Onwards and upwards from Manali

"Evening meal at Camp 1 at 3400m outside Mahri"

More used to organising our own expeditions from scratch in the past, the criteria for this one was simple. We wanted a trip that wasn’t too commercial, had some challenging mountain biking and took us somewhere remote and interesting in good company. Surfing the net for inspiration Jim came across Cara and Cass’s website, and was inspired by their beautiful photographs and the idea of a small semi supported trip into a isolated area only recently opened up by the Indian Government to outsiders.

The plan was to ride out of Manali up the road towards Leh and over the Rothang Pass. On the other side we would turn off the main road and follow the road to the Kunzum La Pass to drop down into the start of the Spiti Valley, then follow the valley via several high mountain villages and Tibetan style monasteries to finish at Kaja. We would be totally self sufficient during the day and then met at our camping spots by our jeep and driver in the evenings. And believe me you really didn’t want to be pulling a trailer with all your kit for two weeks over those high passes. After a traditional breakfast of porridge and omelette at Johnson’s Café, we rode through the narrow streets of Manali, dodging tourists and rickshaws, passing teahouses galore, and settling into a steady pace up the tarmac road towards the Rothang Pass. There was no hurry; the road took us from 2000m at Manali up to 4000m at the Pass, and after a stern warning the night before from Cara about the dangers of altitude sickness, the slower the better.

It started easily enough, a steady grind to warm up the legs and nowhere near the granny gear until we reached about 3000m. By then the altitude was definitely kicking in and any excuse for a photo or a tea break was widely welcomed. Four o clock in the afternoon and 1,400 metres of ascent we arrived just below the pass at the small settlement of Marhi. Consisting of little more than around twenty cafes and teahouses and a tiny Buddhist temple, the ‘Dabha’ as these settlements are called, was full of activity, as a truck stop and tourist rest.

At Marhi we met up with Funshuck our driver and Norbu our cook for the trip. The tents were already up and the boys were making a start on dinner. Finally it really felt like we were on our expedition, and for the first time we had a real chance to look around us and relax.