LADAKH
"BUSRIDE TO MANALI "
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Thursday, Friday and Saturday - August 7th, 8th and
9th Three
adventurous days ! By bus, over the Himalayas (one of the highest
"roads" on earth !-over the Tanglang
La pass (17,582 feet- 5359 mtr)
;
the Lachlung pass
(17,170 feet- 5233 mtr);
the Baralacha La pass (16,278
feet -4170 mtr)
and the Rohtang La
pass (13,500 feet - 4115 mtr).
In all from Leh to Manali = 485 kms
The first day took us to Sarchu, but not before, again, someone had to go to hospital. Just before departing Ine got very sick and we decided not to let her go over those mountains. Instead she was brought to hospital, where she was diagnosed with AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) and we had to leave her and Kees behind.
So with about an hour delay the bus took off. That meant we had to gain some time back, since the ride would take some 12 hrs altogether !! The ride was spectacular !! Now, when you go from Leh to Manali, make sure you sit on the left side U N L E S S you don't have a strong stomach (and nerves), both for the bumping and for the, by times, nerving views into steep gorges, just outside and below your window !!!!!!!!! Why ? Well, in the beginning the road is reasonably good (tarmac), narrow, but okay. After a while the tarmac is gone and leaves you with sand, stones and rocks and maybe the road is even narrower. BUT....... this is the only road from Leh to Manali, so all the stuff (petrol, supplies etc.) is transported by trucks over this road !
And one thing is certain ..... there is no way that two trucks/busses
and/or cars can pass, 
without almost come to a complete stop and not without a
"passing point".
Are there any rules ? I don't really know. Okay, army trucks are superior. That was clear. But climbing traffic goes over descending ? Sometimes, but not always. It's often the one who uses the horn the best, but not always. A big vehicle over a smaller one ? Sometimes, but not always. And what happens if neither one stops ? Then you've got a problem, and one of both has to back down. Now, driving on the left hand side and having this immense depth on your left hand side might give some serious chills. Luckily, the bus drove back to the other side of the road (right hand side), and the oncoming truck could pass on the "dangerous" side of the road. But on occasion, the busdriver kept on the left hand side (the dangerous side), and backed up. Imagine that, about 10 mtr of bus behind you, on the wrong side of where you are sitting (the driver sits on the right hand side of the bus) and a steep slope. On one occasion, we (who sat aft in the bus) almost prayed he wouldn't back up farther and applauded when he started to move forwards again. And I'm not that easily afraid !
The first night we slept in tents at Sarchu, where we arrived at about 20.00hrs (8p.m.) and when it was already dark. Now Sarchu is nothing but a couple (5 ?) camps, where tourists and truckdrivers can rest their weary heads.
The second day led us to Jispa.
This took some 6 hrs. and we arrived relat
ively early, so we could spend some
time looking around. Already the scenery had changed from stony mountains to
much more green as you can see.
Oh yes, I almost forgot. We were
running on petrol. So once in a while this bus also has to fill it's tanks. Be
sure you don't forget to do that, otherwise you might regret it
! 
The third day finally led to
Manali. Now the scenery changed drastically. Going
over the Rohtang La pass, the rain set in and over the top, it was almost as if driving through a
rainforest. Even palms were to be seen ! We arrived
late in the afternoon after some 8-10hrs.
So for three days we saw magnificent mountains, spectacular valleys, people in groups from 5 - 10 persons trying to "repair" the road (from very bad to somewhat less bad), yaks, nomads, rivers etc. Again, I'm only able to put some photographs here, which is unfortunately. Most pictures are taken from within the riding bus.
**
Sunday August 10th and Monday August 11th - Manali itself, we thought of as a bit of a disappointment. Why ? Well, for one reason. It's one of the names you hear a lot. So you think, that must be something special. Well, it isn't. Okay, you have a "mainstreet", you have a big market, there's old-Manali and there's Vashist. Nice, but ...... Maybe it's because most parties leave from Manali and go tó Leh, instead of the way we went. Maybe we were just a bit tired of all the things we'd seen and done these days. I don't really know. Was it all bad. Hell no. The market is nice, there's a nice park (with monkees ! running loose!), old-Manali has nice little shops. So has Vashist. It's much cheaper than Leh is !! (Rent a bike in Leh = rps 800; in Manali = rps 300 !). There are a few nice temples (one especially with beautiful carvings !). You might take a taxi to ........ But ............ (and the hotel we were staying at, had seen better times !Much better times. )
now, you might want to return to
or go to
or go all the way back to the
All photographs taken with Canon pro90IS and adjusted for the internet. Except for a few changes in background (blurring*and/or cropping **) or slight cosmetic changes***, these photographs are not tampered with ! And if you didn't figure it out yet: click on a photograph to get a full view ! (this may take some time, depending on your download speed !)
laatst bijgewerkt 07-11-2005 19:18