OK. Our Tibet 2000 plan was delayed a little. And it is certainly true that the last years the realization became more and more unsure. But as we travel by taxi from Delhi to Shimla it seems perfectly natural to be here. Jeroen, Willem and I cycle a lot on our racing bikes at home, but this feels as natural, at least for me. We want to cycle to Leh which means that we have to ascend some of the highest motorable (and cyclable) passes in the world. Tomorrow we will descend from 2.200 meter high Shimla on the first hill range of the Himalayas to the 500 meter low Sutlej Valley, which is virtually out of the Himalayas.

India Light. That is the conclusion of the first impressions of Shimla. Shimla feels truly Indian but is richer, cleaner and more accustomed to foreigners than other places. Shimla is a true hill resort. In the old colonial days Shimla was used by the British as the unofficial summer capital of India. Also nowadays Shimla attracts many foreign but even more Indian tourists. Two thousand meter higher than Delhi, the temperatures are pleasant in comparison with the Indian capital. When we cycled from the Delhi International Airport to the Train Station of Delhi this night, we found out that temperatures easily exceeded thirty degrees, even in the night. Monsoonal air humidity and extreme air pollution further add to the unpleasant mix of the Delhi atmosphere.

Day 2: Shimla - Sallaghat - Dehar 95 km

The woman that runs the hotel asks us about our journey as we are packing our bicycles. Her ten year old son is very interested in bicycles and inspects our material. He is very impressed as there are virtually no European standard bicycles in India. I explain some technical details to the child. His mother asks whether the bicycle does have a horn. In India the people more than regularly use a horn or better stated: there is not a second in which you do not hear a blowing horn. As Jeroen answers that he does not owe one, the woman stares bewildered at us. Riding on a vehicle without being able to blow horns is like sentencing yourself the death penalty, she seems to think. She asks us if we have other means of protection. I point to my St. Jacques shell, a souvenir of my journey to Santiago de Compostela. Spontaneously the woman and the boy touch the shell and make a cross. She looks very intense as she makes some deep bows, her hands in a vow. As we are leaving, she gives us one last message of the heart: "Travel with a smile on your face". We have to promise.

Travelling with a smile on my face is not a difficult task. Through a fabulous green landscape we descend. We ride far above the valleys, frequently on top of the hill crest. Like the 'Route des Crêtes' in the Vosges of France, the road more or less parallels the hill crest. As we go westward, the road goes down with the same pace as the crest. Sometimes the road climbs to the crest for a village on the other side of the hills. Despite a few ascents, we progress rapidly as most of the way is downward.

In the end we have descended hundreds and hundreds of altitude meters as we reach the valley bottom. It is really hot and humid here. Being in one of the wettest places on Earth in the monsoon time, we must be lucky with every dry minute. We are surrounded by rice fields and steep hills. We have left the main road for a very uncertain secondary road. The road ascends steeply to pass a hill range and descends again. We have to cross another hill range which takes another hour. After the second hill range, we descend to the Sutlej Valley. We are below 600 meter altitude now and virtually outside of the Himalayas. We cross the huge Sutlej river and find a hotel after ten kilometer.

Day 3: Dehar - Sundernagar - Mandi - Pandoh - Bhuntar 95 km

It is devastatingly hot as we cycle up to the watershed. We sweat heavier with every meter we progress. It is still dry today, the sun is even shining. It takes ages before we reach the small town Sundernagar. From here we cycle twenty kilometer up and down before we reach the pass. We see the valley of the Beas below. We descend a few kilometers and reach the river in Mandi. From the busy town of Mandi we have to climb 107 kilometer along the river to reach Manali at 2.000 meter altitude. After Manali the civilized world ends more or less. From Manali to Ladakh is 450 kilometer of high mountain wilderness with some of the highest passes of the world.

