Sikkim UPDATE from Siliguri by Daniel Attwell

Start Siliguri up Old Cart Road but after a few kms past Sukna, before Rangtong there is a right turn by a small stretch of restaurants/hotels and shops.

This heads into very quiet, beautiful, misty tea gardens. Going North then East up sometimes very steep (the first time in a years cycling that I had to get off my bike and push! on tarmac) slopes. The effort is worth it, its so quiet and great views. Half up and half down, one valley Nepali and the next Hindu.

Tarmac all the way, but sometimes patchy; Only small shops on the way, some small villages (no veg, tea or food available), mostly green lush landscapes and peace and quiet. 1.5 - 2 days ride to main road.

Then 31A main road, over Teesta to Melli.

Follow river Rangeet road (Melli-Nayarbazar road) following river valley to Jorethang. This road is appalling due to many landslides along the way the road is mostly mud, with some sealed road. Not steep as it follows river so is not too bad!

Jorethang: town with many shops, market, hotels, restaurants

Same road conditions to Soreng going West then North. Turning from river road to Soreng very good road, sealed.

Soreng to Kaluk: Steady climb, just after Soreng there's about 2 kms of poor compacted rock road but then turns to sealed road.

Kaluk: small town with chai and snack foods, hotel. Nice little place.

Kaluk - Pelling; I as told not to take the road going East to Legship so I went the West road to Pelling: half-half steady down then up, all sealed.

Pelling: Touristy big town: Hotels, internet, ATM, restaurants> Ladakh guest house at top of town with Dorms. for 150 Rs. Good, clean, give you hot water for shower in a bucket. Go to Hotel Kabol at top for very good Thuckpa, Tibetan hand-made noodle soup.

Pelling - Yuksom: majority down. Good sealed for most. Yuksom: small town many hotels, Hotel D....big place on left at top 100 Rs. dorm. Nice place, quiet this time of year

Yuksom - Ravangla via Legship: Poor roads, compacted rock. Pass through Tashiding: small town, big monastery, hotels and food here. Climb from Legship. Legship small town with food

Ravangla - Yangang and down to river: downhill, mostly good sealed road except one big landslide that tore away road, still navigable. Both Ravangla and Yangang hotels and food.

Main road to Gangtok. (no travel agent in Gangtok would issue me with a permit for Gurudongmar lake, not available to foreigners anymore)

Gangtok - Mangan: up to get out of Gangtok then down down down. Poor road, broken and 3 landslides along the way. First one the army were installing a bridge to replace road that disappeared. All three passable if carry bike!

Mangan - Chungtung. No road but all mud and compacted rock, all under repair, hard going, some pushing.

But just before Chungtung police check point: need permit beyond this point, get it at Mangan: District Collector, DAC, North Sikkim, Mangan. I didn't go further North as did not have permit and road supposed to be very bad indeed.

Mangan - Singtam: South of Mangan is small road that follows Teesta river via Dikchu: patchy road, some tarmac some compacted rock. Dikchu (On Google map it only shows Dikchu as a river but at convergence of Teest and Dikchu is a town) has food and hotels.

Singtam-Namchi via Pabong and Phongla: Up all way to Phongla then down to Namchi, good road. small shops and villages but no food or hotels. Phongla to Namchi good road but patches of landslide repair.

Namchi back toward Phongla to the Bhanjang road to Melli: Down, mostly good but patchy. Before Melli road divides, I went right and road turns to downhill steep track, rock and gravel, v steep!. Do not attempt going up, you will be pushing all the way.

Teesta town/bazar - Ghum via Jorbunblow on road 12: Up all the way, tough, crazy steepness, but forests and tea plantations, again got off and pushed sometimes. Poor roads, mini potholed, bumpy. Villages with snacks, tea and food on way, no hotels.

And then your book has the rest. Stopped in Mirik, best place to stay Buddha Lodge, very clean, cheapest (450 Rs.!!!)in Krishnagar, Mirik.

