Karakoram Highway. Rakaposhi (7788m), Hunza Valley, Pakistan
1 Karakoram Highway (PAKISTAN / Xinjiang Province, CHINA)
For mountain-lovers the Karakoram Highway (aka ‘KKH’) between Islamabad in Pakistan and Kashgar or Kashi, the capital of China’s Xinjiang Province, offers the best roadside scenery in the Himalayas. Other rides are higher but northern Pakistan holds the densest concentration of 8000m peaks and seen from the low (2000m) valley floors, they fill the sky.
Other highlights include the 4695m Khunjerab Pass (the world’s highest paved international frontier), the friendly and stunning Hunza Valley, the unexpected mix of Pakistan’s Buddhist heritage and modern Islamic identity, and the massive cultural difference between Pakistan and western China.
One drawback to this route is that the Chinese authorities do not let independent cyclists ride the 120km between Khunjerab (the border pass) and Tashkurgan (the border town) – instead you must get the bus.
Route facts
Start / finish : Islamabad (Pakistan) / Kashgar (Xinjiang, China)
Distance : 807 miles / 1300km
Altitudes : Start 518m (1699ft) / max 4695m (15,403ft) / end 1388m (4553ft)
Duration : 1 month (17 cycling days)
Difficulty : Hard (hills and heat)
Accommodation : Guesthouses, hotels, homestays - tent not necessary
Road conditions : Usually ok, rocky in mountains, beware landslides
Cost : £ (not expensive)
Manali Leh Highway. Lahaul Valley, Himachal Pradesh
2 Manali Leh Highway (Himachal Pradesh / Ladakh, INDIA)
Ever since the Manali Leh Highway was opened to foreigners in 1989 cyclists have revered this as one of the most spectacular rides in the world. It’s also the second highest (easily upgraded to highest if you climb the Khardung La when you reach Leh), and half of its 475 kilometres traverse a landscape so high and so barren that there’s no permanent human habitation at all.
The scenery is epic and hard won over a series of 5000 metre passes which lead from the lush Kullu Valley over high altitude desert to the remote and starkly beautiful ancient kingdom of Ladakh.
Route facts
Start / finish : Manali (Himachal Pradesh) / Leh (Jammu & Kashmir), India
Distance : 310 miles / 500km (including side-trip to Tso Kar)
Altitudes : Start 1900m (6233ft). Max 5350m (17,552ft). End 3563m (11,689ft)
Duration : Minimum 7 days riding. Allow 3 weeks for flights and acclimatising
Difficulty : Hard (altitude, temperature extremes, occasional poor road surface)
Accommodation : Guesthouses, hotels, homestays, parachute tents - tent not necessary
Road conditions : Usually OK, 75% tarmac, 25% mud-packed road, usually some streams need to be crossed
Cost : £ (not expensive)
Leh Srinagar Highway. Approaching Fotu La, Ladakh
3 Leh Srinagar Highway (Ladakh / Jammu & Kashmir, INDIA)
The Leh – Srinagar Highway was once the only route into Ladakh but continuing political tensions over Kashmir make this ride less popular than the higher and longer Manali – Leh Highway. The first half of the ride up to Kargil is stunning as it passes the pea-green Zanskar River and the impressive gompas of Lamayuru, Likkir, Alchi and Basgo.
Beyond Kargil the road skirts the Line of Control between India and Pakistan and roadsigns declare ‘Caution. You are under enemy observation’. Beyond the Zoji La the stark Ladakhi landscape softens into the beautiful Vale of Kashmir which is sadly still heavily militarized.
Route facts
Start / finish : Leh (Ladakh) / Srinagar (Kashmir)
Distance : 271 miles / 437km
Altitudes : Start 3505m (11,499ft) / max 4105m (13,467ft) / end 1602m (5255t)
Duration : 13 days (7–9 cycling days)
Difficulty : Medium (altitude)
Accommodation : Guesthouses, hotels, homestays - tent not necessary
Road conditions : Usually excellent as this is a military road, 90% tarmac, 10% mud-packed road on Zoji La
Cost : £ (not expensive)
Spiti and Kinnaur Valleys. Kunzam La, entrance to the Spiti Valley
4 Spiti and Kinnaur Valleys (Himachal Pradesh, INDIA)
Just above Manali, on the north side of Rohtang La, an unsealed road leads east from Gramphoo. This ‘road’ to the Spiti Valley climbs north along the Chandra valley past enormous glaciers and a turn-off to the dazzling turquoise lake of Chandra Tal. The road surface can be appalling but the reward of the Kunzam La (4551m) is worth it.
The spectacular Spiti Valley (average elevation 4570m) possesses awe-inspiring scenery and fantastic Buddhist gompas. Spiti was only opened to foreigners in the 1990s and the border region with Tibet still requires an Inner Line Permit. The road then joins the Sutlej River as it flows west from its source on Mt Kailash in Tibet and follows the old Hindustan-Tibet Highway through the Hindu Kinnaur Valley, almost freefalling from the Tibetan panoramas of Spiti to the banana trees, mangoes, monkeys and auto rickshaws of Rampur before a final climb to Shimla, former summer capital of the British Raj and popular Indian tourist resort.