At this moment the tranquil ascent along the Beas River causes us enough trouble. I am feeling terribly exhausted after a steep stretch of a few kilometers but Jeroen and Willem seem to be in an even worse shape. Willem does not feel well. Maybe heavy salt losses due to excessive sweating have caused a nutrition shortage. After eating chips in a little village it goes better again. After an hour we decide it was good enough for today. We stay in a hotel in Bhuntar with an excellent restaurant. Unfortunately, like most restaurants, no alcoholic drinks are served but the curries are delicious.

Day 4: Bhuntar - Kullu - Naggar - Manali 55 km

From Bhuntar to Manali is a relatively short distance. I am feeling awfully tired even before the start. I have not slept the whole night because of the heat and the mosquitoes. Untill Kullu I am not having a great time. Kullu is the capital of the valley. The small, busy town owes lots of hindu temples. Although not a truly beautiful town, Kullu is far from unpleasant. I am still feeling low, though. After a long rest I am feeling better. We do not follow the main road on the west side of the river but the secondary road on the east side. Across river terraces and through apple orchards (kullu is Hindi for apple!) we ride. Sometimes far above the valley, sometimes below at the valley bottom. This means that we ride through nicely alternating landscapes. This means a lot of additional climbing as well. We expected an easy day ride but as we reach Manali we must have climbed nearly 2.000 altitude meters. We have reached Manali whatsoever. The green forested mountains and the alpine meadows make Manali some sort of Little Switzerland. Not all is well, though. Now it is Jeroens turn to feel unwell. He will not dine with Willem and me but he returns home.

Day 5: Manali - Rohtang Pass (3.974 m) - Khoksar 70 km

Jeroen seems to have recovered quite well last night. As we sit in the garden of our hotel we decide that we will try to do the long ascent of the Rohtang Pass today. The weather is still excellent. Now we only have to wait for our breakfast. And we have to wait a long time! The guests from our hotel are mostly very spiritual and open people. Happy to discuss their freshly learnt meditation teachings and practices or their spiritual progress of the last days. And also very aware of all the small details that determine a good meal to start the day with. The problem for us is that this leads to discussions with the waiters which easily become quite lengthy. The poor waiter has to listen patiently to demands in the style of "I would like to have a tuna salad with onions and tomatoes but the tomatoes must not be too ripe because my stomach cannot handle that and can you make the salad with only a bit mayonnaise please but not too few of it. And please use a lot of onions but only very small slices, otherwise it is too strong and is the tuna fresh? No? Do not they live here? Only in the ocean? Oh please do me an omelette of the house then, please without cheese but instead with extra tomatoes but not too ripe! Do you remember? Please add some bacon to the omelette. And please not too much salt on it. A bit of pepper is okay but not too much please and is the omelette cheaper because it is without the cheese?". When the omelette is served finally, this is the moment for some additional finetuning: "Oh my Gee! The onions in the omelette are really large. Can you please remove them because I explained to you that my yoga teacher has said that large pieces of onion can disturb the 'third eye' chakra". All these demands and complaints are taken very seriously by the waiters or at least they are convincing in feigning so. When the waiter comes back again with an omelette with really super small slices of onion, he has to hear the complaint that it really took a long time before a "simple" omelette is served.

After the other guests all have their breakfasts according to their specific taste, we finally get our breakfast after one and a half hour. Five minutes later we are finished and we have paid. After packing our bicycles it is 11 o'clock when we start cycling. Much too late in fact to start an ascent from 2.000 meter to nearly 4.000 meter altitude. Especially because we are not yet used to these high altitudes. The first ten kilometers are not too difficult yet. Through the wide Beas valley we ride straight to the huge Pir Panjal mountain range that we have to cross. I am really imposed. A sheer rock and snow wall lies before us, looming ever steeper above our heads as we come closer. The Pir Panjal mountain range has peaks of over 5.000 and 6.000 meter altitude. Despite the tops of the mountains are hidden in clouds, the wall before us is imposing enough to impress. I am really feeling small, knowing that we have to cross this immense natural barrier today. After ten kilometer we leave the valley and the road winds up into the unknown.

