A bit of catchup - internet in Leh was too slow to get anything posted, then we moved down the valley back in the direction of Srinigar to start riding the bikes, but that put us close enough to Kashmir that all internet and email, including data on cell phones, was cut off.
August 12 - just after midnight the non-stop Air Canada flight to Delhi. Fourteen hours, then three hours to get bags through immigration and catch the Air India flight to Leh. Although all the bags are checked through to Leh, Air India insists that paying for the bikes in Canada doesn't mean that they've been paid for in India; it only gets them to Delhi. They have us over a barrel... either pay up or miss the flight to Leh. We paid and were the last people to board the flight.
 |
| Leh from the air as we arrived |
Arrived Leh on Tuesday the 13th and were happy to see the bike boxes arrive in good shape.
Flights arrive in the morning in Leh. The runway is oriented NE-SW. Landings are to the NE, up hill. Afternoon winds seem to get stronger from the southwest - presumably that's the reason for morning arrivals to avoid the tailwind for landing. Higher ground to the northeast precludes take-offs in that direction so take-offs are downhill to the SW. Field elevation is 3500 metres / 11,500 feet, so you can't expect airplanes to perform like they do at sea level.
We went straight to the hotel for a bit of breakfast and a bit of catching up on sleep before walking into the central part of town (about 20 minute walk). The TDA crew was already there and A few others of our group arrived that morning, most of them in other hotels from us.
 |
| breakfast |
 |
One of two pedestrian-only streets in the central area.
The banner was for August 25th Independence Day celebrations. The region was only last week declared its own union territory, no longer part of Jammu and Kashmir |
The following days we spent looking around with no particular urgency.
 |
| Old Leh Palace |
 |
| The Shanti Stupa built by Japan as a gift to the Ladakh buddhists |
 |
| 565 steps to the Stupa, Ursula counted them |
 |
| Monastery on the other hill |
 |
| Cows have free reign in the streets, not that there are that many of them - this one must be waiting for happy hour |
Saturday was the appointed day for bike assembly with organizational meeting on the Sunday. We got on the bikes for a 60 km ride in the vicinity of Leh on Monday, then Tuesday got in vans to go back down the valley in the direction of Srinigar to the village of Mulbekh. Wednesday would be a free day in Mulbekh and then start the formal riding on what would have been riding day number five on Thursday August 22nd. More on that in the next post. We just want to get this up so you don't think we're missing in action. Further posts will be highly dependent on the internet service.
Flights arrive in the morning in Leh. The runway is oriented NE-SW. Landings are to the NE, up hill. Afternoon winds seem to get stronger from the southwest - presumably that's the reason for morning arrivals to avoid the tailwind for landing. Higher ground to the northeast precludes take-offs in that direction so take-offs are downhill to the SW. Field elevation is 3500 metres / 11,500 feet, so you can't expect airplanes to perform like they do at sea level.
The following days we spent looking around with no particular urgency. 
No comments:
Post a Comment