Leh-Manali - part 3

Saturday 31 August

Fifth successive riding day around 4000 metres. Happily we seem to be handling the altitude without difficulty. Heck, we also end up breathing hard when we're climbing 5% grades. Maybe the onset is earlier here, but when there's twenty or thirty km to go with no lessening of the gradient, all you can do is back off to something sustainable which for us inevitably means that we get there, but it takes a long time.

So off for another day beginning with, you guessed it, a climb. Doesn't sound like much, just 500 m to climb in the first 25 km of today's ride. Beautiful weather, and again unbelievable vistas.

 Ursula finds Edelweiss and flowers up on the high plains.

But it isn't as easy as riding up Thunderbird ridge at home. Narrow road. mostly single lane, no shoulder and if you went off the side, nothing to stop you for hundreds of metres.

And it's not as if it is always a great road surface.

And when there are heavy rains and melts, the rivers return to where they once were, burying the road in the process...

We all walk through the loose rocks, but not Rama, one of our Indian staff who is from Manali - for him, it looks like just another surface to ride on.

...and then some real water to get across, and bless him, Henry is there helping us get the bikes across and tiptoe on the rocks without getting feet wet.

Sometimes you can't help it, you have to get the feet wet.

The question is whether the shoes and socks have to get wet too. Ursula removes hers so they're still dry for the rest of the day.

Finally at the top - four hours and a bit. We're getting used to covering less than 20 km in the morning.

Glacier Lake beside the highway as we begin the descent...

...with the usual switchbacks...

...but still a few rivers to cross... 

...one of our support vehicles too... 

We continue the descent and the valley becomes noticeably greener as we descend below the 4000 metre levels

...but still a few climbs around the valley edges, at least not as steep...

Both sides of the valley are cultivated with a few pulley systems to get the product from the opposite side to the side with the highway.

...and so on down the valley and more stunning views...

...eventually getting to the hotel for the night. We're thinking that we've come a long way down, altitude now being 3300 metres. Seems low until Rae thinks that that's 10,000 feet - you can't be above 10,000 for more than 30 minutes without oxygen - we've been above this for the last two weeks.

Tomorrow will see us riding until about noon at which point they've arranged a bus transfer into Manali on account of the very narrow busy road. Nice to be in the hotel. Wonderful hot shower.