Uttarakhand/HP/Ladakh: 4 weeks in June with a bicycle?

abroadabroad

What does anyone think about the Kashmir situation these days? Any predictions for early August 08? I'd like to cycle west from Leh as far as possible before catching transport back to Delhi to fly home to the States. I will be reaching Leh by bicycle from Shimla, and don't want to backtrack back. Could you recommend return transport options? Better to fly (are there weather delays such as with flying out of Leh?) or better to take a bus (how long would it take and what are the safety issues?) I will have my bicycle- which can easily rest on a bus roof. Thanks so much. I'm a first -time poster.

abroadabroad

Is there anyone familiar with the roads in this area that could recommend a route to bicycle? ideally there is little to no traffic, some sort of village/tea house/etc. every 60 kms or so. And the people are friendly and the scenery is fine. Hills and passes are no problem. It's traffic and excessive isolation that I want to avoid. Shorter or longer route suggestions are welcome. My main goal is to see the area, meet local people, and get some training in before my July tour in Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti up to Ladakh. Thanks so much for any help.

Leith

Try this link
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/l...octype=journal

There are a couple of agency's that run bike tours in India. Such a tour may not be your scene but they could be a valuable source of information regarding routes ect.

These maps may help
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/india/
Leith

rajiveanand

Dear ABAB,

I'm planning to go to Mustang, Nepal and Leh in July and August. Still working out exact dates, but if I'm there when you are, I won't be biking, but taking a jeep, but you can hang onto the bumper any time you want!

__________________
www.rajiveanand.com

Dilliwala

Hmmm, I cud actually suggest a route which wud take u into HP the back way, and right upto Rampur, which is practically on the door-step of Kinnaur. Goodish traffic initially, but nothing as horrendous as the major highways. People - very nice. Accom/food - no problem. Decent side-trip/s available too, very quiet and scenic area. But it will be long - don't know how many kms u want to do. Is this to be in end-June/early-July?

abroadabroad

Thanks for the reply. Sorry I didn't see it sooner. I'd probably just want to plan on 50-60 kms a day to start. I'd have 4 full weeks. When you say "goodish traffic' I take it to mean quite a lot. Is it possible to get on a bus and start somewhere away from the traffic?
I really appreciate your help

Dilliwala

This is really weird - my subscription to this thread's gone AWOL! Which is why I didn't get notified of your post, abroad.

No, "quite a lot" wud mean quite a lot.
Comes between goodish and horrendous. The area I'm thinking of is partially on the Yamunotri pilgrim route, which being so still doesn't draw as much traffic as the other places like Gangotri or Badrinath. End-June is not bad at all, u just have to keep one eye out for the odd crazy jeep-driver! But that u have to do at any time on any route in the hills.
It'd be a good idea to wear a brightly coloured jacket/top whenever u're riding. And no problem to start where the traffic thins out further. Naugaon to be specific. Just so long as u catch a bus with a roof-rack, the jeeps won't have the kind of space available. And u'll be able to ride right upto Nogli (5 km before Rampur) on back-roads only before u hit the highway again.

There are plenty of halt-options available too if u want to do 60 kmpd or less. Let me know if u want more details. I take it u don't want to lug a tent? And are u doing this trip alone?

abroadabroad

My thread subscribing failed too-
Thanks for working with me on this. I will have a tent (but think not to bring a stove) as i will be riding Sutlej-Spiti-Keyolong-Leh later, in July with two other gals. But this part I will be alone. From What I've been reading, I can get by with no stove.
I've been looking at a map to try to follow your suggestions. But i'm not quite oriented. From my looking, I was thinking about riding from Almore to pithoragrah and then looping back around to the north and west, and finding another loop a bit farther north. But that wasn't based on much more than looking at lines drawn on maps. i really appreciate your specific knowledge and advice.

want more details.

Dilliwala

Hey abroad,

Well Almora/Pithoragarh and then finding your way to HP will mean a distance in excess of 1000 km just to get to the border of HP. Nothing against the idea if u're up for it, but maybe u don't want to do that much considering u still have a lot to do thereafter to get to Leh. Still, if u want I can work u out a route for that.

What I was thinking of requires u to take a train first from Delhi to Dehradun. From there u head to Mussoorie, which is 31 km away. U can either ride up, the climb is 1400 m (4000 feet), relatively easy gradient, traffic's not too bad. Or put your bike on top of a regular bus, it'll get u there in 1.5 hours.
Now the route I was thinking of is Mussoorie-Kempty-Yamuna-Nainbagh-Naugaon. This part u can do by bus as well, there are one or two a day upto Barkot.
From Naugaon u branch off to Mori-Tiuni-Arakot-UA/HP border-Kudu-Hatkoti-Rohru-Sungri-Taklech-Nogli. It's pretty low on traffic, the odd bus or two per day, few cars, mostly jeeps which are also not frequent.
Some sections of the Rohru to Nogli stretch are dirt-road.

From Nogli (on the National Highway), Rampur is 6 km from there. Rampur to Karchham bridge is 79 km. From here Rikang Pio is 17 km, Kalpa 24 km. If u want, u can also do a side-trip up the Baspa Valley from here.
U cud also branch off from Taklech to Mashnu and Sarahan, about 60 km. This will be a hill/mountain track - Sarahan is approx 1700 m altitude. I'm not sure how much of this is dirt-track though, but it's certainly used for cycling trips (dhananjay has mentioned it a few times in different posts - do a search with his name in the HP forum). From Sarahan u wud go downhill 17 km to Jyori, which is on the National Highway again. This is about the max u can do on back roads before entering Kinnaur (there is a hike possible from Sarahan to Wangtu, no idea if it can be cycled. U cud read up on it in the Trekking forum and HP forum).

