Ride the Himalayas Day 7 7-16-19 Moonlake Camp to Plm dhara Hotel & Restaurant Sissu

Ride the Himalayas    

7-16-2019       Day 7 of the "Ride the Himalayas" Starting in Moonlake Camp

The night was super clear and COLD!  Remember we all were huddled around the wood stove in that tent last night before dinner!  Ya almost wanted to snuggle with your bunk mate but we weren't that good of friends.  Hahaha   Did I mention It was a COLD night, well we all managed to survive and the boots were nice and COLD in the morning as well from being soaked the day before which was another treat. LOL  The sun in the morning was a welcoming sight and Mischa led morning Yoga.

 After breakfast and packing up we found out that 4 of our crew were leaving us as they didn't have work permits or something in the next state (or province) to continue on.  We pooled up a good some of money to tip them for all their help and wonderful cooking.  Von did an awesome heartwarming speech thanking them for their help and hospitality on the trip then presented them with the tip they could divide amongst themselves.

Von is on the right and Jjr Pawan on the left with our fab four guys leaving us in the middle.

Moonlake Camp

I took a bunch of photos of the area with all my cameras and about 8:30 we took off down the dusty trail.  The insides of my knees were killing me as they felt so bruised from hugging or banging against the fuel tank and my lower lip (which would become legendary as the worst burnt lip of the century) hurt so bad I could barely eat which is another weight loss technique I was mastering on this trip.  LOL

  

My eyes were burning pretty bad and tearing like crazy from accidentally getting sunscreen in them this morning but ya gotta put that stuff on or you'll burn to a crisp in the thin atmosphere up here.

 

We backtracked to the park boundary and had to go through many stream crossings.  Here is Paul Dunne from Australia showing us how it's done.  After he came down the stream he went BACK UP just for a little practice.  Paul was an excellent rider.

Here I am crashing my way through, photo courtesy of D. Hamilton

We finally made it to pavement where I'm in my element and in short order started blowing by the fellow riders with vengeance for fun of course.  I really should have just stayed in the back as I'm sure I missed taking some awesome shots but that just means I need to go back and do it again.  😀 

The lunch stop for the day was by a bridge and a super tall waterfall was nearby.  Most of us had a Roman style egg noodle dish which was quite SPICY!  Von scored some really nice hand made wool hats and I thought some gloves for like 500 Inr which was super cheap.

 

Some of the group

Our awesome photographers Vidit and Vikas

Huge rock that fell down the mountain.

We finally got to our hotel (Plm dhara Hotel) in Sissu (about 9875') which was still being built but the top floors were complete.  This place was BEAUTIFUL!  Our room had a nice TV (we didn't even bother to turn on).  All the male staff wore black suits from very young boys to the owner which was a very nice touch. We had nice balconies that looked out over the valley and across to the Sissu waterfall.  All of us ripped off our soaked clothes and put everything out to dry on the balcony.  It was nice to just walk around in dry clothes and regular shoes that afternoon/evening. 

 

Like most hotels we stayed at, all were a work in progress and some did and some did not have WiFi.  Wifi was spotty at best even in the larger towns so don't get your panties in a bunch if you can't post to the world every day. 

At dinner we saw on the menu that they had "Cheeseburgers"  All of us went crazy at the thought but it was fake news.  😆😆  One good thing was the hotel had labeled all the dishes so we knew what the heck we were eating which was awesome!  None of us really knew the names of the dishes so I took shots of everything.

 

Every afternoon or evening we would have some snacks.  Tonight were some fried/battered veggies and they were SPICY HOT!  Everyone has Chai tea (I'm not a tea fan at all but gave it a try and still don't care for it so water for me).  Von, Steve and Dave started working over the Kingfisher beer supply at the hotel and our mates Paul, Evan & Mischa from Australia joined in.  Those guys were putting the hurt to the cold beer supply of the village and I'm sure an SOS was going out to other villages to truck some more beer in ASAP.  Things started getting out of hand when Von thought it might taste good in his soup.  Hahaha  At one point Paul was going to toss up a Gulab Jamun (donut hole type thing soaked in honey) for Von to catch and well... it didn't go as planned.  Gala tried to catch the circus events on her camera and all of us howled. 

Vanna went over to the nice shop that sold all sorts of clothing and wool type products and found some nice sox to keep her feet warm.  Since she took a bad fall in the beginning of the trip she wasn't able to wear a boot on that foot (later we found out that her ankle had been broken).