Route facts
Start / finish : Manali (Himachal Pradesh) / Shimla (Himachal Pradesh)
Distance : 651km / 404 miles
Altitudes : Start 2050m (6725ft) / max 4567m (14,983ft) / end 2132m (6994ft)
Duration : 1 month (20 cycling days)
Difficulty : Hard (bad roads). In Kinnaur there is usually a climb up from the valley to the villages for accommodation.
Accommodation : Guesthouses, hotels, homestays - tent not necessary
Road conditions : Can be terrible. Landslides and washed out roads are common
Cost : £ (not expensive)
West Bengal and Sikkim. Unknown Tibetan peak seen from Gurudongmar Lake, Sikkim
5 West Bengal and Sikkim (INDIA)
Very few bikers make it to the tiny Indian state of Sikkim, preferring instead to roam around the mountains of India’s western Himalaya. Sikkim is something of a dead end, boxed in as it is between Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan with no border crossings into any of them, but it is extremely varied.
For cyclists it’s also ‘steep verging on extraordinarily steep’ with gradients of up to 22%. Kanchenjunga (8585m), the world’s third highest mountain, dominates the state. The roads rise from a jungly 331m with the border with West Bengal to an icy 4996m at Gurudongmar Lake on the Tibetan border, and the climate swings wildly between hot and humid and cold, rainy and misty.
Route facts
Start / finish : Siliguri (Western Bengal) / Gurudongmar Lake (Sikkim)
Distance : 745km / 462 miles
Altitudes : Start 125m (410ft) / max 4996m (16,371ft) / end 1575m (5167ft)
Duration : 25 days (20 cycling days)
Difficulty : Hard (steep)
Accommodation : Guesthouses, hotels, homestays - tent not necessary
Road conditions : Generally okay but can be terrible in the north with landslides and washed away tarmac
Cost : £ (not expensive)
The Friendship Highway. Horseman on Yarle Shung La, Tibet
6 The Friendship Highway (Lhasa, TIBET to Kathmandu, NEPAL)
Starting in Lhasa and finishing in Kathmandu, two of the most exotically named cities in the Himalaya, this long ride rarely drops below 4000m making it the highest route in Himalaya by Bike. Along the way are stunning vistas of Himalayan superstars such as Mt Everest (8848m), Cho Oyu (8201m) and Shishapangma (8014m). The ride spans two countries and three cultlures: Chinese, Tibetan and Nepalese. Typical scenery includes river valleys sparsely populated by Tibetan villages, punctuated by high arid passes and occasional Chinese towns and military outposts.
Many descriptions of this ride bill it as ‘the longest downhill in the world’. But cyclists can forget about freewheeling off the roof of the world – fierce headwinds, rough roads and sneaky climbs require pedalling all the way. Crossing the border into Nepal immerses you back into the buzz and colour of tropical Asia past lush terraced fields, small villages and water buffalo to the teeming capital of Kathmandu.
Route facts
Start / finish : Lhasa (Tibet) / Kathmandu (Nepal)
Distance : 956km / 594 miles
Altitudes : Start 3630m (11,909ft) / max 5251m (17,227ft) / end 1298m (4258ft)
Duration : 3 weeks (13 cycling days))
Difficulty : Hard (headwinds, high passes)
Accommodation : Guesthouses and hotels but take a tent too
Road conditions : Generally good
Cost : ££ (moderately expensive)
Bhutan. Lhuentse Valley, eastern Bhutan
7 Land of the Thunder Dragon (BHUTAN)
Few countries have an epithet as evocative as ‘Land of the Thunder Dragon’, nor an economic policy so progressive as GNH (Gross National Happines). But then Bhutan is like no other country; until 2008 it was the Himalaya’s last mountain kingdom and it does not permit independent travel. The government charge visitors $200 per day, which is partly how the world’s 134th poorest country can afford to provide free health and education to its people. Adventure travel is just beginning but led by energetic and well-travelled Bhutanese it’s set to grow. Bhutan’s landscape of deep river valles, snowy peaks and southern jungle is often seen through a veil of hazy sunshine which half obscures, half illuminates: the overall effect is timeless and dream-like.
Bhutanese roads are famously wiggly. The entire west-east highway is tarmac and mostly single lane, with very little traffic east of Punakha. The riding is dramatic as you plunge from high passes presided over by chortens to the muggy warmth of the valleys; en route a hot mug of tea and a fiery plate of ema datse (cheesy chillies) can always be found. Best of all are the Bhutanese people: cheery, cheeky and immeasurably proud of their country and their king.
Route facts
Start / finish : Paro (western Bhutan) / Samdrup Jongkhar (eastern Bhutan / India border)
Distance : 803km / 499 miles
Altitudes : Start 2276m (7467ft) / max 3743m (12,280ft) / end 183m (600ft)
Duration : 3 weeks (14 cycling days)
Difficulty : Medium (hilly but good tarmac)
Accommodation : All inclusive but this may include camping in the east of the country
Road conditions : Good (but this is relative to the Himalaya!)
Cost : £££££ (expensive)
