Getting ready to head to the heights

TDA Trans-Himalaya... Kashmir to Kathmandu on our bikes.

Friday August 9th, we're in the last throes of getting ready to depart late on Sunday for close to two months of cycling in the Himalayas. It was supposed to start in Srinagar, summer capital of Indian Kashmir, but that all got changed less than a week ago when India revoked the special status of Kashmir.

Kashmir sits up at the north of India. Since India and Pakistan gained their independence in 1947, wars have been fought over its status. Without getting into detail that I'd get all wrong, India, Pakistan and China all lay claim to bits of the combined area of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh, the Indian part of which was until last week administered as 'Jammu and Kashmir' (in yellow in the ma below).

 As of last week, India has revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and they have also partitioned it so that Ladakh is now its own 'union territory'. Note that the ethnic makeup of Ladakh is different from that of Jammu and Kashmir and security there does not seem to be an issue, in fact there are indications that the local population has wanted that change for some time. 

The uncertain situation in Kashmir led to TDA deciding it was best to change the start to Leh in Ladakh. So a few phone calls and emails etc later, and of course a few extra dollars, and the travel arrangements are changed. The change basically means that we all meet up in Leh at the same time as we would have met in Srinagar. Instead of the first four days of riding, we'll acclimatise to the altitude (3500 m) at Leh, then pick up the original schedule on the fifth riding day.

Stay posted... This is it at least until we get to Leh - we aren't going to bug you with emails every time we post something, but if you want that, you can sign up by entering your email in the 'follow by email' block on the right or at the bottom of the post... Ursula and Rae