 

 

Ride the Himalayas Day 6 7-15-19 Kaza to Moonlake Camp, India

 

Ride the Himalayas    

7-15-2019       Day 6 of the "Ride the Himalayas" Starting in Kaza

The incredible monastery next door to the hotel was as usual, so spectacular that I had to get up early to go shoot it with nobody around.  I took a LOT of photos of it then headed across the road to the many Stupas and probably 100 prayer wheels all lined up.  I enjoyed taking all sorts of shots of these monuments.

After breakfast and packing, off we went to our first destination the Key Monastery.  This is quite a site up on top of the hill with views forever.  I have seen various photos of the monastery and would have liked to get one from where they were taken but.... they were up another mountainside and it was just to steep, I was to tired, I could hardly breath from the elevation and not enough time (is that enough excuses...)  There were a few young monks washing the stairs outside the entrance of the main plaza type area which started at a doorway but it turned out to be a short hallway lined on both sides with beautiful gold leaf or gold painted prayer wheels. Once through the hallway there was a small common area before the stairs up main entrance of the Monastery.  You could walk around up there and in some cases get to the edge of the buildings where no ropes or barriers existed and take quite a fall.  

After seeing that wonderful monastery we motored on through the steep mountains then stopped after we crossed the mighty Chicham Bridge which is at 13,596 ft (4,144 m) and over 1000' above the river below.  (Just don't look down and you'll be alright!)   This bridge saves quite a bit of time between villages and was completed in 2017.  One of our photographers on the trip Vidit took me out on the bridge to a spot and pointed down to the bottom where a tractor or truck went over the side somehow and it didn't look pretty.   

Vidit trying to stay warm.

My knees were hurting pretty bad and felt really bruised from banging against the gas tank.  Being a street rider I guess it's one of the things you learn (hugging the tank with your knees or at least wearing some kind of pads) when riding on dirt bikes but I'm a newbie so I just enjoyed the pain and keep on riding.  ha, ha, ha

 

I'm not sure where we stopped for lunch but it was kind of a sacred place.  A beautiful valley with some horses walking around, quite windy as well.  It was probably  good thing we stopped as the SUV got a flat tire and we watched as much chatter took place about how or what to do.  I'm sure a few of us Yanks could have gotten it done like a NASCAR pit crew but it was fun to see how other folks do things.  While all this was happening someone started playing music on their phone and an impromptu Dance fever moment hit some of the guys; Mischa, Von and Evan were dancin around so funny, we had to take photos and video.  Hahahaha

Most of the road was quite remote and at the top of Kunzum pass there was another shrine area that everyone had to drive around for good luck.  It was super windy/cold  up there on top of the pass (14,931' or  4,551 m) and there were a LOT of prayer flags and other flags.  The site was really quite unique and surprising all at the same time. 

After heading down the other side of this pass through streams and snow we had to wait for some of the others to show up.  My bike was DIRTY!  Here is it with Dave (one of my wing-man) in the background.

If you don't think it is a tough climate up in the Himalayas then this might help you understand, the roads are tough to maintain and there are high winds, huge snow storms that dump a ton and then rock slides and other natural catastrophes.  Take a look at this poor sign that has been through the wringer.

(Amit lead rider, Stephen, Von, Jjr Pawan, and Dave)

Now time to head for our next camp which had MORE spectacular views (are there any bad views in the Himalayas - I think NOT!)  We got to the Moonlake camp and Rahul mentioned we could ride on to a beautiful lake up the road a ways (Chandrataal Lake).  We had to take our passports as we were going into a park and the military security was checking all of us.  Rahul also didn't mention that there were a number of stream crossings and one of the deepest so far which all of us got our boots totally soaked.  There is nothing like cold soaked boots in the morning to start out a new day.  Hahaha.  Here are a few shots of the camp and view.

So Von, Stephen, Dave and I got to the parking lot and then had to hike for about 1/2 a mile  until we could even see the lake, again in moto gear it wasn't easy as we were again in the 14,000 foot elevation range so much huffing and puffing.  It was also chilly, overcast, windy and starting to sprinkle on us.  Here I am looking and feeling rough after another hard day riding and hiking.