Pamir Highway (TAJIKISTAN) to Kashgar (CHINA)

Hi Laura

 Just another update on biking travels in Himalaya! 😊

Qulma (Kulma) pass from Tajikistan is now open to foreigners. This connects the Pamir Highway and Karakoram Highway for those who don’t want to go through Pakistan. Also some updates on the Karakoram section to Kashgar.

Qulma pass is open from 10am Tajik time, it takes 2 cycling days from Murghab. First day is on a rough gravel road (not too bad, but makes for quite slow progress). About 47km from Murghab there is a checkpoint and the first border fence. There is a trucker’s hotel right by the checkpoint where one can spend a night. Next day is perfect tarmac up until Qulma pass itself. Tajik border formalities are quick and easy. Chinese border is a nightmare, be prepared for extensive checks and questioning, including downloads of mobile phone contents, etc. Don’t take any photos of the border installations or border guards. Overall it takes 3-4 hours on the Chinese side. The border guard will get a lorry to take cyclists down to the actual immigration checkpoint on the Karakoram Highway (Karasu border post), 15km from the pass. Keep in mind that everyone will tell you (in Murghab and especially in Khorog) that foreigners are not allowed. Don’t listen, they don’t have a clue. 

Currency exchange – there is no ATM or currency exchange in either Tajik or Chinese border posts. There is someone around in Karasu who changes Somoni to RMB at a bad rate. Be aware that the closest ATM is either in Tashkurgan or Kashgar, so either arrive with some RMB or be ready to lose 20% on the rate. They don’t accept US Dollars, only Tajik currency.

 There is a truckers motel at the Karasu border (big grey building across the road, there is no sign saying it’s a hotel, looks more like a government building), $10 per bed with shower and toilet. Single females – beware, this is a Tajik truckers stop! Ulug Rabat pass is 1.5 hrs cycling from Karasu and Karakol lake another hour from Ulug Rabat. There is currently no accommodation at Karakol lake at all. Only seasonal restaurants. Yurts are no longer an option Karakol to Ghez will take 5-7 hours depending on the winds.

From Karakol to Ghez check point one has to pass by a new huge (and very scenic) man-made lake after Buyun-Kul. The cold water of the lake, coupled with the funnelling affect of the Ghez canyon creates crazy headwinds in the afternoon (reaching up to 70kmh), this makes for a very very slow going on first 15km of descent to Ghez. Afterwards the winds die down and it’s all rolling downhill on a brand new raised highway through some tunnels to Ghez. 

 Ghez checkpoint, as well as all other checkpoints on the Karakoram, is a very serious affair now, get off your bike and follow the officer’s instructions, go through passport control. Don’t laugh, smile or joke with the guards. It’s all a very serious affair to everyone in Xinjinag. Don’t take your things inside the checkpoint. There are 4 more checkpoints from Ghez to Kashgar, the etiquette of the checkpoints is to get off the bike and go through passport control and X-rays. Never take any luggage inside unless instructed by staff. If you do, be prepared to say goodbye to tools, pocket knives, etc. 

There is no accommodation in Ghez and the canyon is too narrow to camp in. One can continue on to villages on the plains (another 50km downhill stroll) or hail a Tajik lorry all the way to Kashgar. 

Kind regards

Philip

Manali Leh (2017)

Hi Laura, 

 Thank you for the great book. As you probably know, the information is a bit dated, below are some updates from my trip in June, 2017.

 Road conditions (as of June, 2017)

  1. Manali – Kothi – Rohtang pass New tarmac all the way to the pass. Caution: The road is currently very busy with tourist traffic with standstill traffic jams from Kothi to the checkpost. It is advised to start when Rohtang pass is closed to tourist traffic (Tuesday). Otherwise it’s a bike pushing exercise to Marhhi. There can be bad traffic after Marhhi as well.

