"It's Just Like Being at the Top of the World"

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"It's Just Like Being at the Top of the World!" Andrew McLellan SRINAGAR, August 14. - India today ruled out swapping jailed Kashmiri separatists for four Western captives, as the decapitated body of a fifth captive arrived in New Delhi for a postmortem examination. (Reuter, The Evening Post, August 15, 1995) Looking down on the Wakkha Valley Andrew McLellan We somewhat naively headed placethatt has beenliving under military pleasant afternoon of gradual riding into Kashmir in August 1994 curfew since 1989. The dreamy floats throughinfrequent villages was marred because we had spotted a potentially of lotus lilies were in sharp contrast to only by a convoy of 200 TATA trucks, awesome 340km bike route between bunkered gunposts in thet town streets; many with enthusiastic horns. the Kashmiri capital of Srinagar and the nightly Koran (the Muslim prayer) Sonamarg is the last settlement of Leh, the principal town ofladakh. The only just masked the distant chatter of Kashmir and in typical fashion, I had attraction? High altitude passes, an gunfire. to haggle down the price of a packet incredible diversity in culture, and the of glucose biscuits. sense of a challenge. Pooh Tours had In India it's very easy to be seduced had enough of the familiarity of into slowing down, relaxing, and Sonamarg also marked the end of England (and some might say that staying a while. But after three days of vegetation, flat roads and open valleys. England had had enough of Pooh seduction, Pooh Tours was hungry for Day 2 saw the beginning of the climb Tours) and had become reborn the freedom of the road. Meanwhile, to the impressive Zoji La (pass) at adventurers. Andre headed off in search of the 3529m, but not before passing an early Hindu pilgrim site of the Amarnath morning informal road toll, courtesy of We arrived in Srinagar after a Cave, despite the warnings of militant the Indian army: "May I say just one challengingtrain andbust trip fromNew attacks on pilgrims. thing sir? Do you have any of your Delhi. With our new Ukrainian friend country's money to give me?" (Andre) we were bundled onto a The small satellite towns surrounding shikara, the colourful boats that ply the Srinagar soon gave way to the main Another quiet morning climbing aroad waters ofDal Lake, bikes and all, to our road and the verdant expanse of the that wound its way up, traversing houseboat somewhat ironically named Sindh Valley as we headed out of across a steep rockface too quiet. "The Piano". Three days later we gladly Kashmir. A surprisingly quiet road, A somewhat dishevelled figure stirred left, not because of any singlei incident, soon shared with Andrew, a fellow from thei roadside, donned a safetyl hat, nor indeed because of the Kashmiri cycle-tourer from thel UK who hadbeen and informed US that blasting was in people. We left because of the battling his way along the Karakoram progress. Sure enough, some half an underlying tension that pervades a before popping up to Kashmir. A hour later there was a large retort and TRAMPING & MOUNTAINEERING as shower of rock further up the road. dropping into the next catchment of the with a shivering army chap who had Time to reflect on Andre's mission to Wakkha Chu River. the misfortune ofl being stationed att the Amarnath Cave as we looked south Pass for a two month stint. I do, towards the pilgrim route through Now in the heavily Tibetan-influenced however, recall a splendid 15km Baltal. Meanwhile, Andrew.caught tup, Ladakh region there were noticeable descent to thel Lamayuru Gompa. The as did Helmut, resplendent in lycra, changes, with the presence of gompas walk down to Lamayuru looked travelling light, and determined to (Buddhist monasteries), a newt friendly demanding: SO a meal break was called complete the journey in his strictly greeting of "julay". and onlookers' for. Pooh, eager to try the local staple allotted time. appearances. Our first test of local of tsampa, struggled to finish a large hospitality was finding a campsite in plate of what is essentially barley flour The climb up to Zoji La is a stunning the small village of Shergol; (I thought they cooked it!) that is only series of switchbacks, coinciding somewhere preferably flat, sheltered, made palatable by a helping of dhal unfortunatelywith the endoft thes sealed and private. We scored well on thet first andi then, in desperation, sugar, ginger road, idling TATAS, unrideable mud, and two