Exploring the Himalayas on a solo motorbike adventure - Episode 13

In this episode, it's an early start as I head up into the high mountain passes and the clouds. Then some wet weather, more water crossings, more narrow cliff edge tracks, and I ride through a landscape that looks like it's from another world. Morning. It's about 4.50 in the morning. There has been a few showers overnight so hopefully it'll clear up. I'm gonna put the panniers and bags on the bike first and then wait for enough light to get going safely I guess, and the checkpoint opens at five so yeah we'll see how we go. It's always fun putting on panniers in the dark With everything strapped on and what looked like enough light, I headed off. There was a lineup of trucks waiting for the checkpoint to open at 5am. I waited for a couple of minutes. The policeman called me through but was still struggling with the actual gate. Today I was heading for Manali unless the track to Spiti Valley was open, and the only way I was going to be able to work that out was to ride into the valley itself because all the information I could get a hold of still said it was closed. But I was holding on to the hope of what the local had told me yesterday where he thought it was now open. I got onto the other side of the canyon about a kilometre away and pulled up to the next checkpoint. Checkpoints aren't normally this close, but this is where the state of Ladakh ends and the state of Himachal Pradesh begins. I had made it to one of the road worker camps. With no signs I wasn't sure exactly which way to go so I just picked one. I had been trying to hold off but my hands were starting to burn from the cold so it was time for the winter gloves. I'm guessing these mountains probably have snow on them all year round. I pulled over for a quick stop to get some shots of the mountains nestled in the clouds. It looked like I was about to ride through the clouds. It's wild how that cloud hugs the mountain. How is this descent? I'm just, I'm crawling down just stopping and looking and I should get another photo. I should get another photo. Mind-blowing. So cool. Oh, got a little bit of rain. With views like this I was going to be stopping a lot today. Look at the switchbacks going down to that little village. You know who has the right of way on these roads no matter which lane they're in. Had to stop. That was an impressive waterfall or is it two waterfalls? Anyway, not too much further to the turn off to Manali. I cannot even guess how far the water is falling in each of those sections. There are also a couple of stunning rock faces sticking out from the clouds. It was crazy down again. I was consistently on the horn with cars coming into my lane around blind corners. The closer you get to cities the less people care. Wait, what? There's a nightclub around here? I had made it to the turn off to Manali but instead of turning I was going straight ahead to see how far I got before the road closes. You can see the change since I've come lower down from the Himalayas. No more barren mountains. Everywhere was green now. I pulled up to the checkpoint to finally find out if the road was open or closed. And just like that I was through. Well I guess it's always worth checking out the gate. I said the name Kasgar which is where Splitty Valley is. Main, I think it's main town there. And he didn't seem to, I asked is open? Road open? And he just, yep, no issues. So Google Maps is still wrong. Hasn't been updated I gather. It looks like there's weather ahead or it could just be cloud. I'm falling hot. I've got puffer jacket off from this morning. It's, it's, do I take the rain gear off? It's 50-50. I might want to have to put it back on if I do I guess. Well we will, well I haven't got there yet. Splitty, S-P-I-T-I, Splitty Valley. See what it's like, hopefully. It's gorgeous in this valley though. How green is it? Insane. the rocks, a lot of concentrating going on. So I haven't been filming much. I have got about 95 kilometers to go with this. No idea if it's all the same. Bike's handling it well. It's just after riding for five hours before I even got onto this, I think I'm gonna be a bit tired and sore by the end. But it is a lot of fun. have confidence in the bridge, but with wooden planks it's always good to be able to see what you're about to ride over. It's the kind of road, if you want to have a really good look at something, it's probably best to stop, as it's a long way down if you get it slightly wrong. I don't think I'd be keen on driving a truck that size on these roads. And yes, I'm hugging the right side of the track for obvious reasons. I turned out of the valley into a smaller side valley. It looked like there used to be a track with a lot of switchbacks on the other side, but now it's no longer in use. I came across some rockfall, and well, I don't know how those trucks up past are going to be able to navigate through here. Yep, those trucks have got no chance of making it through. I see the water is taking the path of least