Touring - A few photos from the Himalayas

Leh to Manali, via Indus Valley & Tso Moriri - photos in no particular order.

Campsite near Baralacha La - around 4,700m, and we woke to find the whole of the inside of the tent coated with ice! My fault - the ground was really sandy and I was worried about wind ripping the pegs out, so I'd sealed up the bottom of the tent as much as I could, and the inevitable condensation froze. After the sun touched the tent it became very warm though, and the highlight of the trip was probably that morning - breaking the ice in the wee stream to wash my face, and looking around at all the mountains. Amazing.

http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/pictures/ulrike-800.jpg

Approaching the top of Baralacha La:

http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/pictures/ulrike2-800.jpg


On the way down from Khardung La (highest road in the world!) - the tiny trucks (military convoy) which you might be able to see on the right-hand side of the photo aren't even half way down! It's about 2,000m of vertical gain over about 40km of distance:

http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/pictures/KhardungLa.jpg

We stayed in a Tibetan School for one night (thanks to a friend we met along the way):

http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/pictures/School1.jpg

http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/pictures/School3.jpg

At the top of Lachalung La, one of the >5,000m passes along the way:

http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/pictures/LachalungLa.jpg

Lingti Chu river, after Lachalung La:

http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/pictures/river1.jpg

Some roads were pretty bad - I was very glad to have suspension! The Tubus Swing did a marvellous job - very smooth ride because the luggage is isolated from vibration, and steady as a rock when rolling (although the front end did flop like a dead horse when stationary!):

http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/pictures/roads.jpg

Back on the 'main' road again, we had to deal with dust/diesel fumes from huge Tata trucks which would thunder past. At that altitude, if you hold your breath you just fall off the bike!

http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/pictures/Tata.jpg

The Rhotang La road (last pass before dropping down out of the mountains into Manali). Once over this pass, my heart started to sink a bit because I knew the adventure was almost finished.:

http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/pictures/RhotangLa.jpg

Beautiful pics!

Amazing, thanks for sharing. What are some of the details of the tour?

Wow what an incredible adventure!

My Mom was in the Himalayas a few years ago. She said that marijuana looking plants grew freely and you could dry the stuff on top of your lantern at night and smoke it the next day... should you choose.

These are the sort of photos that make me want to load up the bike and just go.

These are the sort of photos that make me want to load up the bike and just go.You can say that again.
Awesome shots!

Hold on a tick, is that an internally geared hub or a single speed? I'm going to assume internally geared, but if not, dang. Details on your whole excursion would be cool if you have the time.

Regardless, great pictures!

Gorgeous!

Hold on a tick, is that an internally geared hub or a single speed? I'm going to assume internally geared, but if not, dang. Details on your whole excursion would be cool if you have the time.

Regardless, great pictures!

You can see the dual Rohloff shift cables in the 4th photo from the top.

To the OP - great photos - would love to know more about your trip.

these are all incredible but that last one is breathtaking

Your bio says that you're from Cambridge. I've just moved to Cambridge. Where do you do hill training round here? It's as flat as a pancake.

Kudos on the photos. They're fantastic.

...

http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/pictures/RhotangLa.jpg

Awesome photo

Hahaha, that's what I get for not paying enough attention I guess. :thumb:

Still, can't stop coming back to your photos.

Thanks for all the comments! At the weekend I'll try to find time to make up some kind of journal website with more photos and detail about the trip, and I'll post the URL here.

Scruffychimp: you're right - there aren't many hills to choose from in Cambridge. You can either do laps on Castle Hill, or take the bike on a roof-rack to North Wales! In fact I think I did most of my 'training' on an old Roman Road which runs from near Addenbrookes Hospital to Haverhill - rough, off-road track with some slight undulations. If you haven't found it yet, it's a good way to spend a couple of hours on a sunny day.

wow, great shots!

Wow...

Amazing photos! Out of curiosity, how did you deal with a lot of climbing/descending in a day at those elevations? I've heard from some backpacking friends of mine that anywhere above 4000m or so you need to be careful about how quickly you climb or descend. I'm very curious to read any journal about the trip you put together!

Al, amazing fotos!!

All I can say is WOW!

At the weekend I'll try to find time to make up some kind of journal website with more photos and detail about the trip, and I'll post the URL here.

Awesome trip! Awesome photos! I'm looking forward to seeing your journal.

Scruffychimp- Al is right, go out by the Gog Magog hills and Wandlebury and you will find some rolling hills. I used to ride the Roman road all the time as well on my fixed gear beater bike! It runs behind the golf course there, and connects to the back of Wandlebury. Has the added benefit of being the most beautiful little area near Cambridge on account of the hills.

Al, Great photos, Very inspiring mate.... cant wait to read more!

Take care.

I'm with accordionfolder - I keep looking at the pics. It is a fantastic achievement

Thanks again for the favourable comments. it's a great tour - more manageable than you might think!

Some more photos are available here (http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/india2008)

spectacular

Thanks again for the favourable comments. it's a great tour - more manageable than you might think!

Some more photos are available here (http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/india2008)

Thanks for the extra photos. Looks like a great trip--really getting to experience a different culture is one the best things about traveling.

it's cycling to the 'enth degree.
beautiful.

Nice photos.

My ass hurts just thinking about riding my Apollo down those rocky roads.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Hey Al, is it you that works for the Gurdon institute? If so, we used to be neighbors on tennis court road.

sam

Oh! Blimey! Yes - I work in the Gurdon Institute. What a small world! Where were you based, and did we ever meet?