attributes as ther roof oft the Shergol and water certainly filling, if nothing a "might is right" allocation of road branch of the State Bank of India was else. space. Zojilaitselfy was a verytranquil, certainly flat and sheltered, but an flat expanse of alpinemeadowleading audience of the entire under-15 Lamayuru is a large monastery to a cobbled descent into the Drass population of the town is far from complex, the oldest building dating River Valley, marking our entry into private. Because it never rains in back to the 10th century and its site is Ladakh. Habitation is understandably Ladakh we camped out undert the stars, quite stunning, on a promontory minimal in these parts, apart from the a stark contrast to winter conditions shouldering the valley floor. Ignoring odd herder's tent and army outpost. when families are confined to their a boisterous group of Spanish Dinner was shared with half the basements, literally hibernating over holidaymakers devouring their packed population of thet town of Drasslooking the coldest months. lunches in the courtyard cafe, we on, as the MSR choked away on high wandered around the complex, being octane petrol. The next morning we eagerly pedalled careful to avoid taking too much off to Mulbekh, finding a circuitous interest in the traditionally dressed (but Drass is claimed to be the second- route up to the double monastery sneaker-shod) elderly women that coldest, inhabited place in the world, which has great views out over the roamed conveniently within camera but in August it was surprisingly fertile Wakkha Valley. Like most of the shot other tourists were not so as we awoke to the threshing of grain buildings in this region, the gompas cautious. Despite this commercialism, in a neighbouring field. The presence have a dried-mud finish to them with thes smell ofbutter candles, vibrant wall of anything growing in this hostile colourful interludes of paint on window- paintings, and deity-filled chambers of environment is testimony to an surrounds, and distinctive stumpy roof the prayer halls lent an air of extensive series of water canals that parapets. Prayer flags flapped in the authenticity to the monastery. arecutupi into thehigh cliffs that border breeze, chortens (religious edifice) the Drass River. These waterways, covered with mani (the Buddhist The road after Lamayuru gently climbed along with long, uninterrupted mantra) inscribed stones, small clay for a stretch, overlooking small pockets sunshine hours and little rain, permit candles, and forgotten prayer wheels of"moon valley" landscape (not unlike the important local activity of drying littered empty rooms. Putangirual Pinnacles) before dropping apricots. on every conceivable spot; down a never-ending series of rooftops, beds, and the ground. On The road wandered on past a large switchbacks to finally join the mighty the other side off the river is "no mans" rockcarving of Maitriya (future Buddha) Indus. Pooh, renowned for his map land, a reminder of tension between before beginning a lazy climb in and reading skills, was looking forward to neighbours in these parts, as army out of hillside guts up to the 3718m a downhill ride along the Indus. An pack mules ferry supplies across Namika La. The reward was great angry churning torrent of silty river bridges into disputed territories. views with a fast drop into the next running east to west shattered his tributary of the Indus River. That anticipation. A checkpoint informedi lus The confluence of the Drass and Suru afternoon was a little marred by the of the progress of the unstoppable Shings Rivers was a competition of heavy presence of army camps near Helmut, forging ahead. In contrast we grubbiness and marked our changei in the town off Bodhi Kharbu, which meant crawled along, enjoying the occasional direction towards the southeast. Kargil, lots of trucks to kick up the road dust shady stretch of villagel life interspersed once ani important trade-routel town, is as we patiently filtered water at a with arid, raised river terraces. Like SO the secondi biggest town of the region, roadside teahouse. A riverside much of this region, where there is andi in contrast tot the rest of ther region, campsite provided a chance to wash water, there is life. isl Muslim dominated. A good enough int the river ande enjoy the afternoon sun, excuse for a lunch stop, although without any extra company. Campsites were few and far between, Helmut pressed on in the dusty heat of buti in failing light two thoughtful chaps