07/09/2017 Debring
– Upshi over the Taglang La
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| Our own tent. Pitched at 4620m and boy was it windy in the night |
Today we climbed
the arguably highest motor-able road in the world at 5626m and how proud we
felt! Actually it wasn't that bad. The climb was very gradual and the road
surface was excellent. Also, every time
you think you are doing well you meet someone who is much more
courageous and amazing. We met a young woman, cycling by herself who was
carrying sticks on her bike. She explained that she didn't really want to use
petrol for her stove (gas canisters are rare ) so she uses sticks and dung to
light a fire. She doesn't stay in any parachute tent choosing to pitch her own
tent somewhere isolated. She has hiked her way from Keylong to Leh stopping
along the way to help with the harvesting and live alongside local families for
weeks on end. Now that is what I call tough.
We met up with Max
at the summit and Dave also made a brief appearance and it did all feel
wonderful because it was pretty much downhill from here to Leh.
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| Cooking on the floor was not at all unusual for local people. |
I was very glad I
donned all my warm gear because after the summit of the Taglang La followed
hours of descent. We met some poor cyclists coming up the hill who were
seriously struggling with the altitude. Both were younger and looked fit but
one was really struggling and the other had thrown in the towel and was hoping
to get a lift with his bike to the top We were so grateful that we had slowly
acclimatised coming up from Shimla because we didn't really have any problems.
As we descended we entered
a different world. It became green again and villages appeared and eventually
even electricity lines. There was a menu and choice of food again which got us
pretty excited. The change was gradual though. Our bedroom for the night did
have electricity but there was no socket to charge anything. The en suite
bathroom had a foot step toilet and a bucket with water. The long awaited shower would have to wait
another day!
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| Malc dancing to The Dandy Warhols whilst forced waiting for me to catch him up |
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| In 2005 after more accurate measuring the Taglang La actually measured one meter higher than the Kardungl La to the north of Leh but it hasn't claimed it's status |
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| Taglang La 5360 m |
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| Icicles by the side of the road. Warm weather gear needed for the long downhill. All on tarmac yippee! |
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