May 28, 2016
to Losar - 4100m: up the Spiti Valley
We leave the Dreyzor Hotel at about 7:00 and say our goodbyes to Karanbir. He has been very hospitable, true to the “Warmshowers” creed of “passing it forward”. For the first time this trip, we layer up dressed in cold weather gear. We start with a short climb, then a downhill back to the Spiti River. We cross the river and climb up to a fertile bench with lots of carefully laid out fields. Everything is flood irrigated. We pass a couple of towns, Rangrik, Sumling, Hull but no Dhabas or restaurants. On the way out of Kaza, we see across the valley the Kee Monastery on the hill. The morning light illuminates it beautifully. On our side of the valley is a large nunnery. After we pass Hull we can still see Kaza.
The valley becomes wider and is a long flat hill, we gain altitude and pass the 4000 meter. The hillsides have beautiful colors. 7kms from Hansa, the road drops abruptly down to bridge then hairpins up. We walk. We were expecting a restaurant in Hansa, but it must not have opened for the season. We stop to filter water and eat peanut butter and crackers.
With about 10km to go to Losar we consider camping out. The ride has been very hard, we had thought about going about 8km past Losar to a nice campsite just at the foot of the Kunzum La climb. It becomes obvious we’ll never make the campsite and Losar doesn’t seem to come any closer either…. We have to cross an ice cold “nula” (river crossing) and fill up our water bladder so we can camp anywhere we please. A couple of scouting trips by Patrick doesn’t deliver a decent site though, no flat land to be found, don’t even mention trying to get out of the cold headwind.
So we keep going and eventually at about 6:00 pm reach Losar. There are several guesthouses, one of the better looking is Guesthouse Tashi Gan-something. We are the first customers this season and get the only room available yet, freshly painted but a little rough. There is no power here either, but some hot water is left in the solar heater, and the friendly manager brings an additional bucket of hot water. Rachel is almost hypothermic by this point; she washes up and gets under the thick bed covers. Patrick walks to a nearby restaurant for tea and take-out chow mien. The electricity comes back on for the first time in three days which gives us the chance to re-charge batteries and download photos.
Tomorrow up and over Kunzum La Pass to Batal.
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Today's ride: 59 km (37 miles)
Total: 17,691 km (10,986 miles)
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