midday. The short climb out of Kargil Fatu La is the highest pass on the herding donkeys pointed out a gap in and the Suru catchment was Srinagar Leh road and broke the a fence leading into a paddock. The rewarding, with thet twin peaks ofl Nun 4000m mark for Pooh Tours. To be owners were more bemused than andKun (7000m+) majestically framing honest, can't remember much about upset and offered fresh apricots once thel head of the Zanskar Valley before the climb but recall sharing our elation our presence was explained. TRAMPING & MOUNTAINEERING her! In one of those pleasant coincidences of time, Pooh Tours bumped into Dolphin Hunterextraordinaire Karyn Burgess. Needless to say, both parties' plans were promptlyrethought with an emphasis on relaxation. Lehi is certainly the placeto do just that. Unashamedly touristy with its restaurants offering chocolate pancakes and creamylassi (yoghurt shakes). Thrown in for good measure are thel labyrinth of back alleys in oldleh, nearby gompas NAMIKALA of Spitok, Shey, Tikse and HT-12198FT Hemis, Leh Palace, and a series of colourfuli festivals. 16TF SSRCC Another twist of fate saw Namikala Srinagar Leh Road Jo McKenzie US sharing our guesthouse with Andre, suffering badly from a raw nose, but none The impact of tourism became more Basgo, essentially a military base. An the worse for wear after attempting a apparent the following day as we eerie: sight greeted US as black palls of partial climb of Nun or Kun (he was a shared an access road to the Rizong smoke drifted up from the road ahead. bit vague on details). Gompa with taxi jeeps and In an almost medieval scene, large campervans, clusters of souvenir stalls groups of road gangs (men, women We spent several days in Leh, day at the entrance to Alchi Gompa, and and kids) heated tar in drums over pits tripping, window shopping, polo the restaurant/guesthouse/campsite/ and manually resealed the road. watching, festival following, ande eating market garden establishments that do beforetrucking out to Manali. Not even ar roaring trade nearby. An afternoon After passing the junction of the as strike could stop a venture out (as the to visit the Alchi Gompa on the southern Zanskar and Indus Rivers it was back Ladakhis protested for independence side of the Indus where, while we into climbing over the final major from Kashmir, as Kashmir similarly attempted to count the 11 heads and obstacle before Leh, an unexpected seeks independence from India). 1000 arms of Avalokitesvara (a deity), climb in cooling weather. The downhill ayoung monklet took a shine to Pooh's stretch to rejoin the Indus was bracing, Just for the record and wanting to test bike. We marvelled at the vibrant wall to say the least, and thel last 10 15kms the local zest for bureaucracy, a permit frescoes and the gruesome depictions to Leh dispiriting, as we travelled was obtained to bike up to Khardung of Vajrapani (the god of energy and through endless military installations. La, the entrance-way to the recently power) with his tasteful ornaments of But it was hard to detract from the opened Nubra Valley Being in excess body parts. Back at camp we picked "bigness" and grandeur of the Indus of5,600m, it's claimedto be thehighest our.way through drying apricots to our Valley, as it stretched out to the motorable road in the world, and tent as it started to rain, no longer southeast. climbs over 2,500m in 40km. It was a wondering why many of the apricots challenge that couldn't be passed up, we hadt bought were inhabited. The final climb into Leh proper was made all the more rewarding by a softenedl byagoodhelping of hot food bottomless cup of hot tea at the top. Number one rule when asking route and Indian sweets. Somewhat The views to the south, and the quick advice: from motorists ignore it! "Yeah, disorientated we endedup on the main peek to the north towards China were the road's pretty flat, follows the river, street inl Leh, bustling with a mix of local stunning, and plans for another trip a few climbs but nothing bad." The andtourist foot traffic. Yuppie trekkers, rapidly ticked through the mind. road parted abruptly from the Indus decked outi in new gear headscarves, heading up onto a barren plateau with Swiss army knives, and heavy packs- It was just like being at the top of the as series of dishonest hill climbs, before in fact, one looked vaguely familiar; a world- - hang on a minute - it is the top a reasonable drop took US down to sort of Tongue and Meat look about of the world! TRAMPING & MOUNTAINEERING