INTO THE HIMALAYAS

 

It’s a long drive from Jaisalmer in western India to Birkaner through flat green desert. There is a surprising amount of traffic and more pilgrims with the usual loud music and tall flags. We head to a recommended Hotel to see if we can use their carpark, but its way too fancy for us to park there. They suggest parking at the Fort, so we head there. But as we drive through a narrow spot BANG, the front right tyre blows and 3 sec later, BANG, the right back tyre goes too. John even mutters a few strong ###### and we pull over. Two tyres stuffed! Luckily we carry a tyre shop on the roof! A hot sweaty hour follows as John (with a few locals helping) changes both tyres and then we carefully navigate the city to a tyre shop. There are no big tyre shops here, so we are on the side of a crazy narrow street getting tyres off the roof etc etc. We leave a tyre behind to be repaired. It is late by the time we leave, so traffic is manic, but we get to the outskirts of the city where we can camp beside the Camel Research Centre. Thankfully we luck out here. We meet Jitu, the owner of the shop and a tour guide who is incredibly helpful.

The next day we head into town in Jitu’s 4x4 with another wheel in the back (Yes one of the spares we used went flat!) to get repaired. He arranges his tyre guy to repair both tyres because our tyre shop hasn’t done the other yet, and they will send them out to us by tuk tuk. Then he drops us at the stunning Junagarh/Red Fort & Palace. Some more Wow moments exploring before returning to the Camel Farm. Later our tyres arrive, and in the meantime John and Jitu have been hunting for new tyres. Finally, John locates some in Delhi. Plans are now changed, and we will head there.

We say our goodbyes to all our new friends and head off. Of course, it is now the weekend (thus the tyre shop is closed) and we are taking the shortest route possible so stop early afternoon at Mandawa - a little town chock full of amazing old Havelis and a maze of narrow streets that we get caught up in. Phew, we reverse and do a 3-point turn (so glad I’m not driving!) and a helpful local shows us the back way to Shahi Palace Hotel which has a swimming pool. Sadly, it doesn’t have a carpark, so we decide to get a room. It’s worth it for the blissfully cool pool Later we explore town, admiring rows of stunning haveli’s in various stages of decay.  It is so lovely that Bollywood occasionally uses the town as a backdrop. We also stumble across a group of gorgeously dressed ladies following a noisy band. Either an excuse to party or a ceremony of some sort. Next, we run into a party van decorated with massive boom boxes and flashing neon lights. A group of ladies are having a great time dancing in the streets. The noise is incredible. Later we head back to our pool.

In the morning its time to head to Delhi. Because we have chosen a direct route, we discover it is mainly narrow roads running through villages, making it slow and rather tedious. John has found a camp spot south of the city, so we head there. Finally, we are back on toll motorways. At one toll booth the sign pops up that we are Blacklisted (oh no we have put more money on our transponder!) When all the cars start tooting, they wave us through and at the next we are ready with our texts showing the money, but now they work … so it’s all good. Much later we wind through the narrow streets of a steep little town (I’m holding my breath), along muddy tracks and down a tight driveway. I go down it on foot and say it’s OK, but don’t look up to see the barrier. We are saved by a Hindu man with a tall bamboo pole who holds the barrier up so we can squeeze in.

Monday its time to hit the city traffic. We survive and reach the tyre shop. Of course, the tyres aren’t here yet, so we wait! Finally, they arrive, and John is one happy man. It has been a long while since we have managed to get new tyres, let alone 4 brand new ones. They should get GR2 all the way back home. At the end of they day we hit rush hour traffic again, but somehow survive and find a spot to camp just out of the sprawling city. Very interesting driving through Delhi with its population of 34 million, and so millions of crazy drivers.

Lots more driving today as we head to Amritsar. Again, the tolls show we are blacklisted, so a local shows us a route avoiding tolls. This is more scenic than the motorway as we pass through miles of crops and chaotic villages. We are now in the Punjab- home of the farmers. It is nearly dusk by the time we pull into a Sikk Temple where we can park along with lots of locals. They welcome us with Chai and later share their bread with us. We chat to lots of locals and are amazed by the task of turban tying. It is amazing how many different styles can be made from a long strip of fabric. We see daggers for sale and are surprised that the Sikk men actually do wear them.

The next day we head to the city of Amritsar and after stocking up with food locate Mrs Bandari’s Guesthouse where we can camp, and they have a pool. After cooling down we head to the old town & Golden Temple by tuktuk. The old town is crazy, chaotic, messy and plain dirty, but when we reach the street leading to the Temple everything is pristine and very attractive. There are hundreds of Indian tourists heading to the Temple. We join the crowd, take off our shoes, walk through the water baths provided and head in. And Wow wow wow. It is stunning. We wander around, look at the soup kitchen that runs all day long providing between 60,000 to 100,000 meals daily and then just sit and watch as the sun sets and makes the Temple glow even more. Well, I do! John must be busy, so he chats to people. We are the only white faces here.

