rain. We passed Rumste & entered the Indus Valley in the Ladakh region of Jammu & Kashmir, India's northernmost state. Passing Hemis & Shey where we saw Tibetan style houses & stupas at each end of every village along the route. As we travelled along the valley the rocks changed to red & green & yellow/grey colours due to the minerals in them & they were very interesting shapes.

At last after 13 hours travelling over very bumpy roads with many rivers to cross we arrived at Leh (3500m.) Leh is the capital of the Ladakh region & it lies 10km from the upper Indus river. It has been a trading post for Himalayan people for centuries, with routes running up into the Nubra Valley to the Silk Route & over the high passes to Manali & the Indian Plains.

We are staying at Spic N Span, a relatively new hotel built in traditional Tibetan style with wood carvings around the windows. Our bedroom overlooks the nice courtyard garden.

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