Leh - Alchi
Yesterday, I finally made it to the top of the Shanti Stupa and enjoyed a stunning sunset over Leh. First time, I was prevented to go up because of my bike and the second time around, I came too late and also met Jamie with his girls there. So, I decided to join them for a dinner rather than continue up;) It’s quite an experience just to sit down on a ledge with Leh at your feet, feel the evening wind and observe the kaleidoscope of hues of brown, red and yellow on the mountains of Stok and Zanskar ranges. When I returned back to the GH there was another huge surprise. Steve and Jean-Pierre made it back from the Nubra Valley, a day ahead of schedule! All the way from Diskit, 118 kms, or so, a monster day with lots of climbing. It seemed like they enjoyed it despite feeling tired.
Plus, they met a Swiss couple who cycled from Pangong Tso to the Nubra Valley, a route they had originally planned to attempt but couldn’t get enough info about. There is a partly built rough road connecting them. But on some sections they had to push their bikes too.
Early next day, Jean-Pierre and Steve even woke up to see me heading off and wish me good luck. From now on, I needed to get used to cycling alone again. It was heavily overcast but it really was time to leave Leh behind. I spent too many ‘good’ days there;) The first 10 kms were a straight-forward and easy descent to Spituk and the Indus Valley. Later, I followed the Indus river for a while through patches of green fields and poplar trees. Near Phyang crossing, the road left the river below and started gradually climbing through a desert-like landscape, interrupted only by passing traffic and occasional ‘Hello’ or ‘Julley’ shouts from BRO road workers…
The road was anything but flat, undulating up and down… After I left the Leh Valley behind and passed through some military areas, again, I had fast and windy descent into Nimmu and Basgo villages valley. The lower parts of the road passed through a narrow gorge near which the green-brown waters of the Indus and sandy-brown of the Zanskar merged together. I stopped in Nimmu for a quick cup of chai.
The next village, Basgo, used to be once a capital of lower Ladakh with its dominant, albeit decaying, citadel/fort above the village. Not far away, perched on a rock ledge, was a Basgo gompa which has an enormous statue of Maitreya Buddha, according to a LP guidebook… I didn’t have time to stop and check;) The awesome views from the road were more than enough for me.
After the village, there was another climb out of the valley, on a recently made stretch of road, zig-zagging slowly up. When reaching high point, I could see a looong straight road going into the next valley, maybe 3-4 kms long. With the surrounding barrren landscape it reminded me of riding on Utah or Nevada roads;) On my way down, I passed a crossing to Likir, the location of another majestic gompa, and began a steep winding downhill ride toward Saspol and later Alchi.
After Saspol, I had to get off the main road, cross a bridge over the Indus and started a not so difficult climb to Alchi. I checked into the first GH, Choskor GH, with nice rooms (250 Rps for a double with private bathroom). It’s a little bit further from the Alchi gompa but that was good;)
The gompa, for being so famous, is really hard to spot. It is situated on a flat ground, similar to Tabo, in the middle of the village. So, there aren’t any fascinating outside views. Once I passed through all the tourist shops near the gompa and went inside the many temples, I realized why it is one of the most famous ones in the world of Tibetan Buddhism. It contains amazingly detailed and well-preserved artworks. Again, photography wasn’t allowed inside to protect the ancient frescos;( But I snapped a few ‘cluttered’ pics among the temples, stupas and lots of apricot trees…
Alchi was a few days past the harvest and the fields around were empty. But there was lots of carrying of fresh grass/weed around and almost everyone, old and young alike, were helping out. They stored it on roofs of their houses, where it gradually dried out, and I’m assuming was used during winter months to feed their stock.
Start: Leh, Jammu-Kashmir, India
End: Alchi, Jammu-Kashmir, India
Distance: 69.10 km
Elevation: +930/-1,355 m
Time: 3′48″
Avg: 18.1 km/h
Total: 1,220.2 km
Riding/Total days: 18/26
Man! I love that first photo. Fantastic. I am very envious of your fantastic views! I’ll be out of compact Korea and into spacious China in a couple of days. Looking forward to it. Take care and have fun!
Comment by rob thomson | August 1, 2006