! was up around 7:30, before anyone else, but with a short day to Anantnag planned, there didn’t seem to be much reason to rush off. I changed tyres, from my Smart Sams to the almost slick Supremes now that it looked like I was back on fresh tarmac for the rest of my ride. I …
To Daksum An eventful start to this day! My night was undisturbed by wild animals. Or by passing vehicles, not after a couple of late night travellers drove down the hill at around 9:00 pm. Up at first light, packed up and breakfasted on a packet of creme biscuits and a chocolate bar, and on …
Sunday 10th August. Kishtwar – ? From Kishtwar, the nicely surfaced road dropped steadily in a series of hairpins down to Bhandarkhot (a descent of about 450 m in 12 km). Since most of the day would involve climbing towards Sinthan Top, this wasn’t actually what I wanted. The road crossed a bridge over a …
Thursday 7th August, ? – Kishtwar Not a bad night, all things considered – hiding from mosquitoes inside the bivvy bag reading my Kindle until sleep took me. Kindles, or e-readers in general, are being supplanted by tablets for their higher resolution screens and app-running capabilities but, for travelling, you can’t beat the e-readers battery …
Wednesday 6th August, Killar – Sohal (plus a bit) This is the section of road that I’ve been waiting so long for! Although the early part of the day was pretty ugly… I’d promised myself a 6:00 am start but hadn’t really believed it. Not bad though; I was ready to order cheese omelette and …
Saturday 2nd August, Udaipur to Shour Good morning, Udaipur. Started with a little tarmac but it was just to tease. The rest of the day was rocky, sandy, windy, bumpy, tiring. It’s nice to see trees again after the almost total absence in Spiti. The valley narrowed and was probably quite pretty but it was …
Friday 1st August, Keylong – Udaipur Udaipur is a well-known and beautiful city in Rajasthan. This isn’t that Udaipur. Not too early a start – breakfast around 8:30 am. No hurry, the hospital surgery won’t be open until ten-ish. I was there in time to bounce a baby on my knee for a while. It …