resistance straight down the track. I made it to the top of the pass and a shrine with a lot of prayer flags. That was a lot of fun. I'm not going to lie, my body's feeling it. Oh, just getting thrown around with the backpack on you. Yeah, a lot of fun. I think I've got about 70 kilometers to go. This road I'm looking at looks reasonable. We'll see how it is in the next 5, 10, 20k. All right, downhill we must go. Well, that wasn't going to work. A rather large hole. So around I went to try and find the sidetrack I must have missed. No idea how I missed that one. The truck was actually stuck halfway across. They wouldn't want heavy rain to fall, as the truck wouldn't last long there, and would probably end up down here and take out this bridge. The stream had expanded its path onto the road. Now they're pressing up. Really? Hopefully I can get a shot before this rain comes in. There were some hills, some valleys, but the peaks breaking through the cloud seemed the most interesting. Well, hopefully I got a shot or two out of that. Clouds just come over again. Oh, and it looks like I'm going into rain. Just got in the gap. Another section of the road that has been chewed up by the water runoff. The sign said I had made it to Spitty Valley, and a police checkpoint. Fort Road works. They're easy enough to get through, with a little bit of common sense. Just keep away from the big yellow things. I pulled over again to have a look at the gouge the water had created in the mountainside. I had ridden into a section that was, well, otherworldly. An incredible landscape, obviously formed over time by the erosion of different soils and rocks. Although I'm not a geologist, I'm guessing this may have been sediment at the bottom of a lake or river, and now the rain is slowly eroding it away. Last Indian shortcut. If you hadn't worked it out yet, I'm a big fan of bridges. The different types. How they're constructed. How they're a gateway to another section to explore. Now that's a long bridge over a very deep canyon. I came to two options. I had not actually marked a route to follow on the map, I was just heading in the general direction, and hoping I made it. From what I could see, the right looked like it went down to the valley floor. I had made it to the main bridge across the river, which meant I was close to the town of Kazar. I spotted a hotel, and after a very long day, I didn't care the price. If they had a room, I was taking it. Well, I got here, but I couldn't really film what happened next. When I came into Splitty Valley, I was in the middle of the river, the police guy there said you need a permit to get out the other end, or I'd have to go back the way I came. I'm pretty trashed, and the chances of it raining apparently are good, so there may be some more issues. I thought I'll just keep going around this way, but you need the permit to get this way. I got here to this hotel, the first one I saw, and the guy goes, oh, if you just go over there, you can get a permit, but it's about to close, because it's like right on five. So I get there, and then they go, oh, you've got passport, you've got visa, have you got your photo? I'm like, photo? You need a passport photo, and they're like, oh. But the really nice guys ended up taking a photo with a phone, photocopying it, anyway, sorted it. India doesn't have a lot of paperwork, but these guys were so helpful, so I don't have to deal with it. Well, it could end up all day tomorrow as well. So that's done. The other thing around here, apparently power goes out a lot, so he suggested to have a shower. The guy from the hotel, have a shower now while there is hot water and power, and I'll try and power everything up. It's been a big, big day. They do have food here. The place is actually quite nice, and it's $1,400, so about $25. A bit of a score, just whacked into it, but I am sore. Okay, I'm gonna do this, and yeah, shower will help. So I had a shower and sorted out what I needed to. With still some afternoon light, I decided to go for a wander around town. I stumbled onto the locals in the midst of a cricket game, which reminded me of a section out of the film, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, where after they take photos in the mountains of the Himalayas, they come down to where the locals are playing a game in the late afternoon sun. And well, the whole journey has felt a bit like I've been in a movie on an epic adventure. To think, I jumped on a plane at the last minute, and with no plan at all, just rode into the Himalayan mountains, and somehow seemingly pulled it off. There were still a couple of days to go, but right now, I was going to sit in the afternoon sun, and watch the locals enjoy life with not a care in the world. Oh my love, you're such a fragile thing, I know. And with the winter comes the iceless snow. In the next episode, I ride down more incredible valleys, and spectacular canyons, through fresh landslides, and misty forests. I follow a cow down a laneway, and ride through flooded streets.