Rapidly we climb above the valley floor. The road is steep enough to gain altitude effectively but not too steep. Most of the road is in quite good condition. There are some very bad strectches of mud road too, however. The biggest problem is the traffic. Lots of Indian tourists make the ascent to the pass to see and feel snow, for most of the Indians a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Everywhere along the roads there are shops where tourists can buy fur jackets. Usually the temperature is high enough to make the coats unnecessary but the tourists do not know and buy them thankfully. There are also a lots of trucks on the way to Ladakh. The road is open for only three months so everything has to be transported in this small time span for a whole year. There is definitely too much traffic for such a small road which leads inevitably to roadblocks that even cyclists sometimes cannot pass. This can sometimes be annoying because it disturbs the rhythm. Through steep forested slopes we proceed, passing several imposing waterfalls. Sometimes we catch a glimpse of the high mountains above us. We progress well. We have a late lunch at 3.300 meter high at the tourist village of Marhi.

From Marhi the road goes up over a long slope with lots of hairpins. Although the road is still in good condition, our progress seems to be not as fast as before. We all feel the altitude sipping our powers. Jeroen has some problems with his bicycle as well. We have to repair the chains. Not a complicated repair but it takes half an hour before we find the necessary missing links in Jeroens bags. It is quite late already. We must not have too many problems like these, otherwise we have to make camp in the wilderness without a decent evening meal. We have no further problems any more. After an hour we pass Snow Point where most of the Indian tourists have already left the place. Half an hour later I finally arrive at the Rohtang Pass, completely dissolved in a thick fog. It is already six o'clock. This means that we have only an hour left for the descent to Khoksar in the Lahaul Valley on the other side pass. At 7 o'clock it will be dark.

After ten minutes Jeroen and Willem are also on the pass. We quickly begin the descent. After a few kilometers we cycle out of the fogs. A magnificent mountain world surrounds us. The Lahaul Valley lies thousand meters steeply below. In front of us are snowcapped mountains of more than 6.000 meter high. Everything is vertical here. The sun has left the road down into the Lahaul Valley already long ago and now enlightens only the mountain tops orange. The road is extraordinarily bad after the surprisingly good road at the Manali side of the pass. I experience that I am far from razor sharp. I am feeling tired and cannot concentrate on the descent. I make many small misconducts and I am feeling insecure about myself. I am a little distressed to descend rapidly in this steep landscape in these conditions but I have no choice but to go on. It is already very cold and it is becoming darker and darker. I see that Jeroen also has some problems, he is going very slow as well. Only Willem descends normally. Its is already late as we reach the small village of Khoksar where we find a dhaba, a hut where we can eat and sleep. And that is everything we need right now.

Day 6: Khoksar - Sissu - Gondhla - Tandi - Keylong 50 km

We are not the only cyclists who sleep in the Snow Dhaba. Sebastian, a 42 year old German cyclist, has also spent the night here and is also on the way to Leh. Because Sebastian has started off much earlier yesterday, we have not seen each other on the ascent of the Rohtang Pass. Yesterday we have discussed the whole evening about how to tackle some difficulties that lie ahead of us on the way. We have more or less the same plans and we get along together very well, so we have decided to cycle together today. Today we both want to cycle 50 kilometers to Keylong which is not such a difficult stretch. The whole day we will have to cycle around 3.000 meter altitude, which is probably not too high.

There is a small problem however. The weight of Sebastians bicycle is way too high. How experienced a mountain biker he is, Sebastian has never ever done a cycling journey. One aspect of cycling journeys is the importance to keep the weight low and still being prepared for everything. In this delicate balance, Sebastian has packed too many things on the process. As a result, his bicycle is at least ten kilograms heavier than ours. Sebastian must have suffered a lot on the monster climb to the Rohtang Pass yesterday. Today is a lot easier luckily. The road conditions however are very bad. The road is unsurfaced virtually all the time with too many big stones. There are a lot of river crossings. These can be technically difficult. The "road" has only large stones on those crossings. Because the water is ten to twenty centimeters deep and is flowing rapidly, the road is often dificult to be seen. If I want to keep my shoes dry, I must stop pedalling on the deeper stretches, I must have enough velocity to reach the place where I can pedal again, but I must have a velocity low enough to be able to wind across the stones that are too big and too avoid slippery places.

