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.