  

That night I went down to the dinner tent and nobody was there, it was windy and COLD!  I could hear people in another tent so I walked over and inside there was a wood stove, beautiful rugs all over the floor and everyone was in there chatting and keeping warm.  Later we went back over to the frozen dinner tent and had dinner.  I think the cooks made some pizza (in addition to the regular menu) for us that night which all of us loved.  It was a cold night but we all managed.

 

The other tidbits of news for the day: 

• Yadav broke the forks on his Himalayan but luckily didn't get hurt
  
• A van got stuck in the river crossing it was so deep and to show everyone who is boss  Rahul goes through it riding BAREFOOT!
• Von crashed in some sand but didn't get hurt 
• And somehow my new nickname is "Professor"!
  

 

Ride the Himalayas Day 5 7-14-2019 Mud Village to Komic and back to Kaza

 

Ride the Himalayas    

7-14-2019       Day 5 of the "Ride the Himalayas" Starting in the Pin Valley

We woke up to beautiful blue sky's this morning.  The grounds around our camp were soggy as everything was basically saturated from the river which was raging and only 20-30 yards away.  There were beautiful little purple flowers (a type of Marsh Orchid but did not fit the description of the Himalayan marsh orchid) everywhere which was nice to see in the barren landscape. Mischa and I got up before 5 and he went for a walk to take some of his incredible photographs.  The camp chefs were up early and made pancakes and eggs along with Chai tea which I think is like water to all.

  

After breaking down camp the ride back to the main road was slippery from the mud.  As I finally got to firm ground I made the curve a little to wide and the front wheel got caught up in some large rocks and at less than 2 mph I went down.  At least the bike and I didn't get hurt.  I picked up and Von was there to spot me in a heartbeat.  Paul helped me get it started as there was some computer reset I needed to do with the key.  Once the bike was running I zipped up to the rest of the group.

We headed back out of the Pin Valley National Park and although it had snow leopards, sheep, and a few other critters, we saw none.

The views in these valleys are so vast and mountains seem to go straight up.  You can easily see the way they were created with violent upheavals of rock going every which way.  I'm sure this is a geologists dream come true to visit here.

I kept stopping and shooting but only with my phone as the camera around my neck (Fuji) was gone?  I looked in my mirrors and felt all around but could not see the strap.  After stopping to many times for shots I blasted up to the bridge where everyone was waiting.  I asked Paul to see if he could see my camera and he did, it was hanging around the back side next to my backpack from my spill earlier that morning.  I was much relieved to have it back and available.

Today we kept riding along the river beds and up the the little town of Kaza where we got gas.  It was quite warm in the sun and anytime it hit my head it felt like a blow torch was blasting on it in the thin atmosphere and elevation.  I'm glad I brought my hat that I could put on anytime I took my helmet off.

 From the entrance of the town through the exit and beyond there were many large pipes piled all over for either water or sewage or some kind of town improvement.  We kept on riding along the dusty, bumpy road out of town to our next destination.  Way up the mountainside was a small village called Langza (14,300' - 4360m).  Up high on this mountain the area turned into a nice rolling green grassy hillside with white houses and other buildings.  On the top of one hill overlooking the land was a large Buddha statue that  was being cleaned and repainted. 

We had a group photo in front of the Budha (I'm on the left) then headed on past the worlds highest post office to the worlds highest village, Komic (15,050' - 4587m).  The village had about 114 people, a restaurant and monastery.  We had lunch up there, walked around a bit and rested since all of us were pretty tired.

Heading back down the mountain and back to Kaza a bunch of us stopped where the post office trail was in the village of Hikkim.  I decided I wanted to check it out, what the heck, who knows if I'd ever get back and since I was here - Just do it!   Walking down the trail to the PO (14,567' - 4440m) was not bad but wearing riding gear and boots was not really the proper attire for comfort or hiking.  I had a guy take my photo in front of the place and then I headed back up to the bike. 

 The elevation had me huffing, puffing and just plain took my breath away.   When I got back to the bike Rahul and the tail rider Yadav were there and we all took off down the mountain.   The cliffside road was half paved, lots of holes, water crossings and dusty but it took us back to Kaza where our hotel was waiting and that is all that mattered.

The town of Kaza is below.

We got in at early afternoon which was great so all of us did some laundry, had hot showers, took photos of the incredible Kaza Monastery right next door.  The Kaza monastery took 4 years to build and the Dalai Lama swung by in 2009 according to a monk that came out and talked to me.    Evan, Gala and I went in for a peak and it was absolutely gorgeous inside.