Life is not too complicated however. The weather is excellent again. A clear blue sky and a fierce sun make life pleasant. The landscape is awesome. Left of us are the Pir Panjal Mountains that rise sheer out of the river to 6.000 meter. Right of us is the same story. There is a strangely vertical world above our heads. There is only a little bit of horizontal space left along the river. Sometimes there is a wider river terrace where wheat and barley are grown. On the bigger flat areas there is always a village. Even very steep meadows are used for growing different crops. However rough the Lahaul district is, the valley is still relatively well populated.

The road is too bad to progress well. It takes us nearly two hours for the first twelve flat kilometers. The next twelve kilometers take us one and a half hour. Sebastian is not feeling well. He is feeling worse and worse over the course of the day. The small villages are not ideal places to stay however. As we reach Tandi we sit in a tea stall, contemplating what to do. Tandi does not have so much facilities. We decide that we will make the ascent to Keylong. It is only seven kilometers of climbing. We just hope for the best.

Luckily, the road to Keylong is very good. We cycle very slowly but we have no difficulty reaching Keylong. Keylong is the capital of the Lahaul district. The village is predominantly buddhist but owes also a significant hindu population. Keylong has got lots of hotels because the buses to Ladakh have an overnight stay here. After Keylong, there are only a few small villages in the first thirty kilometers. From there on untill the Indus Valley there will be only very rough, uninhabited high altitude terrain. The bus companies do not want their guests to sleep in the tent camps in Sarchu on 4.200 meter or Pang on 4.600 meter elevation because too many guests suffer from altitude problems on those altitudes. This means that, for the last time, we are among tourists now. Sebastian is able to drop the excess luggage with tourists on the way to Leh. From now on, he can ride on with a 'normal' weight of luggage.

Day 7: Keylong

Jeroen is still not a 100 %. He has diarrhea and has caught a cold as well. Sebastian is feeling really ill however. I have caught a mild cold too, but I do not have too many problems. It seems wise however to stay in Keylong and to enjoy the facilities we have to miss the coming week. Keylong is a nice place to hang around for a day. The village gives a first glimpse of the buddhist world. Jeroen, Willem and I want to walk to the monastery a few hundred meter above Keylong. We get lost on the small tracks and soon we are trekking through loose screeslopes, seraching for a way in the mountain landscape. Views are overwhelming but the climbing on the loose scree is less than comfortable. It takes us more than an hour of slight distress on slippery scree to reach a decent footpath again. A few minutes later we reach the monastery. As we arrive, the gompa is deserted and so we have to return without being able to visit. In Ladakh we will see enough buddhist monasteries however.

Day 8: Keylong - Darcha 30 km

"What road? There IS no road. Just stones and rocks and rivers flowing over what is supposed to be the road. You cannot cycle there. Still there are some who try. I do not know how, but they do. But it is impossible." An old English traveller tells about the road from Keylong to the Baralacha La. "But I do not want to discourage you."

There are no signs to be seen of a steady progression of our physical state. In fact, I am the only one who feels well. Sebastian is feeling a little bit better but still does not feel good. Jeroen still has diarrhea and today Willem too has stomach problems with diarrhea. We decide to wait untill the afternoon to decide whether to cycle thirty kilometers to Darcha. Darcha is the last village on the way to Ladakh and the base to climb the 4.900 meter Baralacha La. That means that if we go today, we must be strong enough for the difficult stretch of tomorrow.

In the afternoon the conditions have improved a little, but the overall situation is still shaky. We are too impatient to wait another day in Keylong however.

The stretch to Darcha goes through dazzling landcapes. The road climbs far above the river. The river lies nearly vertical under us, the mountains on the other side of the river rise to a maximum of 6.700 meter. After fifteen kilometer of predominantly climbing, we descend to Darcha on 3.300 meter. Darcha is the base for trucks to reach Leh in one long day. We will be very pleased if we could reach Baralacha La tomorrow in a very long day.

Day 9: Darcha - Baralacha La (4.900 m) - Sarchu 80 km

I wake up completely tired after a mosquito dominated night. Luckily Sebastian seems to have recoverd quite well. Jeroen and Willem are also quite okay. The weather is also excellent again. This means that circumstances are ideal for the monster ascent to Baralacha La.

The first stretch is immediately steeply uphill. In Darcha the road begins to climb up the hillslope with hairpins. This is a truck dominated stretch with lots of roadblocks of trucks that try to pass each other on the small road. I am still mentally tired and easily agitated when truck drivers cause me to ride on very bad parts of the road. After this first ascent the road starts to follow the course of a large river valley and we can ride freely again. The landscape is really nice now and I am beginning to enjoy. We pass lots of river crossings. I am having a good time and crossing the just too deep rivers is lots of fun.

After Patseo we seem to have progressed really well. There is no wind, the temperatures are good and despite we climb above 4.000 meter now, we can deal with the altitude well so far. The road is unpaved but okay. We climb gradually with the valley. Looking back downstream into the valley we see us rising quickly above mountains that seemed untouchably high an hour ago. We reach Zing Zing Bar at 11 o'clock. We make a small but important miscalculation here. We think Zing Zing Bar is between 4.300 and 4.400 meter altitude and are in high spirits. We think that we progress very well and expect to be on the pass at 1 o'clock or maybe 2 o'clock when we slow down. We make jokes about the Englishman with his poetically exaggerated phrases. "A road? There IS no road! Just stones and rocks..."

From Zing Zing Bar the road is tending to deteriorate in a slow but steady pace. I am feeling better and better however and I am still climbing with a good pace. I am quite a lot ahead of the others. After climbing 100 meter above Zing Zing Bar I rest in a tea stall and wait. In the two kilometers from Zing Zing Bar things have changed quite drastically. Willem reaches the tea stall after a few minutes and looks quite fresh still. Jeroen comes along again a few minutes later and is looking extraordinary tired. I have never seen him like this. He does not want to sit and eat in the tea stall and wants to push on. So he does. We have to wait for Sebastian who comes another few minutes later. He is looking okay but he says that he is feeling bad again. I am thinking about the words of the Englishman again: "Usually they look very unhealthy and completely worn out when they reach Leh. IF they reach Leh in the first place."

We are cycling again and now the road is really awful. I see the road winding up kilometers ahead, climbing further and further upstream and ever higher above the valley. The road is composed of big stones. We proceed very slow now because of the irregular surface. Another big annoyance are the trucks. There are lots of them on the way. There is a mine not too far from the pass. Sometimes we have to stop for roadblocks. At this altitude on this very bad road it is difficult to obtain a good rhythm again. Usually I do not have to stop though, but cycling small stretches next to the road is difficult enough. It is already 3 o'clock when I reach the Suraj Lake on 4.800 meter elevation. The icy lake lies within a deserted land of loose rock flats and snowcapped hills. It is not far anymore but the last hundred meters of climbing have a high cost. The altitude takes all the strength.

I am exhausted as I reach the pass. It does not take too much time before Willem arrives. Half an hour later Jeroen reaches the pass, looking very exhausted. His eyes look strange. He wants to go on. He does, while we wait for Sebastian who arrives fifteen minutes later. We descend quickly because it is getting late. I hope that we are able to descend to Sarchu today, the lowest place in between the Baralacha and Lachlung Passes at 4.200 meter elevation. The road is so bad that we still proceed with only a few kilometers an hour. After a few kilometer there is a very difficult river crossing. The river is plusminus 60 centimeter deep and is flowing with quite a strong velocity. We take all our luggage from our bicycles, take our shoes off and walk hence and forth untill everything is on the other side of the river. The rivers must not become deeper than this, otherwise we have to hitchhike the river crossings.

