Chitkul to Tabo

Saturday morning in Chitkul turned out lovely and sunny so we took breakfast on the roof - I grabbed a rather cold shower in the guys room and then we headed out to walk to the last outpost of India before Tibet. It was really beautiful with all the trees a gorgeous orange and green - had a chill by the river and met an Indian couple from Chandigarh who reminded Nazir about a waterfall problem on the road. On the way back to Sangla you could see where the floods had cascaded down the valley and washed away bridges and campsites. Quick lunch in Sangla where Hans and Jaap were really pleased to get chicken for once - me not so pleased as there seemed to be no Coca Cola in the whole town and then we walked up to the 900 year old fort. You couldn't actually go in as there were many expensive statues inside which have been known to wander off - but it was an interesting place as it was like a lot of buildings in the area constructed with wood and stone. Then it was back along the winding road to Rekong Peo - there was less industry now which made it a lot prettier - quick stop to buy some beers and then a 9k ride up to the village of Kalpa where we staying the night. Our guesthouse the Shivalik had an amazing terrace which looked out across to the Kinner Kailash mountain range - unfortunately the mist had come down so we were unable to see the highest peak Jorkaden which is 6473m (21360feet) but it was still pretty special.

Sunday we had a bit of a late start before driving to look at Kalpa's equivalent to Beachy Head - made me quite ill looking at it!!! Then back down to Reckong Peo where we all bought Kinnauri hats and picked up two ladies who wanted a lift to Pooh - yep there really is such a place not sure if Winnie lived there though. After Pooh the scenery got a lot wilder as we criss crossed the river on high bridges. As the road was running really close to Tibet now we had to have our Inner Line Permits checked - a rather bolshy hippy (was how she described herself but not the bolshy bit that's me thinking) started to give Jaap a hard time about how much he paid for the tour at the checkpoint - personally it's nobodies business but your own what you pay for things. The road was now getting a lot worse in places just stones and sand. Nako where we heading was up yes you've guessed another winding road but by now I was getting quite used to the heights and Rana was a real good driver. We'd just missed the Dalai Lama who had been there to visit the monastery two weeks previously - but we did get to see where he stayed - got to say it was very very nice with really expensive settees and carpets (which for me after some of the guesthouses I've stayed in is a luxury). Nako village itself was like going back a thousand years with sheep, goats and children running up the narrow alleyways which had prayer wheels at nearly every corner as we were now heading towards Spiti which is a predominantly Buddhist area of Himachal. Lots of middle aged guys on Enfields were staying in the village who were a bit more sorted with the beer situation than us - no beer shops in Nako - still it was a good night playing cards, sorted thali before the electric went for the night.

Monday - another early start today as we were off to climb some of the hills behind Nako - I was a bit nervous about this as we were just under 3000m and I could feel myself getting breathless a little as I climbed up the desert like path. Even though we were so close to China you couldn't see it - the mountains were just too high - but from the top we could see how the scenery was changing more to desert from the green and oranges of the Kinnaur valley - it did feel like you were on top of the world as we were now finally seeing the snowy peaks of huge mountains in the distance. Set off towards Tabo after dinner - first we had to go through a really dangerous piece of road - just after the village of Malling is a real unstable mountain so much so the road keeps dissappearing under landslides - a new road has been constructed but its still a bit iffy - Nazir had to keep an eye on the rocks as we drove through - and it wasn't helped by the idiot in the jeep in front who decided to let his passenger out to take photos!!! The thing I noticed that made me smile as we drove along were the signs you saw on the side of the road like "ooh aaah ooch - sorry for the inconvenience" after a bumpy bit and "please be gentle with my curves" after a winding bit. After the village of Sumdo we said goodbye to the River Sutlej as it headed towards China and said hello to the river Spiti - the road now ran a lot lower along the valley and by now the scenery was totally desertlike with no trees. In Tabo we ended up at the Tashi Khangsar Guesthouse down by the river - which pleased Hans and Jaap as they loved the water and were always rushing off to sit by a river. I thought something was bit up when Hans came back on his own looking a little dusty - Jaap had got stuck and couldn't get back up the banking - so Nazir grabbed some rope and then it seemed half the village came rushing out plus the big biker group who were staying up the road - they managed to get him back up to more stable ground eventually. Tonight was the final of the 20/20 cricket India versus Pakistan - we were actually looking forward to watching the match but had a bit of a problem in no TV and no electric - I had been teaching Hans and Jaap the rules as it isn't that big in Holland - but we didn't get to see it Rana and Nazir got to see the last couple of overs and we could tell by the blaring music from Rana's jeep when they returned that India had won - but only just!!! Few games of cards with a nice cold beer only slightly marred by an ensuing argument between Nazir and rather drunken Indian cricket fan over Nazir's support of the Pakistan cricket team - in the end I had enough and told them "it's only a bleeding game for god's sake!!!" - kinda calmed down a bit after that and the guy was all smiles and waving in the morning - was whisky talk which you do find quite a lot of here.