We are staying at the isolated village of Tsokar which overlooks a white salt- lake and sits at 4500 metres altitude. The village is mostly deserted as the nomadic Khampa people, the earliest inhabitants of the Tibetan plateau, have moved to pasture-land with their animals for the summer where they set up a canvas town. [...]
We have a late start from Jispa and everyone is feeling relaxed after hot showers here, cold Kingfisher beers and a chance to dry our boots out a bit! We leave town on a reasonable road as we head up to the next major pass. It's a definite tourist track now with everyone coming up [...]
We saddle up and leave the comfort of our large hotel out of Kaza and head up to another 1000-year-old monastery, high on a knoll with impressive views over the valley floor and mountains beyond. It's been a very pleasant stay at the Grand Dewachen Hotel The Key Monastery, the largest in the Spiti Valley, [...]
We are in Tabo, a remote village in the Spiti Valley with a very old monastery dating back to 996AD. Inside is surreal, everything perfectly preserved and still in use - dusty but ethereal. The beautiful stupor in Tabo, the Dalai Lama's favourite monastery Kamal, our guide, tells us that fifty monks are in residence [...]
After Sangla we ride along the river to Rekong Peo to obtain permits for the next province. Lunch is at a wonderful restaurant with fabulous views of the mountains. Getting used to parking - lunch spot at Rekong Peo Mountain views from our restaurant table Then we climb and climb to a fabulous hotel in [...]
We are in Satluj Valley in a hotel that needs explaining! Our hotel Batseri in Sangla Village The hotel is in a unique riverside location by the isolated village of Sangla and is down another steep road. The road down to Sangla village If you look in the centre of the photo you can see [...]
We are in Shimla in the foothills of the Himalayas (Indians pronounce it him-arl-lee-is) acclimatising at 2200m for two nights. Hillside dwellings through the smog in Shimla Monkey's are a real problem in Shimla as they attack or spit on female persons An afternoon walk up to the Shimla “mall” is busy and intriguing. It’s [...]
We are in Delhi and the rest of our tour group has arrived. Our guide, Kamal, escorts us to a Southern Indian restaurant so we can try Dosa - a flat thin-layered rice pancake made from a fermented batter, very similar to a crepe in appearance. I choose a butter paneer one and it comes on [...]
Well, we definitely know we are in India! The power lines make an intriguing sight Yes, it's confronting - an assault on all fronts - but the people are immediately friendly. They are curious, intrigued and happy to converse. A group of school children coming out the school gates in Delhi are eager to say [...]
Watch this space for Lee, adventure traveller, in front of the Taj Mahal!! Yes, we are off to India on a three-week bike tour... We know it's a Kiwi tour operator so probably all the fellow riders will be Kiwis. We are ready for the immediate assault on our senses when we arrive in New [...]
