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.



Approaching the top of Baralacha La:




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:



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





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



Lingti Chu river, after Lachalung La:



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!):



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!



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.: