DAY 2
Theog to Kalpa (200km)
After a restless, jet lagged sleep, we were up and at em for an 8am breakfast meeting ahead of a 9am departure. Today we were due to cover 200km as we worked our way across to Kalpa, and really started climbing into the snow covered Himalayas. The whole group seemed in good spirits over breakfast but with Rich & I particularly happy with the menu option of French Toast & French Fries for our breakfast to help up carb-up ahead of our day. It really had the feel of a snow boarding or skiing holiday at the breakfast table I have to say. Mountain views, wooden interiors, hearty breakfasts and lots of talk about “nearly wiping out’” the day before. The only difference being that a wipe out here would really mess you up. Like….really!
Breakfast done, the jeep was soon loaded up with none essentials and I was climbing onto trusty Eddy ahead of the days ride. After a few issues getting him going – he’s just like his Dad, a bit slow in the morning – we were soon turning left out of the hotel and on our way to Kapla.
Today’s riding can essentially be split into 2 parts. Pre-lunch & post lunch.
Pre-lunch was a beautiful dream. Our route was initially a descent from Theog down to Rampur and it turned out that not only were they good roads but they were also fairly quiet, which meant lots of fun. Long winding downhill roads with gentle curves with 2 lanes evenly shared between traffic from both directions. None of those ‘take your life in your hands’ overtaking manoeuvres where you ended up face to face with an oncoming bus, just lots of room to play! We had a lovely ride where we saw a herd of Vultures feasting on a dead cow, (herd definitively isn’t the right collective noun btw), we saw blacksmiths working in their tents by the side of the road (which I suspect were also their homes) and we saw Indian women washing clothes by hand in streams or by waterfalls. We stopped a couple of times for some photo opportunities and as we pulled of from the second one we had to negotiate a 10cm big o f snow, which gave a good taste of what’s to come. Which is horrific wheel spins, sliding and a general lack of control if the 10cm snow drift is anything to go by.
As we reached Rampur we stopped for a coffee and to use the ATM to withdraw another 28,000,000 rupees (about £4.20 sterling) before saddling up again to head to the Little Chef for lunch. Yes you read that right, we were going to a Little Chef for our lunch. Following the coffee the roads started to get a little more testing but generally they were still ok. There were some parts which they obviously haven’t finished yet, and also dare I say it some parts which they obviously haven’t even started yet, but by and large the roads were good and the riding good.
At about 1.30pm we stopped at the Little Chef for lunch. Now, those of you from the UK expecting a little man in a chefs hat on a red and white sign are going to be VERY disappointed. This was a small local building manned by 3 happy Indian guys who served us a very tasty, chilli-con-carne inspired meal which was just what was needed! Lunch break came and went though & we were soon back at it.
Now the post-lunch ride wasn’t quite as nice. The roads were extremely unpredictable and quickly went from tarmac, to shingle, to mud, to potholes and back to tarmac within minutes. Add to this the fact that the road was single lane and often winding like something out of the Italian Job and this made the ride very challenging. We were back to suicidal bus drivers, distracted truck drivers and F1 wannabe car drivers both heading out way and also heading right at us. Throw in some black ice and a drop in the temperature and we were back to having to absolutely 100% concentrate for every second.
After descending due what felt like days we eventually ended up in what looked like a slate mine, but I think was actually a power station, for about 30 minutes. It honestly felt like riding into Mordor. It has started spitting with rain, it was getting cold and the landscape was all sharp, jagged rocks with a road surface to match. We pushed on though and after working out way through a section of road covered by fresh landslide, and stopping for pictures at a beautiful waterfall, we could finally see many many snow covered peaks of the Himalayas. Once we had passed through Mordor we were again back on tarmac roads and able to gun it a bit, only tempered by hitting crater sized pot-holes at 80kmph every now and then to keep you on your toes.
Finally we bore left and really started to climb towards Kalpa. Rich tells me Kalpa sits at 10,000 feet and we climbed them all by crawling our way up a winding road consisting of about 50 hairpin bends. Eventually, at about 6pm, just as I was losing all sense of feeling in my frozen fingers we finally reached our hotel. It had been a slog since after lunch but I can honestly say an enjoyable, character forming slog.
All that was left was to enjoy a warm, rejuvenating shower, a meal in front of a roaring natural fire and then retire to our beds covered in natural throws and sheepskins ahead of tomorrow. Sadly the hotels here at 10,000 feet up the Himalayas are no thrills and ours had the added pleasure of frozen pipes and a power cut. The food was nice though (chicken curry!) and the Rum shots particularly warming!
However, as I lie here in bed, a double bed, alongside Kristys brother Richard, both fully clothed to keep warm, including hat and gloves I am a little worried (again) ahead of tomorrow. For tomorrow they tell us we are heading into the ‘cold parts’ of the trip, with talk of -17 degrees. I’m worried enough that I’m not going to make it through the night tonight without getting hyperthermia and they are talking (excitedly) about earning our ‘Snow Runner’ titles in -17. FML!
All that said, Rich and I wanted an adventure, the unknown and to step outside our comfort zone. Mission accomplished. I will never, ever complain about being cold at home ever again!
BTW – In case it’s not clear, I’m loving it so far! 100%! And for the record am writing this using iphone ‘notes’ in bed, barely able to feel my fingers so apologies for any typos.
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