Day 3 - 26 June 2011 (Keylong to Sarchu)

730am - bright and early today. In fact, daybreak is at about 5am but the thick blanket was way too comfortable to give up. There didn't seem like there was going to be a morning market from our evening walk last night so we didn't bother to rouse ourselves too early from sleep. :) 

breakfast with our regular eggs and toast but sweetened by Kashmiri cherries

Remnants of tea the night we arrived

 1045am - we're on our way to Sarchu now and the roads don't get any better. The dust was getting from bad to worse. Last night was spent trying to dust away the dirt and dust from our gear but to no avail. You see, when we are at such a high altitude, it is a crime to not wind down the windows and get the cool mountain air. The only problem is to deal with the dust kicked up by the oncoming veh or the one in front. We are dealing with it like the Afghanistan soldiers, with scarves draped round our mouths and we end up looking like a car full of bandits!

Vippin loading our luggage in the morning

good roads and even lesser vehicles

Sign to Darchu

Can't resist shop signs

the scenery changes (brownery instead of greenery) as we hit further north

So far, the roads seem to be a mixture of tarmac and gravel. I don't know what I want, the tarmac or the gravel.

1115pm - where do I begin to start?! I'm all snuggled up with 4 layers of clothings, under 2 layers of blankets and hugging a hot water bottle and im shivering as hell. More on that state later. The roads were mostly gravel all the way to Sarchu but many cars before us got stuck at 2 river crossings which proved treacherous for bikers on this highway. When we arrived at the first crossing, there were already some bikers with rubber boots assisting some stuck cars. Isaac remembered this place very well for this was where he almost suffered from hypothermia trying to push a biker across 2 years ago. The waters were actually melted glacier waters not very far from where we were.

Zingzingbar - signs that the roads are not going to be easy

Bikes stop at a river crossing as the French bikers help the cars get across

Yep, the cars are really stuck and the sound the gushing waters make is not comforting at all if you are the driver

the passengers of the car sit and watch as the car tries to get across

the truck to the rescue! - though it took several failed tries.  The French bikers were really into helping the folks out but Isaac knew better - 2 years ago, he did the same and his feet got badly frozen stiff. The bikers are going to regret this big time though they'll have a story to tell afterwards!

A video on how the bikers got across

After all the work, Mother Nature reminds us that it that we are all insignificant in her eyes

Those bikers managed to get one car across but the 2nd one took almost 15 min with the assistance of a truck to pull the stranded car out! The bikers were almost shell shocked with the cold waters by then but continued to labour on. The more experienced drivers who ply this route often wisely stayed out of the waters and instructed the poor guys already in the water and all this while, we were filming. :)

We had also passed the Baralacha Pass at 4400m and the snow was a great joy for all of us and we headed down to Darcha for a hot lunch as the weather was starting to get really cold.

Stopping at Baralacha La

Really chilling out here

A nearly frozen lake in the summer

Photographing snow flakes

Cs considered opening a shop here

A real dhaba at Darchu where we had our first Maggi Mee and masala chai combination. We never turned back from this combination again..

As we continued on our journey, we came to the second heavy river crossing. The second one seemed tougher as the crossing was longer and of all cars plying the route, a volkswagen polo got stuck in the middle. It was also pulled out but probably with a damaged undercarriage as the car slammed into a steep climb.

A Volkswagen Polo going where he isn't meant to go

that's right - pull her up!

Again, this is but just a small stream in life's journey

But with people and drivers stopping and helping each other, we'll all pull through somehow.

After clearing this, we reached our tents for the night, Goldrop Tents, which promised luxurious rooms with basic amenities. We even have attached toilets in our tents. We have to watch our flushing of the toilet though as the cistern does not fill up automatically as we were in the middle of a deserted valley! The plains were A wonderful sight with short green grass and flowers everywhere. We couldn't resist but to have a tea picnic with our packed lunch.

picnic-ing out in the cold, but skin's frying in the sun!

Enjoying our packed lunch at about 4pm

The road to Leh is still long - ~ 250km more!

Dear discovered a marmot!

Luxurious camp indeed!

We're going to sleep at an altitude of 4385m

Us with the Zanskar Range looming in the background

We had also sighted numerous wildlife of the area such as the Himalayan pigeons and the marmots, which looked like giant guinea pigs on the plains. There were several Marmot tunnels behind our tent and we spent some time exploring these entrances hoping for a head to pop out!

This was also when the temperatures dropped rapidly and the heavy winds winds compounded the problem. Dinner was done with heavy layers of clothings and thankfully so, as the winds picked up outside as we were having our dinner in the dinner tent.

This was also when we decided to shoot star trails as the valley sky was choked full with them. So, in temperatures of abt 1 or 2 deg, Isaac, Cs, racheal and myself braced ourselves for the shoot but Cs and Racheal soon fell out as the freezing temperature weren't doing any good. So here i am, shivering my butt off, but glad I finally got the one shot I always wanted to try - though it was still a blurry shot!

my best attempt at a star trail

Time for bed but seems like a long night for some cos I hear some people having severe vomitting in the tents opposite us. I'm so glad I took my acute mountain sickness pills this time round.

The route from Manali to Leh - If you're interested, just follow the map from Manali to Leh!