Half an hour later we arrive at a small tent camp at 4.600 meter elevation. We only have one and a half hour of daytime to cycle the last thirty kilometers to Sarchu, but I think it is still the best to try. The lower we sleep, the better. The road is still bad. After an hour we have done just a little bit more than ten kilometers. I think Jeroen is having altitude problems. He does not look well and is reacting very slow on situations. It looks like we have to make a camp ourselves. Just when things seem to turn out wrong, the road improves dramatically. The road is paved now and finally really goes down. We are able to cycle 30 to 40 kilometer per hour now. At the moment the sun goes down, we see the campsites of Sarchu in the distance. We have made it!

Our sorrows are not completely over now. Jeroen has a severe headache and only wants to sleep. As Willem, Sebastian and I are eating our bellies full, we are thinking about things to come. The next two passes are even higher than the Baralacha La; we will not get any lower than today. It is really important that Jeroen recovers tonight, otherwise we will have to break off the journey. At this moment however, there is not much that we can do except for hoping the best.

Day 10: Sarchu - Brandynala 30 km

Jeroen seems to have recovered remarkably well. He says he is feeling quite okay in fact, the dizzy feeling is gone. I see that his eyes look much brighter than yesterday evening. A faint headache is everything that reminds of the Baralacha La. And a tiredness that we all feel. We decide to wait with the ascent of the Lachlung La untill tomorrow. The Lachlung La is with 5,100 meter altitude even higher than the Baralacha La. Slowly we cycle thirty flat kilometers through the highlands of Sarchu and beyond to the abandoned Brandynala campsite, which is on foot of the Lachlung La. For the first time we sleep in our own tents. Jeroen is still feeling well. Willem has diarrhea again however. Will there ever come a day that we are all feeling strong?

Day 11: Brandynala - Lachlung La - Pang 55 km

Yesterday evening we asked ourselves if there will ever come a day that we all feel strong. We will at least have to wait untill tomorrow to see that happen because today Willem as well as Jeroen have diarrhea. Sebastian is feeling weak also. Everybody wants to go on however. We do not expect an easy day but the ascent should be easier than the ascent of the Baralacha La. The Lachlung La is a bit higher than the Baralacha La but we are starting much higher so that the ascent is much shorter. A little problem could be the secondary pass of the Nakeela Pass of 5.000 meter altitude. We do not know yet how much the road will go down after reaching this first pass. All extra altitude meters that we also have to climb up again.

The ascent takes off with the Gata Loops, 21 hairpins against a massive screeslope. In fact hairpins are ideal cycling. Because you can see yourself climb rapidly above the curves below, it is easy to think that you are in a good shape. After climbing the Gata Loops we reach a shapeless landscape. We can see the Nakeela Pass far in the distance. There are some light snow showers on some of the mountains. This is not the most beautiful part of the journey so far. The colourless mountains and the grey sky tend to depress a little. I proceed extraordinary well however. In two hours of cycling I am on top of the Nakeela Pass. It does not take too much time before we are all on top of the pass. Willem reacts extremely disappointed as he sees the road going down three hundred meter to see it going up 400 meter to the Lachlung La, the real pass. I thought Willem knew that this was not the real pass yet.

There is not much to do about it however. After the descent it is starting to snow too. This second ascent does not go as well as the Nakeela ascent. I am coughing all the time because of the cold I caught or maybe because of the altitude. Coughing your lungs out in combination with an already severe oxygen shortage is a bad mix. What do I say, that is a bad trip. I am not feeling like a wreck though untill I have to pass the road workers. On lots of stretches these workers are trying to improve the road conditions. Often the road is blocked for hours in which no traffic can pass. We have to carry our heavy bicycles for hundred or two hundred meter on the scree slope above or below the just asphalted road and along pots of burning, smoking asphalt that seems to take all the oxygen that is left on this altitude. The work is severely hard and is carried out by people from the poorest regions of India like Bihar. In very harsh conditions, these people lead an extremely raw life. Day and night the people have to handle the extreme climate, the altitude and the extreme physical endurance of the hard work. The constant production of black smoke make me choke after a second, these people are living in this hell on Earth the whole day, every day again untill the summer season is over and they have to return home.