Mussoorie to Nogli is around 285 km. U might look at the map and note it's a bit roundabout, rather zigzag from the Yamuna to Tiuni - the 'straight' route actually goes thru Chakrata, but that's a restricted area (Army) for foreigners and the Army's stopped giving entry-permission, period.
Mussoorie to Naugaon is 81 km which u cud do by bus, as indicated.

Let me know if this route interests u, then I'll put in the intermediate distances.

abroadabroad

I was actually interested in riding towards the Tibet direct out of Pithoragh as far as i could. Do you know if there are permits required, are there any villages along the way (the map I have shows some, but who knows what's really there), and how far out the road I could get? I thought maybe to do that as a side trip on the way towards HP, and then either bike or hitch/bus closer to the Shimla direction and ride some more there. Maybe I didn't say before, but from Shimla, I meet two other women and we will ride up the Sutlej and then down the Spiti. So your information is really helpful- I will use it later, in July. For me in June, after all, I arrive in Delhi on the 17th and need to be in Shimla on July 5 (unless I follow some of your suggestions, and meet in Rampur on July 8.

For now, I will have only about 18 days to get from Delhi to Shimla, and I am somewhat interested in riding out towards the Tibet border. I thought maybe then to do a zig-zag route around there on smaller roads which would go north from Almora to Kaushani, southeast to jageshwar, east to Rameshwar, north to Thal, east to Askot and then farther along the border, if allowed. Of course, this is just from looking on a map. Is this a very popular area with a lot of traffic? Are there interesting things/scenery to see there? i don't know much about it.

Reading your details I realize that the map I have (Nelles) is very poor, as it does not show many of the places or routes you name (such as Naugaon). I will have to access something better.

How long would it take from Musoorie to Shimla by way of Hatkoti? Maybe I would ride there, then leave the bike and do a quick bus trip to see the Taj Mahal since I am so close )

In any case, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help. I take it you live in India??

Dilliwala

Phew! Gasp!
Still out of breath from imagining the scale of your endeavour.
Ok, u're not going to get very close to Tibet anyway in Uttaranchal. However, in Kinnaur u can go upto Khab Bridge, confluence of the Spiti and Satluj, from where Tibet is not 20 km away (the dividing ridge). U can look upstream the Satluj valley and see the Tibet ranges clearly. U cud also ride up to Khab village (turn-off 2 km before bridge) which is on higher ground, from where u cud have a better view. This is on the regular Kinnaur-Spiti route, u have to make a minor diversion after Puh. From there u can proceed to Namgya (approach point for Shipki La, but u can't go there - more here) to rejoin the highway further ahead.
I know of no other point in UA or HP where one can get that close to Tibet by road. Everywhere in Uttaranchal u will be stopped 40 to 50 kms before the border.

If u still wish to go to Pithoragarh, u can ride as far as Sobla without a permit. A dirt-road goes to Dar, a few km ahead, but u may require a permit to go there. U can check all of this at Dharchula.
U cud go eastwards from Tawaghat to Narayan Ashram, from where u can see the Nepal peaks. About 15 km of dirt-track involved. The road northwards is being extended gradually to Gunji, but foreigners are not allowed to go beyond Budhi (no idea how much of this road is ready).
Here's a map for orientation:
http://www.visionhimalay.com/big-map.html
The foll threads also have useful info:
http://www.indiamike.com/india/uttar...valley-t40921/
Darma - This winter

Interesting route, and yes, plenty of scenery. Traffic - Almora-Kausani will be light; Kausani-Someshwar-Kangarchhina-Gairad-Paleo-Barechhina will be light, to Jageshwar medium to light-heavy; Jageshwar to Rameshwar med to l-h; Rameshwar-Thal-Askot-Dharchula medium.
Let me point out, along with the previous para, that this can hardly count as a side-trip, it's a whole different trip altogether. It'll be a long, long ride just to get to the HP border, don't know if that's what u want to do.

Also recommend this thread for Spiti, it has some good links:
Cycling in Spiti

A few other sites which u may have already seen:
http://www.pocketsprocket.com/

http://www.masterlyinactivity.com/index.html
See 'Cycle touring' - L&S, Kinnaur 2003, and Garhwal 2005.
Some good info and routes marked on the maps. The latter will give u some idea of the route from Mussoorie I suggested.

Mussoorie to Sawra(1 km before Hatkoti) - 193 km
Sawra to Thiog - 77 km
Thiog to Shimla(highway, lots of traffic) - 31 km

I think I better lie down - Shimla to AGRA? CLOSE?!!
Umm, maps really do shrink distances, don't they?
All I can say is leave Agra out till u get back to Delhi, or do it before u leave for the hills.

When u get to Delhi, first thing u shud do is get yourself 'Nest & Wings' maps for UA and HP, Rs. 70 and Rs. 60 respectively. Plenty of detail and will help u a lot in planning.
You might also like to read more map info given in another thread.

I live in Dilli, as it says under my handle.

Me again.
Your best bet is to fly from Leh. Otherwise u'll have to cycle, bus it (very uncomfortable, bad road), or take a cab (expensive) to Srinagar to catch another plane. Leh can have weather delays, so best to keep a day or two in hand, just in case.

U can also go to Manali by share-taxi (uncomfortable, acclimatisation issues) or ordinary bus (VERY uncomfortable). And there'll be a night sleeping at over 15000 feet. If u are really game for it, u can then take a comfortable bus from Manali to Delhi.
Srinagar to Delhi by road is not worth the trouble.

All in all, if u are ready for the extra cost, flying will be most convenient.