  2. Rohtang pass – Koksar Poor road surface, partially washed away, makes for a very slow descent

  3. Koksar – Keylong – Darcha New tarmac all the way

  4. Darcha – Patseo Mostly new tarmac, except for a climb out of Darcha (3km)

  5. Patseo – Baralacha La New perfect tarmac all the way to the pass

  6. Baralacha La – Sarchu New tarmac ends 2km from the pass, the rest of the road has very poor road surface which gradually improves the closer one gets to Sarchu

  7. Sarchu – Top of gata loops Good tarmac

  8. Top of gata loops – Whiskey Nalah Poor road surface, mostly broken tarmac, hard to ride

  9. Whiskey Nalah – Lanchulung La – Pang Poor road surface, gets worse on the descent

  10. Pang – Morey Plains – Tanglang La – Upshi New perfect tarmac all the way to Upshi. Some roughness near nalahas on descent from Tanglang La

  11. Upshi -Leh Good tarmac

  1. Leh to Zoji La checkpoint Great new tarmac all the way. Caution: Minamarg checkpost before Zoji La is an unsafe and potentially dangerous place in the evening. The Indian police closes the checkpost arbitrarily which often leads to violence and stone pelting by angry Kashmiris. Bikes are always allowed through but it is advised to avoid riding through the checkpost in the evening. Sonamarg to Srinagar is not safe at the moment due to unrest and stone pelting. Avoid riding this section on and around July 7-14. A local martyr was killed by Indian forces on July 7 which leads to annual unrest roughly at the same time every year.

Food and accommodation

  1. Kothi Good hotel with running hot water and restaurant

  2. Marhhi HPW rest house (extremely run-down and filthy), rest house keeper asks guests to leave at 5:30am. Many restaurants.

  3. Koksar A few hotels with limited facilities and many restaurants it is 11km on perfect tarmac to Sissu and makes no sense to stop in Koksar (no-one does).

  4. Sissu Three big hotels with running hot water and restaurants, also 1-2 tented camps 2km before Sissu. Also a filthy HPW rest house.

  5. Keylong Hotels with running hot water and many restaurants

  6. Jispa Four hotels with running hot water and restaurants, and countless tented camps.

  7. Darcha The village itself is a few kms from the road and there are no guesthouses there.

  8. Patseo Hozers tented camp is no longer there. The only stay option is a small dhaba parachute tent 3km after Patseo. It is small and filthy, camping is advised.

  9. Zingzingbar 1 Parachute tents with beds available

  10. Zingzingbar 2 Seems to be “the” Zingzingbar now-days, at 4300 meters with better parachute tents (and better views). Not as filthy as the original Zingzingbar

  11. Sarchu Best tented camps are 5km before Sarchu itself. There are tented camps after the checkpost in Sarchu but they are not as good, although they are much cheaper.

  12. Whiskey Nalah Filthy parachute tents

  13. Pang Two “hotels” offering rooms under a roof and behind brick walls, best one is the last one on the right side if facing Leh, amenities include a sit-down toilet and bucket shower. A few parachute tents. Many restaurants.

  14. Debring 1 At the intersection with the road to Tso Kar (which is now new tarmac all the way). Three basic parachute tents with separate sleeping tent.

  15. Debring 2 Around 4 km after Debring, a more sophisticated stopping place with “hotels” like Pang (brick walls and a roof). A few basic restaurants.

  16. Tanglang La Parachute dhaba

  17. Rumtse Three new guesthouses with running hot water and sit-down toilets and good restaurants.

  18. Upshi Restaurants and a filthy guesthouse. Meagre place.

  19. Thiskey Fancy and expensive Monastery hotel with a good restaurant.

 After Leh it is mostly as described in your book. Apart from Nimoo village which now boasts three excellent hotels with water and wi-fi and Mulbek which also has a few guesthouses (one of which is in the Paradise restaurant, the other around 2km after the Paradise restaurant). 

 Kind regards,

Philip Ravicher

Spiti Valley by Vish Benjakusol

Thank you to Vish for sharing these photos. You can see lots more on his Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/vbenjakusol/media_set?set=a.1315424301818873.1073741917.100000539480431&type=3

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Ladakh new routes!