After passing the road workers it is only a few kilometer to the pass. I am really tired but I can keep moving. Just when I am feeling a good rhythm I am at the pass. For the first time I am this high with a bicycle (I myself have been higher a few times). After some time the others reach the pass as well. Now only the 5.300 meter high Tanglang La separates us from Leh and the Indus Valley. First we have to descend to the tent hotels of Pang on 4.600 meter altitude, the lowest place where we can stay the night.

After the greyish landscape of the ascent, the downhill ride from the Lachlung La is special again. The landscape is very dry. This is high altitude desert. Small patches of white salt deposits are scattered all over the valleys. Neither trees, nor other plants grow here. The landscape is painted in ever different colours. Most impressive however are some magnificent rock walls and an extraordinary thin pinnacle of at least 1.000 meter sheer verticalness. All our efforts during the ascent are easily forgotten. In raised spirits we reach the tents of Pang. We stay with "the girls", two women that could be a grandmother and a child. They take care of us well and make lots of noodles for us.

Day 12: Pang - Morey Plains - Tanglang La - Rumtse 100 km

Today it is Jeroen who is feeling bad. Severe headaches with feelings of disorientation seem all the ingredients of altitude sickness. Willem says he is not feeling a 100 % as well. We discuss what is the best thing to do. Jeroen is seriously looking sick. Staying on these high altitudes does not seem to solve the problem. Going on could easily be worse but at least we are able to arrange a truck for transport to the safe altitude of Ladakh. We decide to try to cross the Morey Plains and the 5.300 meter high Tanglang La pass in one long day. From here to Rumtse, hundred kilometer further, there will be no rivers nor tea stalls on the way. The more time it takes to reach Rumtse, the more water we have to carry. Sebastian and I are feeling good so we divide our water supplies. I carry both the tents as well so that my bicycle is a lot heavier than usual.

As we take off, Jeroen seems to feel really shaky. It looks like every moment he can fall from his bike. Luckily that does not happen. We are climbing 200 meter to the Morey Plains now, the long flat highlands that bring us to the foot of the Tanglang La, sixty kilometers further. We discuss again what is the best thing to do. Jeroen wants to try one more time. Fortunately after two minutes we reach the end of the climb. We have reached the Morey Plains!

The grey weather add a dark melancholy mood to the plains. The highlands resemble the Bolivian Altiplano. Dark, mysterious and beautiful, the nothingness that surrounds can depress and uplift the spirit. This time it does both at the same time. While Willem, Sebastian and I are making pictures, Jeroen is going on. We try to cycle to Jeroen but we are not coming closer. Jeroen is farther ahead than it seemed. Sebastian is feeling unwell now. Because Willem is recovering, he will carry Sebastians water supplies from now on.

We reach Jeroen as he is waiting for us right before the climb to the Tanglang La. Jeroen must have recovered a lot. He is looking better again. From now on we have "only" fourteen kilometer left before we reach the 5.300 meter high Tanglang La. Of course these kilometers are uphill, that is also a fact. According to India Tanglang La is the second highest motorable pass of the world but maybe the Indians have overlooked a few Tibetan passes of unknown altitude. The highest pass is the 5.600 meter high Khardung La between Leh and the Nubra Valley.

The ascent of the Tanglang La is difficult beacuse of the altitude. On the other hand, fourteen kilometer is not that far. It is far enough though but in the end we reach the pass. After all our problems it is a magnificent feeling to reach the pass. From here on we only have to go down. Every meter we descend, we will have nicer temperatures, more oxygen, less wind.

The first kilometers of the descent are quite difficult because of the bad road, the heavy wind and because the road does not go down in fact. When the road starts to go down in the end, we roll nice and easy to Rumtse at 4.200 meter altitude. We are in Ladakh now. All the ingredients are there: the white houses, the stupas, the friendly people. We are dead tired. But we made it. We can stay in a basic hotel (a REAL hotel!) and tomorrow we can order all the luxury food we want in Leh!