I worked over in Sanger, though we probably never met since I was locked away in the second basement on the NMR most of the time. They would let me out at night occasionally (to keep my eyes from turning red and my hair from going white). I used to use a confocal microscope over in Gurdon on occasion though.

Love your photos, Ive sent them to many people today as evidence of what I intend to do when I finish this doctorate...

Best wishes,

Wonderful photos, I am very close to altering my Eurasian route to include this area.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vUEhS0lU3eU/SOzoQljmPVI/AAAAAAAAGLY/vYx_f-WE-IU/s400/india4.jpg

If you are keen on a few more photos from this route Eric and Dan (http://epiceric.blogspot.com/2008/10/menali-leh.html) cycled the same area in 2000 and have some photos here (http://www.danbaileyphoto.com/india/photos.htm).

SPEECHLESS.................... Thanks for this great post!

Hi Al....how did you like the Rohloff? Did you both use that hub? What frames/forks were you riding?

Amazing pictures! May i ask what camera equipment did you use? And what do you do to protect yr camera(s)? :-)

Wow. Amazing pictures.

Is that a single speed bike? Double wow.

Wow...

exactly what I was going to say. But again Wow.

Hi Vic,

The Rohloffs were great (both bikes) - no problems at all. For the length of time we were cycling, I'm sure derailleurs would have been just fine too, but on a longer tour I think they'd be more vulnerable to the environment:

http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/india2008/052.jpg

I think my favourite thing about the Rohloff is being able to choose a new gear when stationary, without having to lift the back end and pedal - with full luggage on the bike that's a great advantage. On really steep and rough sections of road, at very high altitudes, there were times when either of us would have to suddenly stop and catch our breath - that's when I was pleased to be able to switch to a new gear to begin pedalling again.

I was interested to find that, with full luggage in the hills, I would normally shift gears two at a time - I found myself using 1,3 & 5 mostly, and maybe 11 or 12 in short flat sections between downhills.

Business 810 - I did have a problem with acclimatisation. We flew (early morning) into Leh airport which sits around 3,500m, and immediately noticed that we got a bit breathless when moving the bags around, and had to take it easy for the rest of that day. It was only at night that the headaches started. Nothing too serious though - kept me awake, but no big deal. Next day was a bit like having a hangover - again, no big deal. On the second night though, I thought I was going to have a stroke and die on the bed! I had *THUMPING* pressure all around my head and neck, and felt like my eyes were being pushed out of their sockets. In the morning I wasn't any better and I was a bit worried about the condition worsening, so I went along to the local hospital and asked a doctor if it was safe to stay, or if I should evacuate asap. He said it wasn't uncommon for the second night to be worse than the first, and suggested I should take some Diamox (acetazolamide). We were able to buy some in the town pharmacy, and I slept like a log on the third night. Phew. After that, I had no further symptoms (stopped taking Diamox after two days). We cycled up Khardung La (5,400m) just a few days later, which was real hard, breathless work, but there were no symptoms of altitude sickness.

About a week later we were on the high section of road, where we spent about 5 or 6 days and nights never dropping below 4,500m (climbing up to around 5,000m each day), and neither of us had any problems. Apart from the breathlessness of course, but that affects everyone and isn't a symptom of anything medical. It's surprising - even a trivial task like stuffing a sleeping bag into its sack required a few rests and heavy breathing! But as soon as we got on the bikes and started pedalling, even on a gradient, it seemed easy. Well, easier...

Hi MadSolitaire - the camera was a wee Canon compact - A650is, chosen because it uses AA batteries (same as the GPS and our headtorches), and because it's got a good telephoto end to the zoom. All photos shot at ISO 80, and set to the 'P' mode - just point and press. I kept it in a little, padded, zip-up Lowe-Pro case, about the size of a coffee mug, which proved its value because I dropped the thing a few times. Doh.

Vic - forgot to say - I had a look through Eric & Dan's photos. Looks like we were both inspired by the same things! In fact I think some of the dancing men (At the Ladakhi Festival?) are still dancing in my photos, taken 8yrs later! Brilliant.

On our trip we were *very* lucky with the weather. We had thunder and lightning one night in the Indus Valley, but were safely tucked up in our sleeping bags and it had cleared up in the morning. It snowed on the day we arrived in the Tibetan School and had a room for the night, and it was sunny again the following morning. And a freak 3-day monsoon started on the day we reached Manali and the end of our cycling. That rain will surely have fallen as snow in the mountains, so the few cyclists we passed who were just starting their tour in the other direction must have had a pretty adventurous time.

I know this thread has been on here for a while, but I just now checked into it. Truly incredible images, Mr Al! The only problem is that it leaves me with almost infinite questions...

Hey Everybody,
first post here, horray!

We had an awesome trip over there. Our route was Manali - Leh, nubra valley and all the way back with some detours on the way back. I'm sure its changed quite a bit in the last few years. The climbs and descents over there are humbling.

for the photographic question, Dan was shooting with a Nikon N90 with slide film.

Incredible!

Great pics; thanks so much for sharing.

Wonderful pictures!

Incredible! I had read your blog style page about this tour just earlier today, and now I find out that you're a member of these forums, and here is a thread dedicated to that! I must say this is great inspiration just looking at these pictures and reading your description of the journey, although I know it's not always all so ideal when you're actually doing it, but I'm set that once I will and I must do something similar, that is now past the "thinking about it" stage, now it's more like a burning desire stage :D

And yes, I know, older thread, but I just had to say it, hope mods won't mind ;)

wow. and how did you find a partner who is into the same stuff?

... also ... cycling at 16,000 feet? impressive!

Wow! Too cool!

Oh my... I'd comment more but I have to pick up my jaw from the floor...

Adam