Day 4 - Towards Pang - crossing the snow clad passes and suffering AMS

9th July 2008

I got up early morning 6am and got onto my task of kicking up the lazy guys from their sleep and asking them to get ready. Surprisingly everyone got ready fast today and we had a tea and were on our way by 7.30am in the morning.

The roads after Keylong were not in good shape so we made slow progress via Jispa - Darcha. After Darcha we stopped at a place called DeepakTal which had a cool stream flowing and a tent-hotel nearby where we stopped for breakfast. We had a nice breakfast of maggi , omlette and chai. The weather was very cloudy and it was drizzling here. We hoped it wouldn't rain while we drove ahead and it didn't.

We also saw an American couple who had cycled all their way ahead from Chandigarh and were going to Leh. Cycling and that on on those roads was amazing. I intend to do it sometime in my life.

We had our photo sessions with the couple and started ahead to conquer our first pass for the day that was Baralachala. We reached Zingzingbar a small settlement in sometime and then good roads started , it was an amazing experience ahead with twisty amazing roads upto Baralachala pass. Two tempo travelers were travelling and they were racing with me , I too gave into the temptation of racing and raced on the slopes upto Baralachala pass but they were more powerful vehicles so they went ahead. I stopped at the top of the pass.

The pass was heaven with snow on the sides and everywhere. The temperature was low and it was freezing cold. We descended Baralachala and went ahead to Sarchu which was 20km ahead. Some time later a straight road started and we started ripping only to realize that it was a bumpy road and could give us backaches. We finally reached the military police post where I waited for the others to come in the meantime chatting with a Tamil jawan there who was happy to find another fellow who spoke Tamil. He told us that the road ahead was good to a point and we could get to Pang by today evening but there were 1 or 2 obstacles on the way which we needed to negotiate carefully. There was a long army convoy coming from the opposite direction and we stopped until they all came in.

We went ahead after exchanging pleasantaries with the jawan and got through Sarchu where the J&K border starts finally and Himachal ends. Pang was now 77km away and it was 12.30pm in the afternoon. We stopped at a tent hotel and had a nice lunch of roti , dal and rice. We found a Maharashtrian there who worked with the BRO there and talked to him about the roads. Sarchu is at 14000ft and I was feeling very tired here , the altitude was taking its toll on me and the sun too was shining very fiercely.

Finally we started for Pang at 3.00pm after a little rest in the tent.

The roads were good and we hit the Gata loops. The Gata loops are 21 loops and all are hairpin bends which take you from an altitude of 14000ft to 15500 ft. After the gata loops we were on top of the Nakeela pass. The descent from Nakeela was bumpy with no roads and we entered a place called Whiskey Nullah where there were tents and hotels. We had hot tea at that place and started again for Pang from here which was around 20km from here.

We had to cross the Lachungla pass before Pang. The increase in altitude and the atmosphere made me go very tired and I was getting a headache , the first signs of AMS, anyway I ignored it and went ahead. We reached Killingserai which was actually killing and the road was a mix of mud , big stones and what not. We carefully negotiated the road and went ahead and came to Kangla Jal. Now Kangla Jal is a place where a huge stream flows over the road. Sometimes the water comes upto waist height and there have been many instances there where people have falled off their bikes or their vehicles stalled and all. Fearing the worst when we came to the point we were suprised to see that the water wasnt even ankle deep and there was a bridge now there ,our luck and we crossed safely ahead.

We hit a J&K police post ahead where Shailesh was already inside and he was not well so he was sleeping in the tent there , the police guys were helpful there and talked to us about the altitude problems and how you should rest. Finally the rest of the guys came along and we went ahead to Pang now hardly 3 kms ahead. We finally reached Pang at 15600 ft above sea level which had an Army Camp and some tents. We went inside a hotel tent for 50rs per person and made ourselves comfortable. By now AMS had struck me and I was very tired so I just threw my luggage and fell down to sleep. Saurabh came in later with my bike key which I had left on the bike, I thanked him and slept again.

As the night came my health became worse and I had less dinner and went to sleep. I couldn't get sleep the whole night and everyone around except Saurabh and Purvesh seemed to suffer at this altitude. At midnight a funny incident happened. Amit who was sleeping near Deepak and Deepak woke up like he had seen a bad dream and slept again, this left Amit laughing and me wondering as to what he was upto.

The day was very tiring and now AMS ... god help me....