Day 13: Rumtse - Upshi - Thiksey - Leh 80 km

Rumtse is a very nice village. We see how life passes by in the course of the morning. We are not in a hurry. To reach Leh, we have to descend 30 kilometer to reach the Indus Valley. After reaching the Indus Valley at Upshi, it is less than 50 kilometer through the valley to Leh.

Eventually we take off nonetheless. After a few kilometer a dramatic change in the landscape takes place. We are surrounded by steep, vertically layered rocks in mint green and magenta. Tiny villages cling to the steep rocks. The valley is filled with stupas, the whitewashed stone sculptures that represent the universal composition of the components that make up our existence. The road goes on forever through these strangely painted rocks. Ever new side valleys show imposing mountain scenery of a different world. Only right before the Indus Valley we leave the otherworldy landscape for yet another otherworldly landscape.

In Upshi we reach the Indus Valley. In the Middle of the Himalayas the huge Indus River lies in a wide valley flanked on both sides by bare mountain slopes. Along the river there are willows and poplars. Some of the side rivers of the Indus that are used for irrigation are surrounded by bright green oases. Further there is no green at all in or around the valley. Just ochre coloured earth, stones and rock. The highest mountains are snowcapped but most of the mountains are just bare rock. Sometimes an old monastery is built on top of a rock. Ladakh is Tibetan Buddhist country. The monks wear the same dark red robes as in Tibet and the same Gelugpa and Kargyupa orders are found. The Dalai Lama frequently visits the region. Unlike Tibet, the people in Ladakh are free to live their lives and practice their religion.

Through flat stretches of stone desert we proceed. We pass the Stakna Monastery and the huge Thiksey Monastery. The sight of the small white monastery houses clinging to the rock is unforgettable. A formidable reward for the efforts we made. The last few kilometers to Leh we have to climb again but this is not difficult any more as the altitude of Leh is a reasonable 3.500 meter. We find a nice hotel with a little garden. This will be our base for excursions in the region the coming days. There are a lot of interesting monasteries and villages to be seen, some very near, some a little further. Sometimes we will cycle, sometimes we will take a jeep to spare some time.

Day 14-17: Leh & Ladakh

Four days we take the time to rest, write cards and just hang around. And of course, we visit monasteries. Some monasteries are very popular by the tourists, other ones seem to be overlooked by the tourist agencies. In the latter we are able to feel and appreciate the atmosphere of the monasteries. We are always received kindheartedly. We see the monks chanting, meditating. Sometimes the monks just hang around and relax. Lots of young children live between the walls of monastery complexes. Some of them are very aware of their role as a monk and behave in a very refined way. Young as they are, they seem to be unattached by worldly things. Children are free to play like children do but if their is work to be done, they seem happy to fulfill their task adequately.

Leh is the capital of Ladakh. Before the English colonized the region, Ladakh was a kingdom of its own. At first Shey was the capital of Ladakh but later Leh became the capital. Leh has always been an important stop along one of the secondary branches of the silk route. Maybe therefore, the bazaars and Markets of Leh have a certain Central Asian flavour. From Tibet, China, India and Pakistan came salt, tea and spices into the region over the long and deserted trading routes that cross the high passes that surround Ladakh. Apples and apricots and pashmina wool were from old being exported. Today, nothing much has changed. The trade routes are still used, some of them secretly because of political border problems with Pakistan and China. Of course, trading with India has become much easier since Ladakh is connected with the rest of India by road. Nowadays especially fuel is transported into Ladakh. Petrol has replaced yak faeces as main energy source. In that respect Ladakh must have been modernized enormously over the last thirty years. From a self sufficient rural economy Ladakh has grown rapidly in the largely tourism based economy it is by now.

Read about the ascent of the Khardung La - Worlds highest motorable pass? - and further adventures on our cycling journey through the Nubra, Lahaul, Spiti, Parvati & Kangra Valleys on the next page.