This is a fantastic resource put together by Marc if you are interested in exploring some ‘unofficial’ ;-) routes around Leh.

https://www.marcmichel.ch/en/india-route-information/

https://www.marcmichel.ch/en/ladakh-2/

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NEW ROUTE – Dharamsala - Shimla - Chandigarh on back roads

From McLeod/Dharamsala I went back the same way I came up from Mandi, but I cheated a little bit by taking a taxi for the first 90 km up to Ghatasani (from there its 40 km all downhill to Mandi).
There are mainly two reasons why I took the taxi: first to escape as fast as possible and dry from the monsoon-pot of McLeod/Dharamsala, and second to escape the unpleasant traffic between McLeod/Dharamsala and Baijnath and the climb afterwards.
I compiled my following stages using google maps and Lonley Planet since I had no accurate maps or guide for this unforeseen plan B.



Stage 1: from Mandi to Rewalsar, over NH70 and MDR 26

25 km, 825 m total positive altitude difference
Very nice stretch. Good road, little traffic after turn-off on MDR26. Rewalsar is a nice and peaceful village at 1350 m with at least 4 hotels. and many monasteries, including a giant Buddha statue like in Likhir and Diskit. However, there is a better place to stay (see stage 2).



Stage 2: from Rewalsar to Gompa, lakes and Hindi-temple on "top of Rewalsar" (~1800 m), back to Rewalsar and further to Sundernagar, over MDR26


11 km, ~500 m total positive altitude difference up to "top of Rewalsar" (oneway)
28 km, ~400 m total positive altitude difference from Rewalsar to Sundernagar
Continuing for 0.5 km southwards of Rewalsar on MDR26 take the turn-off to the right and follow the road uphill. There is second turn-off after ~2 km, where you have to go left (hopefully the GPS-data come out correctly). Fantastic panoramic (and steep) little mountain road up to "top of Rewalsar". No traffic at all in the early morning. At midway there is a very nice restaurant (called Midway) with superb views down the valley. They have a couple of nice rooms (I had a look) for "no money". The owner is very kind too. I may provide phone number later. If I had known, I would have stayed there rather than in Rewalsar-village. There is another, but less appealing guesthouse in a small village above a lake 2 km before the top.
The stretch from Rewalsar to Sundernagar over MDR26 is a dream! I blindly followed the google maps indications, and it worked out well. This road leading to the Sundernagar-lake through the back-country. It is not on the road maps I had. 
Sundernagar (800 m) is a sticky and noisy small indian town with a couple of hotels along the NH21, north of the town centre.



Stage 3: from Sundernagar to Chindi, over SH13


82 km, 2000 m total positive altitude difference (10 hrs of cycling)
Again a very nice stretch, with little traffic. There are many small villages on the way where you can get food or drinks, but hardly any recommendable hotel or guesthouse, except the PW-Resthouse in Rohanda, after ~34 km (however, after having been denied access twice before in PW-Resthouses, for obscure reasons, I did not ask a third time). There is another "hotel" on a ridge, a couple of km further uphill along the road. I stopped there to get water, but beware! This most desolate place reminded me of the Bates' Motel from Hitchcock's Psycho. It is "run" by two weird gays which "invited" me to stay with them ...
To go to Tatapani there is a shortcut down from the ridge, however this street is not even indicated on google maps. Taking this road (see turn-off on GPS-track) might allow to go in one day from Sundernagar to Tatapani, in less than 100 km and definitely less than 2000 m of altitude difference. Several local people confirmed this short-cut independently. In the other direction, from Tatapani towards Sundernagar, this shortcut road can be catched by following the signpost "Chiva Caves" at the turn-off 2 km uphill from Tatapani on the SH13. Then, after 2 more km, after passing by the cave and crossing a bridge, take the road on the left which follows the Sutlej river for about 1 km before climbing. There is a signpost, but in Hindi. I walked up to there and checked it (GPS-data recorded). 
However, I did not take the shortcut since I had time and wanted to stay in the HPTDC-hotel Malmeshwer in Chindi and to enjoy the coolness (2000 m) and the calm (furthermore, they offered 40% monsoon-discount on the room rate). I stayed 2 nights. 
So I sticked to the google maps roadbook. It lead me straight to the goal, but it may be misleading, since it takes another shortcut and leaves the SH13 for about 12 km!