We still have a few days before our current carnet expires and our new one starts (at this point we need to cross the border) so we decide to head into the mountains. We are looking forward to the scenery and the cool nights. Of course, there are more tolls, and we are again blacklisted. So, John decides to sort it out. After 2 hours we have a new tag, and fingers crossed we will be able to use the money on the old tag in a few days. We head through the lush fields of Punjab and into the Jamma & Kashmir region. The main traffic consists of long convoys of military trucks, all loaded and ready for action. A tad intimidating, but later we discover they are here because elections are looming, not imminent war with Pakistan. We follow the signs to Srinagar and discover there is a lovely new ring road around the huge untidy city of Jammu, but unfortunately it suddenly stops and there is no apparent route. Oh well we decide to call it a day and camp in a riverbed, but annoyingly an angry Hindu man yells at us until we up and leave. That means we must navigate the maze of streets in rush hour. Phew. An hour later we pull over beside the Jammu Zoo. They will let us camp overnight beside their entrance. Lots of traffic noise, but who cares.

We wake to a glorious blue sky, so unlike the hazy hot Punjab area, and head into the mountains. But 2 things slow us this morning. First, we stop to see why our phone won’t work and discover we need a new Sim for this area. Of course this takes nearly an hour. Then we are waved down by a car. The 2 guys invite us to their resort for coffee. We think, why not, and follow them down back tracks to the very lovely Skyview by Empyrean Resort. Sadly, their gondolas are being serviced but they show us around and treat us to coffee and cakes. Lots of chatting with the result that we have extended our side trip. Original plan was to drive to Srinagar and then back to Amritsar, but now we are doing a big route through the mountains. As we head off they tell us to keep driving all the way to Srinayar as there is nowhere suitable to stay on the way, so its getting late as we reach the city. At least its easy to find the Swiss Hotel where we can camp in the driveway. And it was a magic drive with stunning scenery, some good road, some terrible, crazy mayhem in towns and the now usual long convoys of military vehicles. Ah, but Lake Dal is magic. We wander the waterfront as the sun sets. There are dozens of gondola style boats/ Shikaras out on the water. It is definitely the touristy thing to do! We decide it’s getting too dark for a ride, so head out for our ride in the morning where we pass all the wooden houseboats and head through the floating markets.

But time to move on as we now have a big schedule. But its Saturday and the protesters are out in force with elections due shortly. Finally, out of the maze of the city and surrounds we follow a stunning river valley. There are hundreds of slow-moving trucks we pass as we head up and over the mountains.  It’s late by the time we reach Kargil where there is a Guesthouse we can apparently camp. The town is located on a steep riverfront spot and the streets, one way only, a tight twisted maze. And of course, all the locals double or even treble park making it a tight squeeze. John has to stop numerous times to toot the horn until someone comes out to move their car. I walk ahead to check out the proposed camp spot. It’s a “No Go” as it’s very steep and they don’t want us. After all that we wind our way out of town and head out on the truck bypass until we find a newish subdivision with lots of flat land. We set up near the gravel pile, but as luck would have it the local bulldozer loads trucks until 9.30pm.

We are heading to Leh today, a mere 220km dive, but it takes the entire day, We are now well and truly in the Himalayas and there are stupas,  gompas, temples, prayer wheels and fluttering prayer flags everywhere. The people too are Tibetan looking and yet we are still in India. We stop to take a few photos of the atmospheric gompa in Lamaguru while we have coffee and later detour down a tiny track to visit the Temple at Alchi, It's an 11^th century temple full of images of the Hindu gods. Not our thing at all. We are glad to reach the Goha Guesthouse where we can camp for the night. We are both huffing and puffing in the high altitude 3300 metres, which also makes sleeping harder. In the night John starts to feel very concerned about the huge number of miles we have left to go so we make the decision not to explore Leh Palace and town. We will simply drive into town (easier said than done) take a few pics and then drive, drive, drive! Of course, town is crazy, we try to avoid all the tiny roads, but still find hundreds of people on the road where we must do a u-turn. I pop out and get a few cars to move and John weaves his way though the crowd! Crazy. Then I find a spot for a quick photo before we head off.

And so, the driving starts. The next 2 days we spend 10 hours a day driving. John loves it but does get tired. I just get stressed and tired – the drivers here are the worst in the world and I am sure they have a death wish as they skim so close to us! Anyway, we drive through miles of fertile valley passing many stunning temples – all pics taken from the window as we pass by! Then we head up into the mountains. And I mean up… right over 5300metres. Then for hours we wind up and down mountain passes. All great until we hit roadworks and the old road! Ahead we can see rows of trucks, clouds of dust and overhanging rocks. Simply terrifying! Looks like a road of death to me! John just ploughs on while I clutch my handlebar. Most of the track is single lane AND there are oncoming trucks. The drop-offs are terrifying! John assures me it was only for 50km, but it took hours and hours and felt like 100’s of kms. To top that off I am feeling very lightheaded from the altitude. When we finally start coming down, we stop for the night beside a tiny restaurant.

An early start again. The scenery is magic as we navigate 100’s more hairpins. Finally, we head into a huge valley surrounded by conifers and tall mountain peaks. We have reached the ski resort area jammed packed with hotels, restaurants, paragliding, white water rafting and crazy congested traffic. We are rapt when we get a string of tunnels, thus saving us miles of driving. By dusk we are back in the flat farmlands of the Punjab region and find a spot behind a hotel. The reports are of a peaceful night, but we get dump trucks arriving every few hours to drop off dirt!

The next day it’s the final drive back to Amritsar. We have a few chores to get organized before we cross into Pakistan tomorrow. Wish us luck.