26/08/2017 Pooh –
Nako
After descending
from Pooh we faced roughly an 1100 meter climb to Nako at 3624m (total ascent
1300 meters). We knew the start of the route rather too well after having
backtracked it yesterday! We said
farewell to the Sutlej river today which we had been following since Narkanda
and met the Spiti river. It was a beautiful ride. Hardly any traffic and very
dramatic landscape. Greenery is becoming quite scarce now except for a few
places where intense farming takes place. Luckily the road surface was good on
the whole and all though there was a lot of climbing it was actually much
easier then yesterdays undulating section on rough road. It just feels a lot
better when you can see that you are slowly gaining height rather then going up
and down on rough road. Especially when the downhill is such hard work on the loose rock and
sand.
We met a very
chatty Indian lady on a motorbike who was travelling by herself. She had loads
of information and was keen to share everything she carried. Swatty explained
that nearly all of the road workers come from very poor villages and are not
local. Their living conditions as we had already seen are abysmal. Their homes
often just consist of a tarpaulin pinned to the rock face. They are bashing and
carrying stones and drilling into the rocks. It's always extremely dusty and it
seems a particularly harsh way to earn a living.
We met up with a
party of about 20 motor bikers from NZ and Australia who where on an organised
trip. It's great when there is no language barrier.
Nako appears to be
a lovely little village. We walked up to the old temple and looked back on the
lake. Let's hope it's a clear night tonight so when can see the stars.
 |
| Finding some shade underneath an overhanging rock |
 |
| Where there is water it is carefully used |
 |
| Sight seeing in Nako |
 |
| 'Thatched roofs in Nako |
 |
| Prayer wheels are very much part of every day life |
 |
| Add caption |
 |
And more thatched roofs with the Royal Enfields
parked beside |
 |
| Gompa |
 |
| View back to Nako from the Gompa |
 |
| Prayer flags always impress. I love the noice they make in the wind. |
 |
| The world over children like to have a go on your bike. This was approaching Pooh |
 |
| By no means everyone had a desirable place to live |
 |
| Slowly leaving Kinnaur |
We met a very
chatty Indian lady on a motorbike who was travelling by herself. She had loads
of information and was keen to share everything she carried. Swatty explained
that nearly all of the road workers come from very poor villages and are not
local. Their living conditions as we had already seen are abysmal. Their homes
often just consist of a tarpaulin pinned to the rock face. They are bashing and
carrying stones and drilling into the rocks. It's always extremely dusty and it
seems a particularly harsh way to earn a living.
No comments:
Post a Comment