Stage 4: from Chindi to Tatapani, over SH13


40 km, 70 m total positive altitude difference (mainly downhill)
Once more, the SH13 is a gem for cycling. On this stretch it leads through a beautiful gorge on the last 10 km or so before Tatapani. Tatapani is a peaceful little village which is well known for its hot springs. It is located on the shore of the Sutlej river, at 650 m. There are a couple of hotels and guesthouses. I stayed at the nice hotel Hot Springs.
From Tatapani there is also the MDR22 which follows the Sutlej river upstream towards the east to join Luhri after 55 km and from there after 3 more km the NH22 at Sainj, the base of the climb to Narkanda. On a oneday-roundtrip I cycled the first 40 km of this stretch from Tatapani, than I turned back (according to your descriptions, the lower Kinaur-valley is flyblown; since I am not so fond of flies, I turned back when I encountered the first ones). The whole stretch of 58 km might be cycled in 5 hours. Its more or less flat. The road undulates between 700 and 800 m, with an estimated total positive altitude difference of 400 m downstream. Traffic is relatively poor. The landscape is breathtaking. However, even though 95% tarmac, the surface condition of the road is quite poor, and head winds are prone to pick up after 11:00 AM (going downstream). Moreover, this road might be dangerous during rainfalls. Otherwise it might be an enjoyable alternative to join Shimla via Tatapani and Naldehra over SH13 (see following stage).



Stage 5: from Tatapani to Shimla, over SH13 and NH22


54 km, 1700 m total positive altitude difference (6 hours cycling)
SH13 still wonderful, up to Intersection with NH22, however, traffic increases significantly after Naldehra. Thanks to your precise route description I found easily my way to my Hotel (Spars Lodge, Lonley Planet), over the Ridge and Mall street. 
I enjoyed the ride from Sundernagar via Tatapani to Shimla over SH13 pretty much and can strongly recommend this route. 



Stage 6: from Shimla to Chail, via Kufri, over NH22 and MDR8


42 km, 600 m total positive altitude difference (3.5 hours cycling)
Same way back to the SH13-turnoff, then to Kufri via NH22, as in your book (15 km, from Spars Lodge). In Kufri, turn off right onto MDR8 to Chail (28 km). The MDR8 continues climbing for 1 or 2 km up to roughly 2600 m, to the Kufri-Zoo, then its mostly downhill or flat until Chail. The road surface of MDR8 is however sometimes rough. Traffic is reasonably low, so that one can enjoy the beauty and peacefulness of nature. In Chail I stayed 3 days at the fantastic United-21 resort to relax a little bit from chaotic and monkey-infested Shimla.

Stage 7: from Chail (Janedghat) to Chandigarh, via Kandaghat, Solan and Barog over MDR8, MDR9 and NH22


120 km, 1000 m total positive altitude difference (6.5 hours cycling)
From Chail-Janedghat to Kandaghat (33km) over MDR 8 very peaceful and beautiful. After Chail the road surface quality improves significantly. In Kandaghat the MDR8 joins the NH22 and traffic becomes a matter, especially around Solan. After Solan I took the nice road through Barog-Valley (MDR9) which joins NH22 again after 10 km. From Solan to Barog its all uphill, about 400 m of height difference. Afterwards its all downhill until Chandigarh. From Parwanoo onwards, about 30 km before Chandigarh, the NH22 mutes to a real highway, with up to 6 lanes. From here I enjoyed the last stretch until Chandigarh a lot. Downhill, private lane on the surelevated highway, not too much traffic (Sunday afternoon), leads you straight and fast to Chandigarh, where I am staying at the resort Aura Vaseela south of the airport. A very nice place to chill out and finish this exciting trip!



I had a great time in northern India. I still have some regrets not having been able to travel through Spiti-valley, but the last improvised part, from Mandi to Chandigarh through the still more or less untouched original backcountry was a great experience too. There I found the nicest roads and best cycling conditions of my whole journey.